“BreakYourLittleHeart”—AllTimeLow
Ineeded to clear my head after rushing out of church. I knew I’d take an ass-chewing for not only pulling the club into my shit without permission, but for walking out like I did. The thing was, for my own sanity, I had to. During the short time in my room after I’d woken up from Angel’s healing, I’d thought maybe we were connecting again—that maybe there was still something there. Voodoo had even said he saw her as my ol’ lady. Then she up and asked when she could leave and disappear. It had not only pissed me off, it hurt.
As I sat at the bar with the beer in my hand, Cookie came in the front door.
“Hey, handsome,” she said as she stopped next to me and draped an arm around my shoulders. When all I did was grunt, she narrowed her gaze and studied me.
“You okay?” she questioned.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” I admitted. Cookie may have been one of our strippers and hung out at the clubhouse a lot, but she was also pretty astute. Though I’d fucked her plenty of times, we weren’t a thing. She wasn’t interested in becoming an ol’ lady even if I had wanted her to be. Cookie liked sex, and that was fine with everyone involved. She was also a helluva good woman.
“Aww, you need some tension release?” she teased in my ear as she turned my stool and stepped between my legs. She rested her arms over my shoulders as she looked me in the eye. I dropped my gaze and didn’t so much as touch her.
She’d been my go-to for a long time, but my cock didn’t give a single twitch at her suggestion. The only woman I could think about was one I couldn’t completely reconcile with who she used to be.
“I think my dick is broke. Sorry,” I muttered.
She threw her head back and laughed. As she was preparing to push off me, I heard Facet call Laila’s name. I glanced over my shoulder to see her cold gaze on me. She quickly looked away and moved down the hall.
“Goddammit,” I muttered, knowing damn well what she thought she saw. I carefully set Cookie back so I could stand. She frowned but didn’t pout. Instead, she appeared thoughtful.
Though I knew it shouldn’t matter what Lila—Laila—thought, it did. With each stride I made that brought me closer to her, I told myself too many years had passed. Too many lies told. Too many things had changed.
It was a bad idea.
I could hear her voice in Facet’s room, and I had to force myself to wait in the hall.
Initially, she didn’t notice me as they exited his room. As I watched, I hated how close Facet was walking to her. Wanting to rage and greedily scoop her up, I instead bit my tongue and carefully schooled my features. Facet placed a hand at her lower back to guide her, and I had to brace myself on the wall to keep from charging my fucking friend.
The movement caught her attention, and she glanced my way. I stared at her, and though I tried not to allow my eyes to sweep over her, it was a losing battle.
Facet closed the door and gave me a questioning look.
“What’s going on in your head?” he asked me.
“Besides wanting to throttle you?” I asked with a cocked brow.
“Huh?” He sounded startled.
I buried my face in my hands and dragged them down over my mouth as I stared at the ceiling. Footsteps sounded above us, and I wondered which prospect was up there. The chapter had grown enough that the rooms downstairs were reserved for patched members and important visitors. Prospects, club girls, and other visitors were upstairs.
“Nothing. Sorry, bro.”
“You sure? Come in for a minute,” he said as he passed me to open his door.
Reluctantly, I followed him in. Unable to sit still, I paced.
“Jesus, you’re making me nervous. What the fuck is your deal? And don’t tell me nothing, because I’ll call bullshit.”
A humorous laugh left my tight chest. To relieve the tension, I rubbed my fist over it, to no avail. When I didn’t say anything, Facet did.
“You know a man like Luis Trujillo likely won’t forget she witnessed his presence during her family’s murder.” Facet was clicking and sliding windows around from screen to screen until I was damn near dizzy.
“I pretty much came to the same conclusion.”
“So what now? Have you talked to her?”
“A little. I’m not sure I trust myself. I started to lose my shit on her,” I admitted, ashamed of how I’d gone off.