Page 48 of Texting the Wrong Bikers

Shadow lounges on my couch, looking completely unbothered even though my best friend is pointing a Glock directly at his chest. He’s not even tense. He seems mildly inconvenienced at best. His dark hair is messy from sleep, one tattooed arm casually stretched across the back cushions, while morning sunlight pours through the living room windows behind him. His t-shirt has ridden up slightly, revealing the deep V on his stomach like an arrow down into his pants.

Dani stands near the front door in leggings and a workout top, gym bag still hanging off one shoulder, gun raised with terrifying confidence. “What the fuck?” she demands.

Shadow raises one eyebrow slowly. “Morning.”

I groan into both hands. “Dani, put the gun down.”

“Why is there a strange man in your house?”

“He’s not breaking in. I couldn’t leave him outside in the storm.” I’m still confused about waking to my friend pointing a gun at my houseguest. Dani has a key, but she usually knocks. I gesture to her and the door. “Why didn’t you tell me you were here?”

“I was gonna knock, but then I saw a shape through the window. You weren’t there. I thought he’d hurt you,” she says glaring at Shadow.

Shadow looks back calmly. Neither blinks. Honestly, it’s deeply unsettling.

Finally, Dani lowers the gun slightly. “You’re Shadow.”

His mouth twitches faintly. “And you’re the armed friend.”

“I like him,” Dani says with the same abrupt decisiveness she uses for every decision.

“I’m concerned about that,” I mutter.

Shadow laughs softly under his breath. The sound catches me off guard because he’s not exactly the jovial type.

Dani finally holsters the gun back into her bag while eyeing him carefully. “You always sleep in strangers’ houses?”

“Only the pretty ones.”

I blink.

Dani gasps dramatically, grinning in delight at my expression. “Oh, Mr. Smooth Guy.”

Shadow immediately looks regretful for speaking, clearing his throat and looking away from me.

Owen thunders downstairs, breaking the awkward silence. “Auntie Dani!”

Dani immediately abandons all biker interrogation to hug him. “Hey there, kiddo!”

Shadow slowly rises from the couch, stretching slightly. Despite my best efforts not to gawp, I can’t help staring. Morning Shadow is somehow even hotter. His white T-shirt stretches across broad shoulders and tattooed forearms. His sleep-mussed dark hair looks effortlessly sexy. The man looks like every woman’s bad-boy fantasy.

I look away quickly. Dani notices instantly because, of course, she does. She grins at me wickedly while Owen chatters about cartoons. “We’re still going to the gym, right?”

I hesitate, glancing at Shadow. “You don’t have to come.”

“Agreed,” Dani says brightly, patting her purse. “I’ve got this covered.”

Shadow’s eyes flick briefly toward it, evaluating her. To my surprise, he doesn’t ask the usual patronizing question about whether she knows how to use it; perhaps he could tell from the way she held it that she does. Instead, he asks, “You military?”

Dani pauses. “Dad was. You?”

Something shifts subtly in Shadow’s expression. Respect. “Hm,” he says quietly. He nods briefly but doesn’t offer any more information about where he served.

Dani studies him back the same way, like two predators recognizing each other.

Eventually, Shadow says calmly, “I’ll follow behind. One of the others will switch out with me while you’re in there.”

“That’s unnecessary.”