Author: Ford, Mia
Date: 2019-08-24

Sinful Protector

Mia Ford

Copyright © 2019 by Mia Ford

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

This book is a piece of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people.

If you are reading this book and book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

Published: Mia Ford 2019
mia@miafordpublishing.com

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Contents

Author’s Note

Blurb

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Epilogue

Excerpt

Author’s Note

Stay connected with Mia Ford

Also by Mia Ford

Author’s Note

Sinful Protector is a full-length standalone novel. At the end, I’ve included an excerpt from my Amazon TOP 100 and bestselling steamy romance box set Dark Desires.

Sinful Protector concludes at around 90% on your device.

Happy Reading!

XO, Mia Ford

Blurb

The moment my eyes met hers, there was nothing stopping me from giving her everything.

She’s devastatingly beautiful.

Stubborn.

Independent.

I want to protect her from the horrors of the world, if only she’ll let me.

I can’t leave her alone.

Not with her abusive ex on the prowl.

I would give her everything I have.

And I want her.

Every part of her shines.

Her touch is like fire.

Her eyes draw me in.

It’s impossible to escape from her, even if I wanted to.

I’ve lived my life for my bikes, my club and my foster family.

But now there’s only her.

I know she thinks otherwise.

Why else would she hate me after all that we had?

She’s the only woman I ever loved.

I want her safe, nothing can hurt her.

I’ll do anything to get back with her,

Even if it means following her everywhere.

Chapter One

Allison

I yawn and stumble up the road, dreaming wistfully of the bed that I know is waiting for me. The lights are starting to blur overhead, and the cold asphalt is looking very comfortable.

I can make it, I remind myself. My apartment isn’t that far from the station.

However, at this time of night, after an incredibly long and hard day at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, the miles seem to stretch out in front of me forever. I should have taken my friend up on her offer to stay with her for the night; she lives only a block away. But I wanted the comfort of my own bed, and I insisted on walking home.

“It’s not that far,” I’d insisted.

I snort. Half an hour ago I was foolish and naïve. Now, as I consider how much further I have to go, I curse my own stupidity. Any bed, now, will be good enough.

I yawn again and press the heels of my hands against my eyes, trying desperately to keep myself awake. I stumble on the curb and carefully step further onto the path; there might not be any cars right now, but that doesn’t mean I should tempt fate by stumbling onto the road.

I glance at my watch. It’s eleven o’clock. It isn’t hugely late, but normally I would have been in bed long before now, considering I have classes in the morning. But I got caught up in celebrations with my friends after the end of some brutal in-class exams. A few hours ago, the alcohol I had consumed made me bright-eyed and ready to take on the world. Now, that very same alcohol is sloshing around my system and trying to convince me that sleep is the best thing in the world.

Damn, I need some coffee.

I turn a corner and my vision is assaulted by a ridiculously bright light, unexpected after the dim lights on the street. Hazily, I glance at it and blink at the sign. Several moments later, I recognize the building; it’s the small convenience store that’s only a few blocks away from my apartment.

It’s also, I notice, stumbling to a stop, a 24-7 store.

I’m almost home, so I should just keep walking. Then I can get into bed and curse every decision I made tonight when I wake up with a roaring hangover.

But the sight of the bright store makes my stomach rumble. A convenience store sells potato chips, right? The thought of something crunchy and full of salt is incredibly appetizing right now. My feet lead me towards the automatic doors without permission, and I wince as the light gets brighter when I enter the store.

There’s a single person at the register. She looks up at me, bored, and returns to flicking through some sort of magazine, looking like she would rather be anywhere than here. I can’t say I blame her, especially at this time of night.

I head for the snacks and pick up a couple of bags of chips. I throw in a bag of candy for good measure and then head toward the coffee machine. I fumble with a paper cup for a second and shove it under the table before flicking a switch.

I lean forward to smell the dark liquid as it fills up the cup, suddenly very much looking forward to drinking it. A tiny corner of my brain tells me that it’s not a good idea, that I’ll end up bouncing off the walls for hours, but I don’t care. I need this coffee right now. I find a little packet of milk and a few packets of sugar and stir them all in. Then, once I’m done, I put a lid on the cup and carry everything over the counter.

The girl looks over my purchases, unimpressed.

“Bit late for a party, don’t you think?” she drawls.

I ignore her, unwilling to admit that I’m buying all this for myself. She shrugs at my silence and rings everything up, uncaring.

“That’ll be sixteen dollars,” she says.

I swipe my card through the machine on the counter, and she puts my food in a plastic bag. As soon as she hands it over, she picks up her magazine and goes back to ignoring me, despite the fact that I’m still in front of her.

Rolling my eyes at her rudeness, I pick up my purchases and leave the store. I sip my coffee as the automatic doors open.

“Mm,” I hum in appreciation.

The warmth of the drink seeps through me, chasing away the cold chill of the night. I sigh and stand there for a second, basking in the cozy feeling. The coffee in one hand and the bag swinging from my other lifts my spirits, and there’s an extra spring in my step as I turn away from the shop and start to head home.

I don’t get more than five steps, however, before a shape looms out of the darkness. Startled, I stop, and the figure stops too, just as surprised to see me as I am to see them.

“Jesse?” I burst out, blinking wildly.

Jesse Willis stares back at me, mouth slightly open. His hair is disheveled and he’s loosely gripping an almost-empty bottle by its neck. From his dilated pupils and the flush on his skin, I can tell that he’s been drinking quite heavily.

Jesse is the last person I want to see right now. I haven’t seen him in weeks, not since our loud and very public break-up.

“Allie?” he asks, squinting at me. “That you?”

I wish I hadn’t said anything, now. Maybe I could have pretended not to know him and scurried away, but I’ve already said his name. The good feelings that I had gotten from the coffee swiftly disappear.

Jesse and I had had a tempestuous relationship. His temper and my stubbornness had clashed frequently, until it wasn’t unusual to see us screaming at each other, whether we were at home, on the bus, in restaurants or on the college grounds. If I’m honest, we should never have lasted as long as we did, but I stuck it out in a relationship for two very long years. Eventually, though, enough was enough; we weren’t doing each other any good; all we were doing was torturing each other.

Jesse, unfortunately, hadn’t been on the same page as me. He hadn’t taken the revelation that I wanted to break up very well and, at the time, I didn’t understand why; he was just as cruel to me as I was to him. There was no way he still wanted to be with me any longer.

In the weeks since we broke up, I’ve come to understand that it was a possessive thing. Jesse was always very possessive, which is just one thing that caused several arguments between us. He didn’t actually like being in a relationship with me any longer, but I was his and losing me was hard.

He tried to convince me to change my mind several days after the break-up. He followed me all the way to the grocery store, shouting at me all the time. When I still refused to get back together with him, he had knocked over an entire display of soup cans and stormed away.

It was the last I had seen of him until tonight.

“How have you been?” I ask politely.

He scowls, surprise quickly being replaced by anger.

“You think you have the fucking right to ask me that?” he demands, and I sigh quietly.

Here we go again.

“Sorry,” I try. It’s against my nature to back down, but it’s late and I’m tired, and I just really don’t want to deal with this right now. “I’ll get out of your face. Have a nice night, Jesse.”

I turn to go.

“Wait!”

I debate not stopping. I don’t owe Jesse anything. Our relationship had been bad from start to finish, and we were better off never seeing each other again.

But the desperate quality in his voice makes me pause and I sigh before turning around.

“What?” I ask tiredly.

There’s a wretched look on his face. Once upon a time, right at the very beginning of our relationship, that expression might have tugged on my heartstrings. Now, I just raise an eyebrow at him, unimpressed.

“Allie… Allison,” he says, and I blink at his use of my full name; it’s been a long time since he’s used anything other than my nickname. “I just… I’m a mess. Things haven’t been right since you left, see? I’m drinking all the time, I can’t get a job…”

My mouth runs before I can stop it.

“How is that different to what you were like when we were together?” I ask.

Damnit, so much for keeping things peaceful.

His expression drops in surprise, as though he doesn’t understand how I could say something like that to him. It’s ironic, especially considering that I’ve said a lot worse to him over the course of our relationship.

Don’t keep talking, I tell myself sternly, the logical part of my mind rising up and attempting to take over. Don’t say anything else. He’s drunk, you’re drunk; just walk away.

Unfortunately, I’ve never been the greatest at listening to logic, even while sober. With alcohol flushing my system, my loose tongue begins to move before I can even think about stopping it.

“Your drinking was one of the reasons I left you,” I tell him. “You spent more time drunk than you did sober, and half our arguments started because you said something stupid while you were drinking. Then there was the fact that you couldn’t keep jobs because you went to work while you were either drunk or hungover, and you spent the entire time you were there complaining about how much you didn’t want to be there. Then there were the disgusting things you would say to me all the time, calling me a whore and a slut and bitch and anything else that entered your mind.”

“You gave as good as you got!” Jesse protests, finally finding his tongue to defend himself, though he still looks shell-shocked.

I wonder, vaguely, what will happen when his surprise wears off. I don’t think it will be anything good.

I consider what he says, however, and then nod, conceding the point. I’ve always been headstrong, and I certainly didn’t just take it when Jesse started insulting me.

“Yeah,” I admit. “I did. Sometimes I started the arguments, too.” I give him a severe look. “But hasn’t that told you anything, Jesse? We weren’t good for each other. We spent every day angry at each other, or shouting at each other, until I don’t think either of us remembered why we wanted to be together in the first place.”

Jesse opens his mouth as though to argue this, and then slams it closed again, a conflicted expression on his face. Is he actually thinking this through? Is he finally going to see what I do and realize that our relationship had always been doomed to failure?

“Jesse, once upon a time we did love each other,” I say gently with a sigh. “Maybe. We stayed together for a reason, after all. But we stayed together for too long, far longer than we should have, and we almost destroyed each other in the process. I’m not saying it’s been easy; we were together for two years, and now I have to adjust to living on my own, and so do you.”

“But…” Jesse seems lost. I try and smile at him, my fleeting anger gone; I had chosen this man a long time ago and I didn’t want to see him suffering. “I need you.”

“You don’t,” I deny. “What you need is to get back on your feet and keep moving forward. And you can do that without me.”

For a split second, I think I’ve done it. He’s staring at me, his shoulders trembling slightly. Were we really, finally, at the end of it all? Were we both on the same page, agreeing that our awful relationship should never have lasted as long as it did? Could we really walk away from this with amicability?

Then rage washes over his face and I regret hoping for even a moment.

“No,” he says. I don’t know if it’s him or the alcohol talking, but I guess it doesn’t matter; these days, they’re one and the same. “No, I don’t accept this. Things were better when you were there. I need you.”

Irritation rises in me, and, this time, I don’t even try to push it away.

“No, what you need is the money I gave you, which you squandered on drugs and alcohol,” I snap.

I’m so over this conversation. No matter what I do, Jesse isn’t going to accept the end of our relationship. Fine, I’m not going to stand here, this late at night, and try and convince him otherwise. I have a warm bed to get into, chips to eat, and classes to be up for tomorrow.

Jesse can live in his deluded world. I want no part of it anymore.

“Whatever, Jesse,” I say with a sigh, rubbing my hand over my forehead. Jesse is all but vibrating in rage in front of me, his hands clenching and unclenching. “It doesn’t matter. I left you weeks ago, for my own reasons. I’m not going back.”

A high flush steals over Jesse’s cheeks. I vaguely remember the last time he looked this angry; it was only a month before we broke up, and it had started the worst argument we had ever had. After that, I knew that we were done, and I spent the next several weeks sorting my things from his, looking for a new place to live and convincing myself that I was doing the right thing for both of us.

Jesse’s fists clench and he lifts them up in a threatening manner. I eye him, bored; one thing that I can say about Jesse is that, despite the arguments and the insults and the drinking, he has never once physically harmed me. He’s knocked over lamps, kicked down tables and chairs and punched walls, but he has never turned on me. So I’m not worried, at all, as his entire body tenses. He’s no doubt going to shout for a little while and then storm away, cursing up a storm as he lets the entire world know about his displeasure.

I blink. All of a sudden, Jesse is charging at me, and I dimly note that the expression on his face, half-mad, is one I’ve never seen before. His hands are outstretched and he grabs my shoulders and pushes me back. My back hits the fence behind me with a clang that sounds terribly loud in the darkness, and I can smell the alcohol on Jesse’s breath as he leans in closer to me.

“You fucking bitch,” he hisses.

It’s then that I realize, stunned, that I’ve miscalculated. I determined Jesse’s reactions based on the man I knew while we were dating. I forgot to factor in a Jesse that hasn’t taken our break-up as well as I had hoped.

“Jesse…” I start.

His fingers dig into my shoulders and I wince, closing my mouth.

“You’ve said enough!” he shouts. “Always going on and on about what I did wrong… You were no saint either!”

“I know that,” I try, never one to keep my mouth shut.

His face twists into something ugly. For a moment, I genuinely think he’s going to hit me. I’ve never been scared of Jesse before. I’ve never worried about what he will do to me. But, at that exact moment, I am. I look up at him, at the insanity in his eyes, and I wonder if I ever knew him.

I rip myself away from him, my heart pounding in my chest, using the element of surprise to break his grip. I back away, suddenly knowing that I can’t outrun him, and he advances on me, a dark look on his face that makes my breath catch.

It’s at that moment that footsteps cut into the silence. The sound is so out of place that both Jesse and I hesitate, confused. I look up to see a man ambling down the other side of the road, yawning. He’s tall and rugged, clad in a black leather jacket, rubbing the stubble on his face as he walks.

He looks up. Jesse and I are both staring at him, startled by his intrusion. I wonder what this looks like, with me pressed against the fence, Jesse so obviously holding me in place. Something flickers across the man’s face and he begins to turn away.

Then I take a step back, wincing at the suddenness of the streetlight above me, and his eyes meet mine.

Chapter Two

Kyle

It’s cold, and I’m tired, and I’m a little irritated about having to leave the Anchor Bar so damn early. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t want to be late for work tomorrow; the old man at Brooks Automotive has given me a real shot, and I don’t want to blow it.

So I leave my clubmates behind at the bar, all of them celebrating our victory; despite all the odds, we’ve managed to save the house we’ve been using since our club started from the grimy hands of the council, and now we have the money, too, to clean it up.

With a yawn, I tug my jacket a little more firmly around myself to ward off the chilly air and amble down the road. The night is still young and I don’t live very far from here, but I find myself missing my bike; the warmth of the exhaust would warm me up quite quickly, and I would already be in bed by now.

Up ahead, I see the bright lights of some sort of convenience store. I consider stopping and getting something to eat on the way home; it’s been some time since dinner, and I’m feeling a little hungry. Then I remember the unopened bags of chips that are littering my apartment and I snort; I have plenty of food at home if I want it.

I can hear someone shouting up ahead, but I’m honestly too tired to deal with this shit tonight. Let them sort out their problems, I decide.

But my head turns anyway, drawn to the scene, and I see a man and a woman across the road. The woman is taking careful steps backward, but I can’t quite see her expression in the darkness. The man is advancing on her slowly, his shoulders locked tight, almost like a predator stalking their prey.

I’m not a monster. I don’t like to see people prey on others; it’s one of the reasons me and that dick Tom Green don’t get along very well. Not that he gets along with anyone, to be honest. If I see something like this, nine times out of ten I’ll intervene.

Tonight, I’m tired. I want to go to bed. I don’t want to deal with other people’s crap. I might regret my decision to walk away in the morning but, right now, I don’t give a damn.

