Relent (Sydney Storm MC 1)

“What?” Mum asked, clearly confused.

I jerked my thumb in the direction of the driveway. “Braden’s ute is out front. I was wondering where he is.”

Kick had been sitting on the couch opposite Mum, but he stood and came towards me. I tried so hard not to let my gaze drop to his body, but it was impossible, and a second later I found myself checking out his fitted tee and the muscles straining under it.

Shit.

Eyes up, Evie. Stop looking.

It was useless.

My eyes kept wandering down his body, soaking in the sexiness that was Kick Hanson.

He chuckled and dipped his head so our faces were centimetres apart. “It’s all yours, baby, you just say the word,” he said, his deep voice causing an explosion of need in me.

Shit.

I placed my hand on his chest and tried to push him away, but, just like the last time, his body didn’t budge. He did move his face away, though, but grinned at me as he did it.

He knows I am close.

So damn close.

I ignored what he’d said. “What are you here for today, Kick?”

He shrugged. “Do I need a reason? I remember when I used to practically live at this house.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“Yeah, well, maybe I miss those days.”

Regret flared deep within me. “I do, too, Kick, but we can’t go back. That’s not how life works.”

His eyes revealed his own regret, and we stood silently watching each other for a couple of moments. Finally, he said, “Yeah.” Taking a step away from me, he turned back to face Mum and said, “Thanks for the drink, Loretta. I’ll see you soon.”

“Thanks for dropping in,” Mum replied, “come back whenever you want.”

He nodded and then faced me again. Stepping closer, he reached out to cup my cheek and ran his thumb over my lip. “We can’t go back, Evie, but we can sure as fuck go forward.”

Kick had always been able to turn me on with just a look or his voice or the lightest of touches, and now was no different. His touch, his voice, and his words melded together and caused desire to spread to every nerve ending in my body.

The other thing he’d always been able to do was read me well. Awareness flickered in his eyes and the corners of his mouth twitched in the slightest of smiles. He traced my lips one more time and then he let me go and said, “I’ll see you soon, too, baby.”

I wrapped my arms around my body as I watched him go.

Hell, Kick Hanson had me.

“Evie,” Mum cut into my thoughts, and I spun around to look at her. “What’s up?”

“Huh?” God, my brain had turned to mush after Kick got to it.

“Well, you came over, so I figure you wanted something.”

I went and sat on the couch with her. “No, I just came to see how you were,” I said, glancing at her to see how she was doing. Usually, tiredness marred her face, but lately she’d been doing better. After Shelly’s death, Mum had sunk into a deep depression and never really recovered. She’d retreated within and hardly left the house. It was only recently she’d started to really come out of it and seemed much happier these days. But it took a lot of work on her behalf, and I knew that, so I did my best to help her out whenever I could and checked in on her regularly.

“Thank you,” she said, giving me a sad smile, “How are you, baby? I worry about you.”

Her words caused a flush of happiness through my body. One of the side effects of her depression was an inability to care for her kids the way a mother should. She’d been unable to show us much affection and that had lasted for years. These days she gave us random pieces of affection so when she did, I grabbed it with both hands and held tight.