by S. Nelson
“You didn’t have to walk me inside. Riley, Natalie, and Braylen are here. I’m sure someone else already made sure there wasn’t anyone hiding out, ready to pounce.”
“That’s not funny,” I reprimanded, stepping back when she tried to touch me. “I’m serious, and you need to be too.”
“Okay.”
Wow. That was the quickest she’d ever relented to something I said. Maybe getting shot was the best thing that could’ve happened to me, in a sick sense. Chelsea had come around to the idea of being with me, as well as living with me, even if it was only in the interim. And her moods weren’t as hot and cold as they normally were when we were together. There was the sandwich-tossing incident last night, but that seemed to be the worst of it.
“Hi,” Riley greeted, giving her best friend a quick hug before turning her attention to me. “How are you feeling?” She looked worried.
“I’m fine. Sore, but fine.”
“My friend’s not givin’ you a hard time, is she?”
“Hey. You’re supposed to be on my side. No matter what.” Chelsea gave Riley a faux hurt look, her parted mouth and deep frown not fooling anyone.
“You know I am, but the poor guy was… you know.” She waved her hand up and down my length. “I just wanna make sure you’re not giving him unnecessary stress.”
“She is,” I quickly answered. “But she’s making up for it too.” I bent and kissed Chelsea, nipping the corner of her mouth before standing to my full height. Riley’s eyes bounced between us, a full-on smug smile appearing out of nowhere.
Then she motioned between the two of us. “You guys are good? Like good, good? Like together finally?”
Her last three words were drawn out, waiting expectantly for one of us to respond. I wanted to shout, “Finally,” but I wanted my girlfriend to answer.
My girlfriend. I loved the sound of that. Long time in the making.
I elbowed Chelsea in the arm and she finally spoke up. “Yes. Ace and I are together. He’s my boyfriend now. You happy?”
“Very,” Riley responded.
“What the hell?” Natalie groaned from across the salon. “Now he’s off the market, too? Is there anyone left?” She didn’t even wait for a response from anyone before she was on her phone, chatting away with whomever was calling at nine in the morning.
The youngest of the hairstylists, Natalie, was flirtatious, outspoken, and guy crazy. She hit on everyone, old and young alike. Sometimes I thought she did if more for effect to get a reaction out of people. She was attractive enough with her thin figure and dark hair, but she wasn’t my type.
“Chelsea,” Riley said in warning. “You know how she is. She’s harmless.”
Memories flooded in of our big blowout and how the woman next to me misunderstood what I said about Natalie. I supposed it was safe to say Chelsea didn’t particularly care for her.
“I know. Besides, if Ace even looks at another woman the wrong way, I’ll kill him.” She smiled but I knew she was serious. She’d hand me my balls for sure.
“You’re too sweet, babe.” I gave her another quick kiss before reminding her of the new rules. “Make sure you don’t leave this place until either I’m back or one of the other guys are. Understood?”
She mock saluted me, much like she’d done back at my house when she first arrived last night. “You got it.”
I turned and moved toward the exit, overhearing a quick exchange between the two friends before I stepped outside.
“You seem happy.”
“I am. He wore me down,” my woman responded, making me smile.
I’d take the win where I could get it.
28
I refused to chase the thought of what could’ve happened to Ace for the thousandth time because all that did was hype up my anxiety to a level I was unfortunately used to, although it seemed to be lessening in the past twenty-four hours. I would’ve thought it to be the opposite, given the potential danger surrounding everyone right now, but I trusted he’d do everything in his power to make sure I remained safe, as long as I listened to him, of course, which was something else I was getting used to. I wasn’t known for following orders well.
“I’m so happy for you two,” Riley said for the third time since he left two hours ago.
“So you’ve said.” I gently massaged the shampoo into my client’s hair, losing myself to the repetitive motion while my thoughts drifted between Ace and what I was gonna pack up from my place to take to his. “I agreed to stay with him for now, too. You know, until things….” My words trailed off because I didn’t want to say anything in front of anyone else present.
