“Stop,” I whisper as tears fill my eyes and my bottom lip begins to tremble.

“Do you think your family will understand that it happened because you were so bullheaded?”

“Please stop,” I tell him, taking a seat on the couch. “I didn’t know, and he looked scared. I didn’t want you to go after him.”

“That is something you could’ve said when you talked to me about it,” he says quietly.

“He looked scared,” I repeat, lifting my eyes to meet his. “I don’t know what happened to him, but he looked terrified, and I could tell he didn’t want us to get hurt.”

He nods and gets down in front of me, taking my hands in his. “His dad owns Mamma’s Country. It was one of the first places me and my boys started going to when we moved to town. His dad is a good man, but over the last couple months, he’s gotten mixed up with some bad dudes. We don’t know what’s going on, but my guess is he owes these guys money.”

“Can you help them?”

His eyes search my face then he mutters a quiet, “Fuck,” as he pulls his hands from mine, stands, and runs his palms over his head.

“He’s been bringing me dogs, even if they’re on their last leg. I know the person running the fights isn’t telling him to drop them to me, so that leads me to believe he’s a good person.”

He gets back down in front of me and swipes away a tear I didn’t know had begun to fall.

“Me and Jax are looking into what’s going on. If I can help him, I will.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re a pain in my ass,” he says, shaking his head, but the words are soft, and so is the look in his eyes. I take a much-needed breath and then remember we were fighting about the key before he somehow turned this around on me.

“So, how did you get a key to my house?” I ask, and he stands back up and crosses his arms over his chest.

“I took it off one of your key rings.” He shrugs.

“Do you think that’s something I should maybe give to you willingly?”

“How long do you think it would take for you to give me a key?” he asks, looking down on me, so I stand up, wanting to have every advantage I can get. Even if the advantage is just a couple feet.

“I don’t know.” I shrug. I don’t even know why I’m arguing with him about this. It doesn’t even matter he has a key. I would have given him one if he asked me to. Even if we have only been an us for a few days this seemed like something bigger then I could ever even understand.

He looks me over and his eyes drop to my mouth. I cover it with my hand and he smirks.

“We’re back there, huh?” he questions, taking a step towards me. I take a step back and my knees hit the couch, and I fall to my ass on the soft cushion. “Now you’re caught.” He smiles, putting his fist into the couch on each side of me.

“What are you going to do to me?” I question, and his eyes heat as they roam over me.

“I can think of a few things, but you’re gonna need to uncover that hot mouth of yours.”

“We need to eat,” I tell him, uncovering my mouth and placing my hands on his shoulders.

“Eating is definitely on my list of things to do.”

“Holy crap,” I whisper, and he lowers his mouth over mine.

“July, open the door right now.” Kayan yells from outside breaking into the moment.

“Goddammit,” Wes growls, punching the cushion next to my hip and looking at the door.

“Kitten,” is growled, and the pounding gets more frantic. I regretfully slip out from under Wes and go to the door, opening it up only to close it back again when I see that Z has Kayan in his arms, his hand tangled in her hair and his mouth on hers.

“My neighbors are going to sign a petition for me to leave the neighborhood,” I tell Wes, shaking my head.

“You can’t just kiss people,” I hear my friend say breathlessly from the other side of the door, and I open it again and move out of the way as she comes tumbling into the house, Z catching her around the waist before her face hits the hardwood floor.

“What’s going on?” I ask as he rights her and she swipes his hands away from her waist.

“I came to make sure you were okay,” she tells me, looking between Wes and me.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” I frown.

“I may have been frustrated about Z being at my house when I got home and told him about the guy coming to the hospital. I told him not to tell Wes, but no sooner did the words leave my mouth did this big lug call Wes.” She points at Z, who is smiling at her. She glares at him in return, only to have his smile become wider. “You’re annoying.”

“You’ve said that, Kitten,” Z tells her.

“You couldn’t call?” Wes asks, and I look at him and narrow my eyes.

“Don’t be rude.”

“I’m hungry,” he states, making my core tighten.

“I’m hungry too,” Kayan says, and my eyes leave Wes when his head tilts back so that he can look at the ceiling.

“I was going to make tacos.” I sigh.

“Do you have enough?” Kayan asks.

“No,” Wes says as I say, “Yes.”

“Yes, I have plenty.” I narrow my eyes on Wes, daring him to say something else. “Why don’t you help me make dinner, while Wes and Z do guy stuff.”