He shakes his head and reaches out, gently brushing his thumb over my cheek. “No. Please keep going.”
I study him for a moment but when I don’t see anything but sincerity, I decide to finish my story. I explain about the article, and then that leads to me having to explain about the three dates. He watches me as I talk, and I can tell that he’s really listening. He really cares about how my day was, and my heart warms at the gesture.
“And that was the day we met?” he asks, and I nod. “Shit. What a day.”
I laugh, nodding my head. “Yeah, it was certainly interesting.”
“Well, I’m sorry again for Bear.”
I give him a look, and he holds his hands up in surrender.
“So, you’ve never told me what you do,” I point out, and he nods, looking down at the foot he’s massaging.
“You ever heard of the Bayou Devils?” he asks, and when I shake my head, he sighs.
“So, it’s an MC…”
“An MC?” I ask, cutting him off.
“Yeah, a motorcycle club. A lot of clubs are involved in criminal activity, and the Devils used to be before I joined but shit started going down and our president, Blaze, decided to make some changes.”
“Do you even realize that you do that?” I ask, and his brow creases.
“What?”
Smirking, I shake my head. “You respond to my questions but you never really answer them.”
“I don’t do that,” he says, a stubborn expression crossing his face that does all sorts of things to my insides.
“Yes, you do. I asked you what you do and you told me you’re in an MC but I still don’t really know what you do all day. Like, how do you make money to buy things like apology pizza?”
He snorts, fighting back a smile as he peeks up at me. “The club has several businesses that we run. When Blaze decided to go legitimate, we needed a way to make money. He already had the motorcycle shop but then he decided to open a P.I. business and a bar as well.”
“And you just work at all of them?”
“Yep,” he says, nodding, “We all take turns working in each place.”
“What made Blaze decide to turn things around?” I ask, wanting to soak up as much knowledge as I can. The doorbell rings, and he moves my feet before jumping up.
“One second.” He goes to the door and comes back a few seconds later with our food, setting it on the coffee table, and handing me a slice. He grabs one for himself before sitting back down again.
“About six years ago, a lot of shit went down, and it was just too much for all of them. Blaze had lost touch with his son, and he’d been shot during a run. One of the other guys went to prison, and he’s still there. Like everything just came to a head, and Blaze couldn’t do it anymore.”
I nod, studying him as he tells the story. “Why did you join?”
He shrugs and looks away. “Blaze got involved in helping women escape abusive relationships, and I liked what they were doing. I didn’t have much else at that point in my life. They became my family.”
My heart hurts as I think about him all alone in the world. “You don’t have any family?”
He turns back to me, giving me a soft smile that makes me sigh. “No, I’ve got my mom and dad but they’re separated, and they never had any more kids so it was kind of lonely.”
“I’m an only child, too, so I get it. Did you grow up around here?”
He nods. “Yeah, born and raised. I left for a little bit after high school but then I came back. This was home, you know?”
“I grew up in Texas, and I don’t know if I would go back now. I came out here for school because I wanted to be on my own but I fell in love with it.”
He smiles. “I’m kind of glad that you did.”
I blush and look away from him, my heart racing. God, this is exciting and terrifying all rolled into one, and I don’t know what feeling to latch on to. Maybe I should just go with it and enjoy the ride. “Me, too,” I whisper.
Storm reaches out, gently tapping under my chin with his fingers, and I look over at him. “Tell me more.”
It’s not a question but even that doesn’t bother me. I like that he wants to know more about me. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
“Well, that’s a super vague request. Can you narrow it down for me?”
He laughs and takes a bite of his pizza as he thinks. The scar in his eyebrow catches my eye, and I reach toward him, trailing my finger over it.
“How did you get this?”
He watches me for a second. “Got in a fight.”
I finish my pizza and toss the crust down on the open pizza box before pulling my knees to my chest and looking at him. He glances over at me out of the corner of his eye and grins.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, your friend the other day, the one that walked in on us in the kitchen…” he prompts.
“Izzy?”
“Yeah. She always that forward?”
I laugh and nod. “Um, yes.”
“Great,” he mumbles, and he seems upset by that fact.
“Did it bother you?” I ask, and he sighs, turning to look at me. He just watches me for a couple moments before shaking his head.
“No, it didn’t.”
An awkward silence falls over us, and he grabs another slice of pizza, asking me if I want one. I shake my head, and as he starts eating, I sigh.
“Okay, your turn. Tell me something about you.”
He smirks. “That’s a super vague request. Narrow it down.”
“Smartass,” I laugh, shoving him, and he quirks a brow in my direction, his smile turning predatory as he lunges at me. I squeal and try to get away but he scoops me up before I even make it off the couch, taking us down to the floor as he lies on top of me.
The air punches out of my lungs as I stare up at him, the warmth of his body blanketing me, and his breath fanning across my face. He holds my gaze, both of us suspended in this ridiculous “will we or won’t we” thing that we keep doing. Slowly, without taking my eyes off him, I lean up and press my lips to his. When he doesn’t pull away, I press my palm to his cheek, and he sighs, kissing me back just as softly.
I fall into him. It’s the kind of kiss that can last all night – slow, sweet, but still hot as he nips at my bottom lip, earning a breathy moan from me. My legs wrap around his waist, and he groans as he slips a hand behind my head, pulling me closer this time instead of pushing me away. His tongue teases mine as he grips my hip and moans.
His phone starts ringing, and he pulls away, breathing heavily as he stares down at me, thunder building in his eyes. The phone stops ringing, and he sighs, climbing off me and sitting on the floor as he pulls it out and checks his messages.
“I’ve got to go,” he says when he pulls the phone away. He stands and holds his hand out to me to help me up. My heart hurts when I look up at him because he’s different than he was just a moment ago, and I have no idea what sparked the change. His fingers slip through my hair, and he presses his lips to my forehead before whispering “good-bye” and walking out of my house.
I stare at the door, my chest aching, and wonder if I made a big mistake here.