Sinful Protector (Roughshod Rollers MC 2)

We stare at each other stubbornly. Finally, though, I’m the one the backs down, and I let out a gusty sigh.

“Kyle,” I say, rolling onto my back and glaring up at the ceiling. “We were together only for a week.”

“Ah,” Jacqui says, with an air of comprehension. “Yes, you’ve said that.”

“Not even a week,” I correct. “In fact, I didn’t speak to him for a full twenty-four hours before we went on that date. We weren’t together before then. It was just sex.”

“Uh huh,” Jacqui says.

I glare at her. There’s no smile on her face, but the bitch sounds amused.

“We weren’t together,” I repeat.

“You said that,” Jacqui points out.

“It’s important,” I huff. “Because we only spoke about me being his girlfriend last Wednesday. Which was the day before we broke up.”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot that you broke up,” Jacqui says. “Why was that again?”

I scowl. I knew, the moment I told Jacqui about it, that she didn’t believe my reasons.

“Because we aren’t compatible,” I snap.

“Yes, that’s right,” Jacqui says with a sage nod. “Well, you’ve broken up, so there’s no reason to worry about it anymore, right?”

“Right,” I huff. “I’m not worrying about it.”

We fall silent. I can feel Jacqui’s eyes on me. There’s a question bubbling up to my lips and I try to fight it down. But it escapes before I can stop it.

“It’s been four days and I haven’t heard from him,” I grumble. “Do you think he was lying when he said he wanted to be friends?”

Jacqui coughs. It sounds suspiciously like she’s covering a laugh.

“I’m sure he wasn’t,” she says when she regains her composure. “It just takes a little while to recover from a broken heart.”

I scowl at her.

“We were only together for a week,” I remind her.

“I thought you were only together for one night,” Jacqui returns. “It was just sex before that.”

“One night, then,” I snap. “That’s not enough time to have a broken heart.”

“Says you,” Jacqui mutters.

I roll my eyes. Jacqui has made it very clear what her opinion on this matter is. She thinks I’m an idiot for breaking up with Kyle, and I think she has her suspicions that our break-up and my move from the apartment are connected.

But I haven’t told her the real reason. The card is sitting in my wallet, a reminder of why I’m doing this.

Kyle isn’t the only one who can protect others.

“Allison, did it maybe occur to you that you were a little hasty?” Jacqui asks, raising an eyebrow. “I understand that you analyzed it and decided that you and Kyle weren’t compatible, but you didn’t even give it a chance. If you’re going to be like this about it, then maybe you should have tried a little harder?”

“No,” I say with a huff. “It would be harder if we broke up in a month or two because we don’t have any real feelings for each other. This is easier.”

Jacqui frowns. “I’ve never known you to take the easy route out.”

“Jesse taught me to be more careful about who I date,” I say, looking away.