Page 43 of Tanner (Dirty Misfits MC 5)
Sloane: I know we don’t see eye to eye, and what I said on the phone was really harsh. You know I’m proud of what you’ve done with Cheyenne. I just don’t like that Tanner took your future away. That’s all.
I typed back as quickly as I could.
Me: This isn’t a conversation for text. He didn’t ruin my life by getting me pregnant with Cheyenne. My daughter is the best thing to ever happen to me. Call if you guys need anything.
Sloane: And you know you can always call if you need something. Anything. Even some more help for whatever the hell it is you two are doing.
Me: Thanks.
After that, I put my phone back in my purse while Tanner ordered food for us. I wasn’t necessarily hungry, but I definitely needed something to drink. He handed me a small water as well as my favorite soda, a huge-ass Diet Coke with Lime. And after chugging the water back, I stuck a straw into that mountain of soda and chugged with all my might.
I let the burn pull me out of my emotionally-induced trance and felt more clear-headed than I had all day.
“Feeling better?” Tanner asked.
I smiled softly. “Yeah, actually. I am. Thank you.”
He unwrapped a burger for himself. “I got you a large fry with extra salt to help your stomach and I also grabbed you a grilled chicken wrap with honey mustard.”
My stomach growled. “That sounds amazing. Let me get at that wrap.”
He smiled as he handed me the bag and I dug around until my hand fell against the cylindrical object. I pulled it out and unwrapped it before I took a gargantuan bite, practically inhaling a third of the damn thing just to keep my stomach from growling again.
And once we turned onto the deserted road that went on for miles before we hit the warehouse, relief washed its way through my veins.
“Almost there,” I whispered.
Tanner squeezed my knee. “Yep. Getting closer to that shower by the second.”
I looked down at my drink. “It’s coming into the shower with me, you know.”
He chuckled. “So long as you don’t judge me for bringing a beer in.”
I giggled as I finished off the rest of my wrap, and as the warehouse came into view Tanner filled me in on his conversation.
“So, our crew has a chapter in Santa Barbara, and I called in a favor to a friend of mine. They’re going to be taking rotations watching over Sloane’s place until we can get ourselves out of this mess.”
I snickered. “You sure that’s a good idea with her? If you think I’m a good shot, you should see her.”
“Trust me, the guys can handle anything that comes their way.”
I barked with laughter. “Not when we’re talking about Sloane. She’ll take those guys out one by one if she sees them outside her place. She knows something’s up. She doesn’t know what, but she knows something is wrong.”
He cleared his throat. “Well, she won’t even know they’re there.”
“Twenty bucks says she spots them and fires.”
He peeked over at me with a smirk on his face. “Make it forty and you’re on.”
And just as we pulled up to the warehouse, we shook on our deal.
Before Cole and Porter pulled in behind us a few seconds later.
Twenty-One
Tanner
“Holy shit, are you guys okay!?”
Porter’s booming voice was the first one I heard as Summer and myself slipped out of our car. Him and Cole trotted up to us, their eyes filled with worry and unspoken words dripping off the tip of their tongues. I furrowed my brow as they came over and clapped me on the back. We all exchanged our rounds of hugs, and I made damn sure their hands didn’t wander anywhere on Summer where she didn’t want them to be.
But once we were done, I shook my head. “You guys okay? You’re acting like we almost died.”
Cole blinked. “Because we did.”
Porter threw his hands in the air. “There were ten of them. Ten!”
Then, Brooks’ voice boomed over our heads. “Get your asses inside. Now!”
We all trotted inside and waited for our verbal tongue lashing. But instead, Brooks dragged us inside and locked down the front door. All of the windows had been barricaded and some of the trip wires in the dead end hallways had been triggered.
Which only made me more curious.
“Did something happen here, too?” I asked.
Brooks shook his head. “Just us preparing. We had no idea they had figured out you guys were traveling in from out of town.”
Summer gasped. “So, they do know about Cheyenne.”
Porter shook his head. “No, there’s no way. Between our distraction, the lack of traffic cameras on the highways, avoiding them in Santa Barbara, and watching Summer shoot some dude off his bike with Tanner’s sawed-off shotgun, there’s no fucking wa—”
I chuckled. “You saw that? That was badass wasn’t it?”
