I beat Alex out to his truck and quickly hop in, buckling my seatbelt before Alex can say anything. He hops in about two seconds behind me and quickly backs out of the driveway.

He groans when we pull up at the bar to see Dax leaning against his black Mercedes, most likely waiting on me. “What a fucking douche.”

“He’s not that bad, Alex.” I lean over and plant a quick kiss on Alex’s cheek. “I’ll see you later. Stop worrying about Dax, and thanks for the ride.”

I hop out and slam the door, right as Alex mumbles bye back. He waits until Dax and I are walking in the door before taking off and heading to the tattoo shop.

Overprotective much?

Dax raises an eyebrow, while flipping on the light switches. “I guess your boyfriend is worried I’ll make a move on you?”

I shake my head and walk past him. “We’ve already had this discussion. He’s not my boyfriend.” I laugh and set my purse down. “But yes. He probably thinks you’re going to make a move. He’s just really protective of me, and for some reason . . . he doesn’t like you.”

“Yeah, well if you ask me, he might as well be your boyfriend.” He opens the door to his office and stops to look back at me. “He already acts like it anyways. And by the way . . . if I knew that you wanted me to, I would.”

“Good to know.” I tease. “You would know if I wanted it, but I’m good.”

“Alright. Just pointing it out,” he says teasingly. “Let’s get things ready and fast. I have a feeling that we’ll have an early rush today.”

Without another word he disappears into his office, leaving me to set up the waitress station.

My boyfriend. Alex as my boyfriend.

My heart skips a beat at the thought.

If only it were that easy . . .

I’M SITTING IN MY ROOM at the shop, cleaning off my equipment, when I hear someone clear their throat from the doorway. It doesn’t even take me looking to know who it is. I’ve heard that annoying sound for far too many years of my life.

I smile from my seat, but don’t bother looking up. “Memphis . . . what’s up, big bro? Miss me already?”

I hear his footsteps as he enters the room, stopping behind me. “Fuck no.” He squeezes my shoulder, causing me to look up from my cleaning. “Lyric is busy at the studio, so she asked me to stop in and check on you.”

I can’t help but to grin. “So she misses me . . . is what you’re getting at?”

He slaps me on the back of the head before taking a seat in the other chair. “Surprisingly so.” He flashes me a smile, before getting serious. “I suppose I do too. It’s going to take a while before I can trust that you won’t just fucking take off somewhere.”

“I’m not going anywhere, man. Chill.”

It’s silent for a few moments as I finish putting my things away, before Memphis speaks again. “You been staying away from the alley?”

Standing up, I look down at him while leaning against the table. “I’ve stopped in to watch a couple fights. That’s it. Nothing big.” I nod my head toward the door, letting Memphis know that I’m ready to get going. It’s been a long, stressful day, and all I can think about is relaxing with a nice, cold beer.

He stands up and follows me to the door. “Have you been to any of Trevor’s fights?”

“Yeah. I caught the end of one a couple nights ago. He’s getting pretty damn good. Won by KO.”

“Yeah,” Memphis says. “Maybe we’ll have to stop by one night and watch a few fights for old time sakes. As long as we’re both on the outside of that ring, that’s all that matters to me. We don’t belong there anymore. Don’t forget that.”

I nod my head while locking my door behind us. It’s been over six months since either of us has been in a ring. I’m not trying to go back to that shit.

I slap the front desk. “I’m out, Styles.”

Without looking up, Styles mumbles something as we walk past and outside.

Memphis turns to me and grips my shoulder. “I’ll tell Lyric that you’re doing fine and that you’re just as annoying as ever.”

“That’s my best quality, brother.” I walk backwards, giving Memphis the middle finger with both hands, before jumping into my truck and starting the engine.

He stands there and watches me the whole time that I back out and pull off.

He’s exactly who I got my protective nature from, and just like me . . . he never backs down.

I pull up at Dax’s a little earlier than expected. Tripp still has about thirty minutes left before she gets off, but I decided to just show up early and kick back with a few beers while waiting. I could use a little unwinding before heading back to the house and seeing her and Lucas together.

The bar is pretty packed when I walk in, but I easily spot Tripp over at one of the tables close to the bar. It’s a pretty full table, so not wanting to add to her pressure I make my way up to the bar to order a beer. I smirk at Harley as she looks up at me from wiping down the sticky mess in front of her.

“Harley. Just the girl I’m looking for.”

Harley smiles from ear to ear and her face instantly turns red. Of course she knows that I know. Ace can’t keep his mouth shut for crap. “Don’t even say it, Carter.” She points at me as she reaches below her for a beer, already knowing what I’m after.

I shrug my shoulders, trying to hide my grin. “I wasn’t going to say shit about you and Ace fucking. I promise.” I laugh and she tosses the beer cap at me, hitting me on the nose.

“Alex! I want to strangle you sometimes.” She leans over the bar, suddenly interested, looking around to see if anyone’s listening. “Tell me what he said. Don’t leave anything out or I’ll choke you.”

Standing up, I grab the bottle of beer and lift it up, chuckling under my breath. I love screwing with her. “Cheers, Harley. I’ll see you later.” I walk backwards, smiling while tilting back my beer.

“You dick!” Harley shakes her head while giving me the evil eye. “I’ll get it out of Tripp. Trust me.”

Tripp appears beside me out of nowhere, so I wrap my arm around her neck and pull her to me. “No you won’t. Tripp doesn’t tell anything that I ask her not to.”

Harley bites her bottom lip in annoyance. “True . . . and I hate you for that.” She slaps her towel down onto the bar before crossing her arms. “Dammit! Fucking men! What are they good for?” She tilts her head in thought. “Oh yeah. Well double damn.”