Rowe (Henchmen MC Next Generation 4)

Her hair was the same as it had been since I’d known her, this pinkish-purple mauve color that was just the right kind of wild to suit her.

Billie was the whole package.

With the looks came the confidence, but not an arrogance, just a comfortableness in her own skin.

And aside from her looks, she had that personality too. Sometimes just completely fucking insane and out there, spouting off about pussies and cocks and tantric sex one moment, then alien porn or yoga positions the next. But to balance out that crazy, there was the sweet side too. I wasn’t sure there was anyone in the club or the family that surrounded it who had as big a heart as Billie did, who was more there for her loved ones, who always wanted to help and reassure them all.

Like I said, the whole package.

That I could never, ever fucking unwrap.

“Oh,” she said, jerking back at seeing her cousin, looking surprised even though it seemed like Malc had a plan in place.

“The door, Billie. The fucking door,” Malcolm growled at her, getting a serene little smile out of her that said she knew about the door and she had no plans on changing the fact that she never locked it.

But that soft little smile that made her eyes bright and warm fell as soon as her gaze shifted from her cousin to me.

It wasn’t the pity, either. I’d gotten used to the pity glances from everyone around me since the guys brought me back about a week ago. They meant nothing of it, of course; they just felt bad for me.

I’d gotten good at recognizing the look before they, inevitably, tried to hide it away.

This was not pity.

No.

It was worse than that.

If I didn’t know any better, I would have called it hurt. She’d looked hurt before her gaze skittered away.

Billie.

This was Billie.

Her gaze never skittered away like she was uncertain or uncomfortable. She wasn’t built that way.

Yet there was no denying what I’d seen.

Or the fact that she was studying her bare feet instead of looking at me.

I mean, I’d said some shit to her. I won’t try to lie about that. She’d clearly been harboring some little crush on me for a while there. And when it started to get too obvious, and I was worrying about what the OG members of the club would think about it, I’d said some shit. To discourage it, so she would let the flirtation drop.

Clearly, though, I’d been harsher than I remembered.

Harsh enough that she didn’t even want to look at me.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, voice more careful than usual. Gone was that easy warmth you would typically find from her.

I had no right to, but I missed it.

“Fine,” I lied.

It was that lie that did it. That made her gaze snap up from the floor to look at me sitting there in the chair. I knew what she saw. I saw it myself in the truck mirror on the way over.

My dark hair was a mess from tossing and turning all night, trying to find a halfway comfortable position to fall asleep in. My face was scruffy because standing for too long was painful, so I prioritized showering and brushing my teeth over shaving. There were bags under my eyes and purple smudges from the lack of proper sleep and the constant pain. My skin looked pale and sickly. I was just… not looking my best, that was for sure.

“Okay,” Billie said, tone disbelieving, but not telling me that I looked like shit, even if she clearly saw that for herself.

“What does your cousin know about back injuries?” I asked, going to look at Malcolm, then freezing when the motion met with the resistance from the stitches on my shoulder.

I hadn’t intended for the words to come out as tight and rough as they sounded even to my own ears. It was just a question. Billie wasn’t a doctor or physical therapist.

“Malc just wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help you with the pain,” Billie said, chin jerking up slightly. She wasn’t someone prone to a lot of pride, but she didn’t like when people talked down about her and her skills either.

“And with that, I’m out,” Malcolm said, pushing me forward another couple of feet to completely clear the door as he pulled it open again.

“What?” I asked.

“You’re not leaving,” Billie said at the same time. If I wasn’t completely mistaken, she sounded almost desperate.

For what?

For him to stay?

Because she wanted nothing to do with me?

Probably. That was probably it.

I couldn’t be upset about it, either.

“Look, I don’t want to get in the way of Billie’s work,” Malc said, backing into the hallway.

“You won’t be in the way!” Billie insisted, voice a high squeaking sound I’d never heard before.