In the Wind Page 3

  "We were careful not to fire at his face, chest, or crotch," Colbie points out. "You're welcome."

  Grudgingly, I mutter a thank you. Colbie flips off her sister before jumping into the water.

  "Don't feel bad," Zane says, hugging me from behind. "Everyone has an ex they regret."

  Smiling, I realize he's wearing a red Speedo. "Really?"

  Zane gives me a wink. "If you've got it, flaunt it, Sawyer."

  Once he jumps into the water with his sisters, they begin racing back and forth. I sit in a chair and watch them swim. Bailey and I used to race each other. No matter how many times I beat her, she never stops hoping. I love her optimistic nature. That and her stupidity.

  I refuse to think of Jace kissing me. He's the enemy. Nothing more. No way do I recall the feel of him still on my lips. Or how his fingers felt against my skin. I refuse to remember how he tried to save me when he thought the siblings were a real threat. I hate him, and no amount of tongue action will change my mind on the matter.

  Despite my dark thoughts about Jace, I find myself caressing my smiling lips. Nine long months without being kissed, touched, or wanted. He broke my heart, and no one else would do. Now, he's in Last Dollar kissing me again. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

  Chapter 6

  Jace

  50 Ways to Say Goodbye

  All night, I dream of Sawyer. Most of my dreams are nightmares. One though involves us skinny-dipping in the river not far from her house. That dream is more like a memory, leaving me with a morning erection. A long cold shower wakes me up and cools me down. Trying to rekindle anything with Sawyer is a mistake. I remind myself how I broke something that can never be fixed.

  However, I wouldn't mind being friends again. As kids and teens, she and I spent most of our free time together. Sawyer sucked at making friends. Most girls couldn't endure her bossy nature while most boys were terrified of her constant dick threats. I knew when to obey, when to ignore, and when to tell her to shove it. We were an odd pair, but she was the best friend I ever had.

  When things ended, she pretended I was a stranger unless forced to be friendly at social events. We can never truly be apart, not when we're tied together through family, friends, and the club. Except Sawyer bailed on Ellsberg. If she remains here, we might finally put our past behind us. Instead of comforting me, this idea feels like just another reason to force her home.

  Before going to breakfast, I tell the woman at the front desk that I'll be staying for a while. Smiling, she focuses her gaze on the tips of my hair where pink paint remains. She seems to know my story, and I'm again struck by the size of this place. Skipping the hotel breakfast, I head two doors down to a busy Denny's where I'm seated by a little Mexican gal. She takes my order and avoids looking too directly at the pink in my hair. Despite her quiet nature, I suspect she's part of the local gossip scene.

  "Do you know the McLaughlin family?" I ask when she refills my coffee.

  "Everyone does."

  "Would you know how to get a message to them, Sabie?" I ask, looking at her nametag.

  "Me?"

  "You or someone around here."

  Sabie glances around as if nervous. I suspect she fucking with me though. Shrugging, she pulls out her order pad. "What do you want to tell them?"

  "Jace Todds wants to make an appointment to speak with them and Sawyer Johansson. I won't leave town until we've spoken."

  After Sabie walks away, I wonder how long before Sawyer or her friends respond. A few sips of coffee later, I'm surprised to see her return.

  "You can come for lunch at their house. Eleven o'clock. They're having BLT sandwiches and fries."

  Thanking her, I get the distinct impression of being hunted. My thoughts return to the paintball games at the Johansson property. The club uses them to keep guys sharp. Cooper also likes to see who doesn't work well with others. He's always testing his people and looking for weaknesses.

  The world feels more crowded than when I was young, and I know our enemies always search for our weak spots. Likely Cooper worries about Sawyer being outside his power radius. After all, his only weakness is his family.

  I wish I could claim my only weakness is my family. I worry about too much. I never know how I'm supposed to react. I watch others more than use my gut. Back when I was starting out, the Reapers enforcer Judd once said my insecurities would get me killed. While I hide my fucked up thinking better than I used to, it's not really gone.

  I feel my insecurities gnawing at me when I arrive at the McLaughlin property. What happens if I can't convince Sawyer to come home? Cooper made it clear I wasn't returning to Ellsberg unless I had his sister with me.

