AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Boxer ran out from the back with his gun drawn. “Storm’s on his way with a crew.”
“They’re gone.” I crunched the broken glass and cautiously peered out the window.
“Drew? Are you okay?”
I whirled around and ran to the locker room to my girl. “Ava?”
She launched herself at me the second I entered the room. “Oh my gosh! Are you okay?” She hooked her arms around my neck and wrapped her legs around my waist.
I couldn’t speak. I embraced her shaking body and relished the feel of her after months of imagining what it would be like to hold her. It was better than I had ever imagined.
She reared back and grabbed my face. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Are you?”
She nodded and pressed her forehead to mine. “Jesus, I was so scared. I can’t lose you, Drew.” She exhaled a shuddered breath. “Do you hear me? I can’t lose you.”
5
Ava
“Do you hear me? I can’t lose you.” The words spilled out of me on their own. It was ridiculous to hide my feelings when Drew could have been killed. Guilt would plague me for all eternity if I didn’t speak what was on my heart when I had the chance.
I loved Drew, had been in love with him since our first dance. I’d owned up to how I felt about him when I hadn’t lost my mind when he touched my waist and held my hand. My skin hadn’t felt like spiders were crawling all over it, and nausea hadn’t sent me running for the toilet. It was then, at Hero and Tara’s wedding, that I knew I might be able to have more. Hope had bloomed in my heart, a hope that I could be intimate with him. God knew I’d wanted to.
Except nothing had happened after Drew took me home. He’d come in to make sure the house was safe and set the alarms before he left. I had assumed my feelings were one-sided and kept them to myself.
I may have made a massive blunder letting my true feelings show.
Drew’s body stiffened, and he seemed to be holding his breath.
How can I be so stupid?
I unhooked my legs and slipped down his body. “I’m sorry. Not sure what came over me.” My face heated as tears burned behind my eyes. How could I make such a fool of myself with him? He was my friend and knew what had happened to me. Why would he want to be with a damaged woman?
Nice going, Ava.
He cleared his throat. “It’s okay. How are you?”
I turned my back to him, willing the tears to go away. It had been months since I cried in front of him. I was stronger, in control of my emotions.
Or maybe not.
“I’m good.” I blinked rapidly and went to the locker where my clothes were. I took out my sweatshirt and put it on. “What happened?”
Deflect, deflect, deflect.
He watched me like I was a ticking time bomb. I hadn’t seen the severe glint in his eyes since last summer—the last time I’d had a panic attack. Frankly, seeing it now made me feel broken again.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I snipped as I pulled the zipper up.
“Sorry. Can I get you anything?” He shifted from one foot to the other and scratched his scruffy chin as his gaze darted away from me.
A rumble of motorcycles made me freeze. I counted to ten, steeling myself.It’s Drew’s MC brothers, I told myself. Dozens of times, he’d assured me the Knights would never lay a finger on me. The more I’d been around them, the more I believed Drew. Strangely, I trusted his club. Not all MCs were created equal. Drew was a member of a good club. Although, I wasn’t so inept to not know they broke the law when needed. He’d told me they did, but they did everything possible to not hurt innocent people.
The back door swung open, and Hero appeared. “Everyone all right?”
I blew out a breath, then another and another until I felt stabilized.
