“And, um…” I hesitated then went on, “what are you like?”
He scowled at me but didn’t deign to answer.
Oh dear.
“But, uh…you’re like that, but when we saw Gash, you were angry at him just for being what you called stupid.”
“Yeah,” he clipped.
“Stupid, Buck? Stupid enough to get caught?”
“Tell me, even though Minnie’s a tough broad, she’s good to the bone. Tell me what’s more stupid than riskin’ losin’ her by hittin’ a rank piece like Nails? Or any piece at all?”
Nothing.
Nothing was more stupid.
It was dawning on me I’d made a big mistake.
Though, since we were clearing the air…
“Who’s Nonna?” I asked.
“Nonna’s clean. I’ve hit Nonna. I’ve hit her more than once. She’s here and she knows you are, and she knows who you are and what you are to me, so Nonna’s smart enough to stay the fuck away from you and from me.”
“I think…” I hesitated again then carried on, “I may have made an error in judgment.”
His brows shot up. “You think?”
“Buck—”
“Now that your fuckin’ head’s straight, what I wanna know, you stood there tellin’ me you love me at the same time you stood there tellin’ me to do what I had to do, and I get it that you meant put my dick where I wanted to put it, and you didn’t give a fuck that where I put it wasn’t in you.”
Uh-oh.
I had a feeling biker babe orientation and training had gone off the tracks somewhere along the line.
At least where Buck was concerned.
“Buck—”
“I gotta say, babe, I do not share. I don’t know what fucked-up shit this is, but if you think you can let me be free so you can spread your legs for whoever you wanna take, I am not down with that.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“I hope fuckin’ not, because you think that, we got serious problems.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” I repeated.
“Good, then now we gotta talk about why you wouldn’t, but you got no problem lettin’ me.”
“Um…” I mumbled.
“You had no issue a minute ago spewin’ shit, Clara, so speak the fuck up.”
Okay, I was sensing he was mad. Madder than he’d ever been at me.
So I explained hurriedly, “Minnie, Lorie, and Pinky were Professor Higginsing me.”
His head jerked again, then he asked, “What?”
“I told you weeks ago. They were Professor Higginsing my Eliza Biker Babe. Minnie was with me when I saw you with Nails. They gave me the lowdown about how I had to put up with certain, uh…things…if I wanted to keep you.”
He stared at me hard a second, then he lifted a hand and ran his fingers through his hair, leaving his hand clenched around the back of his neck as he looked to the ceiling, muttering, “Fuckin’ shit.”
“They were trying to help,” I told him quietly.
He dropped his hand and his head to look down on me.
“Yeah, they’re good women. They tried to do right. It was you who fucked up.”
“Sorry?”
“A-fuckin’-gain, you didn’t read me. You didn’t pay attention to the things I was sayin’, and I’m seein’ now you sure as fuck didn’t pay attention to a fuckin’ thing I was doing.”
“Buck—”
“Babe, I like your tight jeans and I like your sexy boots, and you can keep wearin’ ’em, if you like ’em. If you’re tryin’ to be something for me, you are not cluein’ in, because I hooked you because of who you were, tight skirt and high heels that showed off your ass, but you had no fuckin’ clue they showed off your ass and how good they did it. Thankin’ me for offerin’ you fuckin’ refreshments when I was playin’ you. Prim and fuckin’ proper until I got that skirt around your waist and your ass in my hands and fucked you against the wall, then you were hot, and your mouth and pussy, babe, hot and sweet. And nothing’s changed, even when you wear your tight jeans and fuck-me boots. The world and me, we get the cute librarian, but you’re in my bed, it’s only me that gets the wild sex kitten, and I like it like that.”
I felt that familiar warm rush glide through me as I stared up at him and lamely murmured, “Oh.”
“Oh,” he bit back.
“Buck,” I whispered.
“No, Toots, nope.” He shook his head and stepped away from me. “Months, I been there. Months, we been together. You didn’t ask me about those picture frames, even though, more than once, I saw you studyin’ ’em. It was me who had to come clean about that shit. Months, not only those frames, but you never asked dick about me. Now I find out, months you think I’ve been steppin’ out on you, with fuckin’ Nails. Christ,” he clipped. “We were even both together when we saw her with Gash, and you didn’t say a fuckin’ word.”
“Buck—”
“You just kept your trap shut, ready and willing to let me be an asshole and play you, but it’s not me playin’ you, is it, Clara? It’s you who’s been playin’ me.”