Page 6 of Fire
“Look, you trespassing behemoth,” I snarl. Cash and Johnny don’t pay the rent here, I do. So go be big and bossy somewhere else.”
He looks at me calmly as I rant at him, which incites me even more. “I mean it. Leave now.” I grab my phone and pretend to open Grindr. “I need to message my hookup to come back.”
Finally, I see a flicker of response. “‘Down to Fuk?’ Really?” he says, a sour look on his face. “That’s what does it for you?”
No, it’s really not, but I’m not about to admit it to the sexy muscle man.
“Not your concern,” I tell him, but he’s already taking his phone from his back pocket and hitting a button.
“It’s Luca,” he says to the other person on the other end of the phone. “Yes, I’m here, but there’s a problem.” He makes direct eye contact with me. “Evan is still using hookup apps even after being warned against them. I’ve already intercepted a highly suspicious individual?—”
“Highly suspicious, my ass,” I shout, but Luca ignores me.
“Yes. I think that’s the best course of action. Thank you. I’ll be in touch,” Luca says, hanging up.
“I don’t know who you were talking to, but it doesn’t fucking matter. I don’t need a bodyguard, and I’ll hook up with anybody I want.” This time I really do open up my app, ready to call “Down to Fuk” back and screw him just out of pure spite.
Just as my finger hits my screen, the app disappears.It has to be a glitch. I open my phone back up but can’t find the app. I look for the two other hookup apps I’m on. Nothing.
Then it hits me.
“You had whomever you were talking to delete my apps,” I gasp in utter disbelief at the bossy nerve of this man.
He shrugs like what he just did wasn’t a complete invasion of my autonomy. “Eli agreed they were a risk and removed them.” He studies me for a moment. “And because your self-control isn’t that great, he?—”
“Self-control?” I screech.
He ignores that my voice just hit a pitch that an opera singer would be jealous of. “Also removed your food and grocery delivery apps, too.”
I throw my now mostly useless phone at him, which, instead of hitting Luca smack on his judgmental head like I want it to, lands easily in the palm of his rugged hand.
It starts ringing. Luca looks at the screen. “It’s for you.” He holds out the phone to me, and I stomp over to where he’s standing and snatch the phone back.
“Hello,” I shout into the receiver.
“I told you to stay off those apps.” Cash Mcree’s commanding voice sounds in my ear, and I immediately feel guilt surge over me.
“It was just the one time,” I say, trying to stand my ground.
“It just takes one bullet to kill ya, kid.”
I let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m not a kid. I’m older than you are by a little over a year, Cash.”
“Then act like it. The shit you pulled tonight was risky and stupid.”
“I haven’t seen another person but you or Johnny in months,” I whine at Cash, though being lonely and cut off from people isn’t exactly a new thing in my world.
“Well, that’s another plus of having Luca watching over you. He can keep you safe, and you’ll have a little company.”
Great. I’m so pathetic that not only does Cash think I can’t protect myself, but he’s gone and paid someone to be my “friend.”
“I don’t need a bodyguard,” I insist.
“Look, Evan,” Cash says, his tone softening. “I don’t think you realize all the attention the last few articles you’ve written have gotten.”
He could be right. No one took my articles seriously when I started writing about the Reivers and their crimes. They thoughtI was an unhinged conspiracy theorist trying to pin a bunch of unrelated crimes on the motorcycle club that had replaced the Hell’s Angels as the romantic American ideal of the outlaw biker lifestyle. Lately, though, my work has been getting some journalistic cred. It’s hard to wrap my mind around the fact it’s not just me and my anger writing into the void.
“Ever since Digger started dating that reality star, he’s been super conscious of any bad publicity. He wants you silenced immediately.”
