Maybe Brooks and I could change that.
“Look, I’m not one for beating around the bush, so I’m just going to come right out and say it.”
“Okay,” I said with a nod. “Go ahead.”
“I know my brother took you for a ride on the back of his motorcycle.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m guessing you don’t know what that means.”
“It means something?” I asked in confusion.
“Yeah. It means something. In our world. Our biker world. You know about the motorcycle club. Brooks said he told you about it . . .”
“Yeah, I know about the club. But you’re not a biker anymore, and neither is Brooks.”
“No, not technically,” he agreed. “But there are some things that have carried over, I guess.”
He paused for a second.
“Getting a woman on the back of your motorcycle is a really big deal. It means he wants you there for longer than just a night. You don’t just let any woman on the back of your bike. It’s a special place. Reserved for . . . for Old Ladies. An Old Lady is?—”
“I know what an Old Lady is. He explained it to me.”
He sighed. “Brooks . . . he doesn’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“He doesn’t put a woman he just met on the back of his bike. In fact, a woman hasneverridden on the back of his motorcycle. Ever.”
I’m special.
Warmth blasted through me, heating me from the inside out. Thawing me in places I hadn’t known were cold.
“He’s got some quirks, Poet.”
“He told me about his obsessive tendencies.”
“He did?”
I nodded.
“Okay. Well, that’s . . . that’s something. I know you just got to town, but if you’re not going to stay, set him free.”
“Set him free?” I repeated. “Do you think I trapped him?”
“No, I don’t think that at all. But Brooks has decided that you’re the one he wants to take care of.”
“Yes, that’s painfully obvious,” I said with a wry laugh. “The man has hardly left my side in the few days since we’ve met. It’s a little . . .”
“Terrifying?” he supplied.
“No, not terrifying. Just unusual, I guess.”
“Very unusual. Like I said, he doesn’t get attached. But with you he’s . . . I’ve never seen it, Poet. I just don’t want him to get hurt, and I think you could really hurt him.”
“Why do you think that?”
