He stood there another moment longer, studying her. Then he, too, nodded once and stepped away.
“I notice we didn’t stay long at the clubhouse,” she commented to his back as he dug around in his pack. He glanced over his shoulder at her.
“Figured you were tired. And the boys get a little wild. And I sure as hell didn’t want a repeat of this morning.”
“This morning?” She frowned, not sure what he was referring to.
He turned back to her, his brows raised. “You. Slapping Blood.”
She bit her lip. “Oh. That.”
“Yeah. Oh, that.”
“Well, he deserved it.”
“Ain’t sayin’ he didn’t. But, brat, you have to understand, shit like that is not tolerated. No woman disrespects a brother like that. Ever. We clear?”
“Whatever.”
“No, babe. Not whatever. You need to understand that. Down to your bones. I’m lucky Blood was in a good mood this morning, or he and I would’ve been punching it out in the street over you.”
“Good mood? You’re joking, right?”
“Nope.”
She raised her brows.
Ghost continued on. “So, next time you feel the need to react or feel an impulse like that, you better squash it down. It’s shit like that that’ll force me to cut you loose.”
“Maybe I am impulsive. I suppose I get it from my mother.”
“You definitely are impulsive. I’ll testify to that. Not always the best trait to have, though, babe.”
“Like mother, like daughter, huh?”
“Don’t talk bad about your mom, Jess. She did the best she could by you. And she tried with me, she really did. Hell, I’m sure I was a handful. But she did try. Much as I didn’t like her, I have to give her that.”
“Do you know why she moved us out?”
***
Ghost stared at Jessie wondering where she was going with this, and how their conversation had taken such a turn. But he also felt she had the need to talk. One thing Ghost knew about women, when they needed to talk, you’d best let them. Otherwise they bottled that shit up, and it was bound to explode all over you when you least expected it.
He shook his head, watching her closely.
“Because she read my diary.”
“And?” Why did his chest suddenly feel tight?
“And she found out about…you know…us.”
“Us? There was no ‘us’, Jess,” he stated emphatically. Jesus Christ what the hell was in that diary?
“There was that kiss.”
His brows rose. “You wrote about that in your diary?”
“Of course.”