Kode’s laughter grows, and the guy tattooing him warns him to be still or have a permanent mistake on his back.
“They have a weird friendship,” Kode says as his laughter tapers off.
“She has my name tattooed on her, too, so it levels out.”
“Oh, so you’re like Rain and Dane. Secretly in love with each other for years but not brave enough to act on it.”
Corbin and Kode both tense up for some reason. Corbin is the one to break the uncomfortable silence.
“No, we dated. Three times when we were younger. It never worked out for us, so we just stay friends.”
“Why didn’t it work out?”
Kode’s head pops up, his eyes trained on Corbin like he’s just as curious as I am. Corbin looks like he swallowed something sour.
“Long story,” he grumbles, his face turning the brightest shade of red I’ve ever seen.
“What the hell, man?” Kode asks with a mocking grin. “Why are you so red right now?”
“Keep on and I’ll ask questions about secrets you two want to keep.”
Kode and I immediately shift the subject just as Dale walks over to display his work of art. Unlike the others, he looks more militant than a sexy, laid-back playboy.
“Remind me to kill Maverick for this tomorrow,” he announces.
Laughter resumes, and everyone finishes up with their bonding ritual that will be forever branded on their skin and in their minds. I feel like an outsider looking in, but it’s fun to watch.
As they all pay for their new ink, I head back out to the limo. Kode is quickly joining me before anyone else, and he leans over to place a kiss on my forehead, refraining from losing his cool and giving in. That’s fine. I’m going to give in this weekend if he doesn’t cave by then.
“This was actually pretty nice,” he says while wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
I lean into him, smiling as I feel his abs through his shirt. “You going to give in so I can claw up your pretty new tattoo?”
He groans while tugging at my head to tilt my face up to meet his, and he kisses me just on the tip of my nose.
“Not yet,” he murmurs while grinning that wicked smile of his.
He scoots away just as Corbin climbs in, rolling his eyes at us while taking the seat by Kode.
“You know, whenever you two decide to end this little game of yours, give me a warning.”
Kode tilts his head, apparently as confused as I am by that request. “Why?”
“Because it’s scorching hot to be around you two with all this pent-up nonsense. I can only imagine how heated it’s going to get when you unleash on each other. You’re going to burn the whole fucking city down.”
Chapter 17
KODE
“I hate Maverick,” I tell Dane over the phone as I leave Silk. I had Eleanor meet me with all of Edward’s files instead of going to her house where people might see me and ask questions. I don’t want Rain or Dane knowing what I’m doing, because then they’d want to know why.
Rain wouldn’t mind so much, but Dane would assume I was stepping on his toes and trying to get Rain’s attention. Since Dane needed me to meet his alcohol supplier while he was in a meeting, I decided just to have Eleanor meet me here.
“I hate him, too,” Dane groans.
Eleanor pulls out of the parking lot as I finish arranging the last of the boxes in the trunk. Just as I shut the lid, the face of the son of the bitch I hate the most is staring at me.
Pete Fucking Mercer.
His smug grin turns up as he leans up against the wall of the club, standing in the alleyway between Silk and a storage building, the same spot where I beat his ass a few months ago.
I don’t hesitate to stalk toward him, ready to end this fucking game.
“Dane, call the cops. Pete Mercer is at Silk.”
“Shit, Kode. Don’t do anything—”
I hang up on him to stay focused on what matters, and slip my phone into my pocket. Pete backs up farther, his smirk etching up. If I wasn’t in a blind rage and zeroed in on destroying his face, I might have stopped to pay better attention to the fact that we’re now deep into the pit of the alley, almost to the beach gate that connects to the two buildings.
“You’re not the Sterling I expected to find, but you’re sure as hell the one I’d rather have.”
His sinister tone doesn’t intimidate me, but the thudding of feet behind me puts me on alert. I turn around to see four guys who look like they love steroids a little too much.
“Oh, look. Turns out you’re not the only one with friends.”
Ah, hell. I shouldn’t have been stupid enough to get this deep. I turn back around just in time to get sucker punched by Pete, but I barely flinch before sending a punch of my own.