I might have turned away then. But movement catches my eye, instead. The woman takes another step back, and she’s suddenly underneath the streetlight.

My first thought is that she’s gorgeous. She’s tall and willowy, her face framed by wisps of long brown hair that is escaping the complicated knot that has been twisted up at the nape of her neck. She’s carrying a shoulder bag, which she’s gripping tightly as she backs away.

Then her eyes rise to meet mine. They’re so deeply blue that my breath catches. But, more than the beauty of her eyes, it’s the surprise and fear in them that catches me.

My body moves before I can consciously consider what to do next.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

The man jolts; he, too, has been staring at me, as surprised by my appearance as the woman, as though neither of them had expected someone to pass by on a public street. I glance at the convenience store nearby; there’s a young girl at the counter, but she isn’t paying any attention to what’s happening as she flicks through a magazine and bobs her head to some unheard music.

Looks like this is on me.

I stalk forward. The man is glaring at me, but his bravado begins to fade as I get closer and he realizes how tall I am and how much broader my shoulders are than his.

Then his expression twists. I can smell the alcohol from here; he’s too far gone to listen to any logic. He’s raring for a fight, and he isn’t going to stop until he gets one, no matter who he has to piss off to do it.

Great. Not only do I have to follow through now that I’ve stuck my nose into their business, but I have to deal with a guy who’s too drunk to realize just how outclassed he is.

“What are you looking at, asshole?” the man snarls, his words slurring slightly.

I could answer. I could insult him and wait for him to self-destruct. He’s so drunk that he’s more likely to punch himself than me. Normally this would be amusing to watch.

But this isn’t just some man in the bar threatening everyone around him into a fight he has no hope of winning. This is a man who was threatening a young woman on the side of the road, in the middle of the night, clear intent in every line of his body. Now that I’m here and I’m a little more awake, I feel a little disgusted that I ever considered turning away.

Who knows what would have happened next, with no one around to stop it.

So I don’t reply. Instead, I pull back my fist and punch him in the face.

The man drops instantly. I don’t know if it’s because he’s shocked or because I just knocked him out, but I don’t care. I grab the wrist of the woman, who is staring at her attacker, stunned by how quick that was, and pull, almost yanking her off her feet before she realizes that I want her to follow me.

For a moment she resists, and I can’t say I blame her; I’m a stranger, and going anywhere with a stranger at this time of night is foolhardy. But then she glances at the man on the ground and follows me instead, apparently deciding to take her chances with me rather than the person who has already proved that he can and will attack her.

I set a harsh pace and she stumbles a few times to try and keep up. Finally, a block away from the convenience store, we duck into an alley and I stop. Only then do I let go of her wrist.

“There,” I say gruffly, glancing at her. She’s rubbing her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” she asks, startled. She’s blinking too much, as though she can’t comprehend what’s happening to her. “I… Yes, I’m fine.”

“You should probably head home,” I tell her.

I should just leave her here. But we’re not that far away from the store and I don’t know if that man saw where we went. So, instead, I hover awkwardly in the alley, not sure what to do next.

“Yeah,” she agrees, rubbing the back of her neck.

She seems rattled. I don’t blame her.

“Did he hurt you?” I ask, noticing that she’s still rubbing her shoulder.

“What… Oh, no, not really,” she says, shaking her head. “He just…grabbed me a bit.” She frowns. “He’s never done that before.”

I frown. “Is he your boyfriend?”

“No!” she exclaims before laughing. It’s high and unsure, and the sound fades away as she realizes that I’m not laughing with her. “No, he isn’t. I mean, he was, but we broke up a few weeks ago.”

I snort. “I can see why.”

She stares at me. Then a laugh escapes her again. This one, however, is a nice sound and far more genuine.

“Yeah,” she agrees, her shoulders finally relaxing. “Sorry, I’m a bit all over the place; I haven’t seen Jesse since we broke up and I wasn’t expecting him to flip out on me like that.”

“I’m guessing he didn’t take the break-up well,” I say, deadpan.

“That’s an understatement,” she snorts. “He’s probably got it into his head, now, that it’s all my fault.”

I frown. “Will he come after you again?”

“Jesse?” She seems startled by the idea. “No way. This was just an accident. He’s an idiot, a drunkard and a huge coward; when he wakes up tomorrow, he’ll rant and rave to his friends, and then he’ll pretend I never existed.”

That doesn’t seem accurate, based on what I just witnessed. The man I intercepted did not look like the sort of person to just let this go.

But I shrug. This woman knows her ex-boyfriend better than I do. Maybe I was just reading too much into it, and this had just been a freak occurrence because he was far too drunk to think rationally.

“Either way, thank you for your help,” she says after a moment. “He was definitely out of control tonight.” She laughs suddenly. “And I’m not going to say that I didn’t appreciate seeing you deck him, either.”

“It’s fine,” I say, shaking my head with a small smile. “I’m Kyle Jacobs, by the way.”

“Allison Miller,” she says, grinning at me.

She sticks her hand out toward me and, bemused, I shake it. Her hand slips into mine, warm and soft, and I’m suddenly aware of her long, smooth legs, which are being accentuated by her black skirt and the sharp heels that she’s wearing. I breathe in and catch a whiff of a floral perfume that makes me feel a little dizzy.

I clear my throat.

“You on your way home from work?” I ask, nodding at her bag.

“College,” she corrects. “I’m studying law.” She laughs and shakes her head. “I’m not normally out so late, but my classmates and I were celebrating getting through some hard tests.”

Law? She’s a smart one, then. She’s more down to earth than many college-goers that I’ve met in the past, who have looked down on me for my bike, my jacket and my profession, as though I’m not good enough to fit into polite society.

“Sounds interesting,” I say. “I’m a mechanic.”

She blinks and then her eyes light up.

“We’ve been looking for a mechanic!” she says enthusiastically, and I’m taken aback. “My friend’s car hasn’t been starting, but her old mechanic moved and we have had a bad experience with another mechanic… You any good?”

I grin. “I’m pretty good. Bring it around to Brooks Automotive, we’ll have a look at it.”

“I’ve heard some pretty good things about that place,” she muses. “Great, there’s another favor I owe you for, now,” she adds, smiling.

I know she’s joking. So, I decide to joke back. But I’m still a little drunk, and the night has been long and my brain isn’t sending the right signals to tell me what is and isn’t a good idea right now.

I trail my eyes over her body, making her smile falter, and lean in closer.

“Well, maybe we can work out some payment, then,” I say huskily, giving her another look to make it clear what I mean.

Then my brain catches up. What am I thinking? Allison was just assaulted by her ex-boyfriend. Not only that, but I’m a complete stranger and I’m hitting on her in the middle of the night, while we’re standing in a seedy alleyway.

Smooth fucking move, idiot.

I start to lean back, an apology on my lips.

Then she plants her hands on my chest and pushes. Caught by surprise, I stumble backward and hit the wall, blinking at this unexpected turn of events. Allison presses her body up against mine, her breath teasing my lips.

“I think that could be arranged,” she purrs.

And then her lips meet mine.

Chapter Three

Allison

I’m completely over tonight. I just wanted to get home and sleep, but then Jesse came out of nowhere and acted so out of character that, for a moment, I wondered if I was facing a different person.

I’m tired. I’m hungry. I’m still a little drunk and dreading tomorrow’s hangover. Now, I’m standing in an alley with a sympathetic stranger who is saying all the right things, who just punched Jesse for me, and he’s leering at me in a way that reminds me that I haven’t been out with anyone since I left Jesse.

So, I snap.

If I was thinking rationally, I might have slapped him. As soon as the words left his mind, I could see that he realized how stupid they were. I wonder if he meant it as a joke, and didn’t notice how bad it sounded until he had said it. Either way, the logical thing to do, right now, is to walk back home and forget this night ever happened.

Instead, I find myself pushing Kyle against the alley wall and kissing him fiercely.

He freezes for a moment, stunned, and I press myself against his body. I thought before that he was good looking but, close as I am, I can feel the hardened muscles beneath his clothes. He’s so tall that I have to stand on my toes to reach him, and this is a delight because normally I’m the tallest one around, and that makes it really damn hard, sometimes, to find a partner who’s taller than me. Jesse was taller than me, but only by a little, so I was never able to wear heels while being with him.

Kyle, on the other hand, is still taller than me, even with my stilettos.

I push further into the kiss and my tongue tangles with his. Then, needing to take a breath, I pull back and look up at him through lidded eyes.

He’s staring at me. He looks a little unsure, but there’s clear interest in his eyes.

“How about it?” I ask, running a hand over his chest. “This last hour has been terrible. Want to help me forget about it?”

Forgetting sounds great right now. I want to forget about Jesse and obliterate the feel of his hands on my body, and there’s a gorgeous stranger in front of me, offering me the way to do that. I don’t know him. I’m attracted to his physical appearance and the fact that he saved me. I’m simply using him to get some relief.

But that’s okay, right now. He doesn’t know me, either. He’s equally attracted to me. This would be to our mutual benefit.

Kyle, apparently, is a nicer guy than I want him to be, however, because he coughs and leans back with some difficulty.

“Look, it might not be for the best,” he tries. “You just went through something really fucking terrible. I get that you want to forget about it, but screwing a stranger isn’t going to help.”

I stare at him incredulously. I’m throwing myself at him, and I’m pressed against him so I can feel his growing interest. Either I’ve chosen the wrong guy to try this with…or I’ve just stumbled on a roughly hewn gem.

My incredulity fades. The fact that he would try and push me away for my sake, when I know how much I’ve already affected him, is even more attractive. I slip my arms around his neck and tangle my fingers in the hair at his neck.

“Maybe not,” I purr. “But you never know unless you try, right? One night, that’s all I’m asking.” I can feel his hands… “I want your hands on me, instead.”

He groans at my words, his entire body shuddering. His hips buck beneath me.

“No strings attached,” I say into his ear, my breath brushing against the lobe. “One night. Fuck me.”

His hands are on my hips and he’s tugging me closer.

“Shit,” he whispers.

This his lips are on mine and I grin triumphantly. I’m not some stupid damsel who throws herself at her savior because she decides she needs to fall in love with him. I know what I want. I want this man in front of me now, and I want to take and give until the world around us falls apart and I don’t know which way to go until I wake up in the morning and have to face it all again.

His kiss is fierce and enthusiastic, and his hands grip my hips unforgivingly, his thumbs pressing against the bone as he drags me in as close as I can get. My fingers tug the zipper on his back down, and it flies open, allowing me to feel the tight t-shirt underneath. I can feel each muscle in his stomach through the thin material, and I can breathe in his musky scent, the smell giving me a heady feeling that makes me desperate for more.

“Holy shit,” I murmur against his lips, slipping my hands under his shirt and feeling his smooth, toned muscles. “How often do you work out?”

I feel him grin.

“I do a lot of lifting,” he says.

It’s all the warning I get before his hands slip under my backside and he lifts me clean off the ground. My legs automatically wind around his waist, and then he’s spinning us around, changing our positions, so that my back meets the wall. I can feel the grainy bricks digging into my spine and I lock my ankles at the small of his back, dragging him closer. His hands are in my hair, tugging it out of the bun I had so carefully twisted it into that morning, the elastic pulling harshly at the roots as it comes loose.

My hands aren’t calm either. I push his jacket off his shoulders, smelling the leather and feeling the material sliding over my hands. Impatiently, he shrugs out of it and lets it fall to the floor, and I latch onto his neck with my lips and teeth, nipping and licking until I find a pulse point that thunders against my skin. I grin, knowing he feels the curve of my lips, and bite on it.

“Shit!” he gasps, back arching against me, pressing me further into the wall.

I suck on the pulse, now fluttering wildly, soothing the bite with my tongue. My hands are under his shirt again; I just can’t get enough of the feel of his muscles as they heave under my hands, sliding over his abs and his hips.

Kyle’s hands leave my hair and slide down my body. His fingers dance teasingly over my clothed skin, outlining the curve of my breast before dipping down to my hips. Then they go further, sliding down my legs to just above my knee.

His hand closes over my right leg, and he hitches it further up his waist, and we both groan as I slide down a little. His penis, hard and throbbing in his jeans, is sitting against my thigh now, and Kyle’s hips buck upwards.

It’s then that a tiny bit of logic enters my mind. Right now, as we stand in this alley, the air is heating around us. We’re groping each other desperately, and my hands are already halfway to pulling Kyle’s shirt off, just so I can feel his chest against me. His hands are sliding underneath my skirt, inching closer and closer to my dampened panties.

If we don’t stop this now, we’re going to end up having sex right here in this alley. The idea isn’t a hugely bad one, my lust is telling me, but I force myself to remember that we’ll both still need to get home afterward.

I don’t want to stop. But I don’t want to keep going here, either.

“W-wait,” I gasp, and groan, my eyes sliding shut, as Kyle fingers the band of my underwear. “Wait, we need to…”

“Need to what?” Kyle asks huskily in my ear.

It’s so hard to pull away. Everything about him is drawing me toward him, from the feel of his hands on my skin to his smell to the look in his eyes, which captures me and makes fire dance over my skin. It’s hard to think with how hot the area around me is.

“My place,” I moan out.

His fingers pause.

“What?” he asks, blinking, as blind with lust as I am.

“We need… We need a bed,” I say, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling his head down. I want to kiss him again, but… “My place is closest.”

Jacqui Clark, my best friend, is going to murder me, I think dimly, when I tell her about this. Not only do I proposition a random stranger in an alley after my ex assaults me, but then I offer to take him back to my place. I can almost hear her scolding me in my mind.

It isn’t enough to take back my offer or to stop looking forward to what will happen once we get back to my apartment.

Kyle, though, frowns, some of the lust fading from his eyes.

“Are you sure?” he asks.

For crying out loud! I tug him into a kiss, sucking his tongue into my mouth. Only when I need to breathe again do I let him go, and I’m pleased to see that the dazed look is back in his eyes.

“Yes,” I say.

I wriggle against him, deliberately bucking my hips against his tight pants, and he groans wantonly as I slide back to the ground, unwinding my legs around him. I turn and take two steps away, swinging my hips deliberately.

“I’m only on the next street over,” I say over my shoulder.

For a moment I think he won’t follow me. But then I hear his heavy footsteps coming after me, and I grin to myself. Neither of us is getting out of this without some fun.

Due to our escape from Jesse, we aren’t far from my apartment at all. Still, by the time we get to my apartment, some of the all-encompassing need has faded a little, though my hands tremble a little as I unlock the door. My apartment is dark, and I search for a light switch, suddenly tense as Kyle enters quietly behind me.

He closes the door as I flick the light on, and we look at each other. In the alley, as I teased and dragged him along with me, it seemed like such a good idea to come here. Now, though, in the light of my apartment, the realization that I don’t know Kyle at all hits me like a freight train.

At least he looks just as awkward as I feel. He clears his throat and looks around, his huge form oddly out of place in my little apartment. His jacket is slung over his elbow, and I’m glad that he remembered to pick it up, even if it looks a little dirty now.

“So…” I say.

He attempts a smile.

“Coffee?” he asks.

For a moment I think he’s serious. Then I see the teasing glint in his eyes and I start to laugh, the tension breaking in an instant. Kyle’s grin widens and I step toward him, putting my hands on his shoulders.

“We can do coffee,” I agree. “Or we can continue where we left off. What would you prefer?”

My hand drifts downward, playing with the hem of his jeans, and his breath catches, the amusement fading from his face. I slip my fingers underneath the hem, and I can feel the way his skin is heating up once more.

