He didn’t mean it.
He couldn’t.
They’d only spent five days in the same room, in the same bed. They’ve known each other and worked together for a year, but still…
It had to be the whiskey talking.
For the rest of the night, they both managed to ignore the words he spilled by accident and pretend it never happened.
Instead, they both shared a bowl, pigged out on delivered take-out and spent half the night naked, sweaty and writhing in the sheets. And on the sheets. And on the desk chair, that miraculously managed not to break.
During all of that, the L-word wasn’t mentioned again. By accident or on purpose.
Because it wasn’t love.
Was it?
Alcohol could act as a truth serum. When drinking heavily, sometimes things could be blurted out when least expected. Or when the timing was bad or awkward.
Maybe…
No.
Could he…
No.
It didn’t make sense.
Yes, they’d been attracted to each other for the past year and flirted on occasion—okay, more than on occasion—but she flirted with him no more than any of the rest of the guys. Right?
She was an equal opportunity flirt. They all knew that. They were all used to it.
None of them took it seriously since she was planted firmly on the “do not touch or you die” list…
Flirting and ball-busting were one thing, but love?
Nah.
The sex had been great and she would miss it, for sure, now that they were driving through Manning Grove and would soon be parting ways.
If she was being honest with herself, she wouldn’t only miss his cock but the man attached to it.
Of course she would see him regularly at work, but it wasn’t the same. Working with someone and rolling around naked in the sheets with that person were two different things.
And, yes, she had noticed the difference during the sex last night from the previous nights. Something had changed. It wasn’t just two people having sex, it was more.
Damn it, could those words actually be true?
No, he had been in emotional turmoil. For good reason, of course. That was all it had been.
Even if he did mean them, what could they do about it?
Perhaps she could have a serious sit-down with Deacon and Reese and explain to them that she would do what she wanted to do with anyone she wanted to do it with and they’d have no say in the matter. None. Done. And all that crap.
Then demand the club take her off the “no fly” list.
Suuuure.
Simple.
Just like everything always was when it came to dealing with Reese. The older sister who morphed into an overprotective mother-figure whenever she thought her baby sister might get hurt or make a bad decision.
Reilly got it. She understood her sister’s attitude, especially after Reese witnessed Reilly bed-bound and battered in the hospital, plus dealing with all the shit afterward.
However, she didn’t like it. She didn’t like not having one hundred percent control over her own life. Not only because of Reese, but also by being under the club’s protection.
She was considered Fury property.
Yes, property.
She snuck a glance at Rev’s profile as he drove. Today, he looked older than his twenty-eight years. He looked mentally and physically exhausted.
Not just from a lack of sleep.
She reached over, squeezed his thigh and he planted his hand on top of hers for only a couple of seconds before he had to use it to downshift when he pulled onto her street and then backed into her assigned spot in front of her studio apartment.
It was late afternoon since they hadn’t rushed back from Coatesville after taking their time having sex again this morning and stopping at a diner on the way home for breakfast. The problem with it being late afternoon was he could be spotted with her at her place. Even worse, with his Bronco stuffed full of her storage unit contents.
How would they explain that one?
Unfortunately, her apartment was on the second floor with stairs that ran along the outside of the building. It would take some time for them to unload his Ford and carry everything up those steps. The only good thing about where her apartment was located was it faced an alley rarely traveled by anyone but residents who lived along it.
If they hurried, they might avoid getting caught.
However, neither of them was in good enough shape to quickly haul boxes up a whole story for what she swore was fifty times. Both were out of breath, sweating and hurting by the time they were through.
Her heart was still sprinting in her chest after dropping the last box on a stack of them filling up a complete corner in her studio apartment. “Holy shit,” she breathed, wiping away the beads of sweat from her forehead and temple with her palm.
“No fuckin’ shit,” he muttered, also breathing hard and glancing around her small apartment.
She realized he’d never seen it before. None of the guys, except for Deacon and Judge, had. Like her, she was sure her place had been declared off-limits.
