Chapter 2
Chapter Two
I shove an extra sweater down into my bag.
Not that I need to pack much. I still have a whole wardrobe at my old bedroom.
I could’ve stayed here for winter break, but Allie’s boyfriend is coming, and I really don’t want to be here for their bang fest that is about to go down.
Dad didn’t say who he was sending to pick me up, but I told him I’d prefer if he sent Justice Delgado.
AKA Ice. My brother’s best friend I’ve always had the hots for.
We sort of grew up together even though he’s ten years older than me. He practically lived with us until he was in his early twenties. Until he patched into my father’s motorcycle club, Blackwood Knights MC.
Meow. Meow. Mr. Tinkles rubs against my ankle, begging for me to give him butt scratches.
“My sweet darling boy.” I scoop him up in my arms, rubbing my nose against the neck of his soft gray fur that feels more like velvet.
“We’re going on a trip.” He wiggles out of my arms and plops onto my bed and begins making biscuits on my fleece throw.
The towel wrapped around my wet hair falls to the floor as I continue dancing around my bedroom in my underwear and get the last of my stuff packed.
Allie went to the airport to pick up Issac.
I could have flown home. Well, to an airport a few hours away from home, but flying scares the shit out of me and I’d prefer to keep my feet on the ground.
I would drive myself if some asshat hadn’t drunkenly driven down our street and sideswiped four cars, including mine. Allie probably would have let me take her car, but I’m banking on my father granting my wish.
He can never tell me no.
I grab my cell phone to check the time. I should dry my hair and get some sleep, but all I can think about is Justice and spending seven hours alone with him.
I know when Ice looks at me, he sees a bratty girl, but he’s all I’ve ever wanted.
My brother has always teased me about my crush, but I think he always believed I’d outgrow my feelings. Especially once I moved to Wayward Heights but if anything, the distance has made those feelings grow deeper.
There’s no one who compares. I knew I loved him the first time I laid eyes on him.
He came home for dinner with my brother. God, he was gorgeous with his tan skin, dark hair, and even darker eyes. His home life wasn’t the best. His mom was in and out of jail, and he never knew his father. Our house, though a bit nontraditional, was his safe space.
Dinner was on the table every night, no matter what.
Sometimes Dad cooked or ordered takeout, but mostly the ol’ ladies of the club fed us.
My Aunt Deidra, my dad’s sister, raised us.
Occasionally we’d be raided, CPS would threaten to take me, but in the end we all turned out all right.
We were loved, fed, clothed, and had a warm, safe bed to lay down our heads on.
I grew up around men who looked like killers, some probably are, but they’d protect me with their lives.
The front door slams shut. “You could have told me,” Allie shrieks.
“It wasn’t a big deal,” Issac shouts.
I wish our walls weren’t so thin. This is why I’m definitely going home for break.
Allie and Issac will have some dumb fight, and then they will make up with super loud sex that will have the people who live under us hitting the ceiling with a broom while yelling.
I turn up my music a tad and power on my hairdryer to drown them out.
By the time I’ve dried my hair, their fight sounds like it is over. I pull on some sweats and a matching long-sleeved tee and brave opening my door to pad across the living room to the bathroom to brush my teeth.
Issac is asleep on the couch. I pause outside of Allie’s door, debating on knocking to check on her, but it’s quiet. She’s probably not in the mood for talking, and I should get some sleep.
My phone rings at three am. I groggily answer, “What?”
“Buzz me in,” comes a gruff voice. A voice I’d know anywhere. Justice ‘Ice’ Delgado.
My eyes pop open, and I glance at my phone and smile a sleepy grin.
Quietly, I open my bedroom door and go to let Justice in.
“Hey Bean.” He pulls me in for an immediate hug before I can get a good look at him. His big arms squeeze me tight as I breathe in the scent of him. All leather and smoke with a tinge of something minty. His gum.