Then, with a growl, he spins me around and pushes me up against the front door.

“I think I’d prefer you,” he says huskily.

He kisses me harshly, biting at my lower lip, and I moan against his mouth, wrapping my arms around his waist and spreading my feet apart so that his body can comfortably fit against mine. His hips buck against mine and my fingers dig into his hips.

Kyle pulls back slightly, panting against me.

“What do you want?” he asks.

I know exactly what I want.

“Your shirt needs to be off,” I say, pulling at the hem and pushing it up over his stomach.

He chuckles, the sound low and deep, and it reverberates through his chest, which is pressed against mine. He obligingly leans back, though, and allows me to tug the shirt up and over his head, helping me as it slides over his arms.

Then I have full access to his amazing muscles. They flex beneath my hands, and I could just stand here all day, feeling them. I never knew I had such a fascination for finely toned muscles.

“Are my muscles all you want?” Kyle asks.

I almost want to snark at him and tell him “yes”. But then he breathes into my ear and gently nips my earlobe, and the words get caught in my throat before they can leave. One of his hands slides under my shirt, his fingertips leaving fiery trails over my hips, and the other is sneaking under my skirt again. My head drops back as I groan, my eyes fluttering closed.

“No,” I moan. “I want you.”

“And how do you want me?” Kyle asks.

Too many questions, and not enough room to think them through with all my thought processes being taken up by his questing fingers. I gasp as the hand under my shirt ventures higher, playing with lace on my bra.

“Oh god, fuck me,” I gasp out, pressing against him.

He laughs again. His mouth is still against my ear, breathing against it and sending shuddering waves of pleasure through my entire body.

“I can do that,” he murmurs. “I can fuck you so hard that you won’t remember him at all.”

It takes me a moment to realize what he’s talking about. That’s right, the reason all this started was because I wanted to forget about Jesse. It’s funny that I’ve already forgotten.

“Please,” I moan.

I just want Kyle’s hands on me. I want to feel his calloused fingers caressing my skin, and playing over my body. I want his lips on mine as he tugs my hair and presses impossibly close. I want to feel him in me as he takes me over and over again until all I can think about is him.

Maybe Kyle sees some of this desire in my eyes. His lips capture mine once more. He takes his hands off me, and I moan a protest into the kiss before I realize that he’s tugging down the zipper of my skirt and pulling it down my hips. I step out of it and then wriggle out of my shirt as he pulls it up, breaking the kiss for a moment as it slides over my head, leaving me clad in only my underwear.

His jeans rub against my bare skin; Kyle is wearing far too many clothes, too. I tug at his belt buckle and pull it off. My movements are impatient, now, and his darting hands are just as frantic, overtaken by the boiling lust that has descended on us both. I want him, all of him, and I’m not satisfied with anything less right now.

Finally, I flick open the button on his jeans and he steps out of them, kicking them away. He only has boxers on, now, and his dick is hard and insistent within them. We look at each other, taking in our almost naked bodies.

“I want you so fucking bad right now,” Kyle says, panting harshly.

“Then do something about it,” I challenge him.

His hands grab my hips and pull me in closer.

“Where’s the bedroom?” he growls into my ear.

Bed… Oh, right, a bed would be preferable to the hallway, wouldn’t it? I fight past the haziness in my mind. A bed sounds amazing right now.

“Down the hall…to the left,” I manage to say.

His skin is against mine, hot and sweaty, and the inferno is building further and further around us. My chest is heaving with each breath, and my head is spinning from it all. The lights whirl above me, and I can barely remember how to make my way to my own room.

Kyle is intoxicating. He’s so close and all I want is to be closer. The world has narrowed until it’s only the two of us there.

He doesn’t seem to be looking any better than me. His face flushes and his pupils are dilated. Despite his question, he hasn’t made a single step toward the bedroom either, desperate not to lose the connection between the two of us for even a second.

It’s so much. It’s almost too much. But I never want to it to end as I writhe against him, feeling him and smelling him, his overwhelming presence surrounding me.

Then my mind starts moving again and I breathe in deeply, trying to calm my roiling mind for a single moment.

“Bedroom,” I remind him, though it’s hard to keep that thought while his thumbs are massaging circles into my hips. “Down the hall, to the left.” I lift my hands and bury them in his hair, lifting myself up so I can be closer to his face. “And then you can fuck me as hard as you want.”

Kyle shudders and he steps back. I clasp his hands, not wanting to lose him completely, and pull him in the direction I want to go. We have to step over some half-unpacked boxes as we go, but neither of us notices much as we go, too focused on our goal and what will happen next.

Tomorrow will be a new day, when the two of us, as strangers, will face one another and say goodbye. As such, I fully intend on getting everything I can out of tonight.

Chapter Four

Kyle

She’s still wearing those fucking heels, despite the fact that she’s only clad in panties and a bra, her hips swaying tantalizing as she leads me towards her bedroom. A distant part of my mind notes that the apartment is a bit of a mess right now, but I can’t find it in me to care. My entire focus is on Allison and the alluring smile on her lips.

I don’t know why Allison has decided that she wants me. I don’t know why she suddenly kissed me and convinced me to follow her to her apartment, knowing that we were going to have sex. It’s somehow different to the girls that I take home from the bar for a single night; I stopped that bastard from assaulting her, and now I’m going to sleep with her? It feels like I’ve missed a step somewhere.

But it’s hard to remember that with her half-naked in front of me, as she uses her body to drag me in closer. The way her hands run over me, worshipping my skin and melting into me, makes fire burn deep inside me. And now I’m too full of lust to even want to think logically. All I want is Allison, so I follow her to the bedroom, wanting everything she will give me and to give her everything I can.

As such, I don’t stop my body, when we reach the closed door of her bedroom, from pushing her up against it and capturing her lips in another scorching kiss, desperate to feel every line of her body again. We’ve walked barely six steps from the front door, but even that feels too far. I’m addicted to the feel of her, and there’s no way I’ll ever be able to get enough.

She doesn’t seem to mind, kissing me back just as enthusiastically. She fumbles with the doorknob behind her, and then the door swings open, making us stumble into the darkened room. Allison’s hand flicks out and catches a switch before we go too far, bathing the room in light.

The room is small and there are several boxes here, too. Several of them are in the way, and Allison pulls back with a scowl to kick them aside. I wince as one box clinks, wondering if there’s anything breakable in there.

Then her eyes are on me again, burning with passion, and I forget all about the box.

The bed is large and unmade, and I can imagine her rushing out of bed in the morning, forgetting to clean up after herself in her hurry. Allison smiles, pulling me backward, and I reach out, fully intent on tumbling down on the bed with her.

But, before I can do anything, she changes positions on me and pushes me down first. I land on the mattress with a muffled whump, and I stare up at her as she leans over me, her hair forming a curtain around us that cuts off the outside world.

“God, I want to feel every bit of you,” she whispers, her hands drifting down my sides. My hips buck upwards without my permission. “I want to feel every inch of you inside me.”

I groan and grip her hips as she swings a leg over me and straddles my lap. I can feel the heat of her skin teasing mine, but she’s sitting on her knees, hovering just shy of my groin. She slides her hands up my chest and then her fingers tighten on my shoulders as she leans her face towards mine.

“You’re still wearing too much,” she murmurs.

And then she lowers herself down and our clothed groins meet. It’s both too much and not enough all at once, and I pant beneath her, my arms going around her as I fumble with the latch of her bra. These fucking things are always too hard to handle, but I’m careful not to be too harsh on it; last time, I broke it, and the woman I was with hadn’t been impressed.

“So are you,” I say, my voice rough with need.

The bra suddenly loosens in my hand and I push it off her shoulders, leaning up to press fleeting kisses that make her shiver down her arm as I do so. Her breasts bounce free of their confines and I abandon her arm to bite at the soft skin on her right breast instead, making her gasp and arch her back.

“So fucking sensitive,” I growl with a grin. “And we haven’t even gotten to the best part.”

I move down to her nipple, which is already hardening in the chilly air, and lick it teasingly. Allison groans, wriggling on my lap, and my hips buck upward in response. Shit! I’m achingly hard, and far too close to the edge.

Trying to take my mind off the waves of lust that are threatening to drag me under, I wrap my mouth around the nipple and swirl my tongue around it, biting lightly. Allison gasps and writhes on me, and I slip my hands downward so I can rub my palms on the insides of her thighs, kneading the skin there. Her legs obligingly fall further apart, and I use one of my hands to touch her wet panties, teasing her as she tries to rub frantically against me.

“These need to come off,” I growl, lifting my mouth off her breast.

I finger the band of her panties and tug them down. Allison lifts her hips first and then slips off my lap when I can’t pull them down any further so she can step out of them, leaving her totally naked. I sit up and push my boxers down as well, kicking them off to the side somewhere.

For a moment we look at each other, hungrily taking one another in.

“You’re so fucking perfect,” I say with a slow smile. “I can’t wait to be in you.”

She steps forward and I slip one arm around her waist, pulling her in so that she’s standing between my legs. My other arm cups the back of her neck and I lean up to meet her lips. The kiss is sloppy and frenzied, our hands flying everywhere as we touch and taste and feel, but we’re close now, too close, to the edge of it. There’s no more teasing. I need her now.

I stand suddenly, pushing Allison backward a step, and our kiss breaks. She doesn’t have time to do anything more than give me a startled look before I change our positions, turning us around so that I can push her down onto the bed, leaning over. I brace my arms on either side of her head and thrust against her body, both of us groaning at the overwhelming sensations.

“Shit!” Allison says, throwing her head back. “Shit!”

I let out a breathless laugh, distantly amused that I have reduced her to single syllable swear words. I pant harshly; it’s hard to catch my breath in the heat that’s surrounding us, which forms tight bands around my chest as my body aches for release.

“I’m going to fuck you now,” I promise. “I’m going to fuck you hard.”

I pull back and, with one hand, line myself up at her entrance. I meet her eyes briefly, taking in the glazed lust that I know I’m sharing, and then I slide into her.

It’s overwhelming. The heat of her body almost drowns me, and her muscles are pressing so tightly against me that I almost let go then and there. I pause, shuddering, catching my breath, before I push further into her, bit by bit. Allison writhes beneath me, her hips thrusting down shallowly as she tries to take more of me in.

Finally, after what seems like forever, I’m fully seated in her. I stop, breathing deeply, and she stills too, adjusting to the feel of me in her. Sweat is pouring off my skin and my head is spinning.

Then Allison’s thighs clench around me and she looks up at me, her eyes burning.

“Move,” she commands.

I can’t do anything other than obey. I slide out of her until only the tip is still teasing her entrance, and then I thrust my hips forwards, snapping back into her body with a force that jolts us both. Not pausing for even a moment, I thrust into her again, and then again.

Allison’s nails scrabble at my shoulders as she tries to find purchase on my slick skin, and her hips thrust against mine, pulling me deeper and deeper. The whole world has narrowed until there is only me, her and the connection that has sprung up between us. I reach down to pull one of Allison’s legs up to my hip, changing the angle of my thrusts, and she lets out a choked cry as I hit her g-spot, making shuddering waves go through her.

“Harder, fuck me harder,” she moans.

Heat is crashing down over the two of us, building into an inferno that blazes around us and tears at me. Allison is gasping out sobs, writhing in pleasure, clutching at me with an unforgiving grip, and I feel like I’m about to burst.

Then, finally, a wave of lust sends me over the edge, and I let out a cry as my entire body shakes with its release. Allison trembles with me, and I thrust twice more, riding out our orgasms together.

After long moments, the heat slowly begins to dissipate. My arms tremble with the effort to continue holding me up. When it becomes too much, I pull out of Allison, completely spent, and crash down on the bed beside her. We pant together, breaths heaving at our chests.

“Wow,” Allison finally says.

She looks over at me. I give her a tired grin back. My legs feel like jelly, and it’s hard to believe that, only an hour or so ago, I was heading home to go to bed.

Reminded of this, I glance at the time. It’s incredibly late, now, almost too late to be going home. But the thought of asking Allison if I can stay is suddenly awkward.

Suddenly, Allison snorts.

“Now I’m more tired than I was before,” she says with a yawn.

She scoots up the bed and straightens the covers a little so she can slide underneath them. I watch her do this, too tired to move. Then she looks at me and raises an eyebrow.

“Are you coming, or are you just going to sleep at the end of my bed?” she asks.

Well, that answers the question. I’m too tired to argue, so I make my way to the top of the bed and slide under the covers, too, only just remembering to grab my phone; right before we unclothed by the front door, I had grabbed it out of my pocket and thrown it on the bed when we made our way into the room, knowing I would need it in the morning. I place it on the bedside table and melt into the soft mattress with a sigh.

I could deal with the awkwardness in the morning. Right now, I’m more than happy to finally get to sleep.

* * *

My alarm blares out and, on impulse, my hand shoots out and reaches to tap it. When I don’t find it straight away, I fumble around for a moment until I find the rectangular object. My eyes slit open so I can see a blurry light in the darkness, and I press a red button, making the room go blessedly silent. Sighing in relief, I close my eyes again, knowing that I have another ten minutes before the alarm will go off again.

Then my eyes open again. My phone is normally on my bedside table, which is on the left. Just now, however, my phone is to the right of me.

And, now that I’m paying attention, these sheets are soft and smell vaguely like lavender. My sheets are a little coarse due to how old they are, and I don’t put any of that sweet-smelling shit in my washing machine.

There’s also someone in the unfamiliar bed with me.

It takes me a moment for the memories to return. I didn’t have much to drink last night, and I’d had to go home early. That was when I stumbled on…

Allison.

I sit up quickly. Beside me, Allison stirs and then curls up a little on her side, her hair splayed on the pillow she’s laying on. She’s covered only by a thin sheet and, remembering how we went to bed the night before, I know she’s naked under it.

I blink. Taking Allison to bed…had not been how I had expected the night to go.

I can’t say I regret any of it, though.

Would she? I consider her carefully. She had just thrown herself at a stranger and taken him home. It had been incredibly good sex, yes, but neither of us knew each other. Was she the one-night-stand type normally? Or had last night been special because of the appearance of her ex?

It doesn’t matter, I decide with a shrug. We had sex, it was amazing, but the night is over now, and it’s time for us to get back to our real lives. I snatch my phone off the table and slip out of bed. She makes a humming noise in her sleep at the movement, and I quietly find my boxers, slipping them on before creeping out of the room.

I almost trip over a box that’s almost in the door, and I only just manage to sidestep it with a wince. Then I carefully close Allison’s bedroom door behind me and look around for the rest of my clothes.

I don’t know what type of person Allison is, but I don’t want to be here when she wakes up and regrets the hasty decisions she made last night. I’d rather keep the memory intact and leave with dignity.

Nodding to myself, I get dressed and leave the apartment, bidding Allison a silent farewell as I go. It’s unlikely, after all, that we’ll meet again.

Chapter Five

Allison

I wake up with the uncomfortable feeling that I should be remembering something.

I open my eyes and look around my room with a yawn. All my boxes are scattered around, still half-unpacked. Of course, unpacking is always on my mental to-do list. I just need to find the time to get around to it.

I glance at the clock. It’s eight-thirty, and my first class isn’t until eleven. So I’m not forgetting to go to college.

Then I realize that I’m lying on the left side of the bed. Normally I splay out in the middle, but I seem to have curled up to one side in the middle of the night. That’s unusual for me. It’s almost like I was making room for someone else…

And then, abruptly, memory slams into me.

