True enough. Still bugs me.

Music drifts out from Trin's room. I'm happy she's having fun with Hope, even if I'm annoyed I don't get to watch them dress each other. "It's like backstage at a fashion show down there. Why couldn't they do that shit in your room?"

Rock shrugs. "Who's coming up tonight?" he asks to distract me.

"Fuck if I know," I grumble. I haven't done a damn thing related to my job all week. Rock really should strip my patch.

"You worried about something else?" he asks. When I shrug, he chuckles.

I may have told a small white lie to avoid an argument with Trinity. I trust her, but this relationship stuff is new to her too. Even though I understand where it's coming from, her refusal to acknowledge what we are to the people we're closest to is fucking with me. Having it tied to something I can't control-my broken leg-only makes it worse.

"They're not going out to pick up guys," Rock says.

"I know Hope isn't. But those other two-"

Rock jabs his elbow into my ribs and I shove him back. "I called Blue. He'll make sure they're protected at the show, and Birch will be on their tail. They'll be fine," he assures me.

That's a bit of a relief. Blue's a solid guy. The arena they're going to is in our territory, so they should be fine.

Trying to distract myself with the television is pointless. Rock disappears into the office and I consider asking him if he needs help.

The sound of the girls giggling makes my mouth twitch up. "We're almost ready to go," Hope announces.

Rock pokes his head out of the war room and I about piss my pants laughing at the look on his face when he takes in her outfit.

Trinity's arrival draws my attention away from them. Fuck me. Go ahead and call me a fuckin' pansy, but I recognize the dress she's wearing right away.

"Jacket?" Rock asks Trinity.

She holds up a black leather jacket. "Yes, Dad."

"Very funny," he mutters as he snaps a picture of the girls. I assume he's going to send it to Blue. Smart man.

Hope grabs Trin's hand, dragging her to the door before I have a chance to say anything to my girl. "Let's go. I don't like the bossy caveman faces I'm seeing."

"Hey, wait a sec," Rock calls her to him.

I can't get to Trinity fast enough. Thankfully, she meets me half way. Uncertain honey eyes stare up at me.

Leaning over I kiss her cheek. Her soft, sugary scent rushes straight to my head. "You look fuckin' beautiful," I whisper against her hair. Her breath catches. My hands tighten on her waist, holding her still. "I remember the last time you wore this dress."

"You do?" she whispers.

"Yup. Remember every second I've spent with you. Good and bad."

"Wy-"

"Go," I cut her off. "Have fun. I'll be waiting for you when you get back." My hand slides over the curve of her ass. "When you step inside the bedroom later, I want you to take everything but the dress off."

I pull away and look in her eyes to make sure she sees I'm dead fucking serious. Her cheeks flush pink and pretty. "Okay," she whispers.

Fuck, yeah. "Get out of here, before I change my mind and fuck you right now," I grumble at her.

She chuckles and pushes me away. Grabbing Hope's hand, she says, "Let's run before they change their minds."

They head for the door, and I watch them go. Thinking about what I'm going to do to Trinity when she returns has my dick so hard it hurts.

By the time we get downtown, I'm ready to go home. I haven't met Hope's friends before but I've heard plenty about them. Sophie's a lawyer like Hope. Lilly has some sort of graduate degree. Considering I barely made it out of high school and couldn't use the college scholarship I was offered, I feel totally out of place. And let's not forget the fact that they all have real jobs while all I am is a housekeeper-whore.

Hope introduces me as her friend, which catches me off-guard. I don't know why. She's too classy to introduce me as "the whore of my boyfriend's club."

In all my years with the Kings, this is the first time I've questioned myself. Compared to the girls that usually hang around up there, I'm pretty damn lucky. Compared to these three, I feel like shit. I concentrate on not tripping in the heeled boots I borrowed from Hope as we walk to the Red Room.

As soon as we place our dinner orders, Lilly pounces. "So, how tight are you with Z?" she asks. I'm not surprised or annoyed. I'd been expecting it, honestly.

Whether he wants to admit it or not, Z really likes this chick. While I want to be nice to her in case we have to spend time together in the future, I'm also not going to let her push me around. "I've known him for a long time," I answer.

Lilly's eyes narrow. "You fuck him?"

Next to me, Hope gasps and slaps Lilly's arm.

Well, at least the bitch is direct. I have no idea what Z's told her, so I answer honestly. "Not lately."

Lilly seems to appreciate honesty. She sits back. "He fuck around your MC a lot?"

"Why are you so curious?"

