Some of the tension drained from her as she recognized his very familiar silhouette coming through the open doorway. As he hit the automatic door opener on the wall to lift the double garage door in front of his sled, she yelled out, “Don’t open that!”
His whole body jerked, his hand automatically went to where he kept a knife on his hip and his head twisted toward her. “What the fuck?” he grumbled. “What the fuck you doin’ in here?”
He didn’t sound or look happy to see her. No surprise.
“Close the door before anyone sees me.”
“I saw you.”
“Not you, doofus,” she clarified. “Anyone else.”
He slammed his palm on the garage door button and the door grumbled its way closed again. “Why the fuck are you hidin’ in here?”
All the overhead LED lights in the shed turned on when he hit that switch next. She squinted and raised a hand to shield her eyes from the blast of the cornea-burning brightness.
“I’m not hiding,” she said with feigned innocence.
He glanced at her from where he stood and simply cocked an eyebrow.
She shot him a whatever face. “Just hear me out.”
“Reilly,” he growled.
“Just hear me out,” she shouted, “before you go all alpha asshole on me and start beating on your chest and stomping your boots.” Ever since she heard Teddy call the Fury members “leather-clad gorillas” it was hard to get that similarity out of her mind. It actually fit them perfectly.
“You shouldn’t fuckin’ be here.”
“And you shouldn’t go alone,” she countered.
His expression turned hard. “What the fuck, Reilly!”
She sighed and weaved around the few sleds left in the shed to approach him, since, apparently, he was frozen in place.
When she got there, she tipped her face up to his and said, “You’re not taking your sled.”
His eyebrows shot so high up his forehead, she couldn’t tell where they ended and his hairline began. “Wanna clue me in on when I started takin’ orders from you?”
“It’s not an order, it’s a… strongly worded suggestion.”
“All right, then. That’s much better,” he said way too agreeably. He stared at her for a few seconds, then bellowed, “Who the fuck d’you think you are?”
She winced. “Someone—”
“I musta drank way too much whiskey and smoked way too much Kush since I certainly don’t fuckin’ remember claimin’ a woman at the table last night.”
“I—“
“Also don’t remember givin’ a fuck about your strongly worded suggestions. I’m takin’ my goddamn sled and goin’ by myself.”
She planted a hand under his cut and against the waffle-patterned dark gray thermal shirt he wore underneath it. The muscles under her fingers were so tense it was like touching a rock wall. “No, you aren’t.”
He shoved a finger in his right ear and wiggled it. “My hearin’ must be fucked up.”
“You heard me.”
He tilted his head back, stared up at the shed’s ceiling, barked out a single dry laugh, dropped his head back down, shook it, then tipped it the rest of the way down to her. His mouth opened, a hiss escaped, he snapped it shut again and stepped around her, heading to his Indian Dark Horse.
It was a sweet ride and a badass bike that she’d had the pleasure of straddling a couple of times, unlike its owner.
She decided to follow him.
He dropped his backpack on the concrete floor, then toed her own bag with his boot. “What’s this shit?”
“My stuff. It’s what I’ll need for the next few days.”
His nostrils flared as he stared at her backpack that seemed to be a lot fuller than his. Unlike him, she couldn’t wear the same underwear, socks and shirt for days at a time. She also used a lot more than a squirt of gel for her hair.
“For our trip,” she added. That came out a little weaker than she intended.
“Reilly, this ain’t our trip.”
She stiffened her spine, and lifted her invisible shield, prepared for battle. “It wasn’t, but it is now.”
“No, it ain’t.”
“Yes, it is. I understand why you don’t want Saylor to go. But someone should go with you.”
“And you think that someone is you.”
She lifted her chin even higher to let him know she wasn’t backing down. “I know it is.”
“No, Reilly.”
“Look, I know I’m maybe not the best choice for this, but I’m your only choice. Do you have someone better?”
“Yeah. No one.”
“I’m not going to let you go by yourself.”
“Reilly, ain’t up to you.”
She ignored that and pushed on. “So, you’re not taking your sled. We need to take your Bronco, instead.”
His brow furrowed and he did not hide the annoyance in his eyes. “Why the fuck would I drive my Bronco? Would cost me a fortune in fuel.”
“Since I need to go that direction, anyway, I figured we could split the cost.” Okay, that last part might be a bit of a fib. Even though the guys knew she liked to pay her own way, none of them would ever take money from her, so she was counting on that since she didn’t have much.