Chapter 5
Beau
I thought the party had gone well. I mostly ignored Apex’s flirting.
Slider was happy and I enjoyed it—even with Hunter being close by.
I felt his eyes on me often. I spent my time doing my best to avoid looking at him and ignoring how having his gaze centered on me made me feel.
Luckily, I was successful in my endeavor.
“We need to talk.”
I let out a slight scream, as I slam the door to my car.
When I manage to get my heartbeat to slow down so I don’t stroke out, I look in my rearview mirror and give Hunter the stink eye.
I have enough anger inside of me that I find myself hoping I can channel Medusa and turn him into stone just by looking back at him in the rearview mirror. Sadly, this doesn’t happen.
“How did you get in my car?” I grit out. My body vibrating with a mixture of anger, fear and yes, some excitement. Damn it.
“You left it unlocked. That’s not really safe, even in our small town, Harper.”
“Get out,” I order. Pissed at his gentle reminder.
I don’t leave my doors unlocked—at least not normally.
I know better than anyone how that can be bad—very bad.
Still, I must have gotten distracted when the men came over.
I look over toward the party to see whose attention I can get.
At the moment, I really hate that my windows are all tinted dark.
If my boys looked over and saw Hunter was in here, they’d rescue me.
I really needed them to rescue me right now.
“We’re going to talk. It’s past time,” he announces.
“Where’s Ty?” I ask. “Shouldn’t you be paying attention to your son and not me?” I huff.
“Ty is with Gordo and Slider. He’s going home with him and I’m going to pick him up later.”
“You pawned off your son to—”
“I have been the sole parent to my son since I was seventeen. I’ve never pawned him off.
Not once. I’ve had a lot of help raising him from my family, but make no mistake Harper, it has always been me and my son, and he has always come first,” Hunter bites out.
It’d take a fool not to hear his anger and I’m not a fool—at least not this time.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” I respond, ashamed of my words. Even I know what a great father Hunter has been to his kid. Skull and Torch talk about it freely.
“You’re right. You shouldn’t have,” he answers, which kind of pisses me off even more than I already was. Before I can let loose of that anger, however, he speaks up again. “Although, I figure I deserve it because I was a dick to you.”
“A colossal dick,” I mutter.
“A stupid colossal dick,” he adds, which was an even better description.
“A full-of-himself, conceited, stupid, colossal, dick,” I counter.
His beautiful lips that I remember way too easily on my body spread into a grin—one that makes his hazel eyes deepen in color. Damn, he looks good.
“A fucking idiot, full-of-himself conceited, stupid, colossal, dick.”
I frown. “I think idiot and stupid are kind of synonymous, Hunter.”
“I let the best thing that has ever happened to me walk out my door, Harper. I did that by thinking she was only with me because the tequila was flowing, and she was anxious to get a foot into my club. With that in mind, I don’t think it can be overstated just how much stupidity was flowing inside of me. ”
I pooch out my lips, wiggling them back and forth in distaste before I release a breath. “This is true.”
“I’ve been wanting to tell you for months that I’ve regretted it from the moment I first realized what a fucking idiot, full-of himself, conceited, stupid asshole, colossal dick I was, that I’m so damn sorry, honey. There aren’t words to express how truly sorry I am.”
“I think you added an asshole into your description.”
“I think it was needed.”
“This is true,” I say, repeating my earlier response.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Harper.”
I nod, not really sure of what to say. “It’s done. There’s not much we can do about it. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t even matter.”
“I’m not sure I agree with that,” he argues.
“Now that you’ve apologized, can I get your promise that you will not hide in my car again.
That kind of shit freaks me out. I was about two steps away from grabbing my pistol from my purse to shoot first and ask questions later.
It should also be noted that I’m a really good shot.
I doubt you would have been around to answer said questions. ”
“You carry a gun in your purse?” he asks, his eyebrow cocking up in surprise.
“No.” His frown amplifies somehow, making me sigh.
“I usually carry my pistol in my jacket or keep one close by wherever I am. I don’t usually leave it in my purse.
Today, I was surrounded by family and didn’t see that I needed it close by.
This decision was of course before I realized you were going to be here. ”
“Of course,” he says, the frown slowly dissipating. “You got a sweet ride, Harper.”
