“You came after me to tell me that?”
With a shake of his head, he said, “No.”
We stood watching each other, not saying a word. I truly didn’t know what he wanted after all this time. “Yeah, she’s doing okay at the moment. I got her to see someone and start working through all her shit. Finally. Only took nineteen years, but she’s getting to the point where she’s leaving the house more and more.”
“That’s good. I hated watching her shut herself away like that.”
“Yeah,” I said softly, and then asked, “What do you want, Kick?”
“You.”
Unmistakable heat flowed between us at his statement and I sucked in a breath. We’d been here before and Kick did not want me. He only thought he did. “No, you don’t. You want what you think we can be, but as soon as you can have that, you’ll pull away, so why bother starting something we both know will only end badly?”
“That’s the past, Evie. I’ve changed and realised I want you in my life. Give me a chance, baby.”
Everything in me screamed to say yes, but my head knew better. “No.”
I didn’t wait for him to say anything further before getting in the car and shutting the door. I turned the key in the ignition and attempted to ignore him, but he tapped on the window until I finally put it down.
He leant his head in the car and said, “I was wrong, Evie.”
“When?”
“Three years ago when I told you I didn’t want you in my world.” His eyes held the truth in his statement; I saw regret, but I couldn’t let that sway me. Just because he regretted his choice didn’t mean he’d end up making a different one this time if I let him back in.
“Well, it’s too late now,” I dismissed him.
He shook his head. “Life’s too short to say shit like that. And it’s too fuckin’ short not to go after what you want. And I’m telling you now, baby, I want you, and I’m gonna get what I want.” And there was Kick’s trademark stubbornness. I could tell from the way his eyes bore into mine that he was trying to force me to go along with what he wanted.
I stared at him, unsure of what to say to that. And when he moved his hand to cradle my face and rub my lips with his thumb, I sat there and let him do it. He’d taken me completely by surprise.
He let me go and straightened. Tapping the top of my car, he said, “I’ll see you soon.” And then I watched him walk back into my mother’s house, my eyes hardly able to shift from his ass.
Fuck.
Chapter Four
Kick
I sat at the bar of the clubhouse and stared at Nitro as he told me about the bike engine he was rebuilding. His words drifted in and out as my concentration bounced between him and thoughts of Evie. It had been a week since I’d seen her at her Mum’s. I’d purposely left her alone, because if there was one thing I knew about her, it was how much she hated being pushed into doing something. After all these years, I knew when to push and when to back off.
“Kick, are you fucking listening to me?” Nitro broke through my thoughts.
I took a swig of my beer before answering him. “Sorry, brother.”
He finished his beer and motioned to Brittany to bring him another. “All good, man, I know you’ve been through some shit the last week. But you should drop by my house one day and take a look at the engine. Could do with some help, ‘cause I’ve heard you know your shit around engines.”
Nitro and I weren’t close but I’d recently realised how much we had in common and maybe helping him with his engine would stop me fucking thinking about Jeremy and Evie so much. “Yeah, I will.”
Brittany brought Nitro his drink and leant across the bar, flashing her huge tits at him. I didn’t have much respect for her but she was the best bar bitch we had. “You think you could convince King to let me redecorate the bar?” she asked us, eager eyes flicking between the two of us.
Nitro grinned at her. He often used her when he wanted a quick lay and I knew they had an easy friendship. “Darlin’, I could try and convince King of anything if you let me fuck you the way I want,” he said with a wink. He reached across the bar and traced her cleavage with his finger, which caused her to close her eyes and moan.
“Fuck, you two, get a fuckin’ room,” I snapped, and gulped the rest of my beer down.
Nitro slipped his hand into her top. Eyeing me he said, “I would if she’d play the way I want to, but she never does.”
She slapped his hand away. “I told you I’m not interested in that, Nitro. You’ll have to find some other slut to let you do that.”