The Intuition - Debra Kayn Page 0,12

Zach and Kenny while he mingled with the locals. She understood who lived and breathed the lifestyle.

Laurel was an outsider.

"What part of going to the bridge and coming straight here hadn't you understood?" He turned her to face him. "You're lucky I'm letting you be with your friends tonight while you're grounded from school."

"Laurel has no one and no food. Plus, she's hurt, in case you forgot." Trina dug the toe of her sneaker in the gravel, kicking rocks out of her way. "She's nice and was just sitting on the river bank when I saw her from the bridge. She looked lonely."

He exhaled heavily. Laurel wasn't his responsibility.

"Can I make her a plate of food?" Laurel looked up at him. "Please?"

He swallowed. Not once since Trina moved in with him had she ever asked for anything. Instead, she fought him every step, rebelled against everything he asked her to do, but grudgingly went with his rules, eventually.

"It'll be an hour until the food is ready." He bent at the waist and lowered himself to Trina's level. "Then, she eats and leaves. Understood?"

Trina nodded before running back to Zach's side. His attention went to Laurel, taking in the way she listened to his daughter and her friends. Something wasn't right with that scene.

Why would a woman, probably in her late thirties, want to hang around children?

"Are you responsible for the trespasser," said Prez in his ear.

He swept the crowd, pinning his gaze on Prez at the opposite end of the parking lot. "Trina brought her."

"Get rid of her."

"She's going to eat and leave."

"Damnit, Speeder."

"I'll keep an eye on her."

"Do better than that. Don't leave her side."

He walked toward Laurel. The last thing he wanted to do was babysit a grown-ass woman.

The three teens quieted the closer he got to them and stopped talking altogether as he breached their inner circle. Laurel, the last one to be aware of him, slowly turned and faced him.

She raised her brows, and her full lips parted. Her surprise showed on her face.

"We'll be eating soon." He pointed to an empty picnic table. "Why don't you sit in the shade. You don't want to get sun on your stitches."

The excuses came fast. He needed to keep her away from the others.

She walked with him away from the kids. On the way to the table, he grabbed a can of pop and a bottle of beer. Setting both drinks in front of her, he waited until she took the pop before twisting the cap off the beer and sitting opposite of her.

"It was nice of Trina to invite me." She took a drink. "So, this is your club?"

The motorcycle club was more than an organization. The members were his family. The clubhouse his home. Avery Falls his town. The mountains his world. The only place he remembered. Each member understood what he'd lived through and what he'd survived. There was no hiding here. His enhancements were a part of him, and since the originals had the same abilities, he could relax.

He belonged here.

She was an outsider.

His MC brothers understood living each minute of the day with the knowledge that those controlling the Alpha Bio Project had ultimate control over him, and could end his existence, whenever they wanted to switch him.

He found comfort around the others.

He would never know when the switch would happen. The controller could send him away by simply saying a word—whether to annihilate others or force him to kill himself.

The project owned him—even his thoughts.

It was only recently he became aware of his fragile existence.

He cleared his throat. "Each Friday in the summer, we invite the locals to get together with the members of Avery Falls Motorcycle Club."

She cupped the can of pop in both hands, leaning forward against the table. "Have I misunderstood? Trina invited—"

"It's fine." He stopped from raising red flags. "You're injured, not a tourist."

"Hm." Her brows pinched, and she winced, averting her gaze.

Her stitches looked okay. The redness hadn't spread, and the swelling had gone down.

"You'll need to see a doctor and have the stitches taken out in three-four days. Any longer, and you'll have a bigger scar." He tossed back half his beer. "There's a hospital in St. Maries."

"I'll do that." She rubbed her lips together. "Is it okay to stay in the trailer until then?"

"Yeah." He wasn't sure of Hank's schedule or if he had the trailer reserved. They'd have to make other arrangements if anyone showed up, expecting to stay.

Schedule and tourist problems were normal