Chapter 21
GOOSE
“You look like shit.”
“Right back at ya, brother.”
“Yeah, well, at least, I’m up and moving. Still hurts like hell, but I’m moving.” Memphis motioned his head toward my hand. “Looks like it’s swelling again.”
He was right. It was twice the size it was earlier. I tightened the strap on the brace and flexed my fingers like I wasn’t pissed that I had to wear the damn thing in the first place. “It’s fine.”
“You sure about that?” Memphis leaned against the table with a smirk. “It’s looking a little angry, like maybe you missed a dude’s face and hit a brick wall.”
“He was a slimy fucker who moved faster than I expected him to, but I got him in the end.”
“You can say that again,” Ghost scoffed as he lifted his arm, rolling his shoulder with a grimace. “Dude’s balls had to be the size of his head by the time you were done.”
We’d gone to the bar to make those assholes pay for what they did to Smitty, Rusty, and Skid, and we did just that. But they didn’t go down without a fight. Hell, every one of us had our battle wounds. Some were worse than others.
Ghost was doing his best to hide it, but we all knew taking a hit to the side with a tabletop hurt like a bitch. And both Memphis and Grim took a few hard punches with brass knuckles, and that’s just what I happened to witness between throws.
I glanced over at Memphis as I grumbled, “He deserved worse. They all did.”
My wrist throbbed, making it difficult to ignore. I clenched my jaw and pushed through. It was just a fucking sprain, which was nothing compared to what Smitty was dealing with.
It had been almost a week, and he was still laid up in the infirmary. His broken ribs had made it tough for him to breathe, much less move, which brought on a pretty bad case of pneumonia.
Blade had been hovering over him, shoving antibiotics and pain meds down his throat, hoping it would be enough to get him back on his feet. Like he could read my mind, Ghost glanced over at us and asked, “Have either of you been in to check on Smitty?”
“I went earlier this morning, and he was still out of it.” I shook my head. “Blade said he’s better but not out of the woods yet.”
“He’s still got some fight left in him.”
“He’s gonna need it.”
We could handle busted knuckles, sprained wrists, and cracked ribs. We could laugh off bruises and cuts, no matter how deep, but lungs filling up wasn’t the kind of thing you could just muscle through.
I leaned my head back and closed my eyes as I thought about church, which we held right after the fight. Emotions were high, and we were all still carrying the taste for revenge. But it wasn’t the time for that. This was the time to face some hard truths.
They started with Creed.
Our VP didn’t sound angry. It was more like disgusted as he said, “We shouldn’t have been caught by surprise. We should’ve known their names. Who was in charge. How many they have patched in. We should’ve known it all. It’s our job to know. It’s my job to know.”
“You’re not alone in that,” Grim growled. “This was on all of us. We got distracted. Lost focus with the casino and how good things had been. That shit cost us.”
The room fell silent.
His words stung, mainly because they were true, and we all knew it.
“He’s right. We lost focus, but that shit changes now.” Prez cleared his throat before saying, “We’ve been in talks about pulling away from the casino. We aren’t needed like we used to be. Doesn’t mean we won’t be there if they come calling, but for now, we’re adjusting our priorities.”
“That’s going to be a financial hit.”
“We’ll manage. We always do.”
“So, that’s that?”
“That’s that,” Prez answered. “Time to tighten our perimeter. We keep our eyes open, and no more blind spots. We’re Fury, and we don’t lose. Ever.”
The Rebel Coyotes thought they’d made a statement.
All they really did was take the first step in their own undoing and made us stronger than we’d ever been. I was enjoying the moment of reprieve when I felt a pair of warm hands slide over my shoulders. I opened my eyes and found Misty smiling down at me.
She ran the flat of her thumb down the base of my neck, massaging the tense muscles as she purred, “How you feeling, handsome?”
“Better now.”
“I sure hate you guys got hurt.” She kept massaging as she added, “But I gotta say… Those bruises make you look even hotter, and that’s hard to do.”
Memphis snorted, and Ghost chuckled.
I did neither. I knew she was flirting, but I had no interest in getting cozy with her. I just wanted her to work on the knot in my shoulder, so I just stayed quiet and let Misty work her magic. “You’re so tense.”
“Been a long few days.”
The words barely left my mouth when the air in the room shifted.
I opened my eyes, and there she was.
Presley was standing in the doorway next to Skid, and her eyes held mine for only a moment before dropping to Misty’s hands on my shoulders. The color drained from her face, and she looked like she’d been punched in the gut when she muttered, “This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have come here.”
Without another word, she turned and darted down the hall.
I shrugged Misty off, and I was moving before anyone could say a word. I charged toward the door, and when I got up to Skid, I shook my head. “A heads up would’ve been nice.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Skid chuckled, unapologetic as hell.
I grumbled as I rushed past him. I wanted to punch the shit-head in the throat, but I didn’t have time for that. I had to get to Presley before she made it to her car.
She was halfway out the door when I shouted, “Presley! Wait!”
She didn’t stop.
And she sure as hell didn’t slow down. If anything, she moved even faster. I called out again, “Presley! Wait!”
This time, she stopped, turned to face me, and her expression was a mix of heartbreak and disappointment. “You don’t have to say anything. You don’t owe me anything. I had no business coming here.”
“But you did.”
“Only to find you with her.”
