“She misses you, too. Why don’t you come for a visit?”
Again her eyes slid to Wolf where he leaned against a corner of the bar. “I don’t know.”
Crash followed her eyes then turned back to her. “Go say hello.”
Her eyes flicked up to Crash, who gave her an encouraging smile and a gentle shove on the small of her back.
She really didn’t remember walking across the twenty feet that separated them, she just found herself standing in front of him. “Hey, Wolf. How are you?”
Their eyes met as he moved in for a hug. Didn’t he realize what being in his arms again was doing to her? Hell, she was coming undone, unraveling right on the spot. All those feelings she’d tried to bury came rushing up to the surface and threatened to bubble over. They held each other for a long moment, and then he stepped back, forcing her to take a deep breath and get it together.
Their eyes met, and she wished he’d look off somewhere instead of holding her gaze, searching as if he could see every feeling she tried to hide.
God, why did he have to look at her that way, why did he have to make her keep wanting him?
It was all there again. Like it’d never been gone. It just flamed right up, blazing as strongly as ever.
And then suddenly Shane was there, standing at her side. She turned her head, looking up into his grinning face. He spun, showing her the back of his cut.
“Check it out, Crystal. Full patch.”
Her eyes fell to take in the full three-piece patch, and she grinned, truly pleased for him. “You got your patch!”
He turned back to her, and she gave him a hug. “Me and Jake, both.”
She pulled back to smile up in his face. “That’s great. I’m happy for you.” Her eyes moved past him to search the crowd. “Where is he?”
“He’s here somewhere. Probably hitting on some chick.” Then she watched his eyes move over her shoulder to Wolf. And then he was taking her hand and pulling her along. “Dance with me.”
As he pulled her through the crowd, she glanced back at Wolf to see his eyes on her. He looked pissed, but there was nothing he could do about it anymore. Shane was no longer a lowly prospect that he could push around.
They got to the tiny dance floor in the back corner of the bar, and Shane pulled her into his arms. They rocked slowly, and then he dipped his head to her ear.
“Bet this is pissing him off big time.”
She pulled back to look at Shane. “You mean Wolf?”
He nodded. “Gotta admit, it feels good not to have to take his shit anymore.”
She noticed for the first time, in the colored spotlights of the dance floor, the bruising on his face. Her hand moved up, her thumb brushing over his cheekbone. “You’re hurt.”
“Naw. I’m okay.”
“You were in a fight?”
“Let’s just say they make you earn this cut, right up to the second they give it to you.”
“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say to that. She knew that because of her, the bad blood between Wolf and Shane had made it all the worse for him. He’d taken more than his fair share of abuse, at least from Wolf. More than his buddy, Jake had had to take. She looked up into Shane’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“For what, darlin’?”
“I probably made it worse for you, I mean, when I came onto you that first night, trying to make Wolf jealous, that put you on his radar. I’m sure he put you through hell for it.”
Shane studied her a moment.
“Yeah, I’m not gonna deny it, he did. But that’s over now. Ain’t a damn thing he can do about it anymore. And, I gotta say, a little payback would be nice.” He grinned down at her. “You want to help me out with that?”
“Payback?”