GOOSE
I’m not sure I accomplished much tonight. Maverick and I had a good talk. Bullet didn’t give me much info about what’s been happening at the club, other than there was going to be church in the morning, and I need to be there.
However, I’m not sure what else could be going on. It seems as if things have calmed down again, so I really fucking hope that doesn’t mean shit is about to pop off. As long as the Front Mob Family isn’t an issue, and we’re just keepin’ on the way we are, shit should all work itself out… right?
I walk up to the apartment door, knowing the women have all left already. I saw them on the surveillance footage about an hour ago. I should have come home then, but I wasn’t ready. I’m not sure why I’ve been avoiding it. No, that’s a lie. I know exactly why I’ve been avoiding coming back.
Because this is it.
This is the last night. Tomorrow, shit changes. Tomorrow, I go back to the clubhouse, to church, and I’m going to have to go back to work, back to my duties there. My job here—protecting Cidney, watching her… it’s done.
And then there’s the fact that she doesn’t have a job anymore, which means unless she finds something, and fast, she’s going to have to leave her sweet pad and likely Thunder Rock. I know I can’t keep her, even if I want to, but I also don’t want to completely lose her.
With my hand on the door handle, I run through the scenarios in my head—trying to keep her, letting her go, watching her from afar, and I’m not sure any of them are the right one. Well, except for keeping her. That would be the right one for me, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right one all around. That’s just my selfish answer and will always be my selfish answer.
Fuck it.
Tonight, I’m going to be selfish one last time… again.
When I step into the apartment, I’m not surprised to find that everything from the get-together has been cleaned up and all the lights are off, except the little light above the stove in the kitchen. Cidney has left that on for me.
I stand in the entryway, staring at that little fucking light for longer than I should. I’m not sure why it seems big, but it does. Huge even. Maybe it’s the whole having someone waiting for you at home thing… or rather someone who gives a shit about you waiting at home for you.
Clearing my throat, I shake my head, trying to shake my thoughts away. It doesn’t work. They’re still right there in the center of my mind. They are waiting, and they are ready to spill out of my mouth.
And they are the last things I should be thinking. But they play on repeat, over and over, without stopping. Each moment that passes, each second I stand in the entryway while those words play on repeat, makes me wonder if it could work.
I love this. I want this.I love you, Cidney.
But I want this to work. I want us to work.
It doesn’t matter that she’s almost a decade younger than I am. It doesn’t matter that she’s Ivy’s cousin and has always been off-limits. None of it fucking matters because I know that she’s supposed to be mine.
Walking into this apartment, knowing that she’s likely in that bed waiting for me, maybe it’s what I needed to realize how I truly feel. Sure, I could think about the fact that I’ve fallen in love with her all day long, but to actually claim her, to fight for her, to announce to the world that she’s mine and I’m not going to give her up, not for brotherhood, not for fucking anything?
That’s a big step in any world, but especially mine.
It’s time that I man up and claim my woman. Locking the front door behind me, I make my way through the house, kicking off my boots then taking off my socks as I do. I’m barefoot by the time I make it to the bedroom.
Standing in the doorway, the soft light from the side lamp illuminating the room, I see her. All of her absolute gorgeousness. And I know, IknowI would fucking kill for her. Kill to keep her.
Cidney Whitaker is mine.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CIDNEY
The room is a little spinny.I’ve had a bit too much to drink, but not enough that I won’t remember this tomorrow… at least I don’t think. The front door opens and closes, and my breath hitches.
He’s home.
Scrambling out of my pajama top and sleep shorts, I throw them to the side of the bed on the floor and prop one knee while the other leg is straight. Placing my hands just behind me, I arch my back in an attempt to appear sexy.
My body sways slightly as I try to hold the pose. I hope he hurries and comes in here, because I’m about to fall over, and if I do that, I’m going to laugh. A lot. And once I get started with giggles, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop, which won’t be very sexy at all.
Since this is probably our last night together, I really want to be sexy.
Thankfully, I hear the front door lock click into place and then footsteps until he is there. Standing in the doorway, hiseyes on me. Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I watch him in silence. His lips twitch into that sexy smirk, the one I love so much.
