Zach cringes and glances at me. “Fine, I won’t make any more comments about your ass.”
“I’d appreciate that,” I reply dryly. “Let me get changed and then we can go.”
He groans. “You don’t have to change. It’s fine. Are you going to ride on the back of my bike?”
I hadn’t been on a bike since Xander left. He’d called me twice in a month.
Only twice.
I messaged him a few times, and he messaged back, but he never said anything about whether he was coming back. I take that as a bad sign. He is obviously busy with his sister, whom I hope is doing okay, but I don’t know where we stand and it’s driving me crazy. I’m overthinking everything.
Analysing our time together.
It’s stupid.
“We can’t take your bike. We’re carrying three cakes,” I point out.
Zack chuckles. “Oh, yeah. Good point. We’ll go in my car then.”
“Okay, sounds good to me,” I say, grabbing my handbag from where I threw it on the couch. “Ready when you are.”
I lock up the house and walk over to Zach’s car. “Have you spoken to Xander?”
He unlocks the doors with a click of a button and I slide in, holding the chocolate mud cake on my lap. Zach puts the two cakes he’s carrying in the back seat.
“A few days ago,” I reply when he sits in the driver’s seat.
“I’m sure he’ll be back. Dude was practically in love with you,” he says, shaking his head in astonishment. “Never seen him so into a woman.”
“I seriously doubt that,” I reply, sighing and looking out the window as the car starts and reverses. “It wasn’t going to work out, anyway. I’m not going to leave Channon and his family and business are in Perth. Maybe it’s for the best that he left as soon as he did.”
“Do you really think that?” Zach asks quietly.
I shrug. “I don’t know what to think.”
“Hmmm.”
“Hmmm, what?” I ask him.
“Well, then, maybe if you and Xander are over, you might be interested in one of the Wind Dragons members.”
My head snaps to him. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“And why not?” he asks, sounding smug. “We aren’t all that bad and you’d make a hell of an old lady.”
I sigh. “I can’t even think of another man right now. In that short time, Xander has done a number on me. No one is him. No one will ever be him. How the hell did he make me feel so comfortable around him so soon?”
“I fuckin’ knew it!” Zach replies. “If you want him, why don’t you do a trip to Perth and tell him? I’ll take you if you want.”
I look to him. “You’d do that? What if he doesn’t want me there?”
“Then he’s an asshole who doesn’t deserve you. But trust me, he’d want you there. He’s been calling me to make sure I’m keeping an eye on you. Like I haven’t been doing that for the last few fuckin’ years.”
He can call Zach but can’t find the time to call me? Now I was even angrier.
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know, Trill, I know.”
“I’ll think about it,” I say. “So tonight is Gina’s birthday, right? And she’s Poison’s old lady?”
Zach nods. “Yep. Gina’s turning thirty-five. She’s gonna love the cakes.”
“How many people are going to be there?” I ask, staring down at the cake in my hands.
“Ummm, I don’t know, maybe fifty people.”
We spend the rest of the drive in comfortable silence.
When Zach turns right into the compound, I take in the building, my eyes scanning it greedily. I’ve driven past it, of course, but never been inside the gates.
Zach laughs. “Look at you.”
I turn to him with a sheepish smile playing on my lips. “I’ve been curious for a while now.”
“I can see that,” he murmurs. “Dad’s not gonna be happy about me bringing you here.”
I sit up straighter at that. “Why not?”
“You’re like the daughter he always wanted but never had.”
“So? These are his men, right. I mean, he is the president,” I say, not understanding.
Zach chuckles. “Yes, that’s true, but come on. Sending you in here is like dangling a mouse in front of a snake.”
My lips tighten. “Great metaphor, asshole.”
“How does Xander put up with you?” he mutters under his breath. I reach over and pinch him.
“Ow! That was my nipple.”
I shrug. “You should like that. I heard you like it rough.”
He parks the car and stares at me wide-eyed. “Since when are you so mouthy?”
“I don’t know. All I know is I’m a little more comfortable in my own skin nowadays.”
I think I have Xander to thank for it.
Zach smiles at me and shakes his head.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
I open the car door and stand, cake plate firmly held in my arms. Zach gets the other two cakes out, balancing them on each hand.
“You ready for this, Trill?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I say, turning to him. “Surely, nothing will go on today. It’s an old lady’s birthday party, not a weekend party with the women of Channon.”