She sighed. “Nothing like climbing those steps over and over to prove how out of shape we are.”
He came over and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight. His body was boiling hot—not the sexy kind of hot—and normally she’d pull free since she was a bit overheated, too, but she didn’t want to let him go.
Not yet.
Instead, she settled her chin on his pumping chest.
“We’re both sweaty already and that bed over there’s empty. Should take advantage of it,” he suggested.
“Do you really want your Bronco parked out front for that long? It’s a custom classic and unique,” she reminded him. “Everyone in town knows who it belongs to.”
His mouth went tight and the spark left his eyes. “Yeah. Right.” He released her. “Still gotta drop you off at the motel to get your cage.”
This was it. Once he dropped her off at The Grove Inn, they would go their separate ways and have to pretend the last five days never happened.
They’d already made a pact to forget Rev and Saylor’s real parentage. That info would be locked away in an invisible box and the key thrown away, hopefully never to resurface again.
So many damn secrets. Unfortunately, all of them necessary.
“Well,” she started, “I want to say it was a fun trip, but… uh…” She grimaced.
“Yeah,” was all he needed to say. His resigned tone pretty much covered how they both felt about the whole thing.
She tugged lightly on his shirt. He hadn’t worn his cut at all during the trip and still wasn’t wearing it since he was driving his truck instead of riding his sled. Soon enough he’d slip it back on in the same way he’d slip back into his life here in Manning Grove with his job and family. His real family. The ones who loved and respected him and also had his back.
She was happy he had that because he had gone too long in his life without it.
She was happy she had that, too.
They just couldn’t have it together unless the rule hanging over her head changed.
But… Did she want that with him? Something more serious than the awesome sex they had in the motel for the past few days?
While she was property of the club, she would need to be ready to become “property of Rev” if they revealed what already happened in Coatesville and what they’d want to continue. All without him getting clubbed upside the head or getting his colors stripped first. That was key.
Was she ready for that? Was he? What did he really want with her, if anything?
Since they both had avoided that discussion, she could only assume neither of them was ready for anything further.
She stepped back, creating space between them. Right now, he had the freedom to do what he wanted, when he wanted and with who he wanted.
If they approached Deacon and Reese, she had a feeling they’d insist Rev claim her at the table and force her to wear his cut. It would be no better than a shot-gun wedding. And nobody wanted that kind of pressure. Nobody wanted to be forced into something they weren’t ready for.
Any forced relationship would turn into a complete disaster.
They were in their twenties, for shit’s sake! Neither should be ready to settle down. Even if they were, she wasn’t sure it would be with each other.
Would it?
Gah. No.
He hadn’t meant what he said. It had just been his emotions talking, that was all.
Because if he meant it…
Stop it, Reilly.
An unfamiliar sting started in her eyes. What the hell? She wasn’t a crier and she certainly had no reason to shed tears in this instance.
She was tired, that was all. From the emotional roller coaster of that trip, from the long drive home and from the physical exertion of bringing the boxes up to her second-floor apartment.
The exhaustion was getting to her. She simply needed a nap.
A perfect and easy solution.
She blinked back the welling tears and managed to say through a thick throat, “Can you take me to the Inn now?”
His brow dropped low as he stared at her. She quickly turned away to hide whatever he saw. Or thought he saw.
“Reilly…”
“Rev, I’m worried someone will see your truck and get the wrong idea.”
“Yeah, but it wouldn’t be the wrong fuckin’ idea, now would it?”
“Right,” she agreed, quickly wiped the sting from her eyes and turned to face him. “And we need to avoid that. Not for me, but for you. And for Saylor.”
She needed to remember that. Whatever happened to him would affect his sister, too.
“Got it.” With a stiff nod and his lips pinned tight, he pulled his keys out of his front pocket. “Let’s go.”
She was already feeling the loss of him as he pulled into The Grove Inn’s parking lot and drove around back to where her car was hidden behind the building.
