Chapter Seventeen
Oliver
I followed a step behind Lark as we made our way down the hallway.
She’d discovered what Meg tacos were, and as it turned out, she loved them. Which wasn’t exactly shocking. You’d have to be dead not to like tacos.
Meg tacos? Those were on an entirely different level.
I had also discovered that Lark loved margaritas. Specifically, those two margaritas were apparently her sweet spot.
She swayed slightly as she reached her bedroom door, catching herself against the wall with a laugh. “Maybe...” She pointed at the door while trying to focus on the handle. “...maybe I should’ve had just one margarita.”
A chuckle escaped me. “Maybe.”
“I regret nothing.”
“I figured.”
She finally managed to get the key in the lock and pushed the door open. “Get your butt in here, Ollie.”
She kicked her shoes off one at a time before dramatically flopping backward onto the bed.
I leaned against the doorframe and crossed my arms. “You really think you’re up for this conversation?”
She rolled onto her back and held one hand in the air. “I am full...” she declared dramatically. “...but ready.” Her finger pointed at me. “Get in here and shut the door.”
I did as she asked, locking it behind me more out of habit than necessity.
She wiggled her fingers. “Come in, Ollie. You’re not running away.”
I walked over to the small couch beneath the window and sat down. “I wasn’t planning on it.”
“It was looking a little suspicious.”
“It wasn’t.”
“It was.”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t.”
She grinned victoriously. “See? We’re already talking.”
I couldn’t help smiling. “Fair enough.”
She pulled one knee up onto the bed. “Okay.” She clapped once. “Question number one.” I had a feeling there were going to be a lot of those. “The cameras.”
I nodded.
She waved her hand. “Tell me.”
I sighed. “It’s nothing really. The club is part of a reality show.
For a bit we had camera crews following us, but now they just have cameras around the clubhouse and the Social Club.
They gotta be done filming soon, I think.
It feels like forever that they’ve been around.
The Iron Fiends MC from Texas was the first season. We can watch it sometime if you want.”
She shook her head. “That was not at all the explanation I thought you were going to give.” She paused. “Am I going to be on national TV?”
I shrugged. “I guess if you want to be. Star’s mom, Mac, is the producer. We can ask her.”
She shook her head. “Freaking crazy…” she mumbled. She pointed her finger and made a check mark in the air. She scratched that question off an imaginary list. “Okay. Next. Who is Meg?”
“Meg’s married to King.”
“Helpful.”
“King is the Prez of the Devil’s Knights.”
“Better.”
“They’re a motorcycle club. They’re pretty much like us, just not us.”
She nodded. “So she really invented those tacos?”
“As far as everyone here is concerned...”
“She should win an award.”
“I don’t think anyone would argue.”
She sighed dreamily. “I would like more Meg tacos.”
“Tomorrow.”
“I’ll hopefully survive until then.” She held another finger up. “Okay. The Alice thing.”
I knew that one was coming.
“What exactly were Wrecker and Alice talking about?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Wrecker wasn’t really talking.”
“He was definitely communicating.”
“He was.”
“So?”
I smiled. “He thinks you’re a lot like Alice.”
She frowned.
“I mean, the whole club kind of thinks that.”
“I’m not like Alice,” she insisted. “She has purple hair, and I don’t.”
“It’s not the looks.” I searched for the right words. “You both have the same tendency to leap before looking.”
Lark gasped dramatically. “I always look.”
“You absolutely do not.”
“I glance.”
I shook my head. “You don’t even do that.”
She laughed. “So basically, I’m chaos?”
“Controlled chaos,” I reasoned.
“I’ll take that. Alice is pretty freaking cool, so you guys can say I’m like her.” She gasped. “I do have a new question. When you guys said Archie, are you talking about Archie Hanks from high school?”
“Yeah.”
She bugged her eyes at me. “Even I heard about Archie trying to put Basil in the garbage can. You guys are brutal for making those two work together.”
I shrugged. “It’s Wrecker’s choice, and Basil brought it on himself.”
She tapped her finger to her chin. “I think that answers everything. I’m sure I will have other questions eventually.”
“You okay?”
She nodded quickly. “Yep.”
I didn’t believe her for a second.
I stood and walked over to the bed.
She looked up at me.
“You sure?”
Another quick nod. “I’m fi—”
She stopped, and her shoulders sagged. Her eyes drifted away from mine. “I...” The silence stretched. “I don’t know.”
