Relent (Sydney Storm MC 1)

As I was caught up in my thoughts, he must have seen me. “Evie,” his voice filtered through and I blinked him into focus.

“Hi,” I said, smiling up at him.

“You staying long?” he asked, his frustration with me from the other day gone.

I had a couple of things to do, one of them being to visit my dad to get more information out of him about the guy he owed money to. I’d been desperately trying to find a way to borrow the money but I’d still had no luck yet so I figured maybe we could negotiate with the guy. “I’ve gotta go and see Dad but I’ll be here for a while.”

A look of irritation crossed his face, and he said, “I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Okay.” I had no idea what the irritation was about but I figured he would clue me in soon.

“Hey, Evie,” Braden called out, waving to me.

I waved back. “Hey, Braden. Long time, no see.”

“Yeah. I reckon it’s about time you two got your shit sorted,” he said with a huge grin.

I waved him away with a flick of my hand. “Yeah, yeah... you wouldn’t be the first person to say that.”

He laughed a huge belly laugh. “Well got on that, woman.”

I shook my head and laughed. “I’ll leave you guys to it. I’m going back inside out of the heat.”

“Have a coldie waiting for me,” Braden said.

I smiled to myself. I’d missed the banter with Kick’s brother. Although our parents had killed their relationship, us kids had stayed friends, but when Kick and I had broken up the last time, I’d cut all ties. I’d needed to put distance between us, and being friends with his family would make that hard.

As I turned to walk back inside, I caught a glimpse of Kick standing on the roof staring down at me. He seemed surprised about something, and I couldn’t figure out what, so I just gave him a smile and continued on.

My phone rang a second later and I answered it absently. “Hi,” I said, having no idea who it was because I hadn’t even checked the caller id.

“What’s got you all distracted?” Maree asked.

Thank god. I could get her perspective on this before I saw Kick again. “Who do you think?”

“I am guessing it’s that hot man of yours.” I could practically hear her licking her lips.

“He’s not my man. But fuck, I think I want him to be.”

“Of course you do, babe. I mean, who wouldn’t?”

I laughed. “No, Maree, I mean I really do want him. Not just for his body.”

She grew serious. “As in, you still love him?”

I sighed. “I never stopped loving him. I just didn’t want to admit it. But I don’t know how we can make it work with all the baggage between us.”

“If you want him, you have to fight for him. You have to work out what’s holding you back and find a way to get rid of it. ‘Cause I’ve gotta say, you’re an amazing woman, Evie, but you came alive when you were with Kick the other night. I’ve never seen you light up like that. On your own, you kick ass, but I can only imagine how awesome you’d be with Kick by your side.”

Shit.

I knew what it was.

It’s funny how you can be searching for an answer for a long time and then someone says something and it’s like the block is moved and you can see clearly.

Fuck.

It wasn’t Kick after all.