Go to sleep, you pussy.

Fine. See you in the morning.

chapter seven

dark and daylight

Naomi

O

ur entrance to the Complex slammed behind us as we made our way to the parking lot, boots crunching loosened gravel that needed more than just a little repair. Trex walked ahead, quiet like he had been for days. I opened the door to the FJ, watching him slam his gearshift into reverse and his truck surge forward. He’d had a permanent scowl on his face for nine days. He tried not to talk about Darby, failing every two hours or so. But he was giving her the space she’d requested.

“I’ve never seen him like this,” Martinez said.

“Give him a break,” Harbinger said from between his door and his truck. “He’s in love and has no clue which way is up.”

Martinez frowned. “He needs to get his shit together. He barely ate today. How long has he known this chick?”

“Like two weeks. Maybe,” I said, watching Trex speed toward the Complex exit.

“What the hell?” Martinez said, disgusted.

“Leave him alone,” Kitsch said. “You know as well as the rest of us he’s been talking about this girl since he was a kid.”

“That’s just … weird. He’s never met her,” Martinez said.

“But he knew she was out there,” Harbinger said. “And he believes Darby is her. That’s a pretty big deal.”

Martinez rolled his eyes. “It’s been nine days. He’d better get laid or something. I can’t take much more.” He turned to me. “You’ve been pissy too.”

In truth, I hadn’t spoken to Zeke since he’d kissed me. He’d texted me a couple of times, then he had to go up on the mountain. I tried not to dwell on it, but I hadn’t been kissed like that in a long time. Trex helped keep my thoughts occupied while he whined about Darby, but I was in a vicious cycle of trying not to think about Zeke, thinking about him, pissed off that I was thinking about him, and then back to trying not to.

Martinez’s gaze caught mine. “What?”

With a pleading look on his face, he nodded toward me. “You should take one for the team. You probably need to get laid too.”

I arched an eyebrow.

“You haven’t been laid in a while either. Why don’t you volunteer?”

He shrugged. “Because I’m straight.” He jutted out his lip. “Isn’t Trex your bestie? Fix him.”

“You best stop looking at me, Martinez,” I said. “Like, right fucking now.”

“Martinez!” Kitsch growled.

Harbinger cleared his throat. “That’s just disrespectful.”

Sloan kicked him in the ass—hard. “Didn’t they teach you any fucking manners in the Navy?”

Martinez laughed, hard, the whole way to his car and until he backed out of the lot.