Her expression shifts instantly — worry, tenderness, understanding, all flood the beauty of her face.
“What’s wrong?” she whispers.
I shake my head quickly. “Nothing. That’s just… a story for another time.”
She doesn’t push. She just reaches across the table, touches my hand, and nods like she understands everything without me saying a word. After a pause, she draws a steady breath. “Do you really think you can find him?”
“We will,” I say without hesitation. “The whole club’s on it. You’re family now. And we take care of our own.”
Her eyes soften. “I’m looking forward to not running anymore.” She swallows. “I’ve been running and afraid for so long. I want to feel safe, and I want a home.” Her lashes lower, and she gazes at me through them in a way that makes my heart swell and makes me want to reach across the table and pull her into my arms. “And I feel lucky that maybe… maybe I’ll get to have that with you.”
She smiles, sweet and shy and full of hope, and I swear my heart grows too big for my damn chest.
“I’d like that,” I say. “A home. Somewhere, something to share with you.”
“I’d like that, too.”
We talk about lighter things after that; she laughs when I tell her about Ironwood Falls’ weird quirks — the statue hidden in an alley park behind city hall that looks like it’s flipping everyone off, the gas station cashier who calls everyone “Jim” regardless of gender, the mayor’s dog who is responsible for giving birth to at least a quarter of the stray dogs in the county.
“Wait,” she giggles as I regale her with another story. “Tell me about the guy from the diner again.”
I grin. “There’s this old guy who sits in the same corner booth at the Starlight Diner. Comes in every day I do. And every damn time, he winks at me and says I look just like his wife. Who was apparently a 6'2" jarhead with a beard.”
Sparrow bursts out laughing. “Well… you are a very beautiful man.”
I blink at her. “I… what?”
She winks. “You heard me.”
I choke on my beer. She snorts with laughter as I wipe my mouth and mutter, “Unbelievable.”
We finish dinner — mine’s steak; hers is chicken with a sauce that I can’t spell — completely wrapped up in each other,enveloped in the warm, glowing connection that feels like it’s changing something inside me forever.
Outside, the night is cool and crisp. Sparrow loops her arm through mine, and I swear I’d knock out a goddamn mountain just to keep that smile on her face.
“You wanna grab a drink?” I ask. “There’s a bar down the road that’s more my speed. Pool tables, shitty jukebox, the works.”
She grins. It is slow, wicked, and soft. “That’s a nice idea.”
I raise a brow. “Nice?”
“Mm-hmm.” She steps closer, hands sliding up my chest. “But I have an even better one.”
My mouth goes dry. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”
She meets my eyes — steady, certain, full of heat.
Take me home,” she whispers. Her fingers curl in my shirt. “Right now.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Riley
I don't remember the drive back to the clubhouse. Only his hand over mine on the gearshift, the way he kept glancing at me like he couldn't believe I was real, the pounding in my chest — not fear this time, but something warmer. Hungrier.
But most of all, I remember the way he looked at me when I saidI want you to take me home.
Like I’d just handed him oxygen after he’d been drowning.
