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We settled in for sleep at midnight. It took her forty-five minutes to doze off. It took me much longer. Long enough to consider leaving without saying goodbye, but that was a cowardly douche move.

It would breed ill-will in the days to come, and I couldn’t do that. Hell, the weeks of patching things up back in the fall was bad enough. It would be rough, but we had to say goodbye.

I fell asleep, but woke up before her.

What had she said when she’d propositioned me…get this out of our system. That had been the whole point, but if you asked me, we failed spectacularly.

Sex with her was damn sure spectacular.

More like everything about her.

Fuck. I wasn’t going to be able to stay away from her.

“You look like I feel,” she murmured.

I glanced down into those soulful blue eyes. “We’re not talkin’ about that. It’s just after seven. Let’s end this on a high note, baby.”

Three hours later and two orgasms for me (four for her), she walked me out to my bike.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “You have a great day, Mick.”

She put her hands on my chest and tipped her head back. “I will. You coming to see me at the—”

I kissed her quick. “You said four nights. It’s best if I make myself scarce. Otherwise, one of your brothers or Lark for sure, will put it together.”

She failed to hide her frown. “Right.”

Her disappointment hit me hard.

I squeezed her shoulders. “You didn’t want anyone to know. And I’m down with that because it’s the right call.”

“Yeah, I know. All right,” she sighed. “I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

Greedy bastard that I was, I couldn’t leave it at that. I slid my free hand along her cheek, up into her hair and kissed her. Hard.

As always, she responded and what should have been short became a very long kiss.

I tore my lips away. “Thanks for one helluva holiday, Mickayla.”

Chapter 9

A Craving Quandary

Mickayla

If I thought the world slowed down at Thanksgiving, the time between Christmas and New Year’s Eve felt like the world went into a trance. Was it Wednesday? Seven in the evening or seven the next morning? Nobody knew, but they still wanted their booze.

I didn’t feel like I was in a trance, I was in a craving quandary. Tundra left. We were supposed to be done. Four nights ago, I thought I could do this.

I was wrong.

I didn’t want more of him, I wanted all of him.

Maybe this was how psychos went over the edge. Obsession didn’t cover how much I thought about us. We could work. If it weren’t for the brothers - no, if it weren’t for the judgment and closed-mindedness of some brothers. One of my triplets among them. Ryan made no bones about telling Lark what he thought about him being with younger women. I expected nothing less from Ryan if he found out I’d slept with Tundra.

A hand waved before my eyes.

“Yo, Mick! What the hell? Are you in there?” Lark demanded.