Page 100 of When You Stayed
It was all gone.
Ford stepped into view, wearing a pair of sunglasses and his leather cut. My dad rolled to a stop behind me, but I didn’t pay him any mind as I slid my kickstand down and dismounted.
A few of the firefighters talked here and there as I walked past, but once I got within Ford’s line of sight, his eyes lifted from the cop he was talking to and landed on me. His mouth stopped moving, and he started walking toward me. I stopped just outside of his metal fence, unsure if I wanted to go any closer.
“You’re here.” Ford came to a stop in front of me, his wary gaze searching my face.
I ignored how he prodded at me with those eyes and how I knew he wanted me in his arms. He’d have to settle for me merely standing in front of him.
“Is Gus okay?” I asked, glancing over at the charred remains.
Ford’s eyes never left my face as he nodded. “He was with my parents.”
Relief sagged within me, making my lip wobble. “Was anyone hurt?” What I wanted to ask was if he was okay, but I was too angrywith him to reveal that I cared. I knew he wasn’t in danger of the fire, but losing your house was horrific and he had to be upset.
“No. It was fine yesterday, but as soon as I left, someone must have shown up.”
A firefighter passed by us, his blue eyes trailing over my body as he went. Ford caught it and glared back at the man, his jaw tight.
“Where were you last night?” Some part of me needed to hear him confirm that he’d been at my house.
A gleam entered his eye as he smiled. “Same place I’ve been every night.”
“The club?” I lifted a brow.
He shook his head. “Outside of your bedroom door, baby. I can’t be away from you. So, if your door is as far as I can go, then that’s as far as I’ll go.”
“If you’d been here, you might have stopped them,” I said, pulling my arms across my chest. The blue-eyed firefighter was making his way back toward us when Ford slid his hand to my hip and pulled me off to the side.
“Greedy fucker,” he mumbled. “I’d rather lose a thousand homes if it meant I made sure you slept safe at night.”
My mind toyed with his words, trying to convince my heart that he loved me. My heart flipped my brain the bird. “I don’t feel safe, Ford,” I said, low and quiet, as I stepped back. “Where will you go after this?”
Ford watched me as if he were watching a piece of his anatomy wander away. “The president’s apartment at the club.”
I pushed past the annoyance I held over him settling for a small apartment after having an entire house to himself. “Gus will be okay there?”
“Until I find a new place, yeah…it’ll be safer at the club.”
I dipped my chin, knowing that was true.
His finger gently pulled my face up, his worried expression searching mine for something. “I’m placing extra bodies around the Hollow tonight…my house was a piece of shit, but I know you won’t be okay if they burn your favorite place down.”
No, I wouldn’t be okay.
“I need to stop in there, check emails, and figure out what the owner wants to do.”
Ford wet his lips in a childlike manner, almost as if he were nervous to ask what he was about to. “Could I go with you?”
Memories of him slamming into me as he fucked me on Rodney’s desk slid back into my mind. Heat and anger swirled like a dangerous cocktail as I remembered how good it felt to have him behind me, holding me and whispering all of those deliciously dirty thoughts into my ear.
Slamming my eyes closed, I shook my head. “Dad will go with me.”
He gave me a slight nod as I took another step back.
“Just be safe, Royce. The Murdoch crew was working for someone…we’ve pissed off whoever that person is, and they know you are a way of getting to me. Unfortunately, it means you’re not safe.”
Story of my fucking life.