Kyle!

I sit up, suddenly wide awake. My mind is working furiously, reminding me of everything that transpired last night. Seeing Jesse, whose personality had suddenly done an about-turn. Getting saved by Kyle. Hearing him jokingly suggest sex as payment for saving me. Deciding to take him up on that offer right there in the alley, which led me to invite him back to my apartment. Having sex with him and then telling him to stay because it was late.

“Shit,” I say aloud.

So, that apparently happened. I don’t know what came over me last night. Was it the alcohol? I hadn’t been that drunk! The appearance of Jesse? I vaguely remember telling Kyle to make me forget about my ex. Maybe it was Kyle’s muscles? They had been pretty amazing.

I flush at the memory of running my hands over his smooth, firm chest, feeling the dips of his skin and asking him how often he worked out. He was a mechanic, wasn’t he?

That’s right, because I asked him to take a look at Jacqui’s car.

Oh boy. Jacqui.

She’s either going to murder me for being so careless, or laugh herself stupid. To be honest, I’m not looking forward to either reaction.

I groan and rub a hand down my face. My head is throbbing, and I could really use some aspirin about now. Slowly, I get out of bed, grabbing a robe on the floor to wrap around my naked body, and shuffle out of my room.

In the living area, I look around. A tiny part of me expected to find Kyle out here, but I’m both disappointed and relieved to see that he isn’t. Disappointed because I hoped to at least thank him properly (without throwing myself all over him, this time) for his help with Jesse. Relieved because I’m so damn embarrassed about last night, and I don’t really want to have to face him right now.

In all honesty, I probably won’t see him again. I’ll refer Jacqui to him, but I won’t need to go with her. I don’t know where he lives and, while he knows where I live, he didn’t seem like the type of guy to track down a one-night stand…especially after he went through all the trouble of sneaking out before I woke up.

Alright then. What happened, happened, and I should just leave it in the past, where it belongs. Kyle is gone, we had a nice night, and now I need to focus on my own life, which includes getting ready for college.

Nodding to myself, I retreat to my bathroom. Right, no more thinking about Kyle.

* * *

Unfortunately, it’s hard to do that. As I shower and rub soap over myself, it’s hard not to remember his large, calloused hands wandering over my body. When I shove that thought away and tangle my hands in my hair as I wash it instead, I remember his fingers caressing my scalp.

I leave the shower, thoroughly irritated with myself, and track down some clothes. I find the bra and panties that I pulled off last night, and I remember the way Kyle fumbled with the bra, trying not to break it. I throw my underwear in the wash basket and grab some new clothes.

Of course, I had forgotten the clothes that I left in the doorway, where Kyle and I originally began undressing each other. Kyle appears to have moved them to the side so he wouldn’t trip over them, but they’re still a stark reminder of being pushed up against the door and thoroughly kissed.

Damn it, I think sourly as I throw those clothes in the basket, too.

Everything about Kyle was absolutely intoxicating last night, and it’s difficult to forget that. As such, I’m glad to finally leave my apartment and make my way to the bus stop.

The journey to the college is quiet; there are several other people on the bus, but they’re all focused on their own thing. I pull my phone out and tap a message out to Jacqui.

“Just on my way, where are you?”

A message comes in seconds later.

“You’re early today. Something wrong?”

I glance at my watch and wince. In my zeal to get out of my apartment, I had left far earlier than I meant to; it’s only nine thirty now.

“No, just got bored at home.”

“You could do some of that unpacking.”

I snort at the reply. It’s fast getting to the point where I wouldn’t be able to use the excuse that “I’ve just left my boyfriend and found a place to stay,” for why I haven’t finished unpacking. Jacqui never took that excuse at face value in the first place. She knows me well enough to know that I haven’t unpacked because I hate doing it.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you later for class.”

I’m about to put my phone away when it chimes with one last message.

“I’m already out. I’ll meet you there soon.”

I smile. I have a feeling that Jacqui hasn’t bought my excuse that I was just bored at home, and is checking on me. She really is a good friend.

Because she has a car and lives closer, my friend is already there by the time the bus pulls up outside. I yawn and step down, smiling as I see the curly-haired, dark-skinned woman leaning against the fence, reading something on her phone. She looks up as I approach.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” she asks in greeting.

Looks like I didn’t manage to cover up the bags under my eyes as well as I hoped I had.

“Some,” I defend. “Just…not as much as I should have.”

“What did you do?” Jacqui snorts. “Stay up all night eating chips and watching movies?”

“No, I… Hey, how did you know I stopped to get chips?” I ask.

“You always do that when you’ve been drinking,” Jacqui says with a roll of her eyes. “You stop at that little corner shop near your place and grab snacks, and then you gorge on them while watching movies until you fall asleep on your couch.”

I cast my mind back to other times I’ve walked home after drinking. Huh… She’s right, I do all that, don’t I?

Except I didn’t do that last night. Last night I grabbed a random man off the street and took him home to sleep with him, instead.

Jacqui eyes me, looking suspicious.

“You always follow that pattern,” she says. “What was different about last night?”

I draw in a deep breath. She was going to find out eventually; I can’t hold my tongue after I’ve started drinking, normally, so I’ll end up telling her whether I want to or not. It’ll be better for me in the long run if I just tell her now.

“So… I ran into Jesse,” I offer first.

Jacqui immediately scowls.

“That jackass?” she asks. “What did he want?”

“It was actually just a coincidence,” I assure her. “I ran into him after I bought my snacks. He wanted to get back together.”

“And you told him to get lost,” Jacquie says.

“Pretty much,” I admit. “He didn’t take it very well.”

Jacqui eyes me. “What do you mean by that?”

I rub my left shoulder. There are bruise marks on my skin this morning, and I’m pretty sure Jesse was the one that left them. Jacqui’s expression darkens.

“I’ll kill him,” she hisses.

“It’s okay,” I say. Jacqui scowls at me. “Well, no, it isn’t, but he was really drunk. I probably won’t see him again. And if I do, I’ll probably slap him, anyway. Besides, he got punched before he could really try anything.”

“By who?” Jacqui asks, startled.

“Ah… A guy named Kyle,” I say, clearing my throat. I turn to walk into the college grounds, and Jacqui falls into step beside me, looking curious. “He saw Jesse threatening me, so he came over, punched Jesse, and grabbed me so we could run.”

“Wow,” Jacqui says. “A knight in shining armor.”

“More like a tough guy with a leather jacket and really amazing muscles,” I correct.

All at once I know I’ve said far too much. Jacqui stops, staring at me.

“How do you know how amazing his muscles are?” she asks.

I flush. I see dawning comprehension on Jacqui’s face and I brace myself for her reaction. No matter how much I tried to prepare myself for it, however, my face still blazes red when Jacqui starts laughing.

“Seriously?” she crows.

“I was…a little drunk,” I mutter, trying to defend myself.

“Uh, no,” Jacqui says. “‘A little drunk’ is when you buy a shitload of snacks and eat them while sobbing over children’s movies. Taking a random guy off the street to have sex with him isn’t ‘a little drunk’. Damn, I should have kept a better eye on what you were drinking last night.”

“Look, it was just a freak series of circumstances,” I say, huffing. “He saved me from Jesse, and then he made a joke in bad taste about repayment…and I just wanted to forget about Jesse and everything else so I took him up on it.”

“I’m sure he didn’t mind at all,” Jacqui says dryly.

“He actually did try and push me away once,” I say, suddenly remembering. “He said that he didn’t think having sex with a stranger was a good coping method after Jesse cornered me.”

“Really?” Jacqui asks, intrigued. “So, he sounds like a genuinely nice guy, then. Are you going to see him again?”

“What… No!” I say, horrified at the thought.

Just thinking about facing Kyle after last night… There’s no way I can live it down. I was the one that threw myself at him.

“So you didn’t even get his number?” Jacqui asks, incredulous.

“He left while I was asleep this morning,” I say with a shrug. “So don’t just blame me for that one. We had sex, we fell asleep, and then he left.”

“Well…” Jacqui paused. “Does that mean he was at your apartment?”

I wince. I hadn’t meant to let that one slip.

“Allison!” Jacqui scolds. “Now he knows where you live!”

“He went to all the trouble of sneaking out,” I protest. “What are the chances of him coming back?”

“Who knows; you certainly don’t,” Jacqui points out. “He’s as much a stranger to you as he is to me.”

I remember the feel of his skin, of how it had felt to have his throbbing dick inside me, and swallow.

“Maybe he’s just a little less of a stranger to me than you,” I say.

Jacqui stares at me. Then she snorts, shaking her head.

“Whatever, too late now,” she says. “Now, tell me why you don’t want to see him again? He seems like a nice guy, and you were positively drooling when you talked about his muscles before.”

“Hey,” I say, blushing. “He seemed like a nice guy but, as you said, I don’t really know him. Besides, it was just a one-night-stand, nothing more.”

Jacqui stares at me with narrowed eyes.

“You’re embarrassed,” she concludes and I scowl at her. “Really? I don’t know why you’re so embarrassed. If I banged a guy that’s as hot as you seem to think he is, I wouldn’t have anything to be embarrassed about.”

“He was good looking,” I admit. I sigh. “You didn’t see me last night. I was all over him to convince him to have sex with me.”

“Well, you got what you wanted,” Jacqui points out.

“Not the point,” I huff. “Besides, I wouldn’t know how to find him.”

“I just think it’s pointless to be embarrassed now,” Jacqui says, shrugging. “If you really want, I can help you track him down?”

The thing is, I do know how to find Kyle if I want to. He told me where he works. I could easily go there and find him at some point.

But I think it’s best not to.

“No,” I decide. “Last night was nice, but I don’t want a relationship with someone based on the way we tumbled into bed on the first night we met.”

“Uh huh,” Jacqui says, clearly skeptical. “Whatever you want, Allison. Well, either way, the offer stands if you change your mind.”

“I know,” I assure her. “Thanks.”

She rolls her eyes at me, but grins. Then she slings an arm over my shoulder.

“So, you prepared for the test today?” she asks.

I freeze.

“Test?” I croak.

Oh, damn, I forgot about the test today. It was nowhere near as important as the grueling exams we just went through, but it will count toward a percentage of my class marks.

I had been fully prepared to go home last night and take a look over my notes before bed. Then I was going to quickly scan them when I got up in the morning.

Everything with Kyle, however, pushed all thoughts of study out the window.

“Well, look at you, Miss Studious!” Jacqui teases. “All grown up and forgetting about your studies after a good round of sex. Maybe I should track Kyle down for you; at least he got you to stop stressing!”

That’s it, I’m definitely not recommending the workshop where Kyle works as the mechanic to Jacqui. I don’t need to give her any more ammunition than I already have.

“Yeah, but now I’m really stressed!” I say, panicked. I wrack my mind. “What was the test on again?”

“Wow,” Jacqui whistles. She seems far too amused by all this. “You had a really good night.”

“It isn’t funny!” I snap.

“Sorry,” Jacqui says, smile finally falling.

She glances at me and I cross my arms, feeling oddly vulnerable under her gaze. Her lips are pursed now.

“Allison… Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks. “I mean, not about Kyle. About Jesse.”

I wince a little. I haven’t had much time to think about Jesse, in all honesty. After first sleeping with Kyle and then trying to forget about him this morning, I haven’t had much time to consider my encounter with him.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t remember it. My chest feels oddly tight as I remember the look in his eyes as he rushed at me. He had looked insane…like he had wanted to hurt me.

Would he have hurt me? I would have said ‘no’, right up until the moment he grabbed me by the shoulders and slammed me against the fence. He had been incredibly drunk, yes, but that was definitely no excuse. I’ve seen Jesse far drunker than that, and he had never before laid a hand on me.

But… I cast my mind back. Shouldn’t that be more of a surprise? I know exactly how violent Jesse is. I’m probably the only person in his life who he hasn’t hit before. When alcohol hits his system, he becomes cruel and prone to lashing out with his fists. But, during his arguments, he always took that violence out on our furniture instead, and I became comfortable in the idea that I was safe from him.

I’m not Jesse’s girlfriend anymore, though. Was that title the only thing that had held him back? Now that that’s gone… Well, he obviously didn’t hesitate to lay a hand on me last night.

Does that mean I’m not safe from him anymore?

I shake the paranoid thought from my mind immediately. I meant what I said to Kyle. Jesse is foolish and cowardly. He faces his problems when they come to him, but otherwise, he prowls around his apartment and growls about it because he refuses to deal with it on his own. No, Jesse won’t track me down to get some sort of stupid revenge on me. He wouldn’t even think to do it.

“It’s fine,” I assure Jacqui. “It was just a surprise, that’s all. Jesse hasn’t changed a bit, and I don’t have to think about him anymore. After Kyle punched him, he probably ran off with his tail between his legs, and he’s hiding out at his apartment now, cursing both of us. It’ll be fine.”

Jacqui gives me a look. It’s familiar because it’s the same look Kyle gave me last night, when I tried to assure him that Jesse wouldn’t come after me again. It’s a look that told me neither of them believed me, that they preferred to believe the worst of Jesse instead.

But I’m the one that dated Jesse for two years. I think I know best in this sort of situation.

“Okay,” Jacqui says after a long moment. “Just be careful, okay?”

“Of course,” I say with a smile.

It would all be fine. I can take care of myself, after all, and I definitely don’t need protecting from stupid, cowardly Jesse.

Chapter Six

Kyle

Old Man Brooks raises a disapproving eyebrow at me.

“Something on your mind, boy?” he asks.

I twitch. I’m twenty-nine, so I’m hardly a “boy”, despite the huge age difference between me and Brooks. Still, I let him get away with it because the old man signs my paycheck and was the one that picked me up and gave me a job in the first place. I know he doesn’t mean anything by it, after all.

“No,” I say.

Brooks glares at me, definitely not believing me. I can’t say I blame him; I’ve been distracted all day.

Which is hardly my fault. Even while I was trying not to think about it, it was difficult not to remember the feel of Allison’s silky, smooth skin, the way her body moved against mine or the burning look in her eyes.

Brooks snorts, and I realize that my mind is wandering again. I cough awkwardly.

“I know that look on your face,” the old man says, rolling his eyes. “Who is she, then, and why haven’t I met her yet?”

I look at him dumbly.

“Huh?” I ask.

“The girl you’re so smitten with,” Brooks says.

I haven’t blushed in years. It’s something of a pride thing with me, since it’s so hard to embarrass me, normally. At Brooks’ words, however, I feel a flush rising over my skin, and I slide back under the black car I’ve been working on.

“There’s no one,” I say to him, feeling a little better now that I don’t have to see the intrigued look in Brooks’ eyes.

“I might be old, but I’m not a fool,” Brooks snorts.

“I’m not lying,” I insist. “Look, there was a woman, last night, but it was literally just a one-night thing. I don’t even have her number.”

Brooks is silent and I think I’ve won. Then something hard whacks me around the ankles.

“Ow!” I yelp, and slide out from under the car again. Brooks is holding a metal pipe. “What was that for?”

“For being a fucking idiot,” Brooks says bluntly. “If you’re that interested in her, why didn’t you at least leave your number?”

“Well…” I clear my throat. “She… Look, she wasn’t in her right mind, exactly, she was fucking throwing herself at me to try and forget her ex…and I figured she’d probably regret it, so I left before she woke up.”

“Not in her right mind?” Brooks asks with narrowed eyes.