He parked next to it, shoved his shifter into neutral and sat there saying nothing. Only the rumble of his Bronco’s V8 filled the gap of silence between them.
Maybe he was waiting for her to get out.
She sighed, pushed open the passenger door and grabbed the handle above it so she wouldn’t just tumble out of the high-sitting truck and onto her ass like the klutz she could be.
Before she could escape, he grabbed her arm and prevented her from climbing out. When she turned her head to address him, she noticed something else besides his pained expression. And when she grimaced, his head turned, too.
Lizzy, in only a tiny, neon pink bikini, showing off almost every inch of her rocking bod, was now sitting up in a lounge chair where, apparently, she’d been catching rays to turn her skin a rich golden tan.
“Shit,” Reilly whispered.
The blonde stood and walked over to the deck railing, showing off even more of that rocking hot bod. Double shit. Her smile was large and genuine as she took in Rev and gave him a small wave.
The sweet butt’s normally joyous greeting of “Hey!” ended up being drawn out to a, “He…….eeeeeeeey,” once she realized why Rev was there.
To drop Reilly off at her car.
The older blonde’s face twisted into a worried expression as she shot a quick glance toward the double sliding glass doors that led from the second-floor manager’s apartment to that very deck.
“Shit, can she see me?” Reilly asked under her breath.
“Yeah, babe, you ain’t invisible. Neither was your damn cage sittin’ here for the last fuckin’ week.”
“Well, it wouldn’t have been sitting here if I hadn’t had to hitch a ride with Ozzy because you were too damn stubborn to let me go along,” she almost shouted but managed to keep it to an annoyed hiss.
“Always gotta get what you want.”
“Oh, you’re blaming me for this?
Lizzy’s gaze ping-ponged back and forth between Rev and Reilly. Unfortunately, that meant she could not only see them both, she could hear them, too, especially since Rev had both windows rolled down.
The sweet butt’s perfectly sculpted eyebrows rose but she quickly schooled her surprise and concern as Reilly sighed and climbed out of the Bronco.
Lizzy was the coolest of the sweet butts and Ozzy tended not to give a shit about much, so hopefully they could keep their traps shut. And if Ozzy hadn’t run his mouth already about dropping off Reilly at the farm before the crack of dawn five days ago, then he most likely could keep this secret, too.
Or so she hoped.
Two seconds later, the Original himself sauntered out of one of the open sliders, only wearing raggedy cotton shorts and scratching his crotch. He had a hand-rolled—whether it was tobacco or pot, Reilly couldn’t tell—tucked between the fingers of the scratching hand and he palmed a full beer bottle with the other.
His eyes were glued to Lizzy in that teeny weenie bikini with her breasts practically falling out as she leaned into the railing. He went from scratching to adjusting what might now be an erection from what Reilly could tell. “Bend over that railin’ and—” His grey eyes flashed their way and he froze for a second when he noticed the Bronco and its occupants. He grinned and raised his beer to them in greeting. “You guys wanna watch?”
Lizzy laughed, turned and whacked his arm, her mouth moving but her voice low enough that neither Reilly nor Rev could hear whatever she said to Ozzy.
Ozzy shrugged and went to the railing to stand next to Lizzy, looking down onto the parking lot. “‘Bout time you two are back. Didn’t think you were gonna be gone so long, woman.”
Shit.
“Also didn’t realize he was the reason I dropped you off at the farm Tuesday mornin’.” Oz put his hand-rolled to his lips and took a long drag. As he continued to speak the smoke escaped his mouth in cloud-like puffs. “Didn’t realize you were takin’ off the forbidden fuck list, either. ‘Cause if I woulda known that…” Ozzy shrugged and his grin widened.
Reilly heard a guttural noise come—maybe even a growl—from deep within Rev’s throat.
Shit.
“She’s young and doesn’t want you, old man,” Lizzy sassed him with a hip bump.
“Why? Could teach her a thing or two.” Ozzy grabbed his crotch and shook it.