Riley clapped her hands together, the smile so wide on her face I thought for sure the indentations would freeze like that. “Yay!”
“You need to calm down.” I chuckled, loving my bestie was genuinely happy for me but wanting her to dial it back a bit. “It’s just for now. Your brother and Maddie are going to stay at my house until this all blows over and I go back home.”
“If you go back home.”
“When I go back home,” I corrected. “I just agreed to be with him. There is no way I’m moving in with him permanently.”
“Why not? I did.” Riley shrugged as if shacking up with a guy was a normal everyday occurrence. It wasn’t for me, and it hadn’t been for her either before she moved in with Kaden.
“You were also in a relationship with him years ago, so there’s a history there.”
She readjusted her top bun, pieces sticking straight out but looking as if it was done on purpose. “True.” Her shoulder bounced once more. “Still.”
“That’s a good argument.” I rinsed the rest of my customer’s hair, added conditioner, massaged that through as well and did a final wash before gathering her hair in a towel. “You can go sit in the second chair over there, Lisa,” I said, pointing to my station. She was a new client, someone I’d never seen before, and while she appeared a little rough around the edges with her heavy makeup and sleeve tattoos, mixed with an appearance of hard partying, which I couldn’t quite accurately describe because it was a certain look, she seemed nice enough, smiling every time we made eye contact.
Over the next half hour, while I dried and styled her hair, we chatted about men, movies, and our favorite places to eat. The restaurants she named I’d never heard of, so I assumed she wasn’t from directly around here.
“Thanks so much.” Natalie checked Lisa out at the front counter while she waited for her own client.
“Nice to meet you,” I responded. “I’d be happy to have you come in again.”
“Oh, I’ll be back.” She smiled at me once more, then walked out the door. For some reason I watched her as she strolled toward her car, but when she walked to the end of the parking lot, then disappeared around the corner, I thought it odd. But I chalked it up to her possibly living within walking distance, which wasn’t a high probability, or maybe she was meeting someone somewhere close by. Why I even gave it this much thought baffled me, until Riley added her two cents.
“She was a little strange.” Not the words I would’ve chosen, so I took the bait.
“How so?” I busied myself straightening my station for my next customer, who was due to arrive in twenty minutes.
“Just a feeling. Plus, she kept looking around the salon like she was casing the joint.”
“Really?”
“I agree,” Natalie said, lifting her head, and tearing her focus from her phone for the several seconds it took her to add in those two words.
“I didn’t get that feeling.” Now it was my time to shrug. “I thought she seemed okay.”
The chime above the door rang, Kena walking inside, her oldest son, Harrison, right behind her followed by Roman, Braylen and Ryder’s son.
Kena used to stop by more often to visit her sister but as of late, she’d been busy at her family’s restaurant, which she was in charge of running. And for as many hours as she’d put in at work, she didn’t look physic
ally affected. She had a glow about her, her shoulder-length dark hair containing a shine I was envious of.
“Hey, guys,” I greeted, ruffling Roman’s dark and unruly hair when he was close. He gave me a quick side hug then took a seat against the back wall, pulling out his gaming device.
Before I could say a word to Harrison, Natalie shoved past me and made a beeline right for him. “Who is this?” she asked, standing too close for comfort, popping her hip and sticking her chest out. She wasn’t well endowed but her low-cut V-neck still showcased a bit of cleavage.
I leaned into her and answered, “Jailbait. He’s only sixteen.” Granted, Harrison looked older for his age, but he was in fact only sixteen years old.
“I’ll be seventeen in three months,” he said, smiling back at Natalie when he added in his future age.
“You’re so cute,” she flirted. “I bet you have a girlfriend, don’t you?”
“Not anymore.”
“What do you mean not anymore?” his aunt asked, appearing from the hallway. “When did you have a girlfriend?”
“Aunt Braylen!” Harrison’s tone was one of embarrassment.