  Once the gates open slowly, I ride down a long road shadowed by large trees. I understand why Sawyer likes this place. Of course, if she misses Ellsberg, home is waiting for her.

  I park in front of a massive house and realize I've underestimated the McLaughlin money. Growing up around the Johanssons, I thought I knew rich.

  "Come on in before the heat gets you," a tiny Asian woman says from the door.

  Stepping onto the front porch, I wipe my feet. The woman looks me over, and I feel insecure about my black jeans and tee. Inside though, a mustached older fellow wears only boxers, a red robe, and cowboy boots. Yeah, maybe I'm actually overdressed.

  "You the boy Johansson sent to take the filly back home?" the man asks, stopping in front of me.

  "Yes."

  "JJ McLaughlin," he says, shoving out his hand and giving mine a hard shake. "Pink is a good color on you."

  My hand goes reflexively to the stained hair. "There was a little confusion last night."

  "Oh, I'm sure there was," he says, gesturing for me to follow him down a hallway. "Sawyer has made her feelings pretty clear about remaining in Texas. Now, I'd like to help out Cooper. I respected Kirk a hell of a lot, but I can't blame Sawyer for wanting to stay. I mean, we are talking about Texas here."

  We enter a large room with windows reaching up towards the sky. I try to hide my awe. I think my expression remains cold, as I've trained it to be over the years. JJ isn't looking at me though. He's still on the move towards what I realize is a kitchen leading to a back porch.

  "I'm leaving this dilemma to you younglings. Good luck, Jace Todds."

  JJ disappears down another hall while I peer outside at the pool area. Based on how Sawyer's pacing around, she won't be willing to talk. I catch sight of a guy hiding his face under a ball cap. He might be listening to Sawyer rant, but I doubt it. His face is too relaxed, and he seems more focused on the Pug sitting in his lap.

  "Here's the deal," a woman says from behind me.

  Turning around, I find the twins wearing bikini tops and denim shorts. I don't know which one spoke, and I suspect it doesn't matter.

  "Sawyer is a little cray-cray since you tried to bitch-nap her last night," the redhead on the right says.

  The other one walks to the door and peers out at a pacing Sawyer. "You dumped her, huh?"

  "I'm not here to throw salt in that old wound. Her brother wants her back in Ellsberg."

  "Bitch-napping isn't the way to make that happen," the redhead next to me says. "With Sawyer, you need finesse."

  An older black woman enters. Startled, she looks me up and down before her gaze focuses on the pink in my hair. "Ready to eat lunch?" she asks in an accent I can't place.

  "Yes, ma'am," the first twin says.

  "What kind of finesse?" I ask the second one who seems more interested in helping me.

  "First, you need to accept she doesn't want to leave yet. She's talking about living here, in fact. If you force her back to Ellsberg, she'll run again. Once you realize how futile these bitch-napping attempts are, you can move onto the finesse part."

  "Okay, so she stays here...for now."

  "Tell her brother you'll stay too and play bodyguard. You can tell Sawyer the same thing. She'll say she doesn't need your help, and she really doesn't. No one will mess with our guest
, but you tell her you're just doing your job. She'll call you a pussy and threaten your crotch."

  "Sounds about right."

  "Then you wait. Sawyer likes it here, but she's on vacation. Vacations don't last forever."

  Her sound advice makes my unease disappear. "What's your name?"

  "Bodie. That's Colbie. Don't worry if you can't keep us straight. Oh, and she's Mama May Dee."

  "Which one of you shot me last night?"

  The twins share a glance before laughing. Mama May Dee laughs too. Growing up with two older sisters, I'm accustomed to being outnumbered by mocking women.

  "What if I had shot back?" I ask while Bodie knocks on the glass door.

  "We knew who you were," Bodie says, "and that you wouldn't get into a gunfight in our territory. If you'd been some perv grabbing Sawyer, we'd be laughing over your grave today."

  Sitting at the long kitchen table, Colbie smiles at me. "We love to laugh. Life, death, good or bad, we find a reason to laugh."

  "It's good for the heart," I say, and Colbie's smile widens.

  Sawyer enters the house behind the ball cap guy. Clearly ready to tear me a new one, she catches Colbie smiling in my direction.