I glance back at the couch where Issac snores. “Um. My roommate and her boyfriend had an argument. Afraid you’ll have to bunk with me.”
“I can get a room. Or head to the clubhouse to check in first.”
“No,” I practically shout, tugging him through the door and slamming it behind him.
There’s no way I want him going to the clubhouse where there will be lots of skanks ready and waiting to show him what a fine man he is.
No way. No how. “It’s not a big deal. I can go sleep with Allie. She won’t mind.”
“I don’t want to put you out.”
“You aren’t.” I pull him to my room and smile at the fact that we’re still holding hands. His rough hand cradles my soft and smooth one, swallowing it in his grasp.
Mr. Tinkles flips his tail back and forth from the center of my bed. “Be nice,” I warn him as he studies Justice. “This is Mr. Tinkles.”
“What the fuck kind of name is that? Is he wearing pajamas?”
“A cute one, and aren’t they adorable?”
“Bean,” he says my nickname again, and my insides melt at the way he says it all gritty and husky. Sexy yet tough.
“He won’t bother you. Make yourself at home.” I grab my pillow and my kitty. “I’ll be in the room next door if you need anything.”
He nods, wearing an amused smirk as he watches me stalk backwards out of my room. “Oh yeah. What time are we leaving?”
“About seven. I gotta check in with Diesel for a few but that won’t take long.”
“See you in the morning.”
I close my door behind me and tiptoe to Allie’s room. “Allie.” I shake her shoulder.
“Wh-what time is it?”
I keep my voice low. “Late. Can I sleep with you? I gave Justice my bed.”
“Then what are you doing in here?”
“I could ask the same question,” I hiss.
She frowns and throws her blanket back.
“Why are you in here alone?”
“Issac went to lunch with this girl I hate from his work.”
“Was it for work?”
“No. She was having guy problems and wanted a male perspective.”
“Gotcha. That’s tricky.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Do you think there’s something going on between them?”
She lifts a shoulder. “I should talk to him.”
“I’ll take the couch.”
“You’re the best, you know that?” Allie follows me to the living room.
I stand awkwardly by the bathroom door while she rouses Issac from his slumber. The two of them shuffle back to her room and close the door. I put Mr. Tinkles down and grab my throw off the rack and hang the one Issac was using in its place.
I toss and turn trying to find a comfortable position. Then it happens. The loud, none of my business makeup sex between Issac and Allie. I put my pillow over my head, debating on smothering myself. Not really.
I can’t handle this. I slowly open my bedroom door. Justice is on his side facing the window. I can’t tell whether or not he’s awake. I drop my pillow on the opposite side and scootch under the covers while trying not to wake him.
“What are you doing, Bean?” his voice comes out tired.
“Do you hear that?”
“They can hear it on the goddamn moon.” He laughs. “I take it the couch is free.”
“Yeah, but it’s even louder in there. I have earplugs in my nightstand for such occasions.”
“Jesus,” he mutters as I dig around in my drawer for them.
“So, how’s things back home?”
“Same shit, different day.”
“You still dating that bimbo?”
“Don’t do that?” his voice sounds hollow.
“Whatever. Here.” I hand him a pack.
“We broke up,” he finally says.
I don’t know what to say to that, so I say nothing.
The silence stretches between us, then he says, “What? No sarcastic remark?”
I make the motion of locking my lips and throwing away the key.
He chuckles. “Brat.”
“Peckerhead.”
“Go to sleep, Bean.”
The two of us put our earplugs in, and eventually I stop being nervous about the fact that I have Justice Delgado in my bed. All six feet of him, with his messy dark hair and goatee. Those dark brown eyes that nearly look black. Those lips of his that I’ve dreamed of kissing a million times.
I lay on my side staring at him as he lies on his back staring at my ceiling.
What would he do if I just went for it right now and pressed my mouth to his?
Would he push me away or would he finally admit that he wants me as much as I crave him?