“Good. Hide that in a different place so in case you lose it, you won’t be stuck.”
I give him a quick hug. “Thank you.”
“You’re going to listen to everything Rooster and Shelby tell you to do, right?”
I heave out a long, dramatic sigh. “Yes, Marcel.”
“You’re going to be careful. Pay attention to your surroundings, and not go off with anyone for any reason, right? Don’t trust anyone.”
“Oh my God! How dumb do you think I am?”
He drills me with his blue-green eyes until I relent. “Okay fine. You know Dad, Uncle Murphy, and Uncle Wrath already gave me this speech, right?”
“You, Alexa, and Chance stick together,” he continues, ignoring my protest. “Don’t let her sneaky ass out of your sight.”
I smother my laughter with a hand over my mouth.
“I’m serious. If either of you get so much as a scratch, you know Chance will get his ass kicked. Is that what you want?”
As much as Chance annoys the ever-loving cupcakes out of me, no, I don’t want him to get in trouble. I still think the club’s archaic “protect the women” stuff is stupid, though.
“What about us? Will we get in trouble if something happens to Chance?”
He snort-laughs and stares at the ground for a second or two. “Yeah,” he finally answers. “You will.”
“Well, at least that’s fair.”
Because he has radar for anyone talking about him, Chance sneaks up behind me and wraps his arm around my neck, rubbing his knuckles over the top of my head. “Nothing’s gonna happen to me, Princess.”
“Get off me!” I elbow him in the ribs until he lets go.
Marcel glares at him. “Keep your hands to yourself, Chance.”
“It’s fine.” I lean into Chance. “I’ll kick his ass later.”
“You wish,” Chance mutters.
“Where’d your sidekick go?” Marcel asks me.
“Aunt Heidi sent her home to finish packing.”
“For real?” Chance groans. “We’ll need a separate bus to carry all her shit.”
Marcel hugs me one more time. “I’ll see you again before you go.”
After he leaves, I turn to Chance and push him around the side of the house, away from the prying eyes of our parents. “This is going to be a whole afternoon of every single person in the club saying goodbye and warning us to behave, isn’t it?”
“One-thousand-percent yes.” He laughs. “At least no one’s threatening to kick your ass if you two get into trouble.”
“Not true. Marcel said we’re supposed to look out for you too.”
He snorts. “Sure.”
I bust out some self-defense moves. “We’re trained assassins thanks to Uncle Jake.”
He laughs a deep, rumbling belly laugh and catches my flying fist in mid-air with minimal effort. “You forget, Uncle Wrath’s been training me since I was like three.”
“Not fair. You’re already twice my size.”