“I didn’t take advantage!” I assure him quickly. “I even tried to push her away and tell her to stop but…”

It had been really fucking hard, alright? How was I was supposed to resist when she was wriggling against me like that, doing everything in her power to make me lose control? It wasn’t that I hadn’t wanted her, I did, so much, and I definitely tried to make her reconsider, but eventually I just gave it up as a lost cause and went with the flow. As such, we had an amazing night.

An amazing night that wouldn’t be getting a repeat.

“It’s fine,” I say as Brooks thinks about my words. “I told her where I work and I know where she lives. If either of us wants to find each other, we know how to. But…” I shrug. “It was just one night, old man. Nothing special.”

“Right,” Brooks snorts. “And I’m a cucumber.”

He turns to wander away. I watch his retreating back, confused. I really shouldn’t ask. I know the old man is setting a trap for me. But…

“What do you mean?” I ask.

It’s impossible not to fall for it, sometimes, especially when I’m too curious for my own good.

“You have to ask?” Brooks asks. “Then you’re stupider than you look, boy.”

I scowl. It’s a familiar insult. Brooks and I spend half our days trading insults back and forth, trying to get the better of each other. This one, however, feels real.

“I’m not stupid,” I snap.

“So, you’re going to sit there and say that this girl means nothing when you’ve spent the entire day thinking about her?” Brooks demands.

Well… When he puts it like that...

“I don’t even know her,” I tell him. “If I’m smitten with anything, it’s just with her body. It’s just fucking lust, it’ll go away.”

Brooks rolls his eyes at me.

“Fine, fine,” he says, clearly not believing me. “Just finish up that car and go home; your work today has been all over the place, so clear your head and come back for the next shift ready to think only about cars. When are you back?”

“After the weekend,” I say, remembering my calendar.

“Good, you have a few days to get it off your system,” Brooks says.

He wanders off, muttering to himself. I shake my head and roll back under the car. I don’t really know exactly what Brooks was getting at but, if it has anything to do with having feelings for Allison, then he’s completely wrong.

It’s just lust for a beautiful stranger. That’s all.

* * *

Having gotten off work early, it’s still mid-afternoon when I wander into the Anchor Bar. Only one person is there, standing behind the bar as he sorts bottles and hums along to the music playing on the radio. He stares as I approach, blinking at me in confusion before he smiles.

“Kyle!” Grant Johnson says. “What are you doing here so early?”

“Old Man Brooks told me to take the rest of the afternoon off,” I say, sitting on one of the stools. “You working tonight?”

“Yeah, I’ve only just clocked on,” Grant says, glancing at the clock. “It’ll be a long night, that’s for sure.” He smiles. There’s something giddy about his expression and it takes me a moment longer than I want to admit to remember that we all have something to celebrate. “But that’s fine.”

“How long did you guys celebrate last night?” I ask.

“Way past the time I normally close,” Grant laughs. “It was Wednesday, so I normally close around the time you left, but word spread quickly and…” He laughs again. “Extra hours for me, anyway! Even Tom hung around.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m sure he did.”

Grant grins at me. It’s normally best to keep Tom and me as far away from each other as possible. While Tom rubs most people the wrong way, the two of us are so completely different that we clash every time we meet.

“So, anyway, any particular reason you clocked off early today?” Grant asks, pouring me a beer and sliding it over to me. “You were complaining just yesterday about working long hours.”

“Was I?” I muttered. I scowled into the glass. “Brooks thought my head was in the fucking clouds.”

Which, admittedly, it was. I’m not surprised Brooks noticed how distracted I’d been.

“Over the house?” Grant asked.

I looked at him, startled. Damn it, I could have told Brooks that that was what I was thinking of! But I’d completely forgotten about it.

For several months, the Roughshod Rollers, a group of motorcycle enthusiasts, had been fighting against a corrupt councilman for the rights to use a house that had once belonged to one of our departed members. After his mother died, the house had become ownerless, and we had scrambled, unsuccessfully, to raise enough money to buy it ourselves. Originally, it was due to be torn down to make room for a small store in the next week or so.

Then Alex Howard, one of our members and a private detective, smart bastard that he is, had come through with enough information to expose the councilman’s shitty dealings. We’re still waiting to hear the final outcome, but the case is now in the hands of the police, and Alex is angling to get the house donated from the no-doubt embarrassed council. He’s sly enough, too, that he’ll get what he wants.

And once we have it back in our grasp, we’ll be able to use that money to finally fix the place up. It’s old and falling down, and it’s about time it gets a new coat of paint.

“It’s great that we won,” I say, avoiding the question. “Have you heard anything from Alex?”

“Nothing,” Grant says. His eyes narrow slightly. Grant is an amazing bartender; he sits for several nights a week and listens to everyone’s problems, and gives them either advice or a swift kick up the rear, depending on the situation. He’s also very good at reading body language and drawing secrets out of people. “What’s going on with you?”

I should have known better than to try to hide it from this guy, I think with a roll of my eyes. At least I’m the only one here and, if it has to be anyone, I’m not opposed to confiding in Grant.

Besides, I feel like I’m about to burst. I need to talk to someone about all this.

“Something…happened on my way home last night,” I admit. “I ran across a man threatening a woman. Turned out he was her ex and he hadn’t taken well to breaking up.”

Remembering the burning insanity in Jesse’s eyes, I can’t help but think that that’s the fucking understatement of the year.

“Okay…?” Grant says slowly.

“I got her out of there,” I say with a shrug, taking a long sip of my beer. “Her name was Allison. Witty. She’s a law student.”

Grant looks a little confused. I sigh.

“One thing led to another,” I say gruffly. “I went back to her apartment.”

Grant’s expression clears. Slowly, he puts down his glass.

“You slept with a woman that had just been assaulted by her ex-boyfriend?” he asks.

Put like that it sounds fucking horrible. I huff and glare at him. Both Grant and Brooks have assumed I’ve done something wrong here, and I feel personally insulted by it.

“She came onto me,” I snapped. “And I made sure it was what she wanted. I’d like to see how well you would have held up under something like that.”

The consternation drops from Grant’s face. The smirk that is forming on his lips, however, isn’t much better.

“So this Allison is what you were distracted by at work?” he asks, and it sounds like he’s trying not to laugh.

I glower at him. I knew I shouldn’t have said anything.

“It was just a one-night-stand,” I growl. “It’s nothing to get all worked up over.”

“I’m not the one getting worked up, here,” Grant points out. “You’re the one getting defensive.”

I snort. “Shut the fuck up. Look, it was nothing. She needed comfort, we both wanted sex, we slept together, I left this morning. No big deal.”

“Who are you trying to convince; you or me?” Grant teases.

I glare at him again. Damn it, he’s not going to let this go, now. Grant raises his hands in apparent surrender.

“Sorry, sorry,” he says. “It just surprised me, is all.” He pauses. “But, in all seriousness…why is the woman playing on your mind so much?”

I wish I could answer that question. She was beautiful, no doubt about it. She was also strong-willed and more than capable of going after what she wanted. She’s also very much out of my league.

So I just shrug. There’s no reason for me to constantly be thinking about this. The night is over now, and we’ve both gone back to our regular lives.

“It was just one night,” I repeat.

“Yeah, but you normally don’t get like this over one night,” Grant points out. “Is it because you didn’t pick her up at the bar?” He quirks an eyebrow at me. “Or is this about your big macho protective thing that you have going on?”

“What?” I ask, startled. “What big macho protective thing?”

“You, my friend, have a tendency to stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong, and you’re a sucker for protecting others,” Grant says, shrugging. “It’s why you’ll never get along with Tom. It’s not a bad thing, but maybe you’ve seen this woman as someone you want to protect, and that’s why you can’t get her out of her head.”

I want to protest. It sounds absolutely ridiculous. But then I remember the fear in Allison’s eyes as Jesse advanced on her, the fear that had spurred me to act in the first place.

“You make it sound like I get a fucking rush from saving people,” I say gruffly, looking into my beer.

“Don’t you?” Grant grins. “Don’t worry about it so much, Kyle. Besides, I’m sure Allison was grateful.”

Was she? I vaguely remember her thanking me for both the help and for punching the ex.

What did any of it matter, anyway? I helped Allison, we wound up tumbling into bed because we were both a little drunk and very stupid, and now we’ve parted ways. She’s probably forgotten all about last night by now.

I take another long sip of my beer, wondering why that thought irritates me.

“Are you going to call her?” Grant asks with a smile, teasing again now.

I shoot him a glare. “I don’t have her fucking number.”

“Really?” Grant asks. He laughs. “Well, you know where she lives, you could always just knock on her door…”

“No, thanks,” I snap. “I’m not going to be that psycho who chases a woman after having sex with her once. Just leave it, Grant. Sorry I said anything in the first place.”

I don’t know why I’m suddenly so angry. Grant stares at me, frowning in thought, and I hunch my shoulders slightly before draining the rest of my beer. Then the bartender smiles and nods.

“Whatever works for you,” he says cheerfully. “Any plans for the night?”

“Getting drunk,” I say, pointedly sliding my empty mug over to him.

“Sure, as long as you order something to eat, too,” Grant laughs. “Want some hot fries?”

I want to say no. But my stomach rumbles before I can and I scowl.

“Fine,” I say with a huff.

Grant laughs and goes out the back, presumably to put some fries in the fryer. I huff and prop my head on my hand. Somehow, it feels like it’s going to be a long night.

Chapter Seven

Kyle

I’m decently tipsy by the time others start trickling into the bar, and I wave to some that I recognize. Several people clap me on the back in greeting or in congratulations for getting our house back before settling in booths, at tables or somewhere along the bar.

Then an arm drapes over my shoulders.

“Did you put on more muscle?” a voice gasps in mock shock.

I roll my eyes and turn to face Ethan Martin. The man is loud and occasionally obnoxious, but he’s kind to everyone, and one of his favorite pastimes is talking about his daughter, Lily, who is adorable. Last night, he left earlier than I did, going home at around seven-thirty so he could see his daughter before she went to sleep.

He’s a good dad.

Though…

“Hey, Ethan,” I say. “I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”

“Georgia was annoyed with me coming home early yesterday,” Ethan says, rolling his eyes as he drops his arm. “She said she offered to babysit so I could have a real night out, not so I could hang for an hour and then come home. So she kicked me out of the house and told me to come back after a few hours.” He grins, mischievous. “I’m going to give it two.”

I chortle. Georgia Turner, Ethan’s feisty childhood friend, should really know him better than that. The man is an expert in finding loopholes just so he can piss people off.

“Anyway, enough about me,” Ethan says, his eyes gleaming in a way that makes me instantly wary. “Who’s the babe that Grant says you’re seeing?”

I shoot the bartender a betrayed look. He shrugs back with an innocent smile.

“I’m not seeing anyone,” I deny through gritted teeth. “It was a one-night thing.”

“That I would believe if you didn’t pick her up off the street,” Ethan says airily.

“Don’t say that; it makes her sound like a fucking hooker,” I protest.

“Oh, so she wasn’t?” Ethan asks, pretending to be surprised. “That means it was something special, right?”

Ethan and Grant are my best friends within the club. We met once we’d all joined, and they’re the two that I enjoy speaking to the most.

Right now, however, as I rub the bridge of my nose, I know I could cheerfully throttle them both.

As Ethan laughs, I cast my eyes around the bar. It’s fuller now, with more people coming in every now and then. As I glance at the door, it opens and a single man walks in.

He’s vaguely familiar, but it’s hard to tell why I recognize him. He isn’t in the club, and I haven’t seen him in the bar before. I contemplate him, wondering where I know him from.

“So, where’s the damsel in distress now?” Ethan asks.

I remember the way Allison had thrown herself at me and broke down all my protests, and snort.

“She’s no damsel in distress,” I say, rolling my eyes. “And I assume she’s at home or out with friends. Who knows?”

“You mean you haven’t been obsessively texting her, telling her what a wonderful night you both had and how much you can’t wait to see her again?” Ethan gasps dramatically.

I huff and reach out to cuff him around the head. But several others are already sniggering at me, and I glare at them all until they look away, intimidated.

“Cut it out,” I snap. “First, it was one night, and it only happened because we were stupid. Second, I don’t even have her number, dick. Third, can you really see me doing something like that?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Ethan says thoughtfully. “I can absolutely see you lying on your bed, waiting for the next text. “Darling Allison, the sight of your beautiful eyes-”

That was as far as he got before I calmly pick up my mug, which has only a few centimeters of drink left in it, and tip it over his head. Ethan stops, stunned.

Raucous laughter starts up at the sight and Grant sighs as he makes his way over, throwing a towel at Ethan’s face.

“You’re cleaning that up,” he says to me.

“Yeah, fine,” I say, unable to help grinning.

It was completely worth it.

* * *

The next hours pass quickly with loud laughter and obnoxious jokes. It becomes easy to put Allison out of my mind as I joke around with my friends, rolling my eyes when they say something stupid and competing to see who can drink the quickest.

The bar is far from quiet. It’s Thursday night, but there are several people here, forming their own groups at different points of the bar. I can see Tom in the corner with some men and women (I notice, with a scowl, that the women are not the same as the ones I saw last night), and another clubmate, Liam Hill, waved to us before going on to wish everyone luck in the pool competition. I’m disappointed that Alex hasn’t turned up with news of the house, but I know these things take time.

Ethan and Grant have, thankfully, dropped all mention of Allison as well. Ethan, despite his claim that he would return home after two hours, is still here, waving his arms wildly as he tells a story I’m not listening to. He’ll be annoyed, later, that he missed the chance to mess with Georgia, but I’m glad he’s here; despite his careless, cheerful exterior, Ethan has been working much too hard, running himself ragged, which is likely why Georgia kicked him out both yesterday and tonight in the first place. Grinning to myself, I snap a quick picture of him and send it to Georgia. She replies within seconds.

“Good!”

I laugh quietly and shake my head. Georgia is a godsend in Ethan’s life and I wonder when he’ll realize… I shake my head with a quiet smile. It’s not my place to mess in their lives.

I hear loud laughter from the corner and my eyes drift that way, curious. It’s the oddly familiar man I saw come in earlier. He’s made fast friends with some of the other regulars and they’re all guffawing over something the man has said.

It’s playing at the edge of my mind, frustrating me. I just can’t think where I know him from, which is unusual for me; normally my memory of faces is excellent.

Then the man sits back, a large, unpleasant grin on his face, which is now half in shadow, and my stomach drops as I quickly look away.

It’s Jesse, the man that had assaulted Allison last night.

Of course I didn’t recognized him; it had been dark, and he had been standing in the shadows when I punched him. It doesn’t look like he’s recognized me at all, either, and I’m happy for it to stay that way. Or maybe he was just too drunk to remember exactly what happened.

“Kyle? Everything good?”

I bring my attention back to the present. Ethan is looking at me with a frown. It takes me a moment to clear the drunken haze enough for me to focus on what he’s saying. Maybe I’ve had just a little too much to drink.

“Yeah,” I say.

“Do you know that guy?” Ethan asks curiously, glancing over my shoulder at Jesse.

“He’s…Jesse,” I say. Did Allison tell me his last name? I can’t remember right now. “He’s a scumbag.”

“Well, from the way you were glaring at him, I figured,” Ethan says, amused.

I was glaring at him? Shit, I hope he didn’t notice. I don’t want to get thrown out. Despite the fact that we’re friends, I also know Grant won’t hesitate to throw out anyone that causes problems.

“He’s a fucking scumbag,” I repeat, turning away.

“Yeah, but what did he do?” Ethan presses.

