me, but he had to get home to see his mother. He rarely misses a dinner with her, so he knew she would be worried he wasn’t there. Oscar left just five minutes ago, staying and—I don’t think it was my imagination—actually enjoying a conversation with Johnny.
Mag stayed just long enough for he and Johnny to talk about Detective Reynolds and how he’d followed us to the gym.
I close the door behind Mag’s retreating form, catching a glimpse of the way his pants hug his ass. Sue me. The guys are hot, so yes, I’m going to catch my fill when I can.
I spin, leaning against the door to look back at the dark prince before casually locking the deadbolt.
“You look happy,” Johnny muses. He darts his tongue out to run across his lips in an almost mesmerizing way. “I wasn’t sure you’d look like that again after we got you back.”
“Is that why you’re going along with my crazy ideas?” I throw out. “Or did you actually have fun tonight?”
Honestly, the night couldn’t have gone better. We all sat around the table chatting like normal human beings. Johnny and Mag even talked about their younger days, even though talk of the Crew life came to a grinding halt. The particular story they were telling involved Brawler’s brother, so both guys were hesitant to finish it in front of him.
“I have fun anywhere you are.”
I stride forward, pushing my palm against his chest. “Talk to me,” I tell him, eyes begging him the whole time. I reach up to undo his tie, loosening it and pulling the fabric out of his collar before unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt. I don’t understand how he can wear a suit almost all the time.
“You just want to know all my secrets...”
“Is that so bad?” I challenge.
He nips at my lip, dragging it through his teeth before it pops back to me.
Fuck. I hadn’t meant this to go in a sexual direction. Honestly. Not that I fucking mind. “Don’t distract me,” I chastise. He grins. I take a step back, peering at him suspiciously. “You were trying to distract me?”
“To be fair, you’re easily distracted around me.”
I give him a teasing swat. “There’s your arrogance. I can’t say that I missed it.”
“You fucking love it,” he says, letting me back him up until he hits the leather couch. He sits and pulls me after him onto his lap.
I situate myself on top, playfully grinding over him—accidentally on purpose—until he’s squirming beneath me and nursing a semi. “You and Jiko seem to get along well. We can trust him?”
Johnny settles his hands on my hips, stopping my movements. “Yeah, we can trust him. My dad and his dad have been friends for a long time. He’s my oldest friend, even though he lives far away. He also has to deal with the same stuff I do, you know?”
I nod. “I wasn’t sure if we could talk freely around him,” I confess. “When we were talking about Brawler, I didn’t know if we could discuss our plan for how the fight should go down.”
“That’s easy,” Johnny says with a quick lift of his shoulders. “You’re going to kick his ass.”
I swallow, my throat suddenly tight. Considering I’d come to the exact opposite conclusion, I don’t know how to react. “What happens if he loses?”
“None of your concern. He brought it upon himself when he decided he wanted to fast-track it into the Crew.”
I stare into Johnny’s ice-blue eyes. Despite the words coming out of his mouth, I detect a hint of hesitation on his side. He has to think of Manning when he sees Brawler. He’s just saying all this for me because Johnny would literally give up everything for me. “It is my concern,” I say. “Brawler’s not going to get hurt because of me.”
Johnny’s jaw ticks, and he moves me off him. He stands, hands perching on his hips as he glares down at me. “So, you’re willing to let him beat the shit out of you, so he can get his way? That’s what you’re saying?” A chill creeps through me. It’s the sudden lack of him that’s the problem. Couple that with the daggers that are now being sliced through me, and I sit on the couch like a chastised child while he continues. “It’s not happening, Kyla. Brawler’s not going to touch you, and if he tries, I’ll—”
I stop him before he can make that threat. I don’t