Craving Hawk (The Aces' Sons 3)

The men though… they were harder to figure out. There was clearly a hierarchy. Dragon was the President and Grease was the Vice President, but after that things got kind of hazy. Half of the guys were part of the same family, all married into it in some way or another, and most of them were related to Tommy and Mick in some way. It was confusing as hell, and I couldn’t tell who was in charge after Dragon and Grease. Sometimes it seemed like this guy named Casper, other times it was a guy named Hulk that was married to Dragon’s daughter. It gave me a headache trying to figure it out.

I’d done my best to stay out of their way for the most part. Their shit didn’t have a damn thing to do with me. But as the crowd dispersed and the only people left were Tommy, his dad, the president, and the guy they called Casper, I stepped away from the building again, clenching my fists as I made my way to where Tommy was standing.

“Not your business,” Dragon told me gruffly, making me jump. “Go on inside.”

“It was my fault,” I said hurriedly, lifting my hands palm up. “I got pissed and—”

“Enough, Heather,” Tommy said quietly, reaching out to wrap his fingers gently around the back of my neck. “Go inside.”

“No, this is stupid.” I stuttered to a stop as Tommy’s dad stiffened. “It-it was an accident, and it was my fault. I’m the one who—”

“Enough,” Tommy snapped, his fingers tightening. “I’ll take care of it.”

“You shouldn’t have to!” I didn’t know why I was arguing. The men were scary and they were pissed and I wanted to be anywhere but right there, but I couldn’t make my feet move.

Tommy shot a glance at his dad, then before I even realized what was happening he was hauling me against his chest and wrapping a long arm around my shoulders, the other hand sliding into the back of my hair to hold my head steady.

“You’re makin’ shit worse,” he whispered into my ear, his lips rubbing against the skin. “Go on inside. It’s all good, yeah?”

“No, it’s not,” I argued, shaking my head a little. “It was my fault.”

“And you’ll pay for it later,” he snapped back, nipping at my ear. “But not right now. Right now you’re gonna take that ass inside and go the fuck to bed.”

“What are they going to do?” I asked, my hands digging into his waist where I hadn’t even realized I was gripping him. I had no idea why I cared so much. Tommy had been a dismissive asshole in high school and was even more of a dick now, but I just couldn’t let it go. We had a history. We’d shared a best friend. For some reason, I felt a loyalty to Thomas Hawthorne.

“Don’t worry about it. Just wanna yell at me a bit, yeah? Go on inside,” Tommy assured me gently. I didn’t believe him. My hands tightened on his vest. Maybe if I stayed where I was they’d lose interest. I knew they wouldn’t say or do anything while I was standing there. Their little club was exclusive, and I didn’t have a membership.

I inhaled deeply and shook my head, making him growl.

His arm dropped from my shoulders, and suddenly his fist in my hair was jerking my face away from where I’d been pressing it against his chest. “Go. Now.”

“Fine.” If he was going to be a dick again, he could save his own ass. Jesus, my thoughts were all over the place.

His hand slid out of my hair as he lifted his chin toward the building. God, I couldn’t count the number of times he’d done that chin lift thing when we were younger. I’d be hanging with Mick, and the minute Tommy walked up he’d jerk his chin at me, telling me to get lost. It still pissed me off as much as it had back then. I rubbed the back of my head and didn’t say another word or make eye contact with any of the men as I spun around. Before I could even take a step, a loud smack sounded right as my ass cheek felt the slap.

“What the fuck?” I cried, swinging my head toward Tommy.

“Said you got one free pass, used that up hittin’ me in the dick. Didn’t say you could light the whole fuckin’ yard on fire,” he replied simply. “Go inside.”

I opened my mouth to argue and then realized I couldn’t. I’d already taken the blame for the goddamn fire.

“Such an asshole,” I muttered as I stomped toward the open back door.

As soon as I reached the clubhouse, I paused and turned to look at the men in the yard. I could barely make out their shapes in the darkness, but from what I could see, all of them were turned in my direction, waiting for me to go inside.