Chapter Sixteen
Hannah’s gonna kill me.
It was the one thing she’d made Addison promise not to do. She hadn’t even hesitated to agree at the time. The whole idea was preposterous. Addison on a motorcycle? Never.
Look at me now.
Anyone who saw her would confidently claim, “first timer.” She knew she was showing all the obvious signs.
She was holding on to Cross as if he were her lifeline.
He kind of is. She spent the first fifteen minutes with her eyes closed.
If death was near, she didn’t want to see it coming.
Dramatic? Yes. Her reality? Again, yes. This wasn’t her thing.
She’d never once wanted to ride on a motorcycle.
But as they rode, she gained a little more courage and pried open her eyes.
It was kind of cool as in a face your fears type of way.
There was a certain adrenaline rush, much like when she went skydiving.
Her stomach flipped over the bumps, but feeling the wind on her face was a bit freeing.
She was far from comfortable and relaxed, but after a while, she could appreciate the appeal and understood why Knox loved it.
And Cross. A few times, he dropped his hand to her calf, caressing her leg.
It was probably meant to put her at ease.
It had the opposite effect, and she shouted in his ear, “Please use two hands to ride.”
She couldn’t hear him laugh, but his body shook against her chest, and to her relief, he put his hand on the handlebar.
By the time they reached their destination, she was eager to get off the bike.
Not because she was scared, but her ass started to ache.
When she got off, she stretched her legs and glanced around.
The dirt patch where they’d parked wasn’t a formal parking lot, but it was clear many had made use of it.
“Where are we?”
Cross got off his bike and made his way toward her, grabbing her hand.
He led her through a small opening in the brush.
It was a short walk until it opened up to a small clearing only big enough for a few people.
She gasped when she looked out over the ridge.
Addison released his hand, walking out to the edge.
The view went on for miles, a gorgeous untouched canvas of land filled with trees.
She glanced back, “Well, damn. This is amazing.”
Cross smiled. “Thought you’d like it.”
“You come here a lot?”
“Not anymore.” He glanced over the ridge. “It was Knox’s favorite spot. Every time we came back from a run this way, he always had to stop. It was like an unwritten rule. If you took this route with him, you’d be stopping.”
“I can see why.”
Cross slowly nodded, peering over the ridge as he lost his smile. They stood in silence for what felt like forever. But it wasn’t the awkward kind. It was peaceful.
“Don’t have anything of Knox’s.”
The statement came out of nowhere. As his closest brother, he should have a piece of Knox to remember him by. It was sad to think, Cross didn’t have any type of souvenir to commemorate their friendship.
“Why not?”
He shrugged, staring off over the ridge. “The club kept his helmet and patch. Cleo got the rest. It’s the way we do things.” A small smile played on his lips. “But I got this.”
And maybe you get something else, Cross.
A thought popped in her mind. A beautiful gift, if she could pull it off. She’d make the call to Danny and see if she could get Knox’s bike shipped out to Killcreek. It was probably going to cost a lot of money, but Addison was determined. Cross should have something of Knox’s.
“Thanks for bringing me here.”
Cross walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her stomach and pulling her back against his chest. This was special, not only for its beauty but the symbol.
It was Knox’s favorite spot and she got to share it with Cross.
She caressed her fingers over his wrist and guided his hand up to lay flat over her heart. Just the three of us.
Addison had no idea how long they stayed standing but it was long enough to catch the sun begin to set.
“Time to go.” He whispered in her ear.
They headed up the path and when they got to the bike, he handed her the helmet. Addison wasn’t ready for this day to end.
“What are you doing tonight?”
He glanced over, smirking. “You.”
She snickered. “Can I make us dinner first?”
He raised his brows. “Never gonna say no to that.”
A perfect ending to an unexpectedly amazing day.
****
They arrived at her house shortly after seven.
Cross went onto her back porch and made a few calls.
His phone had been blowing up most of the day.
It wasn’t anything urgent, and he’d waited to return them.