  "He's the devil," she hisses. "Trust nothing he says."

  "I met the devil once," Mama May Dee says while frying bacon. "He was a smooth talker with green eyes like emeralds. Told me he could make all the pain go away. Promised he knew all the answers."

  Sawyer frowns at the woman, but ball cap guy pats Mama May Dee on the back. "What did you do?"

  "Told him to kiss my ass. Jesus was my only master. Once he knew I was no fool, he threw his beer and stormed away. Stupid devil."

  Sawyer isn't sure how to continue after the story. I suspect this is why Mama May Dee told it.

  "I'm not going home," she says, staring up at me.

  "I know."

  "I'm moving here."

  "I know that too. Bodie told me you plan to stay."

  "Why did you listen to her, but not me?"

  "She wasn't screaming at me at the time."

  Sawyer gives me her Billy Idol snarl, but I just smile remembering when she perfected that move.

  "Well, now that we're all friends," Colbie announces, "let's sit down for lunch and reminisce about the time I shot Jace in the ass with a pink paint pellet."

  "You didn't make that shot," Bodie mutters.

  "I'm fairly certain I did, desert flower."

  "You're fairly wrong, jungle skunk."

  "Hey, I was being nice."

  "Not really."

  "Hush, brats," Mama May Dee says in a soothing voice. "I don't want to throw this fine food out for the dogs."

  The twins glare at one another while ball cap guy joins them at the table.

  "This is Zane," Colbie says. "He's our brother. That's why we keep him around, in case you were wondering."

  Zane is too busy on his phone to acknowledge me.

  "He's rude," Colbie mutters. "He also smells like boysenberries."

  Zane glances at his sister. "My woman smells like boysenberries, and she rubbed up against me this morning."

  "She's a teacher," Colbie announces. "Teaches elementary children how to speak English. Zane is very proud to be dating a woman who can read and write."

  Zane yanks Colbie's hair, eliciting a growl from her. A dog growls behind me and then another one. I feel like I'm falling into the Twilight Zone, but at least Sawyer isn't screaming at me.

  "I don't trust you," she whispers, passing me to sit at the table.

  "I'm here to protect you until Cooper is satisfied you're safe."

  "My bodyguard, huh?" Sawyer says, wrapping her long curls into a bun on the top of her head. "So you'll take a bullet to save my life then?" When I nod, she turns to Bodie. "Please shoot at me."

  "Bullets ain't cheap, darling. Besides, he's perfectly tall. I think we should keep him around in case we really do need a human shield."

  "I prefer him dying to me being the human shield," Zane says.

  "Fine," Sawyer mutters, "but I'm not listening to him or being nice to him or even talking to him."

  Colbie says, "Whatever."

  "Don't care," Zane adds.

  Bodie grunts. "No skin off my ass."

  Sawyer frowns at their lack of interest in her rage. In Ellsberg, she's accustomed to much more attention. Her family has power, and Sawyer's temper is legendary. Homeschooled after she refused to listen to her teachers, she never met an authority figure outside of her parents she didn't dismiss.

  Her siblings weren't immune to her wrath either. She once chased Bailey down the street with a tire iron over an argument about spinach. Rather than brush the incident under the rug, her mom added it to the family's Christmas letter. Yes, in Ellsberg, Sawyer Johansson was a force to be feared and avoided.

  Here in Last Dollar, she appears normal next to the McLaughlins. Makes me wonder if Sawyer feels like she's fallen into the Twilight Zone too.

  Chapter 7

  Sawyer

  Who Made Who

  With his shoulder length locks, Jace looks more like a surfer dude than a biker. I once knew this man with all my heart, yet he's a stranger now. His face is harder, less expressive. He now possesses the eyes of an enforcer, showing me nothing. Until he smiles at me.

  Despite missing him over the last months, I roll my eyes and look away. The day he dumped me, Jace said the one thing he hoped was we could remain friends. I had no control over whether he loved me or would stay with me. However, I did have the power to deny him this one damn thing. No way was I staying his friend. Not nine months ago, not now, not ever.

  "This is nice," Colbie says, patting Jace's hand and making really intense eye contact with him. "Do you see how good I am at engaging with people now?"

