After meeting with Colt it was decided that it would be best to get Cain back under the protection of the club temporarily. But we both knew he couldn't stay. Knowing I'd no doubt have to lose my best buddy all over again didn't sit well with me. But I did know it was going to be for the best.
The following day I arrived at Hank's coffee shop to find Cain sitting there twisting a full mug around in his hands. I made my way over to him and he stood. I have to say I was filled with relief that he hadn't bolted in all the fucking confusion.
I pulled him into a bear hug and slapped his back. “Fuck, dude, I’m so glad you’re still here. It’s good to see you, man.”
He shrugged. “Where was I gonna go?”
Okay, so he had a point. Considering he told me his memory was sketchy, I doubted he'd have a clue where to start. “Oh, I wondered if you might get spooked and jump a flight out of Dodge.”
He shook his head as he peered at me and scrunched his brow. A look of suspicion if I ever saw one. “Nah. I have too many questions that need answering.”
Shit, where the hell should I start? “Sure… sure you do. So… what’ve you been doing today?”
He informed me that I had an admirer and I instantly had an inkling he meant Chloe. But I guessed he'd got it wrong about her feelings for me. Considering the recent encounters we'd had, I suspected she was filled with anything but admiration.
But when I questioned him he insisted. “Nope. She went all doe-eyed when she found out I knew you.”
“You’re talking about sweet Chloe? Chloe with the big brown eyes and chocolate colored hair? The one who used to pole dance over at The Fox Hub?”
His eyes widened with shock. “Wait, what? She used to do what?”
I couldn't help laughing at his reaction. “That’s where we first met her. You must remember her, dude. She was the best fucking dancer they had. But then… well, something happened, I don’t know what, and she left. Disappeared for a while. When she came back, she got a job in the library, and I haven’t seen her much since.” Okay so some of it was true. Cain didn't need to know all the gory-ass details and I wasn't prepared to tell him, regardless of how much she probably hated me for what I'd put her through. What had happened was between her and I...no one else.
I showed him a video on my phone of Chloe as Nina, strutting her sexy stuff to one of my favorite songs in the hope it might jog his memory. It certainly jogged mine.
He asked about the track. The goddamn track of all things. “You’re kidding me, right? I’m showing you your little sassy library assistant cavorting, and all you can think about is the song? Queens of the Stone Age would be proud. It’s their track ‘I Appear Missing’.” I laughed again, bewildered. “Fuck, man, you must have it bad for someone if you’re not looking at her tits.” As soon as the words fell from my mouth a twinge of guilt tugged at my insides. I hated that I'd just spoken about her that way. But again, Cain didn't need to know the extent of my feelings when I didn't fully understand them myself.
He shook his head and a crease appeared between his eyebrows. “Come on, man. She seems really nice. Don’t you think you’re being disrespectful?”
Fuck, did he read my mind? I felt the heat of a furnace rise in my face and I hit the stop button on the video. Jeez it came to something when the two baddest asses in town were getting pissy with each other over treating some woman like meat.
“I was just trying to prove a point.” I couldn't hide the sulkiness in my voice.
Thankfully he smiled. “Yeah, well, now you have. She really seems to like you.”
I wished he was right. “I doubt it. Let’s just say that I’m not exactly the kind of guy someone like her goes for. Well not her now anyway. She wasn’t working at the club long. I don’t think she was right for the place. She was too… I guess… nice.”
He slapped my shoulder. “Sounds like you might like her too.”
We needed to get off the fucking subject.
♥♥♥
I took Cain back to the Club on the back of my bike and when we got there he was greeted with a very warm welcome from Delilah. After I managed to drag her off of him I took him up to see Colt. Watching Cain's reaction as Colt filled in the gaps in his memory was gut wrenching. And once it was over, all I could think about was Chloe. The guilt at how I'd talked about her still twinged in my chest when I remembered. But along with the guilt, a little spark of hope had sprung to life at hearing Cain say she obviously liked me too. Maybe she and I had a chance after all? But how the hell could I make her see that I was willing to change? Not completely, obviously. I mean once you're involved in club life it's hard to go back to being some normal dude with a regular job and all that shit. But I was hoping that maybe she could learn to accept me and all my baggage as a package deal.
If Cain was right.
God please let him be right.
♥♥♥
Colt arranged a big shin-dig on account of Cain being back in the fold. All the other CoSMiC charters from around the state were invited, and some from out of state. The idea was that we were supposed to drink a few beers, eat a few burgers and come up with a plan of action. A way to safeguard all of us and to stop the rival club war that was still brewing beneath the surface.
Toward the end of the night I was bored out of my head. I had encouraged Cain to go upstairs with Delilah and I was getting tired of watching half dressed women cavort around badly to my favorite music, ruining it completely for me. I'd purposefully thrown away every drink I'd been handed, knowing full well I was going to leave at some point and head to see Chloe.
But would she let me in?
I rode across town at speed, the cool early morning air hitting my face and awakening all my senses. As I kicked up a gear, eager to get to her apartment, I was trying to figure out what the hell I could say to make her realize that she did still like me. That I'd been an asshole of epic proportions and that I'd had a severe case of male pride.
It was one in the morning when I reached her building and the door was locked. Fuck it. I walked around to the side and peered up at her bedroom window. No light. Great. But what the hell did I expect really at this time of day? A disheartening sinking sensation knotted my stomach but as if fate had wanted to intervene a light suddenly came on in her room. I did the only thing I could think of and picked up some pieces of gravel ready to throw but I caught sight of two silhouettes in the window.
He was there with her.
Zak.