I glare into my mug. “He’s the bastard that assaulted Allison last night.”

The smile instantly drops from Ethan’s face. Something ugly crosses his expression and he cracks his knuckles threateningly. Perhaps Ethan has also had a little too much to drink; his first impulse is never usually violence.

“Should we have a word with him?” he asks darkly.

“No,” Grant says, interjecting into the conversation. “You will not. Or, at least, you won’t until you leave.”

“Aw, come on, Grant…!” Ethan whines.

“No,” Grant says firmly, rolling his eyes.

“I wasn’t planning on doing anything,” I assure the man. “I’m just gonna ignore him.”

“Good,” Grant says. “Make sure it stays that way and out of my bar.”

“It’s fine,” I say dismissively. “Allison… She said he’s an idiot and a coward. He’ll bluster but he won’t do anything.”

Except he did. He gripped Allison hard enough that it must have bruised, and she had looked scared. That wasn’t nothing. Even if it was unusual, if he could do it once he could do it again.

I stamp down the wave of fury that rises in me. No. I’m staying out of it. I’m here to have a good night. He’s here to do whatever the fuck he wants. There’s no reason for either of us to even cross paths.

Yes, laying low and ignoring him is the best thing.

My resolve lasts until I hear Jesse’s voice rise above the din. I’m not sure if he’s just louder than everyone else, or if part of me was listening for him, but I can hear him clearly.

“That bitch wasn’t even good for anything!” he crows.

Every muscle in my body tenses. Ethan glances at me as my hand tightens on my mug, my teeth grinding. I know he’s talking about Allison.

“All she’d ever do is nag, nag, nag,” Jesse continues on, his words slurring. He’s had a lot to drink. “Don’t drink so much, get a real job, stop shouting at me, you’re an asshole… She was fucking annoying!”

It seems that his encounter with Allison last night had finally convinced him off getting back together with her. So he’s dealing with it by mouthing off in a bar. It’s exactly what Allison said he’d do; he’d curse and rant and rave and, ultimately, never do anything about it.

I start to relax. See, nothing to worry about.

“But, I’m telling you, that bitch is going to get what’s coming to her!” Jesse shouts, waving his mug so that alcohol sloshes over the edge. He slams the mug on the table, and his fist follows a second later. “Ha, she thinks she can say whatever the hell she feels like? She needs to fucking think again. I know where she lives!”

What? Allison hadn’t seemed worried about Jesse coming after her, and I doubt she would have been foolish enough to tell Jesse where she was going. So how…

I pause. My blood runs cold. Was it really just a coincidence that Jesse was hanging around the corner shop only a few blocks away from Allison’s apartment? Has he followed her before now to find out where she’s living?

This is beyond not being able to accept that she left him. This is obsession.

If I’m right. I could be wrong. Maybe someone said to Jesse “hey, I saw your ex-girlfriend go into an apartment, does she live there now?” or something like that. Him knowing where she lives now doesn’t just have to mean that he stalked her home.

Still, the possibility is not pleasant.

And if he knows where she lives, couldn’t he…?

“And I tell you what I’m going to do!” Jesse says loudly, almost as if in answer. “I’m going to go to that bitch’s apartment and give her exactly what she deserves! No one looks down on me!”

I try to remember what Allison said. I try to remember that this man is all bluster and no bite, according to a woman who knows him far better than I do.

But, suddenly, I don’t care. I get abruptly to my feet, making my friends fall silent. There’s a red haze behind my eyes and my hands are clenched into fists.

“Kyle…” Grant says warningly.

I ignore him and stalk toward Jesse and his table. They’re all still foolishly laughing. None of them notice me until I’m right there, looming over them. Jesse looks up at me with a sneer.

“What the fuck do you…?”

He trails off. I see the moment recognition hits when his face drains of color. My fists shake at my sides. I’m so angry that I can’t think straight, but I still remember my promise to Grant. I won’t cause trouble.

“You!” Jesse says, jumping to his feet.

For a moment, I think he might take a swing at me, equal parts angry about me hitting him last night and terrified by how much bigger I am. There’s a snarl on his lips and his eyes are wild. I brace myself; I won’t hit him first, but I’m also going to defend myself.

Maybe he sees this in my eyes. He falters. And then, before I can say anything at all, he turns and flees.

“Woo, go Kyle!” I hear Ethan cheer from the bar. “You won that without a single hit!”

I’m not triumphant at all. My mind is whirling, leaping from thought to thought.

Jesse knows where Allison lives.

Jesse has already been talking about going to her apartment and getting his revenge.

Jesse could be on his way there right now.

I bolt out of the bar, ignoring the voices calling to me, confused about where I’m going. I feel sick, though I don’t know if that’s because of the alcohol or because I’m suddenly fucking terrified about what will happen next.

Does Jesse know what happened between Allison and me?

Is he angry because Allison slept with another man?

If he was spying on Allison, maybe he followed us to the alley and saw us kissing before we headed back to her apartment. Is that why he knows where she lives, because we wasted precious minutes in the alley and allowed him to catch up?

I’m dimly aware that nothing I’m thinking right now sounds logical. I need to calm down, because there’s a good chance that nothing is going to happen. It would be stupid to chase Jesse down only to have him flee back to his own home, terrified of confronting me.

But…what if?

What if?

I stop, the door of the bar slamming closed behind me. At some point it started raining, and I squint through the haze, uncaring of the fact that I’m swiftly getting soaked. I can’t see Jesse at all; he’s quicker than he looks, and he’s already disappeared on me. Fuck, the bastard could be anywhere right now.

Do I take the chance that it’s nothing? It’s probably just paranoia, I’m likely still just jumpy about what I witnessed last night. The look in Jesse’s eyes yesterday combined with his words tonight have just unnerved me. Nothing is going to happen.

But…

I turn and start to run, heading in the direction of Allison’s apartment.

It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to take that chance.

Chapter Eight

Allison

There’s a pounding sound which reverberates through my skull and makes me groan, angry at being woken up. I blink my eyes open and stare blearily up at the ceiling.

What time is it?

I turn my head and glance at the clock. It’s two -thirty in the morning. Why the hell am I awake at two-thirty in the damn morning?

Then I hear the pounding sound again. There’s something knocking on the door with all their might. It’s disturbed me, and likely all my neighbors, from slumber.

I have half a mind to yell at whoever is at my door. I slip out of bed and grab my robe, indignant at the rough wake up call, and stalk to my bedroom door, throwing it open. The knocker falls silent, no doubt hearing me moving about.

Then I freeze. It’s two-thirty in the morning. Who would be knocking on my door at this time of night?

Fear suddenly rises in me? Is there an emergency? But, no, none of my family live in Philadelphia; they would have called before making their way here if something bad had happened.

So…?

Then another possibility raises its head.

Jesse.

It had taken me far too long to notice that Jesse shouldn’t have been hanging around the convenience store last night. When I realized that Jacqui was right about my normal drinking habits, it wasn’t hard to jump to the realization that Jesse would have also known about these habits. I hadn’t moved very far from Jesse’s apartment, more for convenience’s sake than anything, so I was still visiting the same damn shop.

Yet Jesse was there. He may not have known I would show up last night. But…what if he had known I would turn up there eventually?

Does that mean he knew I didn’t move far?

Does that mean he knows where I live?

I’m not afraid of Jesse. Despite what happened last night, there’s nothing to be afraid of. He’s an asshole and he barks and insults and ultimately storms away like a child who hasn’t gotten his way. Last night happened because I told him in no uncertain terms that we would not be getting back together. He moved before he could think, but it would have gone no further than it did.

But…

The look in his eyes is the one thing I can’t explain away. That half-crazed expression that made me step back.

So, if it is him at my door…?

Slowly, I reach into a nearby box, for the first time grateful that I haven’t organized any of this stuff yet. I pick up a heavy dictionary. It’s not the greatest weapon in the world, but it will do. I draw my robe tighter around myself and go to the door, peering out the eye hole, my dictionary raised just in case the intruder has decided he’s tired of waiting and wants to try breaking in.

When I see who it is I almost drop the book.

I scramble to open the door and throw it open, staring.

“Kyle?” I ask, shocked and confused.

He’s standing on my doorstep, soaking wet and looking more than a little drunk as he sways on the spot. It suddenly reminds me of Jacqui’s warnings, when she reminded me that I didn’t know Kyle at all, and now he knows where I live.

Well… Now what?

“What are you doing?” I hiss, blocking the doorway, still holding the dictionary, just in case.

But Kyle isn’t looking at me at all. He doesn’t make any attempt to come into the apartment. He’s looking frantically over my shoulder, his eyes a little wild. After a moment, however, his shoulders relax and he breathes a sigh of relief.

“Good, he isn’t here,” he says with a nod.

Only then does he look at me. He blinks, as though he isn’t quite sure when I got there, and runs a hand through his hair.

“Sorry about this,” he says to me. “Didn’t mean to wake you. I’m just going to sit out here, okay?”

And then, before my astonished eyes, he slides down the wall, crosses his arms, and directs his eyes to the end of the hall, where he’ll be able to see anyone coming long before they reach him.

I gape at him.

“What’s going on?” I ask when I find my voice.

“I’m staying here tonight,” Kyle informs me, in the sort of voice that tells me there’s no point in arguing with him over this. “So I can keep watch.”

“Keep watch?” I’m so confused. What the hell is even going on right now? “For what?”

A dark expression crosses his face.

“Jesse,” he growls.

I blink at him. And then I laugh incredulously. Because, what, seriously?

“Are you joking?” I ask, only just managing to stop myself from raising my voice at him; I’m going to get so many complaints from the neighbors tomorrow. “I told you that you don’t need to worry about him. Is this about last night? Because he ran off, like I told you he would. We won’t see him again.”

“It’s not about last night,” Kyle huffs. “It’s about tonight.”

He’s not making any sense at all. I sigh, considering my options. It’s too early for any of this crap, to be honest. I can either leave him out here and let him do what he wants, or I can invite him inside and figure out what all this is about.

I’m a little uneasy about that idea. I don’t know what he’ll do if I let him inside, especially considering how drunk he looks. But I also don’t want to leave him out here; he’s soaked to the bone and he’s already shivering in his wet clothes. Did he run all the way through the rain to get here?

I sigh.

“Come in,” I offer. “I’ll make some coffee and you can dry off. Then you can tell me what this is all about.”

“No, thanks,” Kyle says politely. He’s still staring down the hall intently. “I’ll stay here.”

It’s way too early for this. I really should just leave him here.

But I can’t.

“You can keep a better look out inside,” I coax him, and that attracts his attention. “You’ll be able to see who comes in and out of the apartment, and see what they’re doing in there.”

He considers this for a long moment. Then he gets unsteadily to his feet and nods.

“Okay,” he said.

Good, he’s not going to argue anymore. I shuffle him inside, still not entirely sure that I’m doing the right thing, and lead him to the couch. He doesn’t protest as he sits heavily and fixes his gaze on my front door, so I go to the kitchen and flick the switch on the kettle, yawning widely.

“Coffee?” I offer.

“Please,” Kyle says with a nod.

When the kettle boils, I set about making two cups of coffee, keeping an eye on Kyle. He doesn’t move at all, though, slumped against the couch while he stares at the door.

He’s really serious, isn’t he? He’s actually worried about Jesse appearing, and he wants to make sure he doesn’t get into my apartment.

I carefully carry the cups over the low table and put them down. Only then does Kyle move, leaning forward to pick one up.

“Thank you,” he says.

He’s obviously drunk. I’m not used to someone being so polite under the influence of alcohol, however. Though maybe Kyle’s thing isn’t to get angry, but to fixate on something with a single-minded determination.

Which is probably why he hasn’t even glanced at me in my nightgown and robe.

Not that I want him looking at me.

I clear my throat and hurry away to grab a towel out of the cupboard. When I return, Kyle is shrugging out of his leather jacket and dropping it to the ground. It had been open, so the white shirt underneath is also soaked through, and my mouth goes dry as I stare at the way it clings to his muscles.

He doesn’t notice so I cough and throw the towel at him.

No! I scold myself.

I make myself comfortable in my armchair and watch Kyle as he runs his hair dry before wrapping the towel around his shoulders.

“So?” I ask when he picks up his coffee again. “What’s all this about, then?”

“Jesse,” Kyle says promptly.

Apparently, he also doesn’t like to explain himself properly when he’s drunk. This is going to be like pulling teeth, I can just tell.

“Yes, you said that,” I say with all the patience I can muster. I think it’s impressive that I have any patience at all, considering what time of night it is. “But why are you so worried about Jesse?”

“He’ll come here,” Kyle explains.

No, that doesn’t explain anything at all.

“Jesse doesn’t know where I live,” I tell him.

I hope.

“No, he does,” Kyle argues. “He said so.”

Wait… I sit back, frowning. As far as I remember, Kyle and Jesse barely spoke at all last night? In fact, the only words either of them said to each other was to swear before Kyle hit him and ran off with me. Unless I blacked out, which I’m reasonably sure I didn’t, Jesse didn’t say once that he knows where I live.

“How do you know that?” I ask.

“From the bar,” Kyle says. He yawns, suddenly looking tired. “He said it at the bar.” He catches sight of my raised eyebrow. “Tonight.”

Ah, that might explain a little more. Somehow, by some stupid coincidence, Jesse and Kyle ended up at the same bar tonight.

I can see what happened now. Jesse would have run his mouth, which is exactly what I knew what happen, and Kyle had gotten spooked. Then, for whatever reason, he had run here after deciding that he needed to protect me in case Jesse came here.

“Did Jesse follow you?” I ask.

“No,” Kyle says, shaking his head. “He ran first.”

“Then Jesse was never going to come here,” I assure him. “Whatever he said, he was just being an idiot, like he normally is.”

Kyle frowns. He doesn’t seem to believe me.

“He knows where you live,” he reminds me.

“Which is unsettling, but not a cause for concern,” I say. “Look, I appreciate that you were worried, but you didn’t need to come running here. I’m fine.”

I sigh as Kyle stares at me, uncomprehending. He really was just focusing on one thing to the exclusion of everything else.

“He was saying he was going to come here,” Kyle says slowly. For a second, he almost sounds sober, and his eyes are tired when they meet mine. “He said you’ll get what’s coming to you.”

“He’s an idiot,” I stress. “He won’t do anything.”

“It was the look in his eyes,” Kyle continues, as though he hadn’t heard me. “His eyes… Yesterday, there was something nasty in him.” He looks at me solemnly. “I think he’s more dangerous than you think he is.”

A chill runs down my spine as I stare at him. Part of me wonders if I should be indignant. After all, I’ve known Jesse for a long time. If anyone knows the way he thinks, it’s definitely me. What right did Kyle have to come to my apartment in the middle of the night and tell me that I’m wrong? No, he’s just being a fool because he got scared by some crap Jesse was saying.

The rest of me, however, can’t help but notice that Kyle is repeating my own thoughts. Because that look in Jesse’s eyes…

And Kyle had noticed it too? It hadn’t just been me? I remember thinking, last night, that Kyle was going to say something else to Jesse last night, perhaps to try and chase him off. Then something odd had crossed his expression as he stared at Jesse, his eyes narrowing and then widening slightly as though he had seen something.

Then he had punched Jesse, grabbed me, and ran. I never asked him why he chose to do that.

“Why didn’t you just run Jesse off last night?” I ask before I can stop myself. Kyle blinks at me. “Why did you run off with me instead?”

Kyle blinks slowly as his mind is forced to change tracks.

