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“He’s dangerous,” he said. “To the club. To you.”
I lifted my chin. “I’m well aware of that.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And I’m well aware that you chase danger for fuckin’ cardio.”
I yanked out of his grasp. “I’m not fifteen anymore, Cade. You can’t give me lectures and hope they stick. But yeah, I get bored, I cause a little trouble. It never touches the club. I can handle my own shit. And there’s nothing to handle with Luke. You made sure to tell me that my entire life, essentially telling me I wouldn’t have one if I considered him as anything more than the scum you do.” My gaze didn’t falter. “And that one stuck, Cade. Lectures don’t stick with me, but death threats certainly do. Especially when they come from my own brother.”
Cade flinched, like I’d struck him. “Roe—”
“No, Cade,” I hissed. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to say anything else. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not suicidal.”
And then, before I could betray anything else, I turned on my heel and left.
So he didn’t think I was running, I did it farther into the club. But I knew every inch of the place where I’d grown up, especially all escape routes.
Which was exactly what I did.
Escaped.
But then again, I lived in a cage, so there was only so far I could go until someone found me.
And it was the person I wanted to find me more than anything. I also hoped he never would, because it would eventually mean he lost himself.
I didn’t go home because that would’ve been the first place they looked. I didn’t go to a bar because that would be the second.
Not that they needed to. I’d texted Cade to tell him I hadn’t been murdered or kidnapped or joined the circus. Then I’d turned my phone off, because despite that text, I knew Cade would’ve had Wire trace my phone.
This outlaw life of freedom sometimes had more bars than the cages of society boasted.
I was resigned to that when boots hit the dock I was swinging my boots off.
It was only a matter of time before someone found me. My heart stopped because I knew who the someone was. I knew it before he sat down beside me, before his profile danced at the edges of my vision and his clean smell mingled with the salty ocean air.
He was the only one who knew about this place.
Our place, as I’d come to think of it.
It was a delusion, sure. But everyone needed a delusion or two to get them through reality.
“I don’t need a lecture on rights and wrongs and evil and good right now, Luke,” I said, keeping my eyes on the ocean, even though every part of me yearned to drink him in.
There was a long pause, and the air around my hand changed as Luke rested his own on the wood of the dock, right next to mine, then coiled his pinky with mine.
One small touch, barely anything, but for us, it was more than everything.
I expected him to pull away. He didn’t. He just kept it there and I held my breath.
“I’m not here for that, Rosie,” he said finally. “I’m here for you.”
I whipped my head sideways. He was still watching the ocean. The words winded me for a split second, but then I hardened. “Here to arrest me? Question me?” I asked coldly.
That time my words made him shift his gaze. I restrained a flinch at seeing the hurt in it. I knew that wasn’t why he was there. We both knew it.
“I’m here for you, Rosie,” he repeated.
I swallowed roughly. “You can’t be, Luke,” I whispered.
His eyes hardened. “Where else can I be, Rosie? With the memories of the flaming remains of the fucking bomb that almost erased you from this earth?” he demanded. “With the fucking replay of what would’ve been if everything had been a little later, if you’d been just a little closer? I’ve done too much of that, staying away and chasing at the demons that remind me just how acquainted you are with death. I can’t fuckin’ do that anymore, Rosie. I can’t do any of it.”
I froze. “Any of what?”
My heart soared and sank at the same time.
He turned fully to face me, yanked my entire hand into his strong and dry palm. His gaze didn’t waver.
“You know what,” he murmured, so quietly the waves almost stole his words away.
But they didn’t. I snatched them out of the air and held them tight.
Inside was the only place I would let myself hold on to them, to the feelings of Luke’s hand entwined in mine. That gaze directed at me. I steeled myself, garnered my strength, then snatched my hand back and pushed myself up.
Luke did the same, frowning.
I ignored this. “And how do you think it would work?”
