Coyote (Hawks MC Next Generation #1) - Lila Rose Page 0,15
and enjoyed each other’s company.
“Any other day, I would say nothing, but I’ve had a rough morning. What were you thinking, though?”
The front door opened, and I glanced away from Bryson and saw Cody enter. His eyes were glued to Bryson. Strange, did they know each other? I offered a lame wave and regretted it right away. Thankfully, he didn’t see it.
“Channa?” Bryson called.
“Sorry, what?”
“There’s a new action movie out I thought you’d like to see, but we can go another day.”
I moved my gaze over Bryson’s shoulder again to see Cody glaring at him. I looked to Bryson again. “Um, sure, another day. That’d be good.”
He straightened. “Great.”
“Bryson, your coffee,” Denise called.
Bryson winked at me, then turned. He froze when he spotted Cody close behind him. “Excuse me,” he said, but Cody didn’t move. Bryson narrowed his gaze, shifted around Cody, and moved down to the end of the counter.
Cody stepped close my way. “Two cappuccinos, one with sugar,” he said, while keeping an eye on Bryson. Did he have a crush on the guy? Was Cody gay? But then he wouldn’t have glared at him… unless Bryson wasn’t interested, I supposed. My heart dropped and mixed with my gut; it would be a damn shame if Cody was gay. Many women—and I wasn’t saying I was one of them—would be disappointed if he wasn’t on the market.
“Sure. Denise—”
“Got it,” she called.
He grabbed out his wallet, but I waved him off. “No charge.”
His gaze slowly slid my way and his smile was lazy. “No, Channa.” Had he said my name before? I wasn’t sure, and maybe I’d been too busy in my head to take it in, and I still didn’t then because it sounded nice coming from his lips. Too nice. Like it would be easy to fantasise him calling my name while….
Nope. Nuh-uh. I wasn’t allowing that to get to me and my body. Not him.
“Yes, Co—ah, Coyote.” Crap, I nearly called him Cody. He didn’t know I knew his real name.
He slapped a note on the counter. “No, Channa,” he stated, his voice deeper than normal.
“Channa,” Bryson called.
I glanced there.
“Channa,” Cody said.
I looked at him.
“Channa,” Bryson clipped.
I started to shift my gaze when a hand covered mine on the counter. I looked down to see Cody had slipped the note under my hand. My eyes shot up to glare at the smiling man.
I heard a curse, then Bryson called with a wave, “See you tomorrow.”
“You got it.” I waved, and then, as Cody was watching me, I placed his note in the Save the Gorillas tin.
He chuckled.
I paled. “Shit, I needed to give you change.”
He laughed more, shaking his head. “All good, Channa.”
I picked up the tin, tipped it upside down, but there wasn’t a way to open it. “I could get a can opener.”
His hands covered mine over the tin, which pulled my gaze up to meet his. Humour danced in his eyes. “Forget it.”
“Two cappuccinos, one with sugar,” Denise called.
He dropped my hands. “Better get back to it.” I was still in some type of meltdown, maybe over his laugh, maybe from his touch. Whatever it was, I stood there like an idiot as he grabbed the takeaway coffees, walked to the door, and out it.
Denise sidled up beside me. “What was that?”
“Huh?” I asked.
“What was that?”
“Looked like they were trying to piss over her” came from behind us.
Denise and I turned to face Stanley, who stood just outside the doors to the back with his arms crossed over his chest. He said to me, “You’ve got some explaining to do. How’d you get the attention of the Hawks MC?”
My eyes widened. I quickly shushed Stanley and ushered him out the back by waving my hands that way. He stomped through, I followed, and Denise was behind me.
“I’ll keep an ear out for customers,” she said, stopping just inside the doors. “What actually happened this morning?” she asked me, then directed at Stanley, “And what do you mean the Hawks MC have their attention on her?”
“When I pulled around the back, I noticed two bikes out the front with their riders still on them. They had their eyes trained on the bakery. I didn’t like it, didn’t trust it, not until I saw one of them with our Channa.”
It warmed my heart when he said our like they’d claimed me as their family. I guess I had with them as well. It was good to know they felt the same.