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Turning pale and immediately raising his hands in surrender, “Fuck no! I’m sorry.”
I rolled my eyes at him as I pointed to the garage. I wanted to get back to Lilia, not deal with these assholes. I quickly headed outside to find that Redneck had managed to sneak out while I was dealing with Hardon. I watched them in shock as Redneck smiled. In all the years I’ve known the old bastard I can’t remember ever seeing him smile.
It was a mere few moments before Lilia turned her bright smile on me. I swear I felt my heart stutter at the sight of her beauty. “All ready?”
“Yup, Redneck here is just the sweetest. Thank you so much for taking care of my car. Can we bring you anything from the diner?”
“Oh no ma’am, I just ate lunch. Go on now, Tank will take good care of ya.” I scowled as Redneck flirted with her but I was happy he was making her smile.
He headed back into the garage as I reached out for her hand. With a soft smile, she put her tiny hand in my huge one. She only came barely up to my chest but she was the most gorgeous creature I’d ever seen. If I had my way, this night would end with her where she belonged, in my bed.
Chapter 3
Lilia
As we walked towards the diner I looked up at Tank, “Is Tank one of those names the guys all get in an MC?”
“They’re called road names and it is, but the reason for Tank is pretty obvious. My name’s Dax Rhodes.”
I smiled as I looked up at him scrutinizing. “Dax, you know I like it. It fits. Now if you said something like Winthrop…”
His deep laughter made me smile. It was such a good sound that vibrated through me and filled me with warmth. It was like a balm to the raw nerves inside me. “Winthrop?” He asked. “That can’t be a real name.”
“Oh, but it is. My cousin’s husband is named Winthrop and he is as douchey as the name suggests. At his wedding, he hit on me. I kid you not.”
“I’ll stick with Dax then,” he said with a shake of his head. When he opens the door to the diner for me, I smile. Somebody taught him good manners.
“Hey Tank, you can sit anywhere,” a pretty waitress called out
“Thanks, Cherry. Can you get me a coffee, black?” He looked at me with a question on his face.
With a blush pinkening my cheeks, I respond to his unspoken question, “Oh, um, can I get a sprite or 7-up?”
“Absolutely, sweetie. Let me get those drinks and then I’ll grab your orders.”
With a nod, Tank led us to a booth table combination that worked well for both of us. The booth cushioning was easier for me while the chair gave him plenty of leg room for his large frame. Cherry arrived with our drinks and we both ordered burgers and fries. I wasn’t sure I could eat it all but if not I could take it home with me.
While we waited for our food I looked at Tank as he still held my hand. “So, Tank, tell me about you. I find myself relaxed and happier than I’ve been for too long. I’d like to better know the man that’s brought that about.”
“Well, it was just my momma and me for a long time. She raised me with a firm hand and insisted I learn the right way to treat a lady. She passed away a long while ago in her sleep which was hard but I knew she was finally at peace. She carried too many demons deep inside her heart. I was just floating around, with no real path, no ambition, and no family. That was when Saint found me. He brought me into the Dragon Skulls where I found a brotherhood, a family.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s so hard when a loved one leaves us. It was the same way when I lost my grandmother. She was the only one who… well, who believed me. It all started when I was sixteen. The first thing I noticed was that I started to have grip issues. Things would just fall out of my hand. Once I was eating dinner with the family and my spoon simply fell out of my hand. When it landed the bit of soup on it flicked onto my brother Alex. Alex and my parents were convinced I was just acting out.
“My grandmother recognized what was going on and immediately took me to her rheumatologist. He performed a nerve test on my arms. I was diagnosed with neuropathy, or nerve issues, in both arms. I’ve had surgery on both elbows and wrists that have helped quite a bit but they do still bother me sometimes.”
“Is that what the scars are on your wrists?” Tank had turned my hand so that my palm faced up. His thumb was gently tracing the scars.
“Yeah. One day I would love to turn them into art instead of something ugly.”
“Like tattoos?”
I nod. His thumbs tracing my scars shouldn’t be calming and that shouldn’t be as stimulating as it was. With a slight shake of my head to dispel my thoughts. “It was after my second surgery that my rheumatologist did a bunch of labs on me. Several results were concerning to him and led him to believe there was something more happening than nerve issues. So he did even more tests. I think that day he took nine vials from each arm. The end result, I have fibromyalgia.”
“So what clued your doctor in? I’ve heard it can be hard to diagnose.”
I blinked at his question. He was genuinely curious. He wasn’t bored or thinking I was making all this up. He wanted to know. “So what he told me was that fibromyalgia was a diagnosis of elimination but it does have clues that most have in common. Vitamin D is crazy low and when asked, most react to being in direct sunlight. Some develop a rash, for others such as myself, the sun turns from warmth to tingling to feeling like needles and hot knives.”
I looked up and his face looked almost stricken. I tried to pull my hand free but he tightened his hold. “Little beauty, I can’t imagine dealing with that. Do you know how much inner fortitude it takes to still be able to smile and find joy in life? You amaze me.”
