One Choice (Hogan Brothers 2)

Sinking into her seat, she wished, not for the first time, that Ryder was around so she could talk to him. He’d say something silly like the man didn’t know who he was missing, or that he’d kick his ass for making her upset.

Of all the things in the world she wanted most, it was Ryder back. She wanted him home. Safe. Alive. She wanted to not be a broken shell of who she used to be.

Too bad she had nothing but pain to look forward to.

Chapter Four

If you don’t fight for what you want, don’t cry for what you’ve lost.

High school.

Of course, she was in high school. It was Levi’s fucking luck that when he found a girl, a real girl, she would be off limits.

Her friend says she’s eighteen. His inner voice reminded him.

Didn’t matter. She was still in school.

Fuck!

After winning the fight, he should have been ready to party, celebrate. What he did was go home and sulk for the loss of Hayes. After that, he pulled a Nox and fucking stalked her house at three in the damn morning. He wondered which room was hers, was she sleeping?

Was the flash of hurt on her face when he’d passed her in the parking lot because of his rejectio

n? Of course, it was, you fool.

He was driving himself crazy. All day Sunday, he’d thought about her. Couldn’t kick her from his mind. He shouldn’t be so damn obsessed over a girl he’d only met three times and barely spent any time with her.

Except…

She was a puzzle he wanted to put together. She had secrets he wanted to reveal. Untapped passion he craved to unleash. It was the mystery of her that was driving him crazy. He wasn’t ready to give her up, and yet, he couldn’t exactly have her, either.

Needing to get her out of his head, he ran the four miles to the shop from his house on Monday morning. Being the first to arrive, he opened everything up and got started on the parts order for the things he was going to need for the overhaul of the ‘44 F1 4x2 truck he’d been working on.

For the first time in his career, he was so engrossed in what he was doing that he hadn’t noticed when Nox showed up. Or that he’d begun work on one of his own jobs until Nox came into the shop.

“When’d you get here?” he asked his older brother as he passed to his station.

“’Bout an hour ago. Didn’t wanna disturb you.”

“Damn,” he muttered, realizing he must have been incredibly absorbed in the paperwork.

“You alright, Levi?” It wasn’t the first time Nox had asked him that over the past few months.

“Fine, Nox.” It took all his control not to snap on his brother. Nothing was said after that.

Levi was still struggling with how to tell his family what he did. The inevitable questions that would come were his problem. He didn’t know what to say to make them understand he was different than they were.

His Ma, sweet as could be, would never understand. She would hate the impact fighting would have on his body. She’d fight tooth and nail to get him to stop, and as much as he loved the older woman, he didn’t think he could.

Fighting was in his blood the way cars were in Nox’s.

Losing himself in his work, he tossed the worries from his mind.

He tossed Hayes from his mind.

If he weren’t careful, she was going to take over his life even though he couldn’t have her.

You could, his inner voice taunted again, she’s eighteen. He was gonna lose his fucking mind soon enough. As more of the guys filtered in through the shop, he was able to block her from his mind. Get his work done.