Free All the Sky by Susan Fanetti Page A

don’t usually strike up a conversation, and you certainly don’t ask for a drinking buddy.”
    Again, he felt defensive. “That a problem?”
    She sipped her drink. “No. I just got the impression that you don’t like women much.”
    “Bullshit. I love women.”
    “No, I don’t think you do. I think you love pussy. You’re not so interested in the person it’s attached to.”
    He tried to decide whether he would be pissed at her for sitting over there having insights about him, and he landed on no. She was right. Chicks ruined everything.
    He could put all the troubles the Horde had had over the past four years down to chicks. He liked Lilli fine. She was Isaac’s old lady, and Havoc paid her the respect her position was due. He liked Shannon okay, too, and thought they were both damn smart. But the fact remained that Lilli coming into Signal Bend was why Wyatt and his brother, Ray, were both dead. Ray fucking deserved it. Wyatt did, too, and Havoc had voted to send him to his Maker, but Wyatt wouldn’t have been in the position of having to choose between the club and his own blood brother if it hadn’t been for Lilli. And then Marissa Halyard, bewitching stupid Vic with her rich, pink pussy, getting him to spill secrets that got Show’s daughter killed. And fucking Riley Chase, bringing her fame to Signal Bend and making the Scorpions feel vulnerable. That got Bart gone and almost got Isaac killed. And C.J. had gone fucking nuts and shot Isaac because he hated Lilli and Shannon so much. And then Vic, again. And tonight, yet another chick was getting between Badger and Billy, turning a friendship sour. As far as Havoc could see, chicks were at the heart of it all.
    They ruined everything.
    So why was he sitting here having a drink with Cory, unwilling to let her go home to her kid?
    “Well, I’m not interested in your pussy.” As he said it, he had a glimmer of understanding that it wasn’t true, but he pushed the thought away. Club girls only. That was his hard and fast rule. He had never had a girlfriend, and he hadn’t fucked anybody but club girls since high school. He finished the second whiskey and poured himself a third. She smirked at that but said nothing. He was cold sober. Took a lot more than that to get him drunk.
    She tipped her glass—still her first—back and took a longer swallow. Havoc watched her throat move, all those necklaces wrapped around it, and his eyes drifted to her collarbones. She was wearing a top with a wide, rounded neckline, and her collarbones were bare from throat to shoulder, her slim, black bra straps exposed. He had the image of sucking on those collarbones again. It really pissed him off, and he made a quick decision to piss her off right back. “How come you don’t get child support?”
    She visibly jerked at that, and her eyes went dark. “How do you…?”
    “Background check.”
    “But that’s not…you shouldn’t…”
    He just looked at her. Instinctively, he knew it was better if she was pissed at him.
    But the anger in her eyes passed, and she actually answered the question. “I’m supposed to, but my ex never has any money, either. No point, really, fighting him for it. We’re in the same boat.”
    “Nope. Your boat has a kid in it.”
    “Why do you care?”
    Halfway through his third deep glass of whiskey, his lips were loosening up a little. “I don’t know. I like the kid. He’s a good boy—you’re a good ma.” What the fuck was up with him tonight?
    She cocked her head at him. “You’re being strange tonight, Hav. You okay?”
    Despite the part of his head that was kicking his mouth up the ass, he kept talking. “Yeah. Like I said, he’s a good kid.”
    “Hoookay.” She drank down the rest of her first glass of whiskey. “Well, I need to get home to that good kid. So, I’ll see you later. You okay to drive—or ride, whatever?”
    He laughed. “Yeah.”
    “Alright, then. Good night.” She headed for the door.
    “Good