“I know. What I don’t understand is that you haven’t given me your word that you’ll stop hiding in my back seat,” I snap.
“I’m not sure I can make that promise,” he hedges.
“You do remember the part where I said you wouldn’t be here for questions if I went with my gut instinct?”
“You missed the part where I told you I realized I messed up massively and have regretted it daily to the point it was physically painful,” he responds.
“I’ve already let the club back in the schedule, Hunter. You can stop worrying.”
“I don’t even give a fuck about the club,” he says, shocking the hell out of me.
Maybe I’m not a good judge on Hunter’s moods, since I thought he and I were on the same page that first night—and clearly, we weren’t.
Still, he sounds like he’s telling the complete truth right now.
The look in his eyes says much the same.
I’m not sure I can trust it, but something is telling me I should.
Shit.
The blowing of a horn makes me look to the front.
“Damn it,” I mutter seeing Apex watching me carefully.
Hunter is actually mostly behind me, only looking over my shoulder to catch my gaze in the rearview mirror.
So, I’m at least hopeful he’s not seen him.
I give Apex a little wave and then proceed to back out of my parking spot.
“What’s the story with him?”
“He’s in your club, don’t you know?” I mutter.
“He was flirting heavily with you today. It was all I could do not to beat the hell out of him.”
“Why on earth would you do that?” I gasp, as I turn onto the main road.
“Because I didn’t want him near you and the number of times he kept fucking looking at your tits was only slightly smaller than the number of times I wanted to rip his head off his shoulders.”
My body goes rock solid—such is the jolt of shock I feel with his words. “Um …” I hum, but I don’t say anything else.
“Where are you driving?”
“I have no idea. I imagined just driving around until everyone cleared out at the shelter and taking you back to your vehicle,” I explain.
“I left my keys above the visor and called a prospect to come and get it,” Hunter informs me.
“How were you planning on getting home?” I huff.
“I thought you’d take me. If not and this blew up in my face, I’d call the prospect and cancel.”
“Good you had a plan,” I mutter. “I suppose I’m heading to the clubhouse, then.”
“How about, you pull over to the side of the road and let me out?”
“Seriously?” I ask, thinking maybe he’s nuts.
I just didn’t see the signs until after I fell in love and spent the night with him.
It would explain how he changed so much overnight.
I determine this while steadfastly ignoring the fact that it’s insane to fall in love with someone you don’t know and therefore have no idea who they really are.
On that note, I pull over to the side of the road and put it in park.
He gets out without another word. I look over my shoulder, expecting to see him standing there.
I use the window crank to let my window down slightly and frown when he’s not there.
I jerk and look on my other side as my passenger side door opens.
Hunter slides inside, closing the door with a grin. “That’s better,” he responds.
“What are you doing?” I ask, trying to ignore the fact that I’m feeling more than a little panicked.
“Getting out of the backseat. For the record, I don’t have anything against them. I’m fine if you’re in the backseat with me. I would just rather not be there alone.”
“So, now I’m taking you back to the clubhouse?” I ask, and I can feel my forehead creasing with a mixture of unease and confusion.
“Only if you want to spend some time there with me. Then, we can go by and pick Ty up later, maybe grab a bite to eat if you’re hungry—or dessert if you’re not.”
“You want me to go back to the clubhouse with you—a place that doesn’t exactly hold fond memories for me. Then, you expect me to go out with you and your son for food?”
“Some of the memories at the clubhouse are good, Harper. Very good,” he practically purrs.
“Not so much after how it ended for me. Now, at this point, if you don’t want me using my gun on you just to make me feel better, you might want to rein your crap in, Evans.”
“Point made. I want to be honest here. I’ve missed you, Harper. I’ve missed the hell out of you since you walked away. I just really want to spend time with you. I want to get to know you—like I should have done that first night.”
“It’s not me that made that impossible, Hunter,” I murmur, looking outside the window instead of at him. I’m not sure what I’m feeling or what I want to say. I’m having trouble breathing—let alone thinking.
“I want to tell you something, but I don’t want to piss you off. I think you know from our track record that doing this is not exactly my strong suit,” he says with a sigh.
“Just tell me and get it over with. That way if I don’t like it, I can just shoot you or kick you out of my car,” I grumble.