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I shook my head. There was no way in hell I was going to be putting Gunner and Iris in close quarters. All it would take is my daughter to start talking—or tell him her age—and he might be able to put it all together.
“Come on, Hal, just a catchup…” His eyes pleaded with me in a way that made my mind go fuzzy. I mean, yeah, things had ended badly between us, but Iwasstuck in this town for the unforeseeable future. Might as well keep things cordial.
“My mom can watch Iris,” I said, running my hands along the leather steering wheel. “I could probably make dinner work.”
“Okay, I can pick you up from your mom’s house—just like old times?” He was starting to sound more enthusiastic by the second, and while every ounce of me wanted to join him…
Iwas the one who had been shattered into a million pieces.
It washischoice.
“I’d rather just meet you wherever you’d like to go.” I kept my eyes focused on my hands.
“I can drive my truck,” he offered, like his motorcycle was the reason I didn’t want him to pick me up. I loved going on motorcycle rides—that had nothing to do with it.
“Just tell me where to meet you, and I’ll be there.”
“Okay, it’s just I was thinking we could eat out of town. The only place around to really eat is here.” Gunner gestured to the café. “And you just ate here. That doesn’t seem very fair,” he added with a chuckle. “Besides, I can take you somewhere nice. I’m not broke anymore.”
Dirty money, probably.
“Let’s just eat at the café,” I said. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on this—it’sjusta catch-up, nothing more.” It felt a little harsh to say that with all the feelings spiraling out of control, but my head was a hell of a lot smarter than it used to be. I knew that for everyone’s sake, the most Gunner and I could do was be friends—er, more likeacquaintances.
Very,verydistant acquaintances.
“I’ll meet you here around seven, then? Is that a good time for you?” Gunner’s fingertips brushed my white knuckles clenched around the steering wheel, and my breath hitched in response.
“Yeah, that’s fine.” I pulled my hands away and reached around him for the door handle, the woodsy, leather scent of him intoxicating. He chuckled, probably noticing my reaction, and stepped out of the way.
“I’ll see you tonight.”
“Yep.” I slammed the door, the cool air still not drying the sweat beading up around my forehead.
Iris popped her head between the front seats, leaning on the console. “Who wasthat, Mom?”
Your father.
Chapter 2
Gunner
“I saw Hallie,” I panted, feeling like a dumb nineteen-year-old all over again. My hands were clammy, and my head was spinning as I stood there, looking right into the face of Will. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to do. I asked her to dinner tonight, and she said yes, but she made it sound like it’s just a catch-up, and I don’t know how I feel about that.”
“Dude, first of all, take a fucking breath.” His smirk was riddled with amusement. “For a guy who says that women never get to him, you’re sure as hell knocked right off your feet with this one.”
“This istheone.” I know I sounded fucking stupid right then, but Will didn’t really know the back story—only Viper and Axle had been there to witness what happened all those years ago.
“Right,” he said with a sigh, running his hands over his face. “Let me get dressed, and then we can have a nice therapy session, okay?” He was teasing me, and I had a strong urge to punch him in the jaw, but I held back. There was no point.
“I’ll see ya in the lounge,” I muttered instead, spinning on the heels of my boots and heading back down the hallway. I still was trying to come to terms with the fact that I would be meetingHalliefor dinner… Or that, honestly, I saw her again at all. At first, I had thought that it was just someone who looked like her, but once I had gotten a better view, I knew.
Sure, she had grown up, and her curves were, well,curvier, but it was in the best fucking way. She’d always been petite but curvy, and her short stature at five-foot-three was just adorable.
And so easy to toss around in bed.
Fuck.
My dick ramped up at the old memories of being buried between her legs. We’d been young, dumb, and desperately in love—or at least I had been. She had begged me to leave town and follow her to San Francisco, but I had begged her to stay here, withme. She had bigger dreams, and she hated the motorcycle club that I fucking idolized.