  Colbie's speaking to Bodie who glances at Zane. "Did she say people or peons?"

  Zane grins, but doesn't answer. I suspect the three of them are talking mentally again. Jace waits for someone to speak, and I see a hint of confusion when the siblings nod at an unspoken detail. If he was anyone else, I might explain. My broken ego refuses to give him an inch. I gave him too much already when I let myself trust him.

  "So you two used to be friends," Zane says. "I was friends first with Yesenia."

  The twins roll their eyes in unison and Bodie nudges me. "Zane thinks he's the first person to ever fall in love. Hell, this isn't even his first time falling in love."

  "Those didn't count. Yesenia is a good woman."

  "And the others were shit?" I grumble.

  "Yeah," Colbie says, and Bodie nods quickly. "The one before smelled like a urinal cake. Another one had worms."

  "Honest to goodness worms," Bodie adds. "I don't even want to imagine how she got them."

  "Probably from dog sex," Colbie says.

  "Hush," Mama May Dee admonishes from the stove. "That's not proper discussion for mealtime."

  "We're sorry," Colbie says, "Zane's shitty sex life has led to these horrible lunch topics."

  Mama May Dee waves her hand dismissively before leaving the kitchen.

  "Where are you staying?" Colbie asks Jace.

  My stomach leaps into my throat. "He can't stay here."

  "Are you sure? I do love cat fights."

  I hold Jace's gaze, daring him to stay at the house. He stares back, showing me nothing. Bodie stares at her sister, silently discussing something. I want to believe their conversation is over my panic, but I sense they're talking about the fries.

  "Even without ketchup," Colbie says suddenly then turns to Jace. "You should stay at the Love Hut. That's where I plan to lose my virginity. I'll be sure to email you when it happens."

  "Sounds great. Who's the special guy?"

  "I don't know."

  A moment passes where Colbie daydreams about her first lover while I glare at mine.

  "I'm staying at the Hampton Inn."

  "Good deal, but can you afford a hundred a day? I mean, you're poor, right?"
>
  "I'm not poor."

  "Are you sure?" Bodie asks.

  "Compared to you, yeah, but I can pay for the hotel room."

  "Allow us to pick up the tab. It's the least we can do after I shot you in the ass last night."

  "I shot him in the ass," Bodie corrects.

  "Nope."

  "Actually, I wasn't shot in the ass. I did get a few hits to the hip though."

  "Did it hurt?" I ask.

  "A little."

  "I hope you're in agonizing pain."

  Ignoring my anger, Zane asks, "So are you two going to hang out and reminisce while we nap?"

  Jace and I share a moment where we both acknowledge the siblings are living in a different reality. He nearly gives me a smile until I narrow my eyes at him.

  "Forever then?" he asks.

  "What?"

  "You're planning to hold the grudge forever."

  "Only until I die."

  "So if I die first, you'll still be pissed."

  "What do you mean by if?"

  "Ooh," Colbie says, winking at Bodie. "Feel that sexual chemistry."

  "You couldn't say that shit in your heads like the stuff about the fries?" I grumble at them.

  Bodie smiles. "The reality is we can do whatever we want. So to answer your question, yes, we choose to be rude. Feel free to take that personally too."

  Pissed at how the day is turning out, I stand up and prepare to storm from the room.

  "Hey, it's not my place to interfere with your tantrum," Bodie says, leaning back in her chair, "but we're having pie for dessert. Just wanted to make sure you know what you're missing."

  I roll my eyes while Zane smiles at his sister. "You have a sweetness that can't be replicated."

  "Hey!" Colbie cries. "I'm right here."

  "I know. Feel free to take that personally."

  Seeing how they're ignoring me and having some kind of sibling fight, I storm from the kitchen. Apple pie be damned!

  "See you at dinner," Jace says with his mouth full of fries.

  "Fuck off!" I scream.

  Much like when I freak out at home, my anger elicits laughter rather than fear. I stomp past the dogs who growl at me. Up the stairs to the second floor, I hurry into my room and slam the door. Throwing myself on the bed, I know I'm being childish, but I can't shake the rage I feel at seeing Jace again.