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I watched them carefully, a throb beginning to ache in my chest. They were two of the most important people in my life right now, and I needed them to like each other. While Ellis had come into my world rather unexpectedly as a scared boy who’d lost trust in his parents, he’d become a younger brother to me. I enjoyed protecting others when I could, and if anyone needed that kind of safety, it was the young man in the back seat.
“Why are we staying at your house again?” Ellis bulldozed on. His confidence grew, blooming and spreading similar to wildflowers in spring, and watching him flourish gave me a great amount of pride. “Who are you to Tav? None of my questions have been answered.” He narrowed his eyes at Judah suspiciously.
I laughed and reached between mine and Judah’s seat to whack him on the knee. “Stop it, lad. You don’t need to know everything straight away.”
“I do.” He stuck out his chin. “He said you two have known each other for decades. How?” His eyes went wide. “You don’t owe him money, do you? My uncle, John, owed some mobsters money. He ended up as fish food. That’s what Mom told me when she warned me about gambling.”
I rolled my eyes. Sounded like more religious bullshite to me; although, I didn’t want Ellis getting into gambling, either, especially around New Gothenburg. There were many bad guys who would do more than feed him to the fishes, if he messed with the wrong people. “You believe her?”
He shrugged. “I guess not. You didn’t answer my question.”
My gaze slid to Judah, and I studied his face. His right eye twitched, a subtle sign of his irritation, but I wasn’t quite sure if that was from Ellis or because of his mum. Maybe both. His jaw tensed, and he squeezed the steering wheel, his knuckles fading to white as he clutched it too tightly.
I petted his thigh, and he shot me a look, some of the tension bleeding from him. His hands relaxed, and I held out my palm, offering, and he took it into his, linking our fingers together.
“Judah was my first boyfriend and the only bloke I’ve ever loved,” I admitted, shooting Ellis a smile.
His expression softened and he gave me a grin. “Is he the one who gave you the shell bracelet?”
I’d mentioned the bracelet a few times to him, especially as he became more comfortable with me and asked more questions. I’d told him the truth. My first love had given it to me. I winked at him. “That’s the one.”
He squinted at me. “So, why’d you break up?”
“Does it matter?” Judah grunted out in frustration, narrowing his eyes on Ellis through the rearview mirror. “You should mind your own business.”
Ellis huffed and fell back against his seat, crossing his arms. “No need to get grouchy, old man.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again. They were as bad as each other and they didn’t even realize it. Without knowing it, they were fighting an imaginary competition, and I was their prize, as if I couldn’t have them both in my life.
“All right, stop it, you two, or I’ll put you both in time-out.” I grinned at Ellis and squeezed Judah’s hand. “Now, do we need food before we get home?”
“I’ll have the cook make something.”
Silence fell in the car before Ellis shot forward, slamming his hands on each of our seats. “You have a cook? How rich are you?”
Judah winced and while it was barely perceptible, I didn’t miss it. I couldn’t. Everything in me was trained to see his micro-expressions, even the ones that I wasn’t meant to. The Judah I used to know never hid them, but I watched him anyway, learned what I could about how he expressed himself. Now, I didn’t need to study him too hard because I could see them clear as day.
“Is that a polite question to ask?” I gave Ellis a pointed look. “You should be grateful that he’s getting you fed, right?”
I was used to Judah and his family’s money. Back when we were teens, I knew all the people who worked in his home, from the cook to the handyman to the gardener—and the pool boy, too. Hearing he had a chef was not surprising to me, but it was an awful reminder that we still came from two very different worlds.
Ellis smiled. “Sorry.”
Judah gave him a small nod through the mirror and the car fell back into silence. We came to a stoplight, one of the rare ones outside the city, and Judah pulled the car to a halt. On our left, the sound of a revving motorcycle caught our attention, and Ellis let out a hoot, hitting the button to lower the window.
“It’s the Kings!” he shouted at me in excitement. “I wonder if Ethan’s there.” He stuck his head out of the car and waved. “Ethan! Ethan!”
I peered out my window and took in the scene. There were ten motorcycles parked in front of a café. The men were all sitting around a large rectangular table, laughing at someone who was doing unsafe tricks in the parking lot on his bike. The rider was spinning his Harley in a tight circle, then hopping it up onto the front wheel. I had no idea how he was accomplishing that with such a heavy bike. The guys wore black leather jackets with the Kings of Men MC’s insignia stitched loud and proud on the back. Shep, my former neighbor—the one who Ellis was singing out to—was sitting at one end of the table, his short blond hair slicked back and his shoulders wide in his plain jacket.
The moment Ellis called his name, Shep glanced toward us and raised his arm in a wave. He wasn’t a tall young man, but he was buff and fit in with the Kings well. He’d only just become one of their prospects after leaving our trailer park, and I missed having him as a neighbor. Before Ellis, Shep was the one I’d tried to protect the best I could, which was how I’d ended up with Ellis in the first place.
Ellis exhaled loudly, and I hid a grin in the hand I ran over my mouth. Despite their rough beginnings—Shep beating Ellis up for outing Shep’s then crush, Jonas, to Jonas’s religious fanatic parents—I had a feeling that Ellis had an attraction of his own. He always seemed to melt when we came across bikers or some form of bad boy. Whether it was a phase or not, I wasn’t sure, but I seriously hoped it didn’t result in him getting his heart shattered. There was one thing that was certain, though—he had no chance with Shep.
Jonas, Shep’s boyfriend, walked out of the café and looked in the direction Shep was staring, then his face lit up. He waved at us, and Ellis returned it, though less enthusiastic than he had with Shep. While Ellis and Jonas were good friends, it was obvious Ellis had a fascination with Shep.
“Why the fuck is he waving at the Kings of Men? Shit.” Judah glanced back at Ellis with wide eyes. “Kid, don’t do that. They aren’t good guys. They’re dangerous.”
Ellis laughed. “It’s only Ethan and Jonas. We should have dinner with them again, Tav.”
