Utah (Knights Corruption MC: Laredo #4)

Chapter 19

19

During my shift, I texted Utah several times to check in and see how he was doing, but he never responded. When I reached out to my brother to have him give me an update, he didn’t answer either. They’re dealing with something right now. Calm down. It's not personal. I repeated these sentences over and over to assuage my slight paranoia. It barely worked.

I should’ve called off work. I should’ve stayed with him to make sure he was okay, but I didn’t. I wished I could turn back the clock and handle the situation differently. Then again, if I had that capability, I’d rewind time further back to when Utah and I first started hanging out. Would I have blown him off, knowing what I do now? We started off just messing around, but somewhere along the way, I caught feelings for him, even though I denied them to both him and myself. And now we were having a baby together. Would I honestly change all that if I could? I simply couldn’t land on an answer either way.

“You ready?” Will stood beside me, his smile deepening when I nodded and grabbed my purse.

“Thanks again for covering for me today. I really appreciate it. ”

“Anything for you, Ria.”

His hand rested on the small of my back as he guided me toward the door. He wasn’t finished with his shift but offered to walk me to my car since it was close to eleven at night.

I unlocked my car door and opened it, but before I disappeared inside, he touched my arm.

“Hey, I wanted to ask you something.”

“What’s up?”

“Are you still not seeing that guy?” What an odd question out of the blue.

“Utah?”

He quickly glanced at my belly. “Yeah, him.”

“It’s…” I wanted to give him an answer, but I also wanted to guard my private life. “It’s complicated.”

“Oh.”

“Why?”

Both Knox and Utah mentioned they thought Will liked me, but I never picked up on that vibe from him. Not until right now. He stepped closer, causing me to retreat a step, essentially trapping me between him and the side of my car.

“I like you, Ria. A lot. And I think you like me too.” A slight breeze tousled his hair over his right eye. I always thought he needed a haircut but of course never voiced my opinion. He pushed his hair back, leaning in closer.

“I do like you, Will, but not—”

His lips pressed against mine before I could finish my sentence. Everything happened so quickly, I just froze, which in turn gave him the impression I didn’t mind him making this bold move on me.

I didn’t remember a single time when I perceived Will to have flirted with me. Had I been that oblivious? Then again, I’d been so wrapped up in all things Utah, I didn’t pay much attention to anyone else at all.

It wasn’t until the tip of his tongue touched my bottom lip that I was finally shoved back into the situation. The entire encounter lasted seconds, but even that was too long. Though I didn’t ask for him to kiss me, didn’t flirt with him, didn’t send him mixed messages—although he’d probably argue I had—a tsunami of guilt crashed through me.

With as much force as I could muster, I shoved him away from me. “What are you doing?” I aggressively wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

“I was showing you how I feel about you.” His features pinched in a blend of confusion and worry. “I really like you.”

“So you said. But that doesn’t give you the right to kiss me, Will. I’m involved with someone.”

“You said you weren’t with him.”

“No, what I said was it was complicated. For fuck’s sake, I’m having his baby.”

“Oh.”

I couldn’t readily tell if he was apologetic for his actions or disappointed things didn’t turn out in his favor.

“Yeah, oh.” I didn’t know what else to say, sarcasm clipping both words.

His shoulders dropped, and he took a step back, giving me the tiniest amount of breathing room. Then his chest inflated, and his eyes widened.

“You’re not gonna tell him I kissed you, are you? I really thought you liked me. It’s not my fault.”

“Let me stop you right there,” I said, holding my hand up close to his face. “I never told you I liked you like that. I never flirted with you.”

“You kinda did, though.”

“I did not. What you took as flirting was just me being nice and getting along with a coworker, someone I even viewed as a friend. And to answer your question, no, I’m not going to tell Utah you kissed me because even though I’m upset with you right now, I don’t want to see you dead. ”

“Uh… would he really—”

“Yes to every possible question you’re thinking.”

“I’m sorry, then.”

I’m sorry, then? He was only sorry because he didn’t want Utah to find out? My initial shock and guilt were replaced by anger, and if I didn’t leave now, I wouldn’t need to tell Utah a damn thing. I’d beat the hell out of him myself.

I folded myself into my driver’s seat and slammed my door. He walked back into Rocky’s as I turned over the ignition. I’d just pulled out of the parking lot when my phone rang.

“Finally,” I answered. “I’ve been trying to reach you for hours.”

“What’s wrong?”

Still flustered over the encounter with Will, I took several deep breaths to calm myself. Otherwise, Knox would grill me, and not only would he probably show up at my job and confront the guy, but he’d probably tell his friend. And that was unnecessary stress and drama none of us needed.

“Nothing,” I lied. “I texted Utah to see how he was, but he never responded. I’m worried about him.”

“He’s fine. He’s sleeping it off here for the night.”

“Oh, okay.” I failed to hide the disappointment in my voice.

“Don’t overthink it. He’s fine.”

“You said that already.”

“Well, I mean it. Physically, anyway. Who knows what’s going on in that head of his.” Silence descended for a moment. “Just give him some time.”

“I know.”

“Everything else okay? Did something happen at work?”

Sometimes, like now, I hated that Knox was so intuitive, but in order to convince him nothing happened, I relied on something he knew nothing about.

“This baby is already a handful,” I answered, lightly chuckling. “I didn’t feel that great tonight, that’s all. ”

“All right. Well, let me know if you need anything.”

I could bitch about my brother’s overprotectiveness all day long, but at the end of the day, he loved me, as I did him. I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

“I will. Thanks.”

“Talk later. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

My drive home allowed me time to think about what happened. Not about Will and how I was going to act around him the next time I saw him, but whether I should tell Utah about the kiss. After a lot of internal back-and-forth, I decided it was best for everyone, especially Utah, if he never found out about the incident. He’d break Will in half, and I didn’t want that on my conscience.