Chapter 8 Gabe
GABE
MAY PRESENT DAY
Ibarrel out of Gran’s house with my fists clenched at my sides, stomping off the porch before jumping in JT’s truck. I texted him to pick me up when I got here.
He smirks.
“What?” I bark.
“Nope, I know better than to say anything to you with that look on your face.” He starts the truck.
“And what look is that?”
“The one that says you’re gonna rip my head off if I say the wrong thing.”
“I’m fine, just get back to the garage. I have shit to do.” I turn up the radio before staring out the window.
But he’s not wrong. I’m pissed. Why am I pissed? Fuck if I know. Like I give a shit what she does.
Except I knew the moment she opened the door in those goddamned pajamas that I was fucked. How was I supposed to act like I had any damn sense with her looking like that. She needs to go.
I don’t know what I expected charging over there, but it wasn’t that.
She looks just like she did six years ago—maybe better.
Hell, her gray eyes were even swollen and red just like they were the last time I saw her.
When she opened the door tonight, her blonde curls were pulled up, leaving more of her fair skin on display than I of all people should have been seeing.
The night sky passes by my window to the sound of my teeth grinding all the way back to the shop.
Shane’s pacing in the parking lot when we pull up. I take it they were hoping I wouldn’t know she was here, but I don’t give a shit. Like he has the right to be mad at anyone after everything he’s done the last couple years.
“What the hell did you do?” he yells, charging toward the truck. His jaw tics, and for just a moment I think he might hit me as he balls his fists at his sides.
I walk right past him, brushing his shoulder on the way and not bothering to respond. I’m not doing this.
“Hey!” He grabs me by the shirt, pulling me back to face him.
I shove him off. “What?”
“Where have you been?” he growls.
“Where do you think I’ve been, Shane? Cut the shit.”
“Why would you go over there? Haven’t you messed with her enough?” His eyes darken. Shane’s my best friend, but this is where things get muddy because he’s her brother first.
“If you didn’t want me to know, you shouldn’t have left her keys on the desk.”
He takes a step forward, getting in my face. “You know I love you like a brother, but that is my actual fucking sister!”
Every time we’ve come to blows it’s been over her. He struggles to get anything else right but protecting her he does well.
“She shouldn’t be here!”
I don’t know where that even came from. Ever since I saw those keys, my skin has been on fire. I need her to go.
He stares me down. “Yeah, well she is.”
“She wasn’t supposed to come back.” My nostrils flare. “That’s how this works. She stays away, and we pretend none of that shit happened!”
I never explained myself to Shane. Didn’t need to. We just agreed that I wouldn’t ask about her and we’d all move on.
“Yeah, I know. But she got the house.” He runs a hand over his mouth, taking a deep breath and stepping back. “When it’s sold, she’ll be gone.”
“Make sure that she is.”
A car door slams, and the daughter of Satan charges straight toward us.
“Oh fuck,” I grumble, turning my back to her. “Here we go.”
“What the hell is wrong with you two? Huh?” Nik storms across the parking lot. “You just can’t leave her alone, can you?”
I like the girl, but she doesn’t hide her disdain for me. I hurt her best friend, and she’s spent the last six years making sure I know what she thinks of that. I’ve come close to catching a right hook from her a couple of times too.
“Yeah, save your breath. Big brother already gave me the lecture.”
She stops in front of us, smacking my arm before smacking Shane’s.
Pointing a finger at him, she shouts, “She trusted you to not mess this up, Shane. What the hell.”
“Hey!” I shout, stepping between the two of them. “This wasn’t his fault. I just had a feeling, okay?”
She rolls her eyes, crossing her arms.
I throw my hands up, walking backward toward the shop. “I’m just saying, he gives you plenty of reasons to be mad at him. Don’t blame him for my shit too.”
They’re right. I had no reason to go over there. I haven’t seen Ash in six years, and it was my choice to end things in the first place.
Her expression softens, and her shoulders relax. “I’m heading over there. I don’t want her to spend her first night here alone.”
