34. Torrent
Chapter 34
Torrent
“You really think you got what it takes to beat me, Tor?” Wolf asks, gripping his hammer tightly.
“Dude, you are so going down!” I boast, holding my hammer the same way.
“You willing to make a bet?”
“What are we talking?” I ask, eyeing him warily.
“A little friendly wager, Tor, unless you’re… chicken ?”
I narrow my eyes at Wolf, and fight the urge to smile.
“Fine. What is it that you want to bet?” I ask, determined to win.
“If I win, we eat at La Pena’s tonight.”
I cringe, because I hate Mexican food. I can handle taco salads or tacos at home, but to eat out I avoid those places.
“And if I win?”
“You tell me,” he says and I think it over.
“If I win, you let me move back into Dad’s house, no bitching.”
His face goes hard—like I knew it would.
“Damn it, Tor. I can’t do that. I need to know you’re safe and right now you’re safer inside the club.”
“You took out Crash and anyone involved.”
“The club still has other enemies, sweetheart. You know that.”
“I need this, Wolf. It’s not like Pop’s house isn’t right next to the club. I can practically stand on the porch and yell at you if you’re in the back courtyard.”
“Tor—”
“I don’t want to be at the club, Wolf. It’s not my life. And you don’t need to be my nursemaid all the time. You have a life and it’s one I’d rather not… witness.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Come on, Wolf. Those damn club girls hang all over you.”
“There’s one way to stop that, Tor. You got my jacket. Everyone knows how I feel about you—including you. Give in.”
“Wolf—”
“You love me, Tor,” he says and my heart squeezes. I ruined a lighthearted moment bringing this up. I should have left it to later, been wiser about picking my battles. It’s too late to stop it now, though.
“I do love you, Wolf. You know that. But I don’t love you like… I should.”
“That can come in time,” he says, and he sounds so confident. He was my father’s pick for me. He’s protected me and cared about me my entire life. He loved my father as much as I did. Things would be so simple if I could give him what he wants. He’s a beautiful man, caring, loving…
He doesn’t make me feel like Devil does…
That forbidden thought springs up, even though it shouldn’t. I do my best to squash it down. I can’t think about Devil. The temptation to go to him this morning was so strong. There’s no point though. Devil’s life is on the other side of the state and it doesn’t include me.
“What if it doesn’t, Wolf? That’s not fair to either one of us.”
“I’m willing to take my chances,” he responds.
“I—”
“Change of plans,” he says and I frown.
“What does that mean?”
“If I win, you give me two weeks where you seriously think of me as your man, and let me prove to you that we can work. Oh… and we eat at La Pena’s.”
“But—”
“And as an added bonus you can move back into your dad’s house.”
“There’s no catch?”
“I’m going to have security beefed up and men outside, but no… no other conditions.”
“And if I win?”
“Then, you move back into your dad’s house, but you have to give me one week where you let me prove we could work as a couple and we eat at La Pena’s.”
“So either way, you get what you want?” I grumble.
“Either way we both get what we want,” he corrects. I study him, still not sure if I’m doing the right thing. But, in a way I want him to prove things to me too. What if he’s right and we could be good together? It’s what my father wanted and I got him killed. It’s one of the last things he ever told me. I need to try. I owe him that.
My hand moves down and I hit start on the machine. The little moles pop out, one on my side and one on Wolf’s. He wasn’t ready, but I was and I whack mine hard with the sponge hammer and I’m hitting the second before Wolf even realizes what’s going on.
“Motherfucker, Torrent, you don’t fight fair,” he growls, slamming his hammer down so hard the material bends back as it strikes the poor plastic mole a little too hard.
I giggle despite myself.
“Man up or shut up,” I laugh.
We spend the next five minutes hitting the poor defenseless moles that pop up. All around us are kids and their parents with tortured looks on their faces and it might be one of the best days I’ve had.
When it’s all finished, I am forced to look up into Wolf’s smiling face.
“I win,” he says twirling the cord to the hammer on his finger.
“Crap.”
“Shall I take my woman to La Pena’s for dinner now, or do you want me to show you how good I am at Skeeball?”
“I hate La Pena’s. What does that even mean, anyway?”
“It’s penalties or sorrow or something. I don’t know. I never worried about English much, let alone Spanish.”
“Well, it sounds like Little Penis—just so you know. And since when did you get so good at all these games? I distinctly remember I used to spank your ass at Whack-A-Mole!”
“You were a little girl and I let you win. These days you’re very much a grown girl and when I think of spanking your ass—as you put it—it’s in a much different context.”
My gaze shoots up to his heated one and I feel butterflies in my stomach that are not all that unpleasant. Nervousness flutters through me too.
“Wow…”
“Ready, sweetheart?” he asks, and right now he looks every inch a wolf…
And I’m pretty sure I’m his prey.
“Ready,” I squeak—not sure if I am at all.