Chapter Sixteen
Bone
I woke up staring at a ceiling that wasn’t mine.
For a few seconds, I didn’t move. I knew exactly where the fuck I was.
Hazel’s bed. Hazel’s house.
Morning light came through the gap in the curtains, cutting across the bedroom and landing right over the foot of the bed. My clothes were scattered across the floor, one boot lying on its side near the dresser and the other somewhere closer to the doorway.
I was naked beneath Hazel’s sheets.
Alone.
That part was different.
Normally, I was the one gone first.
If I ended up at a woman’s place, I woke up, got dressed, and left. If she ended up in my room at the clubhouse, I made it pretty fucking clear the night before that she wasn’t staying for breakfast.
There wasn’t any awkward morning after.
No coffee. No lying around talking about what happened. No wondering when we’d see each other again.
We both got what we wanted, and then we went back to our lives.
Except apparently sometime between walking into Hazel’s house last night and right fucking now, I’d forgotten how I operated, because I’d stayed all fucking night.
I rubbed a hand over my face. “What the fuck?”
The room didn’t answer.
The last thing I needed was Hazel hearing me talking to myself. I turned my head toward her side of the bed. The pillow was dented where she’d slept, and the sheet had been pushed back.
I listened and heard water run somewhere down the hallway.
I stared at the ceiling again and couldn’t believe that she’d gotten out of bed before me.
Why the hell did that bother me?
I threw the sheet back and knew I needed to get the fuck out of here. That was what I’d needed to do probably three hours ago.
I sat on the edge of the mattress and looked around for my boxers. Found them halfway under the bed. My jeans were near the footboard. Shirt in the hallway.
I got dressed, and the shower kept running.
I grabbed my cut from the back of the chair in the hallway and shrugged it on. I should’ve headed for the front door. Instead, I looked down the hallway toward the bathroom.
Fuck.
I walked that way. I lifted my hand and knocked twice.
“Yeah?” Hazel’s voice carried over the water.
“It’s me.”
There was a pause. Then, “Come in.”
My hand stayed on the knob for a second. I opened the door and steam hit me immediately.
The mirror over the sink was completely fogged, and the small bathroom felt about twenty degrees hotter than the hallway.
The shower curtain moved, and Hazel leaned out. Every fucking thought in my head disappeared.
Her wet hair was slicked back from her face, water ran down her neck and over her chest, and she wasn’t trying to cover herself.
Not even a little.
One hand held the shower curtain while the rest of her was right fucking there.
Wet.
Naked.
Mine last night.
My dick went hard so fast it almost pissed me off.
Hazel looked down, then back up. A slow smile spread across her face. Of course she noticed. “Morning.”
I cleared my throat. “Morning.”
Her eyes moved over me. “I’d tell you to get in here, but it looks like you’re leaving.”
Bad idea didn’t even begin to cover what getting in there would be. For one second, I seriously considered it. One fucking second turned into about five.
Hazel’s smile grew.
I forced my eyes back to her face. “Need to get back to the clubhouse.”
“Okay.”
That was it. Okay.
I nodded.
She nodded.
I waited. For what, I had no fucking idea.
Disappointment maybe? A question? Something.
Hazel didn’t give me any of it.
She reached up and pushed her wet hair away from her face. “Have a good day.”
I stared at her. “You too.”
Still nothing. What the fuck?
“I’ll see you around,” I said.
Hazel smiled. “Yeah. See you around, Bone.” Then she disappeared behind the curtain.
Just fucking disappeared.
The curtain fell back into place and I stood there.
Hazel hummed behind the curtain and I just stared at the shower curtain like it had personally offended me.
That was it? I was leaving after spending the night in her bed, and she was humming?
I shook my head.
Good. That was good. Exactly what I wanted. No attachment. No expectations. No bullshit.
Perfect.
So why the fuck was I still standing in her bathroom?
I turned around and walked out. The hallway was quiet except for the shower running behind me.
Last night had done what it was supposed to do.
I’d wanted Hazel. I’d had Hazel. Now I could get back to normal.
I reached the front door and grabbed the knob.
Hazel wasn’t going to come running down the hallway after me, and I didn’t want her to.
I wasn’t going to spend all fucking day thinking about Hazel anymore. Wasn’t going to wonder what she was doing. Wasn’t going to find excuses to stop at Ma’s. Wasn’t going to show up at Bing’s alone at eleven-thirty at night like some asshole chasing a woman.
I was done chasing.
I swung my leg over my bike. My eyes went back to Hazel’s house.
“Hurt her and I’ll kill you myself, Bone.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
I turned my head. Ma sat on her front porch in her rocking chair like she’d been waiting all morning for this exact moment.
She had a coffee mug in one hand, her legs were crossed. She wore a bright pink robe covered in black flowers, and her hair was piled on top of her head.
She looked way too fucking pleased with herself.
I slid my sunglasses on. “Morning, Ma.”
“Morning,” she replied.
I glanced at Hazel’s house, then back at her.
No point pretending. Ma wasn’t an idiot. She knew where my bike had been all night. Probably knew exactly what time I’d pulled into Hazel’s driveway too.
“Who says I’m gonna do the heartbreaking?”
Ma stared at me over the rim of her mug, then she laughed. Actually fucking laughed. “Yeah,” she called. “You might be right about that one.” She took another sip of coffee. “Drive safe.”
“Love you too, Ma.”
She smiled. “Love you, baby.”
I hit the starter and the engine roared beneath me.
Ma lifted her mug in goodbye, and I backed out of Hazel’s driveway and turned toward the dead end.
Toward the clubhouse where I belonged. Where shit made sense.
I accelerated down the road. Ma disappeared behind me. Hazel’s house disappeared with her.
I should’ve felt better. I’d done exactly what I’d planned to do.
I’d wanted Hazel. I had her.
Simple.
Except nothing about this morning felt fucking simple.
Hazel hadn’t asked me to stay. Hadn’t asked when she’d see me again. Hadn’t looked disappointed when I told her I was leaving. And instead of being relieved about that, I’d stood in her bathroom waiting for something I couldn’t even fucking name.
I tightened my hands around the handlebars. What in the fuck just happened?