She fiddles with her napkin for a beat before answering. "We hooked up. He keeps calling. I just want to know if he's worth the effort, or if he's full of shit."

Christ, Z's an asshole. But my loyalty is to the club-including the big manslut-not this chick. I glance at Hope, not sure how much of this she wants to know. "Besides club girls, I've never seen him with the same chick twice. That's all I can really tell you."

Lilly seems satisfied with my answer and the awkwardness surrounding us evaporates.

Sophie proceeds to get drunk on tequila shots. Lilly keeps an eye on her, and doesn't drink anything herself. Lilly and I end up talking-not about Z, thankfully-and I discover she's pretty funny.

When we finally leave for the show, Hope's bouncing up and down like a teenager-even though she didn't have a drop of alcohol-but her excitement is infectious.

Sophie's law firm has box seats. It's a nice set-up and I'm relieved not to be out in the middle of the crowd. Especially since, from our high vantage point, I can see the moshpit is intense and no place on the floor seems to be safe from flying bodies and crowd surfers.

I send Wrath a text letting him know we're okay and safe in the box seats.

Good. He answers back.

After the show, Sophie has connections that get us backstage.

"You okay with this?" Hope asks me outside the band's dressing room.

"Sure. I wouldn't mind meeting Chase. He's fucking hot."

We both giggle. The singer is indeed hot, but Wrath could probably bench press him. The band is nice enough. Their drummer's clearly down-to-fuck, and offers to give me a "tour" of their bus, but I politely put him off. There was definitely a time in my life where attention from a guy like that would have had me on my back in two seconds flat.

Wyatt's your boyfriend now.

Wow, that's weird.

He's waiting at home for you right this second.

When Hope asks if I mind leaving, I'm jumping for joy inside. Lilly shocks me by pulling me in for a hug. "We'll hang out again soon, I'm sure," she says. Huh. Here I thought I'd made a lousy impression.

Hope takes her time saying goodbye to Sophie, who probably won't remember much of their conversation. To get her moving, I walk up and bump her with my hip. "Ready?"

"Yup."

The hallway is about twenty degrees cooler and a welcome relief.

"Hey, Trinity," a thick, rough voice calls from behind us, scaring the shit out of me. Blood pounds through my ears, drowning everything else out for a second.

"Oh, shit. Hey, Blue." Feeling foolish, I throw my hand out in a casual wave.

"Enjoy the show?" he asks as he approaches.

"Oh yeah, it was great. What're you doing here?"

"Working security."

"Cool. Oh, this is Rock's ol' lady, Hope. Hope, Blue used to bounce at CB."

She responds with a shy hello.

"Where you ladies parked?"

"The garage on Second Street."

He nods and gives the backstage area a once-over. "I'll walk you girls out."

"You don't have to do that," Hope protests.

Oh, Hope, you have no idea.

Throughout the night, Trinity sends me a bunch of texts. It makes me real fuckin' happy that even though she's out having fun, I'm on her mind. Each message raises my hopes that things between us will finally work.

The last one she sends is my favorite.

On our way home.

The clubhouse's packed. Rock must have gotten irritated with the parade of muffler bunnies bouncing around. He ducked into our office, closed the door and hasn't come out since. I knock before throwing the door open.

"Girls are on their way back."

He glances at the clock behind him. "Earlier than I expected." I can already see him vibrating with excitement at the thought of seeing his girl. Fuck if I don't feel the same damn way.

"Let's go wait outside for them," he suggests.

We push through the crowd and settle on one of the stone benches in the front yard.

"You still in pain?" he asks, nodding at my leg.

I shrug. "Nothing I can't handle."

"You two getting along okay?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"We gonna make an announcement soon?"

My lack of an answer seems to piss him off.

"What the fuck is wrong now?"

"It's not me. She's not comfortable. Thinks I'm only saying I want to be with her because I need her to take care of me or something." I go to run my fingers through my hair and remember it's not there anymore. Fuck.

"You're all right with that?"

"No. But that's what she seems to need right now."

Rock raises an eyebrow and stares at me.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's good to see you finally set your ego aside and take care of her."

"Fuck you."

"I didn't mean it as an insult, ya fuck."

"Sure sounded like it."

Rock shakes his head and mutters what sounds like asshole under his breath. "She talk to you about her past yet?"

"No. And that's another thing. I want her to tell me herself."

"She doesn't know, you know?"

"No."

Rock seems to think that over. "I feel like I betrayed her-"

"You should have told me a long time ago, asshole."