Kena raised her hands and created fluid movements, Braylen smirking while Harrison shrunk in his chair. I’d picked up a decent amount of sign language just from being around Kena for years, but I didn’t know enough to be fluent.
“What did she say?” I asked Riley, who stood next to me.
“She said Harrison isn’t allowed to date anyone with his grades the way they are. His focus is school and not girls.”
“Oh.”
“Can we change the subject, please?” Harrison pleaded, grinning at Natalie one last time before taking a seat next to his cousin.
“Well, Harrison, I’m coming after you when you turn eighteen.” Natalie twirled a lock of her hair, and it was all I could do not to shake my head and push her back to her station. In the end, it was Kena who tilted her head, wearing a no-nonsense expression and pointed for Natalie to move away from her son. No one had to know sign language to pick up on what Kena was getting at.
“Fine.” Natalie’s mouth was wide open, her eyes practically bugging out of her head in annoyance, although I didn’t believe it to be serious. She just loved to flirt. It was her thing. She didn’t have a specific type—he just had to be hot, as she would say. Harrison was sixteen and Ryder was in his fifties. Her flirtation knew no age range.
Kena smiled when Natalie turned and walked away, signing something to her sister briefly before touching her arm.
“What happened?” Riley suddenly asked, moving from me and closer to where they stood, which was only ten feet away.
“I’m fine,” Braylen answered, her hand resting over her growing belly. “We’re all fine. It was just an accident.”
“What happened?” I parroted my best friend’s question from seconds ago. “What accident?”
“Mom crashed the SUV three days ago,” Roman answered, never lifting his head from his game.
“Oh my God.” I breached the space between us and put my hand on her upper arm. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah.” Her eyes roamed over each movement Kena made with her hands. “Just some guy who came out of nowhere. I didn’t get a look at him before he took off after I hit the guardrail.” Braylen’s hand rested over her belly once more, rubbing in small circles.
I couldn’t help but wonder if someone had tried to run her off the road because she was Ryder’s wife. Even as the thought formed, I knew I wasn’t gonna be the one to voice it because I didn’t want to overstep. But then Braylen continued speaking.
“Ryder said Roman and I can’t go anywhere without him or one of the guys accompanying us.”
Kena’s hands were hard at work, her brows drawn tightly. Riley translated for me. “She said Jagger told her the same.” Then she added, “Kaden gave me the same spiel.”
“As did Ace,” I chimed in. Hearing that everyone here was warned not to go anywhere unaccompanied made things seem much worse than me thinking Ace was just being overprotective.
Braylen and Kena shared a worried look but wouldn’t elaborate further when Riley asked what was wrong.
“Who came with you today?” Looking toward the front of the salon, I didn’t see Jagger anywhere. The only person I saw outside on the sidewalk was a broad-shouldered guy with a Knights cut on, his back facing the front of the salon. He had long dark hair and, at first, I thought it was the guy who’d been sent to follow me, but when he turned to the side, I saw this guy was much older, and cuter, despite his age.
Pulling my focus from the stranger, I caught Kena signing Nash. The ASL alphabet was the one thing I knew well.
“Who’s Nash?”
My innocent inquiry had Braylen bumping Kena’s shoulder in what appeared to be jest. “Oh, just someone who was sweet on my sister years ago.” Braylen laughed when Kena slapped her on the arm, signing something quickly in response, but it was her cheeks pinking that made me dig deeper for details.
“Really?” I asked, my attention fixated on the mysterious Nash character before flitting back to the sisters. “Do tell.”
“One time we had to go to Laredo and stay with the charter there while the guys….” Braylen’s words trailed off for a moment before picking back up. “They had to take care of some things here, so we stayed there for a couple days. Anyway, every time Nash saw Kena, he practically tripped over himself just to chat her up. He wasn’t inappropriate, but I could tell he fancied her a bit.” The smile on her face was matched by Kena’s embarrassed one.
“Did Jagger know?” Riley asked, leaning against her station, intently listening to the story.
