I took a seat on the couch and rested my head against the back cushion. Zip came down the long hall, shrugging in to his leather vest. Colt sat in one of the recliners and Zip gave him a chin nod in the way of a greeting and then went to pour himself a cup of coffee.
“There’s an Iron Horsemen prospect camped out in your house,” Zip said as he took a seat in the other recliner across the coffee table, facing Colt.
I looked up at him. “So that means…”
“Couldn’t get your stuff. Couldn’t get your keys or your truck.”
“So then I’m stuck.”
Stuck in town. Stuck wearing the same clothes. Stuck without access to my bank account.
What the hell was I going to do? I had no money, no ID. I couldn’t drive even if I’d had my truck due to my stupid wrist. I didn’t have a safe place to stay—I wasn’t going to ask if I could crash with Shelly and Mark.
“Mia? Mia!”
“Huh?” I looked at Zip and then at Colt. “Sorry. I zoned out. What did you say?”
“I was askin’ if your wrist is hurting,” Colt growled.
He was back to surly—his general MO. I’d realized that at the hospital when he told me to sit my ass down and wait while he went to find us coffee. He grumbled as he took care of me, but he did take care of me.
“Yeah, it hurts a bit,” I admitted.
“I got it. I’ll grab you the Tylenol and a glass of water,” Zip said, getting up.
“Thanks.”
“You got a prescription for something stronger,” Colt reminded me. “I can get one of the boys to fill it.”
“No thanks,” I said. “Never touch the strong stuff. I like to stay in control.”
Colt peered at me with intelligent brown eyes. “I respect that,” he said softly. “What are you thinkin’?”
I shrugged.
“That’s not an answer. Talk to me.”
I bristled at his command and glared at him. “You know the saying you catch more flies with honey?”
“You catch more flies with shit.”
I blinked. “Was that a joke? Did you just make a joke?”
He sighed like I exhausted him.
“Where am I supposed to stay?” I blurted out. “I can’t go home, obviously.”
Colt stood, looming over me, his usual scowl in place.
“Don’t look at me that way,” I seethed. “I have the right to be upset.”
His face softened. “Mia—”
“I’ve got nothing, Colt.” The anger vanished from my tone as suddenly as it had come. Fury was exhausting, and I didn’t have the energy to waste on it. “I don’t have access to my bank account. I don’t have my driver’s license. Christ, I don’t even have my own clothes and there’s some strange man in my fucking house.”
After a moment, he said, “You’ll stay here.”
“Here?”
He nodded. “The clubhouse. You can crash in my room.”
I frowned. “With you?”
“I don’t live at the clubhouse, Mia. I have a house.”
“Then why do you have a room here?”
“It’s a place to crash after the parties. I don’t always want to drive home at four in the morning.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Colt shook his head. “Look, you’re shit out of luck right now. Even if you had your truck, you can’t drive yet. Your only option is to stay here.”
“That’s not the only option. I can stay with a friend—”
Colt interrupted, “Right now you’re a burden, and anyone you stay with is going to be put at risk.”
“You’re an ass,” I snapped even though I’d already gone through the same logic in my head and come to the exact same conclusion.
“No, I just tell it like it is. Besides, why wouldn’t you stay here? We’ve got the space.”
“Maybe because I don’t feel entirely welcome. What did you call me? A burden?”
“Jesus, woman.” Colt ran a hand through his dark hair in obvious frustration. “I’m trying to help you out and—”
“I don’t need your help, you arrogant—”
“She can’t stay here,” Zip interrupted as he walked back into the living room holding a glass of water in one hand and a few pills in the other.
I jumped, having completely forgotten he was in the same room and witnessing my argument with Colt. My cheeks heated in embarrassment at my behavior. Colt was turning me into an angry shrew.
“Why not?” Colt demanded with a glare at Zip.
“You said it yourself—the clubhouse is a place to crash after parties. And you know how wild they get. Wild is a tame word for it, actually.” Zip grinned. “Nice girls like Mia don’t belong at our parties. She can stay with me.”
“Like hell she will,” Colt boomed.
My gaze bounced back and forth between the two men. Zip was smiling, relaxed, while Colt looked like he wanted to pummel Zip into the ground.
“Doesn’t she have a say in things?” I ventured to voice. Neither one of them was paying any attention to me, so my question fell on deaf ears.
“You’re right, Prez,” Zip drawled. “She should stay with you. It’s just for a little while, right?”
Colt’s scowl could peel chrome off a trailer hitch, and I was glad it wasn’t directed at me.
“You’ve got a guest room,” Zip pushed. “Oh, wait, you have that one little rule, don’t you?”
“What rule?” I asked.
“Zip,” Colt warned.
Zip’s grin widened. “He doesn’t bring women back to his house. Not ones he wants to fu—”
“Shut it!” Colt yelled, making me jump. “Mia, let’s go.”
“Go?”
“My house.”
“Yeah, no. I’m good. I’ll just stay here.”
“I’m not asking, I’m telling. Now get your ass up. You’re coming with me. And you can save the smart ass retort.”
Apparently I was taking too long to follow his edicts because he reached down and scooped me up into his arms.
Right now, I was dealing with Colt, MC president. But earlier, when he’d washed my feet, I had been dealing with someone else. Perhaps that was the man beneath the leather.
“Bye, darlin’. See you later,” Zip said with an irreverent grin and a wave.
“Yeah, if Colt and I don’t end up killing each other, I’ll see you later.”
Zip’s laughter followed us out onto the porch and then faded away. Colt managed to open the passenger side door of the truck with me still in his arms and he set me down on the seat.
“Buckle up,” he commanded.
I rolled my eyes but did as he said. I shook my head. “You’re such a grumpy old man.”
Colt came around to the driver’s side and hoisted his large body into the seat. He closed the door and then jammed the key into the ignition. “I may be grumpy, but I’m not old.”
“Whatever. You’ve got to be pushing what—thirty-five?”
“Thirty-eight,” he admitted.
“Positively ancient.”