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“Hurts like a bitch but it could be worse. It’s fucking with my head though because if they wanted me dead, they wouldn’t have stabbed me in the damn shoulder.”
“Maybe they didn’t.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…maybe they didn’t want you dead and only stabbed you to get a point across. I watch a lot of movies and I know they’re just movies and all but sometimes the bad guys do things just to be funny.” I shrugged.
“Sounds like something I would do.” Tanner turned his big body toward me, giving me his full attention.
“You like messing with people just for fun?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
He looked down at his lap. “Yeah. Something like that.” He reached a hand out and brushed his finger along my ankle.
My breath caught. I had never been this close to a man before. Sure, I was close with the twins and Jaron, but they were family. I was also the youngest. Everyone else was older and treated me like a kid for the most part. But not Tanner. No. Instead, he looked at me like I was a woman. And not just a twenty-three-year-old female who worked a couple of days a week at her mom’s auto shop. One who had no idea what she wanted to do in life besides enjoying her twenties at the moment. Even then, I couldn’t do that knowing I had the twins breathing down my neck. At least with Jaron, he let me do whatever I wanted but watched me at the same time. God, I missed him. And Piper. I liked Piper.
“What are you thinking about?” Tanner asked, leaning the side of his head against the back of the couch.
“Oh.” I laughed lightly. “I was thinking that I like this, and I like how you don’t look at me like a kid.”
He grunted. “With the thoughts running through my head, I think I would go to jail if I looked at you as a kid.”
“Oh…” My eyes widened. “Really?”
Tanner laughed, his shoulders shaking. “Yeah.”
“Thank you.” I gave him a small smile.
“Nah.” He leaned toward me. “Don’t thank me, Busy. You just keep being you. That’s all I want.”
“Tanner?”
“Yeah,” he said, his voice low.
“What do you want with me?”
His jaw clenched, his eyes searching my face. “I’m not sure but I do know that I want to be friends. If something more happens, great, but for now, I just need you near me. I don’t know why. Maybe I never will. But you…”
“What?” I whispered.
“You calm me in ways I never knew I needed.” He cupped my knee, running his thumb back and forth. He watched the movement, almost like he knew he shouldn’t be touching me and yet, he was.
I should have pushed him away, but I didn’t. I liked when he touched me. Even if it was something small. We may not have known each other for twenty-four hours yet but it was nice having someone around I didn’t grow up with. Someone who had an unbiased opinion and saw me for me. Someone who looked past the fact that I grew up with bikers.
“Tanner.” I found I wanted more. I wanted to know what it would be like to feel his mouth on mine. Would his kiss be gentle or rough? Would it be firm but passionate? I imagined his hands on me, holding me, touching me, making me feel things I never knew existed until I met him.
His dark eyes popped to mine. He leaned forward.
Just when I thought he was going to kiss me, he gave me a small smirk instead.
A breathless laugh left me.
His grin grew. He closed the last few inches between us, brushing his mouth down the length of my jaw.
I shivered, placing my hands on his waist. “I…”
“Mmmhmm…”
I leaned my head to the side, inviting him to do more. To kiss me. Touch me. Even to just hold me. But we were at my uncle’s place. It wasn’t safe. Not for Tanner. Not for either of us.