“No.” Braylen’s answer was emphatic. “Jagger’s a pretty laid-back guy, but he wouldn’t stand for someone flirting with his woman.
Kena’s hands flew through the air once more.
Riley smiled before looking to me. “She said Nash never flirted with her.”
“She’s lying. My sister won’t admit it because then she feels she might have to tell Jagger.”
The door to the salon opened, the bell ringing and interrupting our conversation. “Tell Jagger what?” Kena’s husband walked in, said hello to his son and nephew before striding toward his wife to give her a kiss. The way he looked at her was endearing, like she was his entire world.
“Nothing,” Riley and Braylen said at once.
Jagger’s eyes narrowed. “Uh-huh.” He then looked toward me and Riley. “Ladies.” He was always so polite, and he seemed to be one of the calmer guys in the club. Like Braylen mentioned… laid-back. Then again, I compared him against Ace. Anyone might seem super chill when pitted against his temperamental ass, even though over the past couple days, his moods, while stressed because of everything that happened, seemed to be more consistently serene, which was an odd sentiment to even think about him that way.
Nash walked into the salon a minute after Jagger, and up close he was even more attractive than I’d initially seen, his dark blue eyes landing right on Kena as soon as he saw her. When he smiled, I realized whatever he felt for Kena back then was still prevalent, even if it was just an innocent crush. His eyes moved to me and when he saw me smiling right along with him, his grin fell and he coughed, slamming right into the back of Jagger because he’d been distracted.
“You okay?” Jagger asked, turning to look at the guy.
“Yeah. Sorry.” His voice was deep, raspy. I understood why Kena never wanted to admit a thing. This seemed to be innocent yet dangerous territory. “I’m gonna head back now, or do you want me to stick around?”
“Nah. You go. Marek might need you for something else.” The two men clasped hands and Nash walked out moments later, but not before sneaking a quick peek back at Kena. His admiration was quick, and Jagger never noticed, his attention solely on his wife, who was nestled into his side.
But apparently there were curious eyes everywhere. “Mom’s got an admirer,” Harrison blurted, a cocky smirk
on his handsome face, but when his dad whipped around to look at him, he shifted in his seat.
“Who?” Gone was any trace of calm from Jagger’s tone, his features scrunching together in confusion and a hint of anger. “Who are you referring to?”
“No one.”
Kena shifted nervously in her husband’s hold right before he broke away from her. He was next to Harrison three steps later, knocking his crossed leg off his opposing knee. “Are you talkin’ about Nash?”
“He’s just messin’ with you,” Braylen interrupted. “You know how he loves to get a reaction out of you.” She looked at her sister and nervously shrugged, the corners of her mouth turning down in hopes he’d believe her.
Jagger ignored his son and moved back toward Kena, his eyes darkening. “Has Nash ever come on to you?” The deep tenor of his voice warned everyone present he was gonna start shouting any second if he wasn’t given the correct answer.
Kena vigorously shook her head, signing rapidly when Jagger’s angry expression remained.
“Stop overreacting to your son’s teasing,” Braylen admonished, trying to sound serious, while worry flashed behind her eyes. Kena’s hands were still going, only dropping to her sides when Jagger walked away.
“Let’s go,” he barked, walking out the door, waiting for his wife and the two boys outside on the sidewalk.
“Nice goin’,” Braylen said, gently smacking Harrison on the back of his head when he stood.
“I didn’t think he’d get all pissy,” he quickly responded.
“You’ve got a lot to learn about men and women,” Riley teased, giving him and Roman a hug before they followed Kena from the salon.
29
“What’s up Jagger’s ass?” I closed the driver-side door, glancing from Ryder, who sat beside me, to Brick and Tag in the back seat.
“Who the fuck knows,” Ryder grumbled, fiddling with the radio until he finally just shut it off.
“Maybe I should ask what’s up your ass instead, man.” I flicked the radio back on but kept the volume low. When he didn’t answer, I smacked his leg.