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His mouth went tight and the spark left his eyes. “Yeah. Right.” He released her. “Still gotta drop you off at the motel to get your cage.”
This was it. Once he dropped her off at The Grove Inn, they would go their separate ways and have to pretend the last five days never happened.
They’d already made a pact to forget Rev and Saylor’s real parentage. That info would be locked away in an invisible box and the key thrown away, hopefully never to resurface again.
So many damn secrets. Unfortunately, all of them necessary.
“Well,” she started, “I want to say it was a fun trip, but... uh…” She grimaced.
“Yeah,” was all he needed to say. His resigned tone pretty much covered how they both felt about the whole thing.
She tugged lightly on his shirt. He hadn’t worn his cut at all during the trip and still wasn’t wearing it since he was driving his truck instead of riding his sled. Soon enough he’d slip it back on in the same way he’d slip back into his life here in Manning Grove with his job and family. His real family. The ones who loved and respected him and also had his back.
She was happy he had that because he had gone too long in his life without it.
She was happy she had that, too.
They just couldn’t have it together unless the rule hanging over her head changed.
But… Did she want that with him? Something more serious than the awesome sex they had in the motel for the past few days?
While she was property of the club, she would need to be ready to become “property of Rev” if they revealed what already happened in Coatesville and what they’d want to continue. All without him getting clubbed upside the head or getting his colors stripped first. That was key.
Was she ready for that? Was he? What did he really want with her, if anything?
Since they both had avoided that discussion, she could only assume neither of them was ready for anything further.
She stepped back, creating space between them. Right now, he had the freedom to do what he wanted, when he wanted and with who he wanted.
If they approached Deacon and Reese, she had a feeling they’d insist Rev claim her at the table and force her to wear his cut. It would be no better than a shot-gun wedding. And nobody wanted that kind of pressure. Nobody wanted to be forced into something they weren’t ready for.
Any forced relationship would turn into a complete disaster.
They were in their twenties, for shit’s sake! Neither should be ready to settle down. Even if they were, she wasn’t sure it would be with each other.
Would it?
Gah. No.
He hadn’t meant what he said. It had just been his emotions talking, that was all.
Because if he meant it…
Stop it, Reilly.
An unfamiliar sting started in her eyes. What the hell? She wasn’t a crier and she certainly had no reason to shed tears in this instance.
She was tired, that was all. From the emotional roller coaster of that trip, from the long drive home and from the physical exertion of bringing the boxes up to her second-floor apartment.
The exhaustion was getting to her. She simply needed a nap.
A perfect and easy solution.
She blinked back the welling tears and managed to say through a thick throat, “Can you take me to the Inn now?”
His brow dropped low as he stared at her. She quickly turned away to hide whatever he saw. Or thought he saw.
“Reilly…”
“Rev, I’m worried someone will see your truck and get the wrong idea.”
“Yeah, but it wouldn’t be the wrong fuckin’ idea, now would it?”
“Right,” she agreed, quickly wiped the sting from her eyes and turned to face him. “And we need to avoid that. Not for me, but for you. And for Saylor.”
She needed to remember that. Whatever happened to him would affect his sister, too.
“Got it.” With a stiff nod and his lips pinned tight, he pulled his keys out of his front pocket. “Let’s go.”
She was already feeling the loss of him as he pulled into The Grove Inn’s parking lot and drove around back to where her car was hidden behind the building.
He parked next to it, shoved his shifter into neutral and sat there saying nothing. Only the rumble of his Bronco’s V8 filled the gap of silence between them.
Maybe he was waiting for her to get out.
She sighed, pushed open the passenger door and grabbed the handle above it so she wouldn’t just tumble out of the high-sitting truck and onto her ass like the klutz she could be.
Before she could escape, he grabbed her arm and prevented her from climbing out. When she turned her head to address him, she noticed something else besides his pained expression. And when she grimaced, his head turned, too.
