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She beams at me. "That's good, because I'd have to kidnap you if you ever thought of doing so."
I laugh. God, I truly lucked out finding Seri. I really did. "No kidnapping. I'm good. I promise."
She gets to her feet and pulls me up from the sofa. "That you are, Es. But you'll be even better if you consider having a fuck-fest with Reaper a lot more often. He made you smile yesterday. I saw him. I watched the way your eyes lit up when he was talking with you. That's something I hadn't seen in a while, and I want it back. I want my best friend back."
I wrap my arms around her. "I do too, but Seri, she may never come back, and I don't want you to get your hopes up for nothing. Be happy that I'm here and I'm getting better." I would hate to constantly see the disappointment in her eyes if the real me never lived up to the memory of who I used to be. "I'm happier than I have been in a while. Don't be sad that I'm not who I used to be. Be happy that I'm here and growing from my mistakes."
"You're amazing," she says softly. "I'm in awe of you, Esme." She tightens her grip around me before releasing me. "Go to the store and get the ingredients you need to cook a kickass meal for Reap, and don't forget to make your brownies, girl. He'll be falling in love in no time with those."
I laugh. "As long as he doesn't tell Octavia. I don't want it to become a challenge for her."
The last time someone complimented my baking in front of Tavia, she took it as a personal insult that they didn't like hers and spent the next month baking way too many baked goods. Of course, her brothers reaped the rewards of her efforts and ate whatever she cooked. But it's not something I'd like to see a repeat of.
"Don't worry," she says with a chuckle. "I'll ensure that she won't ever find out."
I walk her to the front door. When I open it for her, she stops and turns to face me. "Oh, we need to have a pow-wow soon. Cruz is driving me insane. I'm going to need something to get him to back down for a while. Something that doesn't involve the twins."
I chuckle. Little do people know that Seri and I have been the masterminds behind getting Cruz back on many of his stupid pranks that he's been teaching Andromeda and Ace's twins. The man taught the boys to reach for women's boobs every chance he got. The way we found out? We saw him teaching them to make grabby hands at the doll that once belonged to Ruby, Octavia’s daughter. So to get our own back, we made the twins realize that not only women have boobs, and Cruz was their target. Watching as they tried to breastfeed from him was so damn funny, I think I almost peed myself.
"Whatever you need, you know I'm here."
She grins. "Good. That asshole put hair removal product into Preacher's shower gel last night," she tells me while laughing. "Poor Preach is losing his hair everywhere."
My laughter bubbles up from my chest. "Oh God," I cry. "He's an evil genius, but the man is definitely getting tips from someone."
She nods. "When I find out who, they're going to regret going up against me. So think of some ideas and we'll make sure we get him back."
"Without collateral damage, right?" I ask a little warily. I would hate for some innocent person to get caught in the crosshairs.
She lifts her shoulders and shrugs. "Preach got caught. It's every man and woman for themselves right now."
I shake my head. The clubhouse sounds like it's going to be descending into chaos soon. "I'll have a think and get back to you."
I wave goodbye to her, all the while chuckling to myself at the thought of Preacher realizing his hair is falling out while in the shower. Damn, Cruz is a sneaky prankster. I have my suspicions that it's Octavia who’s helping him. Both Serenity and Tavia's best friend, Effiemia, play pranks on Octavia a lot. It would make sense for the woman to help get back at everyone.
Once Seri pulls out of my drive, my stomach starts to flip as butterflies swarm. Reaper will be here later and I'm actually excited. I want to see him again, but I'm nervous that he'll want more than I could ever give him.
I can only do sex. That's all I'm emotionally able to give.
I just hope it's enough. I like him, and I'd hate for him to walk away because I can't give him what he wants.
CHAPTER11
REAPER
"So, you and Esme seemed close," Storm says with a grin.
I'm sitting in the clubhouse chilling while I count down the fucking minutes until I can leave and go see Esme. She promised me dinner and I'm looking forward to it. Storm is a shit stirrer, and I know he's going to piss me the fuck off.
"Stay the fuck away from her," I say through clenched teeth.
His laughter grates on me. I know he's pushing me, trying to get a reaction. Well, he's fucking got one. Ass. "Trust me, brother, I don't want Esme, and she definitely doesn't want me. That woman only had eyes for you. Be careful though, yeah?"
I raise a brow. "You warnin' me off?" I ask, a little shocked.
He shakes his head. "No. Fuck no. Never seen you chase a woman before, but there's somethin' between you and Esme, and I have a feelin' the woman will be good for you, brother. But she's been through shit, and she's still dealin' with it. Don't wanna see either of you get hurt."
"I appreciate the concern, Storm. I truly do. But I know what she's been through, and right now, she's only capable of givin' me a little of herself, and I'm okay with that."