“He was…too far gone,” he said after a moment. “He wouldn’t listen. I’ve seen the type. He just wanted to fight. He would have struck out at anyone that was nearby.”

Jesse does that when he gets drunk. He throws punches at anyone, even if they haven’t done anything at all. I remember once refusing to bail him out of jail for a few days because he turned to another guy at the bar and began hitting him without provocation. Admittedly, after that, he did try and clean up for about a week before he went back to drinking.

I scowl at the memory.

“I know what Jesse’s like,” I say, my voice sharper than I intended. “I told you; he’s angry and he can be violent, but he’s never laid a hand on me before.”

“Until last night,” Kyle reminds me.

I feel a little offended that Kyle has decided to apply logic now. He’s looking up at me with serious eyes, which seem to bore straight through me. I scowl at him and sip at my coffee to avoid answering for a moment as I think about what to say. But it’s the middle of the night and I’m tired and I have the stranger that I took home last night on a whim sitting on my couch, telling me that my ex is a thug who is plotting revenge on me.

It’s all a little too much to take in at two-thirty in the goddamned morning.

So, I decide that I’ll deal with it in the morning.

“Okay, first, I do understand where you’re coming from,” I admit. “But, if Jesse had managed to hit me last night, he would run away as soon as he did it, scared of himself and what I could do to him in retaliation. He’s a coward like that, no matter what he says.” I sigh. “I really do appreciate you trying to protect me like this, okay? But I don’t need protection.” I give him a severe look. “Especially not from a complete stranger.”

Kyle droops, his entire body slumping. It makes me feel a little bad, because he ran all the way here in the rain, terrified that something had happened to me. It’s nice but I didn’t need it. I sigh again and stand, draining the last few gulps of my coffee.

“Look, it’s late and you’re wet,” I say. “Why don’t you stay the night? That’ll prove to you that everything is okay, and you don’t have to walk home in the rain. I’ll grab some blankets and a pillow and you can sleep on the couch.”

Admittedly, the couch looks far too small for Kyle. But there’s nowhere else for him to sleep; I’m not offering my bed up.

Kyle, however, lifts his head and nods with a tired smile. He yawns widely, his night finally catching up to him.

“Thanks, Allison,” he says, fishing his phone and wallet out of his pocket so he can lay them both on the coffee table. “I appreciate it. And sorry for causing so much trouble.”

“It’s fine,” I say, rolling my eyes.

I collect some blankets for him and grab a pillow off my bed. When I return to the living room, he’s shrugging his wet shirt over his head, revealing his naked torso. My face flares red and I dump the bedding on the couch.

“Goodnight!” I say, and flee the room before he can reply.

I snap my bedroom door behind me and shake my head. I really have gotten myself into a weird mess now.

Chapter Nine

Allison

When I open my eyes the next morning, I’m half-tempted just to close them again. I’m so deeply tired that my limbs are still heavy and my mind is working sluggishly. It takes me far too long to remember why; I’m tired because my sleep was unceremoniously interrupted by Kyle, who seemed to believe that I was in some sort of danger from Jesse.

I rub the bridge of my nose as I sit up in bed, yawning widely. I glance at the clock. It’s already ten o’clock, which is far later than I’ll normally sleep. Thankfully, I only have afternoon classes today, so I’m not missing anything.

Should I just go back to sleep? I consider this and then, with a huff, I realize that it’s out of the question; if I go back to sleep now, I definitely won’t wake up in time for class. So I force my tired body to move, sliding out of bed and locating some clothes.

It’s only when I step out of my room, heading for the bathroom, that I remember that I have a visitor here. I hear a snore from the couch, and I freeze for a few seconds before I see Kyle twisting his huge form on the tiny couch, somehow managing not to fall off. I can’t help but giggle at the sight; he looks absolutely ridiculous, curled up like that under a few flimsy blankets. Yet his face is peaceful and he’s drooling slightly in his sleep, completely relaxed.

Curious, I creep forwards, staring at him. While he’s awake, his expression is tense and set in a permanent frown, too focused on the world around him to think about smiling. In his sleep, however, the lines on his face have been smoothed out, and I think he might be younger than I had originally guessed. His lips are curved up slightly in contentment and his shaggy head is ducked at such an awkward angle that I feel bad for the pain he’s going to be in when he wakes up. He looks, dare I say it, oddly cute, which is a strange word to use for such a large, rough-looking man.

I shake my head and look away, pushing the rest of my fascination away. I still need to have a shower. Maybe, if I’m lucky, he’ll be gone by the time I get out.

I step into the bathroom and twist the taps, waiting patiently as the water warms up. Once it’s the right temperature, I slip out of my clothes and step under the spray.

The water wakes me up like nothing else normally does, and I stand there for several moments, allowing the water to soak me completely, allowing it to calm the tension I still feel in my body. Why am I anxious, though? Is it because Kyle is still in my apartment? Or is there a part of me that’s still thinking over the dire warnings that he brought me last night?

There’s nothing to worry about, I remind myself.

Jesse is not someone to be feared. I know there’s still a lot that I don’t know about his life before we dated, but I don’t really care about that. All I care about is the evidence that tells me that everything is going to be fine; Jesse won’t hurt me.

Subconsciously, though, my hand lifts and rests on my shoulder. There’s a faint bruise there, in the shape of a hand, and there’s a similar bruise on the other side. It’s already fading, but I bite my lower lip.

Am I stupid for defending Jesse so much when he’s already hurt me? Does it really matter if that was the first time? The fact that he’s hurt me at all should be enough to tell me that something has definitely changed, shouldn’t it?

Should I be taking Kyle’s warning a little more seriously?

No, I decide, feeling foolish the moment the thought crosses my mind. There is nothing to be scared about. Even if Jesse is feeling violent toward me, he’s too stupid to chase me down just to act on those urges.

I push all thoughts of Jesse out of my mind and finish my shower. When I step out of the bathroom, Kyle is still snoring lightly on my couch; he hasn’t moved since I went into the bathroom. Unwillingly, I smile slightly. I hope he doesn’t have work today because if he does, he’s going to be awfully late.

I feel more awake now, but I still yawn as I flick the switch on the kettle. Kyle stirs slightly at the sound and rolls over so he’s facing the back of the couch, tangling his legs in the blanket and mumbling something too quiet to hear in his sleep. He’s too deeply asleep for such a small sound to pull him awake, which is what I had hoped would happen.

Sighing, I walk over to him and snort. He’s clutching the blanket to his chest, as though he were afraid someone would take it away from him. Before I can stop myself, I take a picture and send it to Jacqui.

“My ‘knight in shining armor’ showed up, drunk, last night because he heard Jesse mouthing off.”

I don’t have to wait long for a reply.

“Are you serious?! Woah, girl, that’s one good looker you have there. Did you repay him for his concern? ;)”

I flush at the insinuation.

“NO!!!! I DID NOT!!! I told him he could sleep on the couch. Otherwise he was going to sleep outside my door!”

There’s no answer for a moment. My kettle boils but I don’t move, staring down at Kyle. That’s right, I had forgotten that he was so determined, last night, to protect me that he would have just sat outside my door last night like a bouncer, waiting for any threat that would come upon me.

There’s a strange, warm glow in my chest as I consider this. Kyle was so focused on protecting me that nothing else mattered.

I don’t need protection, I remind myself. He was just an idiot last night, that’s all.

My phone dings with a new message.

“You need to keep this one, Allison. I’m serious.”

I roll my eyes at the reply.

“He’s still a stranger. Anyway, right now, I’m more concerned with waking him up. He sleeps like the dead!”

I tuck my phone away in my pocket and look at Kyle, thinking. I can’t deny that it’s nice to know what lengths he went through last night to help me. His clothes, I can see, are still slightly damp, and I roll my eyes before I gather them up and take them to the laundry, leaving his leather jacket; I can’t put that in the dryer.

When I return, Kyle is lying, awkwardly sprawled, on his back. The blanket has slipped down his bare chest, and my eyes drift without permission, following the lines of his muscles and dipping down to…

Okay. Enough is enough.

“Kyle,” I say aloud. I should reach out and shake him, but I don’t dare touch him right now, not while my heart is hammering in my chest and my entire body feels far too warm. “Kyle, wake up!”

He grumbles something, but otherwise doesn’t stir. I sigh.

“Sorry about this,” I tell him.

I push him off the couch.

He hits the floor with a yelp, and I grin unrepentantly. Maybe I’m still a little sour at being woken so early this morning, if I’m honest. As good as Kyle’s intentions were, I definitely didn’t appreciate being dragged out of bed at two-thirty to listen to conspiracy theories.

Groggy, Kyle raises his head. I can see that he doesn’t quite recognize where he is, and I wait patiently, crossing my arms as he looks around. Then his eyes fall on me and then widen.

“Allison?” he asks with a gasp. “What are…?”

Recognition suddenly floods his face. He groans and runs a rough hand down his face.

“Shit,” he mutters.

“Coffee?” I offer.

“Please,” he sighs.

I make my way to the kitchen and boil the kettle again, listening to Kyle curse softly as he frees himself from the blankets that he has so thoroughly twisted himself into. By the time I’ve finished making the two drinks, he’s on his feet, blankets covering him since he doesn’t have his clothes, and shuffling toward me, wincing at the sunlight that’s streaming through the window.

“Want some aspirin?” I ask, seeing the lines of pain on his face.

He hesitates and then nods with a sigh and a grimace.

“I’m so sorry,” he says when I give him two tablets and a glass of water. “I don’t know what happened last night. One minute I was listening to that bastard, and then…”

He waves a hand helplessly in the air before gratefully downing the tablets.

“Then you came racing through the streets to protect me?” I ask dryly.

A hint of red creeps up Kyle’s cheeks, and he scratches his collar bone. He’s shuffling his feet, almost like a child that has been caught doing something wrong.

“Sorry,” he repeats.

“Well…it isn’t fine, but I do understand,” I say. “Your clothes are in the dryer if you want to wait just a little while; they were still a little damp.”

“Damp…?” Kyle murmurs. His expression cleared. “Right, it was raining.”

“Rain that you ran all the way through,” I pointed out. “What, exactly, were you thinking last night?”

Kyle grimaces. “That scumbag had just made all these threats. I scared him off, but he ran out of the bar, and I lost sight of him when I followed. He’d just admitted that he knew where you lived, so…” He shrugs helplessly. “I think part of me was terrified that he’d come straight here.”

“Kyle…” I sigh.

“I know,” Kyle says, putting his hand up. “I remember what you said last night. That there wasn’t any reason to do that. Obviously, I wasn’t thinking very clearly.” He yawns and I push a mug a coffee toward him. “I get a little single-minded when I have a lot to drink. I get one thing in my head, and I have to follow through on it.”

“Yeah?” I ask. “I guess I can see that. It must make for some embarrassing stories.”

“Like this one,” Kyle grimaces. “Damn, what time even was it last night?”

“About two-thirty,” I tell him.

He looks stricken.

“I’m really, really sorry,” he says.

I roll my eyes and smile.

“It’s okay,” I say with a shrug.

His clothes are still drying, so I potter about my apartment, getting ready for class, while he sits awkwardly on the couch, still covered in blankets. Before long, however, he starts asking me about attending college, and I find myself answering his questions, if only for something to cover the silence with. Before I know it, time passes and the dryer clicks off.

“Your clothes are ready,” I say, pleased, bringing him back the jeans and shirt he had worn last night.

“Thank you for doing that,” he says as I drop them beside him.

I leave the living room to give him some privacy. When I return, he’s dressed again and stretching his arms over his head, yawning.

“Feeling better?” I ask.

“Just a little more alive than I did before,” he jokes. “Allison, thank you. You could have just left me out in the hall last night.”

“I didn’t want you to get sick,” I say with a shrug. “Especially considering you thought you were doing all that for my sake.”

Kyle picks up his jacket and stares at it for a long moment. It’s still a little damp. He shrugs, though, and swings it on, his back to me.

My breath catches.

Despite the fact that was the second time I’ve seen him in the same jacket, I didn’t even question it last night. I think I just assumed it was his favorite one and left it at that.

Looking at the huge symbol on the back, however, I suddenly realize that it’s more than just a favored jacket.

The skull catches my attention first, grinning hideously right in the middle. There are two huge tires attached to the sides of it, facing outward as though it’s prepared to run over anyone in its way. Vines twirl in, out and around the skull and its wheels in an intricate weave. And underneath is a banner.

Roughshod Rollers.

I stare, my mouth suddenly dry. I’ve never seen that design before, but it doesn’t matter. I certainly recognize the kind of jacket and symbol that is used by those in a motorcycle club.

So that means…Kyle rides a motorbike?

I’ve never seen it. But, then again, Kyle has been drunk the only two times I’ve met him, so he wouldn’t be riding a bike in that condition anyway. Does he leave it at home and walk to the bar when he wants to drink? That, at least, is responsible, but…

I draw in a deep breath.

“Everything alright?” Kyle asks, his smile falling.

“Yeah…yeah, it’s fine,” I say.

There’s a lot I can say. I want to scream because I can’t believe that Kyle is involved with motorbikes. Those huge, hulking death traps were the reason that my father…

I close my eyes. A long, long time ago, my father was involved in a motorbike accident. He had been riding his motorbike, his jacket firmly on his shoulders, proud to be part of the club that it represented. An impatient car had collided with him one day. The driver had gotten off injury-free. My father had been instantly killed by the impact.

Motorbikes aren’t safe. It was an early lesson that I paid dearly to learn. As much as my father loved them, they’re not safe in traffic. There’s too much that could happen to them, too much harm that could be done in such a short moment when up against larger and heavier cars. After my father’s death, I had known then and there that I couldn’t have anything to do with these things, not if they could so easily take someone I loved from me.

“I’d better head out,” Kyle says, stretching. “I’ve already caused enough problems. Thank you for putting up with me.”

“It was no problem,” I say.

I suddenly want him gone. Him and his stupid motorbike jacket. But I keep my thoughts to myself. I have no right to judge him for his interests. And I am still thankful to him for his concern, even if he could have found a better way to express it.

I lock up my apartment and walk with him down to the bottom floor; I have some shopping to do before class, and I might as well get it out of the way now, I decide. We step outside, and Kyle winces before fishing a pair of shades out of his pocket.

“Still too bright?” I ask, bemused.

“Yeah,” he says, turning to grin at me.

Then his smile drops abruptly. He’s staring at something behind me, I realize, and he lifts his sunglasses to get a better look, shock crossing his expression, followed by anger.

Slowly, I turn around.

There are words spray-painted over the front of the apartment building. The landlord, I think dimly, is going to have a field day over this one. They’re huge and done up in yellow, and I know exactly who did it and who the message is for.

YOU’LL GET YOURS!

A large hand lands on my shoulder.

“Still think he’s harmless?” Kyle asks quietly.

I close my eyes so I don’t have to see the words anymore, suddenly feeling a little sick. Everything Kyle told me last night is suddenly clambering for space at the front of my mind, and I run a hand over my face.

Jesse’s harmless! I remind myself.

Except, as I open my eyes and stare once more at the painted words, I suddenly realize that he isn’t, not anymore.

“I think I’d better call the police,” I say quietly.

It looks like Kyle was right and I was wrong. Jesse is serious, after all.

Chapter Ten

Kyle

My motorbike roars beneath me, filling my ears with the sound, as I lean over the handles, my mind fixed on the direction I want to go. My entire body is tense; I’ve spent all day thinking about what happened this morning, and I know that I can’t leave this alone.

