“I won’t say anything,” I said. It was Joni who I addressed yet I didn’t take my eyes off Zip. His gaze searched my face and finally he whispered, “Thank you.”
Zip didn’t look at Joni as he headed down the stairs.
When I was sure he was gone, I said to Joni, “You’re certainly playing a dangerous game. Out in the open like that.”
“Do you want to come in?” she asked, turning the knob on her door.
“Hell yeah I want to come in,” I said, still trying to wrap my brain around what I’d just seen. “When did he—how did you—and he—”
“Last night. Well, actually, early this morning.” She smiled slightly. “He saw me on stage and came to my hotel room. And then he—ah—”
“I didn’t interrupt you guys just now, did I?”
She shook her head. “We were saying goodbye.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Didn’t look like goodbye from where I was standing. You guys are playing with fire. Sneaking around in the clubhouse? Just be glad it was me who saw you guys and not someone else. Like Boxer.”
Joni sobered.
I nodded. “Yeah. Boxer is totally aware that there’ssomethingbetween you and Zip. It’s obvious to anyone with two eyes. You have to tell Colt.”
“I can’t,” she pleaded. “Not yet.”
“Is this Zip talking, or you? Is this because he doesn’t want a relationship?”
She shook her head. “Listen to what you just said. You’re already calling it a relationship. I need time—we need time—to figure out what all this is without the pressure of telling my brother.”
“I’m in the middle now,” I said softly.
Her eyes were contrite. “I’m sorry. I really am.”
“No. Don’t be. We’re friends, and I’ll keep your secret. Even if—when—all this blows up.”
“I just have to make sure this is real, you know? Before I go messing with everyone’s lives.”
“What does Zip want?”
“To tell Colt.”
“That’s surprising. If he wanted you only for a one night stand, would he even bother wanting to tell Colt?”
“I don’t know.” Her brow furrowed. “They have weird rules about getting involved with sisters. Like a code of honor or something. So Zip might want to tell Colt for the sake of brotherhood and respect, regardless if he has real feelings for me or not.”
“This is a clusterfuck,” I muttered.
“And I hate that I even have to say this, but please don’t tell Darcy or the others.”
“I won’t. If you divulge one thing.”
“What?”
I grinned. “How hot was the sex?”
Joni and I came down the stairs and grabbed ourselves plates of food to take outside. The boys had lit a bonfire and torches to keep the bugs away. The cool beer went down far too easily.
After the sun set, Darcy ushered the kids inside and plopped them in front of the TV in the entertainment room down in the basement. Little ears had a tendency to hear things they weren’t supposed to hear, so it was club policy to keep them on another floor entirely.
Colt spent most of the night with his arm around my shoulder and every time I tried to leave, he’d ask where I was going. Clearly he didn’t feel comfortable leaving me alone because of what I’d said about Knight.