glaring at me like I’m an annoying child, and he’s the hot babysitter who can’t be bothered with my shit. “Stop fucking apologizing.” He grabs a spoon for him and then one for me, tossing it across the kitchen counter.
“Thanks.” I take the spoon and stir sugar into my mug. He lowers himself onto one of the stools, ignoring me while spooning mouthfuls of granola into his mouth. Deciding to leave it at that, I turn to head back to the front of the RV when his voice stops me in my tracks.
“Oh, and Dove?”
I turn over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
His tongue flicks over his lower lip as he points to my back with his spoon. “Take my fucking hoodie off.”
“Sure,” I reply sharply, hiding the fact that his words stung and that I didn’t know it was his hoodie. He can have it back as soon as I’ve finished my coffee.
I hand the driver his coffee and take a seat on the passenger seat, blowing into the mug. There’s a long silence before he says something.
“I’m Justice.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say, keeping my eyes fixed on the passing trees and farmland.
“You don’t have to lie to me, little girl. I know damn well it’s not nice meeting me, considering your circumstances,” he grunts, taking a sip of his coffee while keeping one hand on the wheel.
I run my palm over my forehead. “What makes you think I had a life worth losing?”
Justice pauses, and I watch as the corner of his mouth turns into a smile. “Touché, Little Birdie.”
“Dove!” Kingston barks from the back. I don’t turn. I’m not one of his groupies. I don’t like being treated like shit when he barely knows me.
“What?” I call out, my monotone voice a dead giveaway on how much I care about his annoyance.
“Hoodie!”
I take a long sip of coffee, swallowing past the burn that each gulp ignites.
“Little Bird, don’t provoke the wolf when you’re a sheep,” Justice whispers.
I stand, turning to face King. His legs are spread wide, and his glare is dead set on me. He’s lounging backward, his head tilted slightly. A couple of the other Brothers begin walking down the stairs.
“Oh, did you mean now?” I ask, reaching for the zipper and sliding it down. I’m well aware that I have nothing but my white lace bra and booty shorts beneath it.
Kingston nods his head. “Yeah, Little Bird, now’d be good. You can come shake your ass around me, too, but you ain’t getting paid.” He cocks his head in challenge.
I unzip it all the way down and shuffle it off my shoulders.
“Jesus Christ, girl,” Justice growls beside me.
I fold the hoodie in my arms, and that’s when I see the name printed on the back. AXTON. And then below that is THE BROTHERS OF KIZNITCH. My eyes shoot up to where Killian is standing still, a mug in his hands, but his eyes on my body.
“Asshole,” I murmur, walking forward and shoving the hoodie at Kingston’s chest in passing.
Killian laughs as I stroll past and head straight for my room.
It was Miami Beach, and I was single, so naturally, I found myself sucking face with a random stranger after a night out with Rich and a couple girls from the club.
I pulled the guy in closer as he reached behind him to unlock the door, swinging it open until it was crashing against the wall.
We both laughed, and it was the first time I noticed he didn’t have great teeth. Hell, the tequila must had been wearing off, but fuck it. I was here, drunk. I needed a distraction. Sure, picking up a random dude from the club wasn’t classy, but tonight, I wasn’t looking for class: I needed to be taken away.
We were fumbling to his bed, and I was falling onto the mattress when he started reaching for a condom. I went with it, because that was why I was here. Once he was naked and rolling on the condom, I yanked him down on top of me and lost my way for all of—five minutes. If that. The song “one-minute man” started playing in the back of my brain when random guy fell asleep beside me, but not before muttering that I could stay the night and go home in the morning, which I was more grateful for than the epic failure of whatever it was that he just fucked me with.
I crawled up his bed and yanked the covers up with me,