Page 17 of Colt

9

Ember

I’d been in Las Vegas for almost a month, and I couldn’t have been happier with my decision to take Viking up on his offer. Getting away from Torch had done wonders for my soul. In the meantime, I’d reconnected with Melissa a couple times, and the job Evelyn helped find for me at the hospital in the billing department was going well.

I felt more like myself, like my life was finally turning out the way it should. The way Dad would have wanted it.

Much to my relief, Phoebe’s move to NYC went off without a hitch, and she’d enrolled at a good school in my aunt’s neighborhood and was already making friends. She’d given James and me so much hell about moving, but it was working out better than expected. Mom was still sad but she sounded more at peace each time we talked and I think having Phoebe there was helping.

I knew James appreciated hearing good news from all us girls, as I could imagine prison life was incredibly depressing. But whenever we talked, he never sounded down. Instead he was determined and looking forward to his release in five months. We were all counting down the time, me especially.

The one dent in my world was Colt, who still continued to avoid me like the plague, or had some snarky, sarcastic thing to say to me. I’d asked Fitz about it one time, but he’d just laughed and said Colt was always an asshole and to not take it personally. But the way he acted toward me was colder than he was with anyone else.

Thoughts about Torch were few and far between, but when I did think about him, it left me super anxious. I was surprised he hadn’t bothered me yet, especially since I was supposed to be doing a job for him while I was here, but all of October, I’d been able to live my life like a normal woman. I knew it was only a matter of time before he reached out, but I was grateful for the peace right now, nonetheless.

Viking remained true to his word about keeping an eye on me. He insisted on someone picking me up and dropping me off every day at the hospital. I thought it was overkill, but I saw my father react the same way to threats in the past, so I was used to it. And it wasn’t just me. The families of other members were also getting the same treatment. It made me wonder what threats were out there, but since no one told me anything, I wouldn’t worry about it. I had enough on my mind.

I walked out of the sliding doors at the end of my shift and found Fitz and Colt waiting in the parking lot. It took me a minute to realize they were there for me since I thought Hawk was picking me up. And while Fitz was one of the more regular members who checked up on me, I’d only seen Colt in passing a couple of times since the night of the party a few weeks ago. I hated to admit that him ignoring me had any sort of impact on my mood, but it did. It felt too similar to his rejection of me when we were younger, and it bugged me more than watching him take two women back to his room the night of the party.

Colt affected me in a way I couldn’t explain or even understand. Maybe it was because he was the first guy I liked enough to sleep with, but it was more than that.

Slowly, I approached them, hoping there wasn’t a more serious reason for two of them picking me up.

I forced my gaze toward Fitz, who was hotter than ninety-nine percent of the male population. Any girl would get tongue-tied around both of these men. The attention they were garnering here in the parking lot was proof that I wasn’t the only one who found them attractive. A group of nurses on their break kept glancing in our direction. One of the more bold nurses was staring and daring one of them to make a move.

“Hey,” I greeted, looking at my feet instead of them.

“Red, babe! What’s up?” Fitz asked once I reached his bike.

“You tell me. I wasn’t expecting to see you both here.” I smiled at Fitz and chanced a glance over at Colt.

He continued to stare at me with his ever-present scowl, seeming irritated with the banter between Fitz and me. How I wished he would smile at me like he did when we first met.These days, he never smiled or laughed and when he did, it wasn’t happy.

“Viking sent Hawk out on a run. Colt and I were both off today, so we’re here. Looks like it’s your lucky day.” He winked as he passed me the helmet hanging from his handlebars.

I secured the helmet on my head and proceeded to climb on the back of Fitz’s bike. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have a fleeting thought of jumping on the back of Colt’s. I could imagine what it would feel like to have my arms wrapped around his body while flying down the highway. I knew it would be perfect, but I also knew it would never happen.

It only took about fifteen minutes before we were pulling up in front of my house, and I was sad that our ride was over. I may have liked being away from the club up in Reno, but I was a little lonely here.

While I was getting to know the club better, I still wasn’t really part of them, this chapter, their family. Kate and Meredith were always friendly to me when I saw them at the clubhouse, and it was great having Fitz around, but I had this feeling their actions were purely out of respect they had for Viking. I didn’t mind having to earn that right to be one of them in the fullest sense, but the club easily took over your entire life, which meant not many friends outside the club, and when you’re not fully in it, you feel it. And after a month of being in limbo, I felt it rather hard.

“Thanks for the ride home.” Whoever dropped me off usually waited long enough to make sure I made it in safely before taking off. Since I didn’t want to be alone tonight, I took a chance and invited them in. “Do you guys want to stay for dinner?”

“Are you going to cook for us?” Fitz asked as I handed him my helmet.

“I can,” I answered, hoping the promise of a home-cooked meal would entice them enough to stay.

“Sounds good to me,” Fitz responded. “Colt, you comin’, man?”

Colt looked up from the cell phone he’d been typing on since we stopped and shook his head. “Looks like something came up with Jenna. I gotta go.”

Fitz just nodded his head and said, “All right, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Colt was so quick to run off that I couldn’t help but wonder who Jenna was. It begged the question of what kind of woman garnered that sort of attention from the grumpy vice president.

As disappointed as I was that Colt was leaving, I was glad Fitz was staying. I led him inside and toward the kitchen where two barstools were set up at the counter.

“You want something to drink?” I asked after I put my backpack and keys on the small table in the living room.