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“Expressed how. Give me quotes,” Cassi said. Sometimes I couldn’t believe how much like me she was.
“He said he was falling in love with me. And asked me to let him in.”
“You gonna do that?” Cassie asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “What I want and what I think is smart might be two different things.”
“You know what you’re always telling me,” she pointed out.
“Which part?” I asked. I told my daughter a lot.
“You’d rather live with the regret that you tried something you really wanted and it didn’t work out than live with the regret that you never tried it at all,” she parroted. She really did sound like me sometimes.
“What if I’ve already tried it?” I argued.
“You haven’t given it the old college try, and you know it,” she said. “And you won’t be able to live with yourself if you don’t. He’s the one, mom. He always has been. Maybe you should give him the chance to prove that he’s figured it out too.”
“Maybe so,” I said, wondering when my kid had gotten so fearless.
“Gotta go,” Cassie said. “Some sorority sisters are about to attack Brick. I’d better go save him.”
She ended the call, and I had dead air.
I turned around and nearly jumped out of my skin.
Ryder stood in the doorway, all broad shoulders in a black tee, jeans, boots, and cut.
“How long have you been there?” I wheezed, trying to catch my breath.
“Long enough, sweet,” he answered with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Let’s go. Gate needs you.”
I grabbed my bag on the way to the door, flipped the lock, and headed out with Ryder.
*************************
Talon
Talon leaned a shoulder against a tree, arms crossed, his eyes on Jenna’s window. He’d been able to see her pacing, knew she’d been talking on the phone, sometimes stopping to stare outside.
She left his line of sight, and he was about to walk back inside the building, when he saw her hit the front doors with Ryder by her side.
And that stung. But then he noticed his brother kept a little more distance between them than normal, and he wondered what had happened in Jenna’s office.
He knew she could handle herself. She’d been doing it long enough. But he also knew that it would feel damn good to be able to call herhisand to protect her from everything that came their way.
There was a lot he couldn’t do. At this point in his life, he didn’t know if he could hold down a normal job. He didn’t want to, and with all the shit he’d pulled over the years, he knew staying off the radar was his best bet.
He also didn’t think he’d go over too well at her faculty socials. And he knew without a doubt that after working with bikers for over twenty years, he didn’t have the personality for the white collar scene anymore.
He wasn’t sure what her family would think of him either.
He figured he might be able to sway Cass to his side, but she’d been around Ryder too, and the brother may have already established some loyalty.
But he could protect them. He could give Jenna that, and he’d do his best to fit into the other parts of her life. He’d make it work.
And the sex they had…. He’d give her as much of that as she wanted. He’d never had better. And it was all because of the woman he was with.
He remembered back to that night ten years ago when he’d broken into Jenna’s house pissed off and bleeding. She’d taken care of him. And she’d given him a truth. Her husband was cheating on her, and he’d judged her for putting up with it.
