Tank

The truth is, I’m exhausted. I was up half the night, listening to every creak in the house. I know she promised me she wouldn’t leave, but I still had my doubts.

When she told me she wanted me to take her virginity, I wasn’t lying. It took everything in me not to follow her into the house, bend her over the couch, and take her right then. Fuck, I’d give anything to make her mine. But she’s vulnerable, and right now, there’s no way she can be sure about what she wants.

I got up early this morning and skipped out on the run into Houston. Being the MC’s road captain, I know I should go. But it was just a trip into Houston to pick up a shipment of guns. It was a regular route, and they had plenty of guys to go with them. Ruin understood. Especially after he researched Ava’s ex and his family and found out that Ava had her phone on for part of her trip into Texas. There’s no doubt she was being followed, and they’ll try to seek her out. We’ll have to be ready when her ex gets here. But we will be. We’re always ready for anything.

“What do you think, Tank? That going to hold or not?” I’m drawn from my thoughts when Maverick asks me a question.

I look at the fence he’s mending and nod. “Yeah, looks good.”

He and Glock came over early this morning to work on the fence line of the south pasture. They’re both ranch hands and prospects. They want to be members of the Diamond Kings, and if they keep going on this route, it will probably happen soon. They’re both committed to the MC.

We’re on the line behind my house and working our way to the front. I saw Ava earlier through one of the windows, and since then, I’ve tried to keep my mind off her, but I can’t. I left the phone we got last night on the counter for her, so maybe she’s passing the time with that.

We keep working along the line, and when we get toward the front of the house, I hold my hand out to Glock. “Pliers.”

When he doesn’t hand them to me, I look up and find him and Maverick staring toward the house. I raise my head, and my mouth falls open. On the front porch is Ava in a pair of too short shorts—What the fuck? Did I buy those for her?—and a fuckin’ sports bra. Nothing else. She’s stretching her arms over her head, and then suddenly she bends forward, putting her ass in the air.

I shoot to my feet. “Eyes on the fence, motherfuckers.”

Both the guys look at the fence, and when I’m sure that neither one of them will chance looking at her again, I stride toward the house.

When I get close, I say her name. “Ava.”

She doesn’t answer. As a matter of fact, she acts as if she can’t hear me. As I get closer, I see the earbuds in her ears, and I know she’s listening to music or something on them. She must have found my pair on the kitchen counter.

When I get up the steps and she still hasn’t noticed me, I take her in, looking her up and down. She’s got sweat rolling down her arms as she holds her position. Her body is perfection, and I move to the front of her and squat down so she’s looking at my face.

She goes to her knees and takes her ear buds out, smiling at me. “Hey, Tank.”

I try to keep my eyes trained on her face, but her breasts are right there, spilling over the top of her bra. “Ava, what the fuck?”

She looks at me, surprised. “What’s wrong? I can’t even exercise now?”

I look at her, taking it all in. Her pert breasts, bare midriff, shorts that don’t hide a damn thing. “In that? No. You can’t.”

She gapes, looking down at herself and then at me. “Tank, I’m wearing yoga shorts and a sports bra. I’m practically covered from head to toe. Seriously, I’ve worn less than this to the gym or to the pool before—”

“No,” I interrupt her, shoving my hands through my hair. “You really don’t understand, do you? See those guys over there?” I point at Maverick and Glock, who are still staring at the fence, thank God, because I would be ready to pummel them if I caught them looking at her again. “Do you have any idea what they were thinking while you were over here bending over and putting on a show?”

“That’s not what…” she starts, but I’m not ready to hear it. I know I’m being ridiculous. She makes me feel all caveman, and I swear I have the urge to start beating on my chest right now.

I grab her hand and pull her to her feet and then pick up the towel she was standing on. I walk inside, practically dragging her behind me. “It might not be what you’re trying to do, but you have no idea how much trouble you could have been in if those guys had tried something with you. What could you have done to stop them? And then they’d all be dead because I can’t even stand to think about them trying to touch you.”

I fist my hands over and over, trying to calm myself down. I know I’m overreacting.

She puts her hand on her shapely hip. “First of all, they’re your guys, and you said they don’t hurt women, so your argument is moot. Second of all, I’ll never dress one way or another because of what a man thinks. They should be able to control themselves. And third, I didn’t know they were out there. I thought it was just you.”

I’m taking deep breaths, dragging in as much oxygen as I can. I feel like I’m drowning. I don’t want other men looking at her and thinking they can have her. I know she’s right. I know it’s my problem, not hers, but the possessiveness I feel for her is all-consuming. “You can’t dress like that around me either, Ava.”

She opens her mouth ready to argue and then closes it. Her eyes never leave mine, and when she takes a step forward, I take a step back. Her lips perk up in the corners, and she moves toward me, lifting her hand and putting it on my chest.

My heart is thundering under her palm, and my hands are fisted at my sides. “You shouldn’t touch me right now either.”

She moves closer to me, putting her other hand on my chest. Her nipples are tight against her bra, begging to be kissed, and I grit my teeth. She shrugs her shoulders. “Why shouldn’t I touch you, Tank? Seems to me that this is the only way I’m going to get what I want.”

My mouth is dry, and my throat is thick. “You don’t know what you—"

Tags: Hope Ford Romance
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