“No… fuck!” She spun around and stormed toward the door.
“Wait, Badge, don’t go!” I pleaded as I followed her.
She opened the door a crack, and I realized I was still naked. I couldn’t follow her without giving everyone a show.
“I can’t do this, Evan.” And with that, she slipped out the door and closed it behind her.
I stood there naked in the middle of my office, my heart breaking in two.
What the fuck did had just happened?
THIRTY-NINE
MACHINE
It had been radio silence since I told Badger I loved her a week ago. I never should have laid out my heart like that. I’d been a broody mess all week.
While I was having the week from hell, Kade had found out not only was he going to be a father, but that Phantom’s brother was the reason for the cyberattack we had earlier in the year. Come to find out her brother, Sergeant Major Matt Myers, attempted to access Ricci’s files to find a way to take him down. Matt was on our side. Regardless of how he obtained the information he needed, he wanted to work with us.
After finding all of this out, we also learned that our offer to buy Olympus had been accepted. I should have been ecstatic. I mean, I was, but at the same time, I wanted to share the good news with Badger. But I couldn’t.
She avoided my texts and calls, which only made me spiral more. How was I supposed to deal with this? I was sure that she was perfectly fine with how things were now, and it ate me up inside. I needed her. I wanted her. This was too much to bear.
I was lost in thought as I walked to exit RSS. I needed to get to the club to start helping with demolition and oversee thatnothing went wrong. As I approached the doors, I noticed the one person who was the center of my everything.
Badger made eye contact with me, her eyes bulging slightly before she turned around and hauled ass out of the building. On instinct, I chased after her. As I got outside, I saw her head down the sidewalk.
“Badger, wait!” I called to her, but she kept walking.
FORTY
BADGER
“Slow the fuck down, woman!” Machine yelled to me as I ducked into an alleyway.
I didn’t know where I was going, but I needed to get away from him. I had been a mess all week with no idea what to do. I wanted Machine, but didn’t want to face the feelings I had for him. I heard the gravel crunch under Machine’s boots as he followed me.
“Just leave me alone, Tool,” I yelled over my shoulder as I hugged myself.
I only made it several steps in the alley before I felt him. A strong hand wrapped around my bicep and spun me around. Dark eyes met mine. The funny, charming man was gone, and in his place was Machine.
“No, not until you tell me why you are running away.” His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath.
I shoved him.
“Because you make me feel things that I don’t want to!” I yelled. His features softened at my confession. “You are arrogant, an asshole…” I paused before shoving him once more, “and charming and so fucking hot I can’t fucking stand it!”
Our chests heaved as we stared into each other's eyes. I wanted him, needed him. But I couldn’t let myself have him. My focus needed to be on finding my sister, not some fling with a guy like him.
A smirk crossed his lips before he grabbed the front of my hoodie and pulled me to him until his lips crashed into mine. A growl of satisfaction left him as our tongues met. I wrapped my arms around his neck, reveling in how good his body felt against me. A moan left my lips as his tongue swept over mine. The action sent sparks of lust through me and ignited something in my soul that I had thought was dead.
When I felt myself get carried away in the kiss, I pushed him off of me, earning me a confused look.
“We can’t do this,” I pleaded, hoping that he could see the torment I was going through.
Machine glared at me. “And why the fuck can’t we?”
I ran my hand through my hair.