Lizzy bugged out her eyes at Reilly, who had climbed out of the truck and now stood at the rear of it. The sweet butt hooked a thumb toward the older biker and shook her head. “I’m sure she’s learned a thing or two just hanging around the barn. We all have.”
“Lizzy’s really good at eatin’ pussy, Lee, if you wanna come up and join us.”
Ozzy had called her Lee from the start. She was surprised only a few of the other guys picked up on it and began to use it, too. Rev was not one of them.
“Lee don’t wanna come up and join you,” Rev growled, quickly unfolding himself from the Bronco.
Reilly could see the tension across his shoulders and in his face. She moved next to him and whispered, “He’s just fucking with you. You’re giving him the answers to his unasked questions just by your reaction.”
“Shit,” he muttered.
Reilly sighed and yelled up to Ozzy, “I’m going to pass on that offer, Oz, but I appreciate it. And I’m still on the forbidden fuck list. However, since Lizzy doesn’t have to abide by that list, maybe me and her can go at it together sometime. I’m not opposed to trying something new.”
Rev made another noise in his throat. This time it wasn’t a growl but more of a choking sound.
“Any time, beautiful,” Lizzy said, playing along. “Whenever you want to get together and experiment, I’m up for it.” She blew Reilly a kiss.
“If I was going to sit on any woman’s face, it would be yours, Liz,” Reilly answered, using the name the woman preferred and not the one the guys tended to use, then blew a kiss back to her, knowing it would drive both men bonkers.
Ozzy had an excited look in his face when he said, “You ladies are makin’ me hard as fuck,” and rubbed at his crotch. “How ‘bout you, brother?”
Rev ignored him, grabbed Reilly’s arm and dragged her around the Bronco and to the other side, where her car was parked.
“Are you fuckin’ serious?” Rev growled.
She drew a mask of innocence over her face. “Why wouldn’t I be? She’s hot.”
His mouth opened.
“How many times have you done her?”
His mouth snapped shut.
After waiting for a few more silent seconds for his answer, she said, “That’s what I thought.” She clicked her key fob to unlock her car and reached for the door handle.
His “See you Sunday,” made her pause and glance back over her shoulder at him.
“Sunday?” That was tomorrow. What the hell was going on tomorrow?
“Yeah. Club run. You’re gonna be my backpack.”
Oh shit. She had completely forgotten about it with everything else going on. “I don’t think that’s smart, Rev.”
“Agree it wouldn’t be smart if anyone knew we’d been together the last few days.”
“Ozzy now knows.”
“Ozzy already knew somethin’ was up when he dropped you off on the farm. He don’t give a fuck. He’s too busy picturin’ Lizzy’s face planted in between your thighs.”
“But he now knows who I was with these last few days. Before, he didn’t.”
Rev snorted. “Like I said, he probably don’t give a fuck. If you walked up those deck steps and told him to get naked, he would. He’d have his fuckin’ dick out so fast, it would knock you silly.”
“Holy shit,” she whispered. “Is it that big?” She glanced up toward the deck where Ozzy and Lizzy still stood at the rail watching them and being nosy.
He shot her an annoyed look. “That wasn’t the fuckin’ point. And you’ve seen it. We all have.”
That was true. The only cocks she hadn’t seen so far was anyone who already had an ol’ lady when she came to the club and, of course, Deacon’s. She hadn’t checked out a couple of the prospects, either, but she was sure she’d see them all soon enough.
Dutch’s she’d seen too many damn times. She could probably pick it out in a boner line-up.
“Rev, I don’t want to risk you getting caught for breaking a club rule.”
She wouldn’t be the reason he lost everything. She wouldn’t be the reason he was taken out to the field behind The Barn and clubbed like Cage had been. After seeing Rev’s fucked-up family, she knew Saylor, the club and the brotherhood were all he had.
She would not be the one to risk any and all of that. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself. That meant until that particular rule changed, they needed to be careful.
That also meant she wouldn’t be his backpack tomorrow.
Whether he liked it or not.
