Sinful Protector (Roughshod Rollers MC 2)

“Lily, don’t say that,” Ethan scolds, scowling. “Who did you even hear that from?”

“Tom,” Lily says with a shrug. “He said it when you dropped him home the other day.”

Ethan’s eye twitched. “Of course he did.”

“You dropped Tom home?” I ask curiously.

“He…” Ethan hesitates. “You didn’t hear this from me, okay? He ran into a bad spot, I think, and got beaten up. It doesn’t surprise me, with a mouth like his. Lily and I drove past on the way home from school, and saw him lying in an alley, so we got him home.”

“He’s lucky,” I comment. “First that you own a car, second that you saw him at all.”

“Yeah,” Ethan agrees.

“Did he see who did it?” I ask.

“Nah,” Ethan says with a shrug. “He didn’t like me asking questions. I’d say it was someone he knows outside the club.”

I nod. Despite the fact that very few people like Tom, no one in the club would raise a hand against their own.

“I’m going to have to talk to him about mouthing off in front of my daughter,” Ethan adds, scowling heavily. “Lily, you’re grounded if I hear that word again, you hear?”

“What about Uncle Kyle?” Lily protests. “He was about to say it, too!”

“Right,” Ethan says seriously. “Kyle, you’re grounded, too, if I hear that word again!”

“You can’t ground me!” I protest.

“Watch me,” Ethan says, glaring.

I shut my mouth. Ethan in protective father mode is not someone that I want to argue with. Ethan grins, satisfied.

“Now, back to Allison,” he says.

“Who’s Allison?” Lily asks.

“Uncle Kyle’s girlfriend,” Ethan says.

“She’s not…” I try, but Lily’s face lights up.

“Can I meet her?” she gasps.

Probably not, considering she was threatening to call the police on me. Ethan laughs.

“Maybe another time,” he says to his daughter while glancing at me. “Anyway, as I was saying before, there’s no way you can hide without her noticing you.”

“There’s other alleys,” I protest. “And trees…”

I imagine myself trying to hide behind a tree and wince. Maybe Ethan’s right. I really do stand out too much. I’m too tall for my own good.

“I’ll figure something out,” I say.

“So you are going back?” Ethan asks.

I carefully put a blue block on top of the wobbly tower that we’ve started to form.

“Yeah,” I say. “I’ll give her a few hours to calm down, then I’ll go back. That way she’ll be less likely to call the police on me if she does see me.”

Ethan is quiet for a long moment, and the only sound is Lily’s humming as she sorts through the bricks for the color she wants.