There it was. I sat beside her and she stared down at her hands.
“I keep replaying it.” Her voice had gone quiet.
“If you hadn’t seen them...” She swallowed. “I would’ve been in that van.”
My chest tightened. “I know.”
“I keep thinking...” She let out a shaky laugh. “What if I’d been looking the other way? What if Ever hadn’t been with me? What if...” She shook her head. “I’ve always joked my way through everything.”
“I know.”
“But today...” Her eyes filled. “...today wasn’t funny.” The first tear slipped free before she hurriedly wiped it away. “I don’t even know why I’m crying.”
“You don’t have to explain it.”
She let out a slow breath. “I thought I was okay.”
“So did I.”
“I was.” Another pause. “And then...” She looked at me. “...I wasn’t.”
Without thinking, I opened my arms. She came to me immediately. I wrapped them around her as she tucked herself against my chest. One hand slid into her hair while the other rested between her shoulder blades and felt the tension in her body.
Every muscle was wound tight.
She wasn’t sobbing.
She wasn’t falling apart.
She was simply... letting herself feel what she’d spent the entire afternoon outrunning.
I rested my cheek against the top of her head. “I’ve got you.”
She nodded against me. “I know.”
“I won’t let anyone take you.”
Her fingers curled tighter into my shirt. “I know.”
We sat like that for several quiet minutes. She had to process what she had been through, and I was going to be there for however long it took.
In true Lark fashion, she was able to move on to the next moment.
“So...” she murmured.
“Hmm?”
“I think...”
She leaned back just enough to look up at me. “...a kiss from Oliver might make things a little better.”
One eyebrow lifted. “Oh yeah?”
She nodded.
“I’ve heard they’re very therapeutic.”
A smile tugged at my mouth. “Is that right?”
“Medical fact.” She shifted in my arms until we were face-to-face. Her fingertips brushed my cheek before slowly tracing my jaw. “I’d like to test the theory.”
“I’m willing to participate in the study.”
She laughed softly.
Then she closed the distance. Our lips met gently at first.
Slow and unhurried.
The kind of kiss that didn’t need to prove anything.
Her fingers slipped into the hair at the back of my neck, and I cupped her face, deepening the kiss as she melted closer.
She tasted faintly of lime and salt from the margaritas.
I smiled against her mouth. “What?”
“You smiled.”
“You noticed.”
“I notice everything about you, Ollie.”
“Liar.”
She laughed into another kiss.
This one lingered longer.
Neither of us were in any hurry to pull away.
When we finally did, our foreheads rested together.
“I feel a little better,” she whispered.
“I’m glad.”
She searched my face for a second. “Will you stay tonight?”
I looked at her.
“You don’t have to share the blankets.” She smiled. “You can even sleep on top of the covers if you want to be a stick in the mud.”
I laughed. “I’ll stay.”
The relief that crossed her face made the decision feel like the easiest one I’d ever made.
“I’ll be right back.” She disappeared into the bathroom.
A couple of minutes later, she came back wearing a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top. Without a word, she launched herself into bed, pulled the comforter all the way up to her nose, and watched me.
I pulled off my boots and lined them neatly at the foot of the bed. My cut followed, draped over the back of the chair. Then I reached for the hem of my T-shirt and pulled it over my head.
I didn’t have to look to know she was watching.
“I hope you know,” she said, “you put on a damn good show.”
I laughed. “I wasn’t aware I was performing.”
“Oh, you definitely were.”
Still smiling, I crossed to the light switch, turned off the lights, and locked the door before making my way back to the bed.
The mattress dipped as I slid in beside her, and without hesitation, she curled into my side like she’d done it a hundred times before. She let out a content sigh and rested her hand against my chest. “Thank you,” she whispered.
I didn’t answer. There wasn’t anything to say.
Instead, I wrapped an arm around her and held her close. Little by little, the tension left her body and her breathing became slower.
Within minutes, she was asleep, and I stared into the darkness, listening to the soft rhythm of her breathing.
Somewhere along the way, I’d crossed a line.
I wasn’t just the guy Wrecker had assigned to keep her safe anymore.
I wasn’t just watching over her because I’d been ordered to.
I wanted to be here.
Wanted her tucked against my side.
Wanted to be the person she reached for when the world got too loud.
And the strangest part?
I didn’t want to go back to the man I’d been before she walked into my life.