The last two mornings were the only times he’d woken up with someone else in his bed. Not counting the morning his mother dragged him out of Sarah’s bed by his hair.
He grabbed the motel-branded notepad and pen from the drawer and scribbled out a note, telling her he’d be back ASAP. He left a full pipe on the nightstand, along with a spare lighter from his backpack on top of the note.
He quietly tugged on his boots and headed out the door.
He wanted to get this shit done as quickly as he could and get back to her. Preferably before she woke up and found him gone.
Rev steered his Bronco into the parking spot in front of their room. He was fucking exhausted and really wanted to just eat, then sleep. But Reilly was in his bed again tonight, so he wasn’t sure if that would happen. He might have to just dig deep if she was in the mood to do a repeat of last night.
He hoped she was. He didn’t want to miss out on even one night of getting naked with her, but, more importantly, it would mean she was out of her funk.
No light could be seen through the narrow gap in the wide vertical blinds, but he could see flashes, which meant the TV was still on.
He opened the driver’s door, turned sideways in his seat and took a last couple puffs on his hand-rolled before flicking the remainder of the cigarette out into the dark parking lot. He blew the smoke up toward the night sky and stepped out, glancing back at his now packed Bronco.
He’d stuffed his truck to the point where he could no longer see out over the boxes in the back seat and would have to use his side mirrors to see behind him when he drove. He’d taken whatever he thought she could use or anything that he guessed might mean something to her and sorted out the rest.
He was fucking shocked at just how many items he found with blood splatter on them. Her apartment had to have looked like a murder scene by the time she was hauled away by the EMTs.
Thank fuck it ended up only being an “attempt” instead of an actual successful murder.
If he knew where her old apartment complex was located, he’d head over there, knock on her neighbors’ doors and thank them for stepping in when they could have easily ignored it like a lot of people would.
Thank fuck good people did exist in the world. It gave him some hope.
His life had begun to look up when he landed the job at Dutch’s Garage, then got to prospect for the newly resurrected Blood Fury MC. Manning Grove, the fucking snow and frigid temps in winter aside, was a great town. Great for him and even better for Saylor.
This shit with Reilly, though…
Yeah, it would only be a temporary thing.
Would it have to be? Would he want something more? Could he feel out Deacon and Reese about it? See what their reaction would be?
Or would that cause a bunch of suspicion and him getting fucked up the ass and not in a good way?
The problem was, he’d only fucked her one night. He also had to work with her, at least for now until she decided to move on to a bigger, better job, one in which she could put her college degree to use.
To approach Deke and Reese, there would have to be more between them than only a casual hookup. At this point, he wasn’t sure if he was ready to take that step. Not because of Reilly, but because of him. One nut-draining night with Reilly didn’t mean he was ready to claim her at the table, either.
Getting naked with her had been fun. For both of them. Maybe it wouldn’t ever go any farther than that.
A fun, friendly fuck.
Friends with bennies.
Reese might not have such a shit fit about him fucking Reilly if Rev offered her sister his cut. Then she would be the only woman on the back of his sled and also in his bed. He couldn’t imagine Reese could argue that, especially since she let Deacon claim her. Otherwise, she’d be a fucking hypocrite.
But they’d need to be serious.
They weren’t serious.
Yeah, they’d had the hots for each other and the sex had been banging. But right now, that was all it was. A forbidden, secret fling in a motel in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. The second he pointed his Bronco north, it would be over and need to be forgotten.
He stared at the motel room door with his keycard paused over the slot.
Because, fuck that, he wasn’t ready to settle down. He bet Reilly wasn’t, either.
With her at only twenty-five and him at twenty-eight, they both had a lot more exploring to do before getting tied down.
He unlocked the door and slipped inside, surprised to find her curled up under the covers with her eyes still closed. The TV volume so low it was being used as white noise.
He stepped over to the nightstand and saw the pipe’s bowl still full. But the bottle of water he left for her was half empty. That meant she hadn’t slept straight through.
He sat on the spare bed and blindly unlaced his boots since he was too busy staring at her while she slept. Once he had them kicked off and his socks tucked inside, he stood, yanked his T-shirt up over his head and quietly dropped his jeans.
He slid in next to her and curled his arms around her, pressing his nose into her hair, just enjoying her heat and softness against him.
She pulled her head back and opened her eyes. “You’re back,” she murmured, sleepily.
“Yeah, it’s done. Emptied the unit and gave the key back to the office. No reason to ever go back there again.”
She stared at him for a few heartbeats then, with her lips slightly turned down, whispered, “Sorry.”
Christ. This was not Reilly. Not her at all. “For what?”
“For letting it get to me. I just wasn’t expecting… It was stupid.”
“Wasn’t stupid. Can’t help how it made you feel. Own it, recognize what it is and then scrape it off. You’re allowed to let that shit bother you, babe, just don’t let it drown you. And, anyway, it would bother anyone. Truth? It fuckin’ bothered me and I wasn’t even there.”
“If you were, it never would’ve happened.”
If he was, she never would have been with Warren in the first place. “Yeah, well… Can’t go back in time.” He wished he could. He would’ve done a lot of shit differently.
She probably would have, too.
“What a fucking idiot I was to trust him. I was wary of him at first. I kept resisting but he kept coming into where I worked and… working me.” She covered her face with both hands. “Damn it!”
Holy fuck, was she going to cry? He hoped like fuck she wasn’t going to cry. He’d never once seen her cry. Not once. She couldn’t do it now. He wouldn’t know what to do.
“Don’t cry,” he urged in a panic. It was bad enough when he had a hard time getting Sarah to stop crying. In fact, he usually failed. His sister would only stop once she fell asleep in his arms and it broke his fucking heart every damn time. It also made him feel helpless.
She dropped her hands and blinked at him. “I’m not crying.”
Oh thank fuck.
“I’m pissed at how damn stupid and foolish I was. He made me his mark and I let him.”
“He was a fuckin’ pro at it. You weren’t the only one he did it to, Reilly. You fit his M.O., that’s all. And, of course, you caught his attention ‘cause you’re hot as fuck.”
“But after that, Reese felt the need to go back to mothering me. Or smothering me. It was like she revoked my adulthood. It didn’t help that I decided to stay in Manning Grove and work at the garage.”