King (Rogue Rebels MC 2)

Natalie stared at me, her eyebrows raised. “My ex,” she answered after a pause.

“Doesn’t look like he still wants to be your ex,” I said bitterly.

“Well, it’s not like things really ended badly between us. He just transferred to another school and the long-distance relationship was too hard to keep up with. We sort of just fell out of touch rather than officially broke up.”

My heart plummeted. “So…you still like him?”

She shrugged her shoulders. Then she looked me square in the eyes, clearly challenging me. “I don’t know. Why?”

That question was so loaded, I didn’t know where to begin. I wanted to tell her right in that moment how badly I wanted her. I wanted to tell her that no one could protect and provide for her the way that I could. I wanted to tell her that if I got to make love to her for every night for the rest of our lives, it still wouldn’t be enough.

I wanted to tell her that if I couldn’t have her, no one else could.

But I had no right. I had answered her honestly the first night at the safe house. I had no idea what we were if anything. Mostly our relationship was a distraction, to both of us.

I sat before her, my hands clenched in my lap and literally biting my tongue, trying to hold back words that I would never be able to take back if I dared let them out of my mouth.

“Why, Colt?” she asked again. There was no doubt she was challenging me this time, and I had to wonder if she already knew the thoughts going through my head.

As I had far too many times, I thought about the feel and taste of her skin.

“Because,” I said, trying hard to keep my voice steady, “I need to know who I have to keep my eye on. For safety measures.”

She looked away from me. “Joey isn’t dangerous.”

I grumbled. He was the most dangerous person we had encountered, as far as I was concerned. He posed the danger of permanently ruining my chances with Natalie. He posed the danger of making me realize once and for all that if I didn’t officially make my move and let my feelings be known, I would never have a shot…

“What’s wrong? What are you thinking?” Natalie asked.

“Too much,” I said, standing from her table.

She looked up at me and stood as well. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Fine, well I have some more studying to do.”

“Then I’ll just sit back over there. Watching you.”

“Yes, I guess you will.”

I dropped back into my chair and opened the book I still hadn’t read.

Fucking Joey.

CHAPTER 11

Natalie

I was deep in thought, immersed in the books and notes in front of me. The library was quiet, which enabled me to fully focus on the pages filled with a lot of complex paragraphs. The exam date was approaching, and I was becoming more nervous. Joey was a nice distraction for a bit, but now I needed to focus again.

But that was hard with Colt staring at me. His eyes practically boring a hole in my head.

It wasn’t my fault nothing had happened since that first night! We didn’t know what we were doing from here, and for now I had to accept that. But I could tell Colt wasn’t okay with it.

I didn’t even notice Colt approaching me, until he stopped directly above me, and my heart skipped a beat in my chest. His eyes penetrated into me, stealing the air out of my lungs, and I was reminded once more how sexy and gorgeous this man was.

My pussy warmed the moment I remembered our night in the safe house. It’d felt too good.