“I’m gonna finish up here, then I’m right behind you.” Shane kisses her.
As she makes her way back to her car, Shane shoots me a look, mumbling, “Don’t fuck with her.”
He brushes past me.
Running a hand over my face, I exhale. My plate’s full enough without dredging up the past. I love my club, but some days it feels like it’s swallowing me whole.
JT quirks a brow.
“Don’t start,” I warn, on my way to my bike. “I’m going to Lily’s.”
My grandpa and his friends opened Ravens Ridge Auto when they were young because the only thing they loved more than fast cars and loud bikes was working on them.
When money got tight, they started dealing in stolen cars and parts.
It was simple enough, and no harm really came from it.
Then someone got the brilliant idea to get in the drug game, and it all went to shit from there.
It’s overwhelming to say the least.
My mom’s the one who grounded my dad. He’d get sucked into the bullshit with the club, and she’d bring him back to earth.
I don’t do relationships, but that’s what Lily does for me in a way.
She can pull me out of my head and set me straight.
She tells me what I need to hear—even when I don’t want to hear it.
She lives in a small one-bedroom house down the road from the garage.
It’s not much from the outside—a white fence and a little yellow house.
There’s not even a porch, just a stoop. The inside’s nice though.
She’s spent a lot of time remodeling—hardwood floors and gray walls.
When I hop off my bike and jog up the stairs, she’s already holding the door open.
“Hey, asshole,” she coos in a Southern drawl.
She steps out of the way and shuts the door behind me. “I thought maybe you decided not to come tonight.”
Kicking off my shoes, I say, “It was just a long day.”
She wraps her arms around me and tilts her head back, her fiery ponytail sways to one side. “I can fix that.”
Yes, please.
My eyes drop to the tiny white top that her tits are straining to spill out of. “That’s not what you wore to work…”
With a sly laugh, she pulls away from me and walks to the kitchen.
Fucking tease.
“You hungry?” she asks.
“Always.”
Following her, I throw my shit down on the white countertop in the tiny eat-in kitchen. She insisted on white because she watches all those home renovation shows where they put white countertops in every house. I know because she turns them on when she’s trying to hint at me to go home.
“Want a beer?” She pulls two from the fridge without waiting for my response.
After handing them to me, she pulls two plates from a cabinet, scoops lasagna on each, and takes them to the table.
“What’d Shane do this time? I heard Nik yelling at him earlier.”
I shrug, taking my place as she slides into the chair across from me. “Who knows? He’s a pain in the ass.”
Lily’s one hell of a cook, and I think she’s convinced I’m a manchild that can’t take care of myself, so she insists on feeding me a few nights a week. It’s a weird arrangement, but it works for us. It keeps us both from being alone, and she’s one of the only people I can actually relax around.
We eat in silence, but she keeps eyeing me like she wants to say something.
When I’m almost done, I ask, “What?”
Smirking, she lifts a brow. “Is she back?”
“Who?”
She narrows her eyes and points her fork at me. “You know who. Don’t play dumb with me.”
With an exasperated exhale, I grumble, “Yeah. I think she’s here to sell their gran’s house.”
She makes that face. The one I fucking hate. The one that says, I know where this is going or I know what you’re thinking or I know you’re about to do something stupid.
I already did the last one by showing up at Ash’s house.
I cross my arms over my chest and lean my chair back on two legs. “Don’t do that.”
Her brows lift. “Do what?”
“You know what. That was forever ago. I don’t give a shit if she’s back or not.”
“If you say so.” She shoves a bite of food into her mouth, her teeth scraping against the fork when she pulls it out.
As I put the other two legs back on the ground, I shake my head. “You’re a pain in the ass.”
She grins like she’s proud of herself.
After cleaning up the dinner mess, we head for her room.
On the way here, all I could think about was getting lost in her. Letting the rest of the world melt away when I sink into her.
But when Lily’s fingers graze over my shoulders, my chest, and down to the hem of my shirt, my mind’s a million miles away.