“Oh, come on, now. That wasn’t what…”
“What it looked like!” she sassed, cutting me off. “Surely you can give me something better than that.”
“I know it looked bad, but that was nothing. I swear it.” I shook my head as I told her, “She was just helping me out with a stiff shoulder.”
Her eyes flickered from my black eye to my wrist, and then back to my face. I could see the wheels turning in her head, but she didn’t say anything. She just stood there staring at me. Eventually, she muttered, “She help you out with the black eye and bruised jaw, too?”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were jealous.”
“Did you hit your head whenever you did whatever you did?”
I gave her a playful smirk and said, “You got it bad, huh?”
“Luke, this is not the time to be cute. You haven’t said a word about being hurt, because I’m guessing you didn’t want me to know, and instead of being upfront about everything and just telling me you weren’t interested, you just kept stringing me along while you fooled around with little Ms. Susie Q in there. ”
“Little Ms. Susie Q?”
She sounded completely outdone when she hissed, “Just forget it.”
When she started for her car, I took hold of her arm and gently pulled her towards me as I said, “Hey, easy now. Don’t go running off on me. You have some explaining to do.”
“Me?” she gasped. “What do I have to explain?”
“For starters, what made you think I wasn’t interested in you?”
“Well, typically when a man is interested in a woman, he wants to see her and spend time with her, and...” She looked down at her feet and sighed. “Just forget it. Forget everything. This whole thing is so stupid. I should’ve never listened to Lila Kate. I should’ve just…”
Her words trailed off, and I used the opportunity to bring my hand up to her jaw, gently lifting her chin just enough for her to look at me. I held her gaze for a moment, and when I saw the emotion in her eyes, I leaned in and pressed my lips against hers.
I kissed her like I’d never kissed anyone before.
She didn’t resist.
Instead, she kissed me right back. I knew then I still had a chance, and by damn, I was going to take it. It didn’t take long for me to get lost in her. The scent of her skin, the warmth of her mouth, and her body so close to mine had me losing all sense of control. I couldn’t help myself.
She felt too good, too right, and I’d missed her.
I missed her more than I cared to admit.
Every touch of her tongue only made me want her more. Having her mouth on mine set me on edge, making every nerve in my body burn with need. I felt heat surge through me as I deepened the kiss, and we were both quickly losing control.
I liked the feeling.
I liked it more than I thought possible.
Hell, it was all I could do to keep myself from taking her right there on the hood of her car, and I might’ve done just that if one of the guys hadn’t shouted, “Get a fucking room.”
Presley jerked back, breaking our kiss with a gasp.
While the haze of the kiss was still thick, I reached down and took her hand in mine, leading her back inside. She followed me down the hall and into my room. As soon as I kicked the door closed, I was on her again, kissing her with everything I had.
I needed her to know that she was wrong about me not being interested.
Hell, there was no doubt that I was.
But finding me with Misty put doubt in her head, and I had to address that before it put a wedge between us. I reluctantly pulled my lips from hers, and she looked up at me and stilled. She waited patiently for me to make my next move, but I stayed put.
I needed a moment to find the right words to say to her, and they weren’t coming easy, especially when she was standing there looking at me with flushed cheeks and longing in her eyes.
“Remember me saying that if we were going to do this we had to do it right… We take it slow and keep it honest. No holding back or half-truths.”
“I remember.”
“So, tell me what made you come here today.”
“I was curious. I wanted to…” I light blush crept up her cheeks. “I wanted to make sure you were okay, and to see where we stand.”
“We’ve talked every day. What made you wonder if I was okay?”
“Well, there was some talk about a terrible fight between two MCs in town. I heard it was pretty bad, and when I thought about Memphis and how he came over to you at the casino, I wondered if you might’ve been involved. And then, you were a little distant, and I started to get worried.”
“I see.”
“I told Lila Kate about it, and she said I should just come here and see you face to face. Which I did, and then, I find you with that woman. It made me wonder if you had something going with her or some other club girl, and it bothered me. It bothered me more than I care to admit, and now, here we are.”
“And now, here we are.”
“Okay. Now, it’s your turn,” she pushed. “And remember, no holding back.”
“Understood, but I can’t get into any club stuff. And that’s not just now. That’s always.”
She reached up and placed the palm of her hand on my bruised jaw. “Even when you’ve been hurt?”
“Even when I’ve been hurt.” Her eyes widened, but she didn’t argue. She just stood there, staring deep into my eyes as I told her, “But I can tell you this. You’ve got nothing to worry about with Misty or any other club girl. The only woman I’m interested in is in this room with me right now.”
“You sure about that?”
“Couldn’t be more sure.”
Without another word, I reached back up and placed my hand on the nape of her neck, pulling her mouth to mine. I was about to leave no question about how I felt about her. Before she left this room, she would know exactly how much I wanted her.
I kept my mouth planted on hers as I eased back and sat down on the bed, pulling her down with me, straddling my legs. A soft whimper escaped from her lips as they parted, allowing me to kiss her deeper.
Her arms wound around my neck as I guided her closer. My tongue tangled with hers as her fingers dove into my hair. The kiss quickly became heated, making my cock throb with need. Just like the first time we were together, everything about her had me in knots. There was no doubt about it.
And soon, she would have no question about my interest in her.
Presley was mine, and it was time she knew it.