“You would be, too, if you were in love,” I unapologetically admit my affliction.
And Iamin love with Faith. Abso-fucking-lutely. I was neveroutof love with her becausegoddamn. I adore the woman. Always have, always will. From the top of her head, right down to her tiniest toes. Until the day they put me in the dirt. If there’s something that comes after? I’ll love her beyond this life, too. She’s my forever person. I was hers from the day she walked inside our kindergarten class so full of fire and sass with that ponytail swinging.
Thank God we’re sexually compatible. Would have been real shitty if we fit together in every department but that one. To be blunt, if we get any more compatible, she’s going to put me in the hospital. For real. The woman blows my mind (among other things LOL). Faith is the whole package. Smart. Talented. Strong. Stunning. She’s the yin to my yang—or however the saying goes. The piece of me that’s been missing. When she (finally) came home, she slipped right back in and filled the void with her crazy-amazing self.
Most men would take it as a weakness to need a woman to feel whole. Think we’ve established I’m not most men. None of the Unholy are, but I’m a bit more mental than most in this department. My friends are crazy in other ways.
I like to think we have our quirks.
Some of us are just quirkier than others. (Yes, I’m staring directly at Discord.)
Malice makes a face like he ate something awful. “Stop. Just fucking stop.”
“Jealousy is a bad look on you, my man.”
Malice lifts a brow and scowls down at the black helmet in his hand. When he focuses back on me, I give him my best cocky grin to irritate him. “Remember what I did to your face last time?”
I bark out a laugh at the reminder of when he threw his helmet at me. “One day, some woman is going to come along and tame your ornery ass. You mark my words.”
“Never.” His upper lip curls in a sneer. “And you still owe me a helmet.”
“How about you kiss my ass?” I counter.
“Keep it up, and he’s going to kill you,” Havoc warns.
“Nah.” I nod at Malice, who is planted on his Yamaha. He’s always looking like he wants to murder the entire world, even on such a beautiful afternoon like today. “He needs me. He needs us all. The four of us keep him human.”
Because whatever happened to him ripped the humanity clean out of him, and we’re all that’s keeping him anchored to something even remotely resembling civility.
“Shut up,” Malice growls, and that’s how I know I’m right. “Are we going to ride or sit out here all afternoon taking in the fucking sun?”
“Don’t know about any of you, but I can’t wait for tonight.” Discord rubs his hands together with devious glee.
“Calm down, little brother. You’ll get your rockets’ red glare and all that good shit,” Havoc promises.
And he will, because ever since Discord turned eighteen, and he became an Unholy, we celebrate today as a joint holiday at Sanctum. We do the day up proper and go all out for Discord as well as light up the night in honor of freedom. Typically, we don’t do the whole birthday thing, but given what he suffered, we make an exception because…
…even criminals can be sappy, and as a kid, he never got to celebrate his.
Wraith rolls his eyes. “If anyone would be born on July fourth, it’d be you.”
Discord shoots Wraith a mischievous look. “I do like to make an entrance.”
Wrong.Ironically, for a man who came into this world on the noisiest holiday of the year, his career depends on him being stealth as fuck. “Look, as much as I love sitting around chitchatting with you pricks, I also love riding.”
He pushes on his red-and-white helmet and races off over the motocross track. Havoc zips out behind him, with the two taking the first tabletop, then the stepping off before they disappear around the flat corner.
“You coming?” Malice says to Wraith and me.
“Always.” Wraith dons his black jersey. His helmet is next. He adjusts the goggles over his eyes. “Don’t lag this time, pussy.”
“Fuck off,” Malice growls as he slams on his helmet.
They take off over the track, with me trailing behind. But it doesn’t take me long to catch up. My white Fox gear fits snug, and I’m sweating when I fling out my left leg for balance as I sail around a bermed corner. We skim over the first set of rollers. Fly down the ski jump. Sail into a double jump. Then comes the turns, followed by bumps and valleys. But the jumps are my favorite. I love gliding through the air, weightless for those few blissful seconds before tires meet dirt.
I stick the landing, and after a few more laps, I pull off the track, where Havoc is waiting. Faith is with him, and I don’t even try to stop the smile that spreads across my face.
My heart can’t take it when she gives me a little wave as I roll up to them. I rip off my helmet and drag a hand through my riot of sweaty hair. “Hey, beautiful.”
