I unlock my car, slide behind the wheel, and grip the steering wheel until my pulse stops racing.
“Get it together,” I whisper.
I start the engine.
Pull out of the lot.
Trying to remember to breathe.
And I don’t look in the rearview mirror.
Because if I did… I might see the pair of headlights pulling onto the road behind me.
Following.
Waiting.
Watching.
Lost in my own thoughts, though, I miss it all.
Two
Ledger
I walked away from the one damn thing I truly wanted for myself.
I’m halfway down Main Street before I realize I haven’t touched the coffee Kelly gave me.
It sits in the cup holder, untouched and now lukewarm.I brought it with me out of habit—because she handed it to me, because some part of me didn’t want to leave anything she touched behind—but the idea of drinking it turns my stomach.
I pull into the clubhouse lot, kill the engine, and sit there in the silence, helmet still on my head.
The stupidest part?This was supposed to be easy.She was supposed to be easy.
No strings, no feelings, no expectations.
That’s what she said.
That’s what I agreed to.
And somewhere between those late nights in her bed and those quiet mornings where she blinked awake and smiled at me like I hung the damn moon—I forgot to keep my distance.
I forgot to keep it simple.
I forgot that men like me don’t get softness in our lives without paying for it later.
I rip the helmet off and scrub a hand down my face.My throat is tight—annoyingly so.I’m not a man who second-guesses shit.You point me at a problem, I solve it.Quickly, efficiently, and usually with force.
But walking away from Kelly?That isn’t a solved problem.
It’s just a mess I made worse.
The clubhouse door swings open, and Mellow steps out, cigarette dangling from his mouth, a grin already forming.“Well, look at you,” he drawls.“In before nine.Must be serious if it pulled you away from sleep or sex.Which was it?”
I glare at him.“Neither.”
He arches a brow.“Regular bitch is on her period.Got it.”
