Chapter 6 Gracie Mae #2
How is it possible for him to make my heart soar with sweet affection yet wrench it the next with his devastating words?
He brings my hand back down to rest on my lap. Then he releases me from his proximity. I already feel the loss of him.
“I’m a man who believes in honor and respect and avoiding you was not respecting you.”
I’ve never met a man like Oak before. A man who owns up to his mistakes and acknowledges others feelings in the matter. One who will apologize without having to be told. And yes I did want him to own up to avoiding me but I never asked for an apology.
“You called me Grace,” I breathe. It’s the only thing I can think of in this moment.
“I did.” He smiles softly. “Is that okay?”
I tilt my head to the side, a small smile playing on my lips. “I don’t know,” I start and he raises his brow. “I haven’t heard an explanation yet.”
“An explanation.” I nod my head. “The truth is what you want?” I nod my head again.
He nods his head in return. “The truth is I have a lot of fucked up shit inside my head. And sometimes I don’t know how to fucking deal with it but by myself.
I know that this is not the explanation you want to hear but you have to accept it for now. ”
It’s more than I thought he would ever admit to me. And I saw it back then, back when he stayed with us to protect us and I saw it four days ago.
There’s a war wagering in those eyes of his.
He has to know that he doesn’t have to fight alone.
“I accept it.” My voice is light, airy. His blue eyes flash with a sense of hope. “I accept it for now.”
The stoic expression on his face remains but those eyes of his tell me everything.
Deciding to tease him because I can’t help myself around him I say, “So is that what I get for you being busy?”
His eyes light with amusement. I feel like I win a small victory every time that I’m able to do that.
“Is my deepest apology not enough for you?”
Holy hell. The low timbre of his voice is enough to make any sane woman turn mad with desire.
My eyes twinkle up at him as a playful smile graces my lips. “For now.”
“For now,” he echoes completely amused.
As we gaze into each other’s eyes I feel the rest of the world falling away. The only thing remaining is us and this undeniable charge that happens every time we are near.
His eyes flick down to my lips before admiring the swells of my breasts. My skin flushes, imagining his hands and lips taking place of where his eyes gaze.
I let my eyes roam over his body appreciatively.
When I say I have never met a man like Oak before I absolutely mean it.
He’s more than man, he’s a god. Even the king of the gods, Zeus, would envy his physique.
“Oak!” I hear the voice of Snake call from the distance. It’s enough to break the hold we have on each other. Clearing his throat he backs away from me and shakes his head.
Peering around Oak I find Snake walking towards us lazily. He has his helmet with the Vipers MC logo on the back of it in his hand. His cut he wears proudly. Aviator sunglasses shield his hazel eyes.
Since our time seems to be over I go to grab my duffel bag off the ground but Oak stops me. He bends down and grabs my monstrosity of a bag and slings it over his shoulder.
God, even that looks ridiculously small on him.
“I’ll take your stuff in but then I have to go,” he tells me.
I blink trying to hide the disappointment. I go for sass instead because it helps deflect my true feelings. “Avoiding me again?”
“There’s club business that needs to be taken care of.”
Instantly my mind becomes worried. I try to sound nonchalant as I ask him, “Will you be back in time for dinner?” He shakes his head. “Dessert?”
There’s an unmistakable heat in his eyes that has me wanting to melt before him.
“I never miss dessert.” His voice is low and soft like velvet. That voice does things to me. It calls to my blood and makes me ache in places that need desperate attention.
This side of him, this playful yet flirtatious side of him is rarer than a blue moon.
I only wish that he will show it more often. Because this side of him is a man who doesn’t have a war wagering in his eyes.
And then all too soon, as if he realizes he’s enjoying himself his whole demeanor changes.
Hot and cold.
One day I’ll have him figured out.
One day he won’t fight me.
And maybe one day he’ll come to enjoy the flirtatious banter we have instead of being stuck in his head.
“Grace.” Snake greets me. There’s an easy going smile on his face that I have no doubts Alice put there. “They’re all waiting for you inside.”
“Connor doing good?”
“Connor came running in and went straight to Alice. Hasn’t left her side since,” he tells me.
My eyes widen. I suspected a crush but not one strong enough to keep him from video games.
Especially Star Wars. “He should be glad he’s just a boy otherwise I might have a problem with him trying to stake a claim on what’s mine. ”
Oak rolls his eyes but there’s a smirk on his face.
I narrow my eyes at Snake. “It’s an innocent crush you asshole. He’s only eleven.”
Snake shrugs. “I met Alice when I was ten and fell in love with her before I even knew what love meant. He could be in love with her and you don’t know it.”
I sigh exasperated. “Are you seriously jealous of an eleven year old kid having a crush on your fiancée?”
“Soul mate,” he corrects me. “She’s my fiancée now, will soon by my wife but Alice will always and forever will be my soul mate.”
“Never pegged you as the romantic type,” I reply surprised.
“Only with her.” I believe that. “So as I was saying,” he continues, making me want to narrow my eyes at him again but I refrain, “he should be glad he isn’t of age or I would have to straighten him out.”
I don’t even know what to say to that logic. It sounds barbaric as it does insanely possessive.
Yet why does it almost sound just as admirable, too?
“You guys seriously can’t be this possessive,” I say to them both but my eyes fall on Oak. He stares back at me with a smirk on his face.
“We’re biker men, Grace,” Snake says as if that answers itself. My eyes swing back to his incredulously. “Of course we’re fucking possessive about what’s ours.”
“You’re so unapologetic about it.”
He nods his head. “Because as much as she’s mine I’m hers. We don’t own each other but we completely have all of each other. Make sense?”
I nod my head because it does. It makes perfect sense.
Their possessiveness doesn’t come with an underlying need for control nor does it make them want to own someone like a toy.
Their possessiveness comes from love. A love that stakes a claim.
One that says proudly she is mine and I am hers and I dare anyone to say otherwise.
“You ready to go, Oak? I promised Alice I’d be back in decent time and we all know I never break a promise with her.”
“Give me a minute and we’ll go.”
Snake nods his head and waves to me before heading to his bike.
As we walk towards the back entrance I ask him quietly, “Have you ever loved someone like that?”
His fingers on the strap of my duffel bag tighten. “I’ve loved someone.”
My heart lodges somewhere in my throat. “What happened?”
He glances at me and then straight ahead. His body grows more tense with each step that he takes.
“She found someone else to love better than me.”
I sneak a glance at him and see the faraway look in his eyes again. The one that reminds me of four days ago before he lost himself inside his head.
And I don’t want that for him.
Not when he looked so in pain when he snapped to.
“Her loss.”
He stops walking and so do I. I turn to find him staring at me curiously. “Why would you say that?”
“Because I can’t imagine loving someone better than you.”
“You hardly know me,” he argues but it sounds weak.
“I know that you’re loyal to those you care about.
I know you treat others with respect. I know you love this club and everyone in it.
You protected Connor and I when you didn’t have to.
And I know that you would die for those you love.
I may not know much about you but I know what’s most important. ”
“And that is?”
“That you’re a good man. Possibly the best that I know.”
He swallows thickly, his muscles turning to stone. Releasing my duffel bag from his shoulder he then hands it over to me. I go to take it from him and he makes sure our fingers don’t even brush.
I stare at him perplexed.
How can he shut down so easily?
“I have to go.” His voice sounds tormented. Before I can make a reply he turns swiftly and walks away.
And I just want the day to come where he doesn’t walk away from me but runs towards me.