“You’re a fucking fourteen-year-old kid.” I shook my head, “What the fuck are you gonna do?”
“Don’t swear,” Riley insisted louder.
Tanner’s twinkling eyes turned her way. “Who’s this little shit.”
“I’m not a little shit!” Riley growled back.
For a girl who was adamant about swearing, she sure as shit had no problem throwing it back.
“I can take you.” She raised her little fists, which of course made Tanner smile. I don’t think the kid was all there, and that was before he started mixing it up with grumpy bikers at the club house. I’d lost count of how many times he’d been beaten down. Scrawny little prick liked to poke at us.
“How about I piggy back you instead?”
“I don’t know,” Riley crossed her arms and eyed him. “You’re kind of skinny.”
That made me snicker, which in a weird way, lightened the load on my shoulders. I’d forgotten what it was like to smile.
“I’m hurt,” Tanner winked and pointed at her. “I’ll make you a deal. If I don’t piggy back you all the way to wherever the fuck we’re going, I have to buy you a pony.”
Promising a little girl a pony? That was some risky shit.
Riley’s eyes narrowed. “A real pony?”
“A real pony.” He nodded and held up his hand in the scout salute, “Scout’s honor.”
Cocky prick. Oh, he’d get her a pony alright. Probably steal the fucking thing. One look at the grin on his face had my lips curling. I could just picture the fucker jacking a jockey for his uniform and riding off with some prized stallion in the middle of a race.
After a bit more contemplation Riley eventually shrugged in agreement, and the fucker did it. Carried her not only the twenty blocks to her house but marched right through the front door and up the stairs, like he owned the damn place.
A fucking cop lived in this house. Smug little prick would’ve got shot if I didn’t get the drop on Derek headed for the stairs, hand on the hilt of his holstered gun. I pressed the barrel of my Glock to his temple before he could pull it.
“Don’t even think about it.”
I had to stop myself from pulling the trigger when Derek’s eyes slowly rolled my way. The fact that they were the same color as Sam’s made me want to scoop them out with a fucking spoon.
“Chase,” he growled lowly while glancing around me. “Don’t think my sister would like you pulling a gun on me.”
“Your sister’s not liking much of anything these days.”
A smirk toyed at the corner of his mouth, “Did she finally come to her senses?”
The smug tone in his voice pulled at the rage growing inside me. Just seeing him was enough to make me want to pull the trigger, but the way he looked at me now had me wanting to gut him alive. The only thing that stopped me was the little girl Tanner took upstairs.
“No, she didn’t come to her fucking senses,” I growled and dropped my hand before I did something I couldn’t take back.
“Figures,” he snorted out a scoff. “My sister never did make good decisions.”
I rolled my shoulders and stretched my neck. I’d like nothing more than to prove him wrong, except the bastard was right. Let’s face it, if Sam made good decisions, she never would’ve talked to me in the first place. I pushed my way past Derek and pushed my way into the house.
“Well,” he once again glanced out the door to the empty walkway. “Where is she?”
I glared down at the frilly pillows decorating his navy couch and muttered, “Six feet under.”
“What?” Derek’s gaze snapped my way.
The irony of that look on his face wasn’t lost on me. Now he was concerned. Prick.
“Where the fuck is my sister, Chase?”
