With him up close I can finally take a good hard look in those eyes of his.
Glaciers to everyone else but never to me. There's always been warmth there. A gentleness that begs me to come closer.
And that's where I find the difference.
There's resistance. An effort to keep me at arms length. A harsh edge that wasn't there before. I see conflict yet I don't know what for.
Clearing myself from the haze he induced upon me I place my hand on my hip and level him with a look. "It's Gracie Mae to you, Oak." I mean for it to come out as teasing but I sound wounded.
His Adam's apple bobbles as he swallows thickly. "I thought we were friends," he reasons.
"I thought so, too but friends keep in touch. So until you tell me what has made you disappear and I find it within good reason it's Gracie Mae to you."
I expect amusement to light in his eyes. Even the barest amount but it never comes. Instead I find a pain. A pain that is deep and tormented. And all too soon his eyes go back to ice. Freezing out all emotion.
His eyes drift away from me then. No longer able to look into mine. And I feel a loss because of it.
"Hey, Grace," Snake says his hello and I honestly didn't even realize he's been standing there the whole time. "I'm doing great, thanks for asking," he chirps.
His levity helps ease the tension from Oak and I but it's not enough to break it. "Snake, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
He smiles, not the one one he gives to Alice and her alone but a smile nonetheless.
When he smiles, a genuine one like this, I understand the appeal he has amongst women.
Snake is a ruggedly handsome man. Not classically handsome because there's a rough edge to his beauty. With a sharp jawline dusted with scruff, hazel eyes that can turn dark, a lean muscle build and dirty blonde hair it's hard to deny that he's not attractive.
Alice and him make one drop dead gorgeous pair.
"Alice told you I was dropping by right?"
"She did but didn't tell me what for."
His hand disappears inside his Vipers MC cut that now has a patch that reads, Sergeant at Arms. Then he reveals an envelope addressed to me in Alice's handwriting.
I quirk a brow. "What's this?" He hands the envelope to me and I take it. "Snake?"
"Open it for yourself, Grace. That's what it's addressed to you for."
I roll my eyes muttering under my breath, "Asshole."
"Heard that."
Narrowing my eyes at him I reply, "You were supposed to."
He rolls his eyes back to me with a snicker. "Sure."
Tearing the envelope open my fingers meet the rough texture. I know what it is before I even see it. And I won't accept it. I hand the envelope back towards Snake who has no meaning of taking it back.
He glances down at the envelope outstretched towards him and then at me. "What exactly are you expecting me to do with that?”
"Take it back," I huff out.
"No can do."
"And why not?"
"Because Alice will literally have my balls if I come back with that."