Or—ten miles down the road.
With a shake of my head, I pull her hands back, grip her ass, and lift her.
She squeals as I drop her to the bed.
I can’t do sweet tonight, and Lily picks up on that. When I lean over, she rakes her fingers through my hair, pulling it at the root. Instead of kissing her neck, I sink my teeth into her shoulder and grind against her, causing her to hiss.
“Someone’s in a mood.”
Pulling back to stand over her, I tear my shirt over my head, and her gray eyes meet mine.
No.
Green. Not gray.
After undoing her skin-tight jeans, I tug them down with a single pull and throw them to the side. She licks her lips, climbing off the bed. This is a dance she knows well, no stranger to waltzing me right out of my head. She drops to her knees and undoes my belt before tugging my pants down.
Batting her lashes, she wastes no time, wrapping her lips around my cock.
I groan, letting my head fall back. “Fuuuuck.”
She hums as she descends, her hot, slick mouth stroking up and down my length. I shudder when she pauses to swirl her tongue around the tip.
“More,” I whisper.
As she swallows me down again, I thread my fingers in her blonde—RED hair.
Lily has red hair.
My grip tightens and I push her deeper until she gags. Her nails dig into my thighs, and she moans.
She comes off with a pop when I pull her head back and pants through her full pink lips. I yank her up from the floor, and she wraps her legs around my waist. Her nails scrape across my scalp.
She grips my hair and pulls my head back before catching my bottom lip between her teeth.
I toss her back onto the bed.
When I rip her panties off, she sucks in a sharp breath. “Hey, I love those—”
I’m inside her before she can finish that thought, my lips crashing into hers. My thrusts quicken, and she writhes under me. I bury my face in her neck. Without missing a beat, she pushes at me, and I let her climb on top.
But instead of watching her tits, I’m staring at the ceiling as she grinds and bounces.
I shut my eyes, but that only makes it worse. So, I open them again, only now realizing she’s stopped moving and is staring down at me.
“Gabe…”
Gabe.
“You good?” she asks.
No. I think I’m losing my goddamn mind.
“Yeah.” I squeeze her hips. “Keep going.”
She purses her lips, then climbs off me. “Are you shitting me? It’s been six years, and Ashton’s still cockblocking me!”
“What?” I ask, sitting up to watch as she climbs out of bed and starts putting her clothes on.
“Oh, come on! Don’t give me that bullshit! We both know you’re not into this tonight, and there’s a blonde with a spectacular rack to blame.”
“You’re insane, you know that? I’m just tired. This has nothing to do with Ash.”
She stops, holding her pants and cocks her head to the side. “And you’re full of shit. Look, you wanna talk about your feelings? Great, I’ll listen. You wanna finish what we started? Perfect. But if you wanna spend the evening lying to yourself, get out. I’ll finish my damn self.”
I glare at her. She has no idea what she’s talking about. Sure, I don’t like that Ash’s back. I don’t want her here. But my issues are way bigger than some girl I dated a million years ago. I’m almost twenty-seven years old, not some teenager pining over a girl I can’t have.
She lifts a brow. “That’s what I thought.”
I scoff. I’m not doing this. Not tonight. Lily knows damn well what she’s doing. She’s pushing my buttons on purpose.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Grinning like she won, she flings herself back onto the bed. “I know everything.”
Without another word, I grab my clothes from the floor, then yank open her bedroom door. “You can be a real bitch, you know that?”
“Love you too. Toodles!”
My skin crawls as I bolt. Maybe I’m more bothered by Ash than I’m willing to admit, but what good does it do me to sit and talk about it. What I needed was to forget about it. But I can’t even seem to do that right tonight.
This shit doesn’t happen with Lily. We’re the perfect match for that reason. She doesn’t want anything from me, and I’m not capable of giving more than this anyway.
She’s safe. A way to blow off steam that my club can’t take from me.
The club is the only thing I can have that I won’t break, and it’s the reason I can’t have anything or anyone else.