Had it been something pressing, Cross would’ve addressed them, but he wanted the day to be about her, not the club.
Aside from checking his phone, he hadn’t paid much attention to it.
He was solely focused on her and their time together.
Fucking strange turn of events. This had never been Cross or any semblance of his life. Aside from a select two, women had never played a significant role in his life. It’s always been about the club and his brothers.
When he walked inside, Addison was at the sink, washing vegetables.
He’d never been a fan of broccoli, but he’d eat it.
This was a first, a woman wanting to make him dinner.
It felt very normal and domesticated. Something that should’ve freaked him out was a thing he was embracing.
Another fucking first. Cross came up behind her, wrapping his hands over her hips and brushing his mouth over her cheek.
The way her body nestled into his chest had him growing hard. He had no plans to leave tonight. Eventually, he’d have to check in at the clubhouse, and she had shifts at the bar, but he wanted as much time with her as he could get.
“Here’s four words I never thought I’d say.” She turned her head, meeting his stare. “I love your mustache.”
He was accustomed to compliments. His bike, his body, his tattoos, but the stache? Never. He’d had it since he was twenty-one. It was part of him, but he’d never given it much thought. Apparently, Addison had.
The corners of his mouth curled. “Yeah?”
She nodded. “It’s like an old school seventies porn-stache.”
He laughed, digging his fingers into her waist. “I’m up for doing a remake of a classic, if you are. But baby, you’re gonna need to grow your bush out for that.”
Addison twisted her lips and rolled her eyes. He was expecting a sassy retort when her phone rang. He glanced down at the screen seeing Cleo’s name.
“Can you hit answer and put it on speaker?”
Cross maneuvered to her side and tapped the screen.
He walked over to the fridge and grabbed a beer, twisting off the cap.
He could’ve left the room, given her some privacy, but he was semi-intrigued.
The two women had become so close in a short span of time.
Cross was curious about their dynamic. He sat at the kitchen table watching Addison. She smiled and leaned toward the phone.
“Hey Cleo, sorry I missed your call. I was out all day.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I wanted to check in on you and make sure you were okay. I went back to the clubhouse this morning, but you’d already left,” Cleo said, and Addison glanced back at him.
“Yeah, I, uh, came home early.”
“So, um…” There was a slight pause. “Are you okay?”
Cross sipped his beer, continuing to stare at Addison and wondering how she’d approach this. Cleo’s concern was evident.
“I’m great, Cleo. And I really appreciate you checking up on me.”
And she was. Cross could hear it in her tone. Cleo was almost desperate for friends and interactions outside of the isolation within the club. And she’d found it with Addison.
“Glad to hear it, so, um, I made too much food for dinner and wanted to invite you over.”
No!
She glanced down at the vegetables and then over to Cross. He immediately shook his head. Addison was his tonight, and he wasn’t sharing her. Not even with Cleo. Addison smirked, turning her attention back to the phone.
“I’m actually making dinner right now, so…” Her voice trailed off.
“Oh okay, some other time then.”
Cross expected that to be the end of it. It wasn’t.
“What did you do today?”
Cross laughed, wondering how this would play out and she sent him a disapproving scowl.
“Um, well…” Addison was stumbling over her words, and clearly unsure how to answer. “I just…”
Cross would give her some assistance.
“I took her on the bike, Cleo,” Cross said loud enough that it couldn’t be missed.
Addison’s mouth fell open, and her eyes widened as she stared back at him. It would’ve come out eventually, and he wasn’t looking to hide anything.
“Cross?”
“Yeah,” he said, and Cleo gasped.
“Okay well, I’ll let you go so you guys can eat dinner. But I’ll call you tomorrow. Bye!”
The call ended abruptly, and Addison burst out laughing, veering her gaze to him.
“That was a hard launch.”
He shrugged. “You got a problem with it?”
Her gaze softened. “No.”
“Me either.”
Cross wasn’t sure exactly what was happening between them, but it was something.