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“I hope you don’t have any plans tonight, Sweet Cheeks.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m far from done with you.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Scarlett
Friday evening was spent lockedin Gray’s arms, dirtying up his sheets. The ache between my thighs is still present two days later. Saturday was spent recapping the college work from Friday and practicing my reading and writing.
Thoughts of the deputy still lingered in the back of my mind, but nothing had stemmed from it. He hadn’t reared his ugly head with another drop-in at the club, so I was counting that as a win… for now at least. Ryker promised they would keep an eye on the situation, and Axel had Shift tap into the security cameras we set up when we were there.
Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing to be concerned about.
So why does it feel like the calm before the storm? This uncertain zone where I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. Not just with regards to the deputy, but the Devil’s Brutes too. We’re sitting and waiting again, as if we’re offering them the upper hand, which they definitely don’t deserve.
The irritation and agitation of it has me sitting up in bed. Axel’s smell surrounds me.
He was adamant he wanted me to rest up in his bed last night, but he didn’t join me. He slept on a cot beside me, but the fact that we were in the same room while he slept felt like progress. That’s when we’re at our most vulnerable, and he offered me a snippet of that. I’m willing to cling to anything he has to give at this point, and he doesn’t take that fact lightly.
“I was wondering when you would actually move,” he states groggily, and I peer over the bed to see him rubbing at his eyes. A thin sheet is draped over his thighs, revealing his bare chest and tight black boxer shorts. He looks like sin, probably tastes like it too. “Get your head out of the gutter,” he adds, making me blink up at him with a smirk.
“You shouldn’t put it there to begin with,” I retort, squinting my eyes in defiance, but he just hums in amusement at me. “How did you know I was awake anyway?” I ask, watching the muscles in his back move as he sits up, and I have to clench my thighs if I want any chance of being able to breathe.
“Your breathing changed about twenty minutes ago, then you started getting huffy in the last five,” he explains, scooping his hair into a bun before he starts to get dressed. My tongue peeks out, wetting my parched lips as I enjoy the show. “So… what’s driving your mind crazy?”
“The Brutes, the deputy, Declan, anyone and everyone on our radar. I can’t stand sitting around. I feel helpless, and I really fucking hate it.”
“We are playing a blind game so I get where you’re coming from. I feel it too. As much as we have the extra men here now, we’re not entirely sure where it is that we’re heading. Gray and Ryker got a snippet of information about them frequenting the diner like clockwork, but we want to see that with our eyes first before we make a move. Besides, it’s neutral territory, we would have to devise a plan to hit them in transit.”
I exhale heavily, but it doesn’t alleviate the tension in my shoulders. Axel takes a seat beside me, lacing his fingers with mine in a sweet gesture that makes my body tingle.
“It’s a bit of a long shot, but do you feel like taking a drive with me?” I meet his gaze, lost to his stormy eyes as they peer into my soul.
“Whatever you need, Reaper.”
* * *
My favorite—our—favoritemurder case podcast plays through the sound system in the truck. It feels weird being the one behind the wheel, but when I asked, Axel just waved the keys at me and took the shotgun seat without a word.
His faith in me is unprecedented, especially when he has no idea what we’re doing. I don’t want to say it out loud and jinx it, or get his hopes up if I’m a total letdown.
“I want you on the back of Hattie eventually,” he says, startling me since we’ve been sitting in peace and quiet for the past twenty-five minutes.
“What?” I ask, cutting my gaze to him for a second before turning back to the road.
“Hattie, my bike. I want you on the back of her eventually.”
My breath catches, my mind going a mile a minute as I rub my lips together. “With you driving?” I ask, testing the waters, and he nods.
“Obviously, I might lo—I might care for you a lot, but nobody drives my baby,” he retorts, and my heart flutters.
“I only want to ride her if you’re driving, Axel, I just didn’t want to get my hopes up.” I keep my eyes fixed on the road, but sense him turning in my direction. If I do, he’ll be able to read my eyes instantly, see the love blooming there for him.
After I blurted it at him in the parking lot and hightailed it out of there, he didn't mention it at all. But he almost uttered those words just now and I think I might pass out from all the emotion coursing through my veins.
I try to change the subject so I can focus on the task at hand. “Why did you name her Hattie?”
