Chapter 18—Ruby #2
I shake my head to dispel the trance I was in for a second from just seeing him here. Last time he was at my door was when he came to my apartment and told me my rent was going down. Since then, he’s never actually been on one side of a door and me on the other.
“Nothing.”
“Doesn’t seem like nothing.”
His tone has my teeth clenching. And despite me saying I’m numb, he gets me riled up, and I just start barking back as if nothing’s changed between us. “What happens between me and mafia boy ain’t your problem.”
But things have changed. I just… I just don’t understand them. Okay, fine, I do, but I don’t want to. It’s confusing, and that’s one thing I’m not going to focus on. I can’t handle confusing after everything else.
He steps into my room, and I back up on autopilot, cursing myself once I realize I let go of the door and it swings shut.
Having a man in my room is no big deal. I’m close to the brothers. They stop in all the time to bullshit. But Kooper has never been one of them. And none of them have history with me like he does. No one saw me cry. No one held me. Not one of them was someone I hoped to have close before.
I grew up in the club. Most are family, if not stepbrothers who I’ve never wanted but learned to deal with. Sure, I had a crush on a few here and there, but nothing came of it, as I knew they were off-limits. My dad would never allow me nor them to do anything.
But… that was when he was alive. With him gone, the rule doesn’t seem to apply anymore.
He once told me he didn’t want to come into work and hear about me fucking some brother.
The thought that I was going to be “office” chatter really bugged him.
He didn’t want to know about me doing anything with a boy, but definitely not with a brother.
Especially since he’d probably seen more than half of them do things with a vamp that no father should ever imagine their little girl doing.
But with him gone, even if the boys talk, he won’t hear it.
Not that I plan to go sleeping around with every available brother I see. Though if I did, the brothers I picked wouldn’t be dicks enough to talk about it. They respected my father and still do.
Not that I’m thinking about it. And I’m absolutely not thinking about doing anything with Kooper. He was just there when I was vulnerable. He saw me at a weak point, and no pity ever crossed his face. Something I appreciate in him more than any other feature a man can have.
“You and Tommy got something going?”
I glare as I put my hands on my hips. “And if we do? What’s it to you?”
“Nothing. Just expected more from you is all.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means your dad would be pissed. He’s not even in the ground for a month, and you’re looking to replace him.”
My jaw goes slack, and I feel it drop. “I am not.”
“You sure about that?”
“Look.” I move in close and poke him in the chest. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.
If anyone is trying to replace Dad, it’s you.
I don’t need a daddy. Besides, Tommy is a flirt.
That’s it. I see his type daily. I’m not going to run after one, especially one who lives so far away.
It would be hell on the phone bill from all the phone sex.
” I smirk as I turn and walk away, only to turn back and drop my smile.
If I thought I’d deterred him, like I would my father, I was mistaken. Because unlike Dad, who hated any talk about sex or kissing or me doing anything with a boy, Kooper just grins.
“If it takes that long on the phone, he ain’t doing it right.”
My breath stalls in my throat, and I speak before I think better of it.
“How long should it take?”
He takes a step closer to me. “If you have to ask, then you’re doing it wrong.
” He lifts my chin to close my mouth with the underside of his finger.
I didn’t know it was even down. But as my jaw locks in place, he slowly moves his finger, the one that just touched my skin, to his lips and licks it, then bites the part he licked.
I shake my head, trying to… well… shake me out of whatever just happened. I have to have imagined it. That couldn’t have happened. Right? I mean, it’s almost as if Kooper was coming on to me. Tasting me. Looking at me with want and desire.
But when I look back at him, I don’t see any of it but his tilted head.
I must have imagined it.
I’m going crazy. First with Dad dead, and then finding out about Abigail’s betraying me and the club, my brain is taking a nosedive into whatever it needs to so I can get through this.
I feel hurt all over, and I hug myself tight to try and will myself not to break apart and scatter across the ground.
“What do you want, Koop?”
He moves his head from one side to the other and looks me over.
Nothing sexual, just assessing. I hate it because I know he sees more than I want.
He doesn’t just see me closing myself off like everyone else does.
I swear to Christ, he can see my inner child crying and rocking herself in the corner with a stuffie.
“Need some physical therapy. The Russia trip fucked up my hip and shoulder. General wants me to get it worked on so I’m not out of commission. I don’t have insurance, thought you’d be willing to help. Could get you the practice you need.”
I bite my lip. “Can’t the club cover the cost of the PT?”
He shrugs. “Don’t know. Figured I’d come to you. If you can’t do it, then I can do it on my own. No need to waste club money on me.”
I glare. He’d rather hurt himself than take money. Typical biker. “Fine. I’ll do it.”
He nods and heads out.
I tell myself the glint in his eye was me seeing things. And the flutter in my stomach is just because I’m hungry. Nothing more.