And I certainly can’t leave Allison’s safety in the hands of the police. I’ve had dealings with them in the past before; they won’t do shit unless they have proof. What proof will Allison be able to offer them that Jesse was the one who graffitied the front of her apartment building?

“My ex-boyfriend almost assaulted me the other night, and some stranger that I met and had sex with overheard him threatening me, so I’m sure it has to be him!”

Yeah, that’s not going to go down very well. And even if the police did happen to believe Allison, what could they do then? There wouldn’t be any evidence that Jesse was there; the apartment Allison is living in doesn’t even have a camera - something I hope she’ll speak to the landlord about.

Then there’s the question about what would happen next. So, Jesse spray-painted a building and made some empty threats. So what? At most, he’s acted like a child. As such, even if we could get past the first two problems, there was no way the police would treat this as anything more than a bout of mischief.

They wouldn’t think there’s any cause for concern. And the more convinced the police are of this, the more convinced that Allison would also become. She already doesn’t think Jesse was a threat, but the words on her building and my warnings from the night made her waver enough to decide to call the police this morning.

I have every intention of making sure she stays wary.

I pull up in front of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and look up at it with a grimace. The lawns are freshly mowed, the paths are perfectly clean and the windows are gleaming. It’s exactly the sort of place that I wouldn’t feel like I belong.

But it’s where Allison belongs, and that’s why I’m here. I remembered that she had said she had class today, and I snuck a look at her calendar while I was getting changed to see that she finishes at six tonight. I’m going to be here when she leaves and make sure she gets home safely.

I don’t have to wait very long. Soon, I see a small group leave through the doors, and I sit up straighter on my motorbike, taking my helmet off so that Allison will recognize me. Before long, I see her. She’s walking next to another woman with dark skin, in deep conversation with her. I wait until they reach me.

“Allison,” I say.

Startled, Allison looks up. She obviously wasn’t expecting to see me here. The woman she’s with stares at me with unabashed curiosity and interest.

“Kyle!” Allison says. “What are you doing here?”

“I…” It feels stupid now that the moment to explain myself has come. I clear my throat. “I wanted to know how it went with the police.”

“Ah.” Allison’s expression darkens. “They’ll get someone to come out and take a look, but…”

She shrugs. It’s all I need to know that the police aren’t going to do something about this. I narrow my eyes. Then I’ll do something about it.

“I see,” I say evenly.

Allison shoots me a suspicious look.

“How did you even know what time I finished?” she demands.

“I saw your calendar this morning,” I confess. “After everything that happened, I didn’t want to take the risk, and I don’t really trust the police. Do you want a ride home?”

Allison’s expression abruptly darkens.

“No,” she snaps. She glances at her friend. “I’ll see you later.”

Then she turns on her heel and stalks away. She’s mad, but I don’t really know why. Does she feel like I’ve invaded her privacy? To be fair, I probably shouldn’t have snooped, even if I do want to keep her safe.

“She’ll take the bus home,” her friend offers, eyeing me. “So, you’re Kyle? I’m Jacqui.”

“Good to meet you,” I say, shaking her hand. “I think I’ve upset her.”

“Yeah, but probably not for the reason you’re thinking,” the woman says with a shrug. “Allison’s not a fan of motorbikes, so you showing up on one wasn’t the best idea.”

“Oh.” That is something I can understand; there are many people that take a look at my bike and my jacket and then turn their noses up. It’s oddly painful to realize that Allison is one of those people who will judge me just because of the club I belong to. “I see.”

“Actually, you really don’t,” Jacqui says with a small smile. “Allison has a very personal reason to dislike motorbikes. But…” She eyes me. “If it’s you, maybe she’ll calm down a little.”

I frown.

“What do you mean by that?” I ask.

Jacqui shrugs, though there’s a small smile curving at her lips. Then she leans forward, her face alight with mischief. She reminds me a little of Ethan, who always has a ready smile and joke to cheer someone up.

“Is it true that you came to her apartment last night to guard her door?” she asks.

I cough, embarrassed.

“Allison told you about that?” I ask.

“We tell each other everything,” Jacqui says.

That means Jacqui also knows about our night together after Jesse assaulted her. I sigh and grimace at the thought.

“Right,” I say. “Well…I was a little drunk. And part of me believed what Jesse was saying.”

“Yeah, but it ended up being true, right?” Jacqui points out. “Jesse was there last night, even if he didn’t go inside. That means he knows where Allison lives.” She scowls. “I’d like to know how he found out.” Then she sighs. “Not that it would be too hard; Allison didn’t go very far. It’s important to her that she isn’t very far from the college, because it makes commuting difficult. We sort of hoped that Jesse would be too stupid to realize that she lived so close, but it looks like that backfired.”

“At this point, it might just be safer for Allison to get another apartment,” I say.

“Right!” Jacqui says, grinning. “That’s what I said to her. But she’s stubborn, alright. She says that it doesn’t make much sense for her to move when he hasn’t done anything worse than spray-paint her apartment building.”

“He did do worse,” I point out with a frown. “He grabbed her. Who knows what might have happened if I hadn’t walked past.”

Jacqui blinks, looking at me intently. I feel like I’m being x-rayed, and I shuffle uncomfortably. Suddenly, Jacqui grins.

“I like you,” she declares. “You know what? Allison is a little blinded; even though her relationship with Jesse sucked, and he was a violent shit that needed to be put in jail a long time ago, he never actually touched her, so she believes that it’ll be the same now. I don’t know why Jesse decided that his girlfriend was off-limits, I was only grateful for it. But Allison isn’t his girlfriend anymore, and she’s just the same as everyone else, now. On top of that, Jesse took their break-up hard and, from what she told me about the other night, he’s desperate for them to get back together. All that added up tells me that Allison doesn’t really know that she’s playing with fire right now.”

“And she’s too convinced that Jesse is a foolish coward to see otherwise,” I say with a sigh. “But…” I run a hand down my face. “There was a look in Jesse’s eyes. It was…crazy.” I frown. “Did he love Allison?”

“God, no,” Jacqui snorts, crossing her arms. “Fact is, they only stayed together so long because they were used to it. No, I think it’s more like he believes Allison is his, like a possession. That’s why he’s gone a bit insane; because he wasn’t prepared to have her leave him. Also, she did make his life a little better; she cooked and cleaned for him, and she bailed him out when he got in serious trouble, and the money she makes at her part-time job kept them afloat enough that he felt like he didn’t have to get a job.”

I grimace. “He sounds like a Grade A asshole.”

“Exactly,” Jacqui says, pleased. “Eventually, Allison had had enough and she left him, but she stuck it out way longer than she should have.” She snorts. “Not that Allison didn’t give as good as she got; that girl can curse like a sailor when she gets going, and she wasn’t shy about pulling her punches, either.”

I try to imagine this. The Allison I know, so far, is stubborn and independent. While it surprises me to know that she hung around in a shitty relationship for a very long time, it also doesn’t surprise me that she would have stood up for herself in that relationship until it ended on her terms.

“Either way, the two of them were terrible for each other and I threw her a party when she finally decided to leave him,” Jacqui says with a shrug. “If Jesse was smart, he’d realize that this was the best thing for them both. But he just wants her to come back and look after him again.” She rolls her eyes. “He never was very smart, anyway.”

“I’ll say,” I mutter. “Well, I still don’t trust him, and I trust him even less after all that. I’m going to keep watch on Allison’s apartment. If I keep watch outside…”

“You’re going to stalk her?” Jacqui asks, raising an eyebrow.

“What… No!” I say, flustered at the accusation.

“Then go up to her front door and tell her what you’re worried about her,” Jacqui says, shaking her head. “ Don’t just hang around outside and watch her window. Talk to her. Jesse was a coward. She doesn’t need you to be one, too.”

I blink at the comparison and she walks away.

“For the record, Allison and I aren’t together,” I call after her.

She winks at me over her shoulder.

“Yet,” she says.

Then, with a wave, she disappears around the corner. I stare at the space where she had been, bemused. Jacqui thought that Allison and I should start a relationship? I snort. I barely know Allison, and she barely knows me. It wouldn’t work.

Shaking my head, I turn my bike on and leave the campus. If I’m lucky, I’ll get there before Allison does on the far slower bus.

* * *

When I reach Allison’s apartment, I stow my bike in the alley beside it, locking it up tight. I don’t want Allison to see it if it’s really causing her that many problems. Then I make my way to the front of the apartment.

Allison is just approaching it from the street, and I can hear the sound of the bus meandering away in the distance. She looks up as I approach, blinking in surprise to see me.

Then she sighs and gives me a small smile.

“You’re really damn persistent, you know?” she says.

I smile slightly. “So I’ve been told.”

She rolls her eyes. She doesn’t seem angry anymore, which is a good thing.

“Come on, then,” she says, shaking her head. “If you’re going to stalk me, you can come and help me set up.”

“I’m not stalking you!” I protest, but I follow her anyway, into the building and up the familiar steps to the second floor, where her apartment is. Then what she said hits me and I frown. “Set up?”

“Yeah,” Allison says.

She shoves some bags at me, which I remember her carrying when she left the college, too. Startled, I grab them before they call and peer into them. They’re full of candy, chips and bottles of drink.

“I’m having a small party tonight,” she explains. “It’s not anything big, just some friends over to drink and play games.”

“I see,” I say as she unlocks her door and we enter. “So what do you need to set up?”

“Mostly we just need to put food in bowls and the drinks in the fridge,” she says. “I do need to go back out and get some alcohol, though; I couldn’t take that to class.”

I try to imagine Allison walking into class with a case of beer and I snort at the image.

“Exactly,” Allison says with a grin, making a beeline for the kitchen and opening a cupboard. “Come and grab a bowl, I have a lot.”

For several minutes the apartment is only full of the sounds of us opening plastic bags and pouring food into the bowls. I sneak a glimpse at Allison; the darkness is gone from her face and she doesn’t seem opposed to me being here.

“What time are your friends arriving?” I ask.

“Why, do you want to stay?” she asks.

I blink. Is that an option? I didn’t even consider it before now. If Allison is having a party, then it means she won’t be alone tonight, which is exactly what I wanted to prevent. But…

“Yes,” I say before I can stop myself.

She laughs as though she had expected that answer, and I relax.

“Yeah, I figured, since you followed me home,” she teases. “Fine, you stalker, you can stay for the party. Just try not to scare my friends.”

“I’m not a stalker,” I say, rolling my eyes.

She just grins at me so I throw a potato chip at her. Allison bursts into laughter, and I feel like my heart might burst from happiness at the sound too. I smile slightly; how is it possible for me to be so fond of this woman that I barely know?

I shake the thought away. It doesn’t mean anything.

“Alright, if you’re staying, you can make yourself useful and grab the alcohol,” Allison decides. “Since you have transport and I don’t, it’s only fair.”

I glance at her. Her back is turned to me, now, so I can’t see her expression.

“Yeah, sounds good,” I say. “I’ll go now. Do you have a list?”

She turns back. She’s all smiles, but there’s a sharp edge to it. I remember Jacqui telling me that she has personal reasons for disliking motorbikes, but I know, instinctively, that now is not the moment to ask.

“Let me write it down,” she says.

I don’t know what’s going on exactly but, suddenly, I don’t care. I’m only here for one reason, after all. And that’s to make sure that Jesse doesn’t come here.

Chapter Eleven

Allison

Seeing Kyle at my apartment as he sits at my small table, dressed in his usual leather jacket and taller than anyone else in the room, is the weirdest thing. It’s almost as strange as seeing him squashed so comfortably on my couch this morning.

It doesn’t help that my friends, other than Jacqui, are giving him wary looks. I thought poor Jonathan Clark was going to flee the moment he saw Kyle, which, in turn, probably isn’t helped by the fact that his girlfriend Susie Wicks is giving the larger man looks of unabashed interest.

Jacqui, at least, seems highly amused by it all. She’s standing in the kitchen, watching Kyle make awkward conversation with Paige Simmons and her twin brother, Jake. I sidle up to her.

“Sorry, I should have messaged ahead to tell you I invited him,” I say to her.

“Are you kidding?” Jacqui snorts. “I knew he was going to be here. He was just going to skulk outside and keep an eye out for Jesse, and I told him to man up and talk to you.”

I laugh. “I did meet him outside, but I think he was waiting for me. And he’s the one who asked to attend. He doesn’t look very relaxed, though.”

“Maybe he isn’t used to strangers?” Jacqui suggests.

“Maybe,” I say with a shrug.

I watch as he excuses himself from the twins and makes his way toward us. He’s clutching a can of beer, and his shoulders are stiff.

“Are you alright?” I ask, feeling a little amused.

“Yeah,” Kyle says, running a hand through his hair with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, it’s just that this is a little…different.”

“Different, how?” Jacqui asks curiously.

“Well…normally we party at the bar,” Kyle says with a shrug. “Or with loud music and lots of alcohol. So, stereo music, drinks in cups, snacks in bowls and Monopoly on the table is a little…unusual for me.”

I can’t help but laugh at him. He looks a little betrayed before a reluctant smile surfaces on his lips.

“Yeah, laugh it up,” he says, rolling his eyes.

“Sorry,” I say through giggles. “It’s just that the big, tough motorbike rider is afraid of a small house party?”

He gives me a sharp look. “Fuck off. I’m not afraid. Just a little out of place.”

I grin at him. “Well, want to play poker, then?”

He considers this. “Why not. Do you have chips?”

“My parents bought me a set ages ago,” I say. I look around him. “Anyone up for poker?”

Turns out everyone is interested in playing. With seven of us, the table isn’t quite large enough, so Kyle pushes my couch and coffee table to the side. Then I grab some pillows and we all sit on the floor. The look on Kyle’s face as he gingerly sits between me and Jake is very amusing.

“Bet you’ve never played like this before,” I tease.

“No, I haven’t,” he says with a deep chuckle.

“Then you’re missing out!” Paige says cheerfully.

“You any good?” Susie asks, leaning over Jacqui to talk to him, her shirt slightly lower than it was before.

Jonathan pulls her back and glares first at her and then at Kyle. Kyle looks away uncomfortably, not sure what to do.

“Susie, control yourself,” I say, rolling my eyes. “You have a boyfriend and poor Kyle is too much of a gentleman to know what to do.”

“How do you know that?” Paige asks teasingly.

I wink at her. I’ve had a bit to drink by this point, and the alcohol has made me a little bolder as I lean into Kyle’s side. He clears his throat, a faint flush on his face.

“No reason,” I say with a laugh.

“Come on, let’s deal,” Jake says as he finishes shuffling the deck.

It turns out that Kyle is very good at poker. He’s got an eye for when to fold and when to keep playing. He also has an amazing poker face; it’s difficult to do anything other than fold when he sets his intent, expressionless eyes on us, just waiting for the next move that we make. Between his luck and his amazing bluffs, he wins more rounds than he loses, and, soon, it comes down to Kyle and Jonathan.

Kyle is definitely going to win. Jonathan only has two hundred worth of chips left, and Kyle has the rest of them. Rolling his eyes, Jonathan puts everything he has left into the pot, and it isn’t a surprise when Kyle’s three of a kind beats his doubles.

“You have the luck of the devil,” I say to Kyle.

“Just a lot of experience,” Kyle laughs. “I had a friend who used to love organizing poker nights. It’s been a while since then, but we still organize them in his memory every now and then.”

“What happened to him?” Susie asks, her tongue loose.

Kyle goes quiet. “He passed away in an accident a few years ago.”

The confession sucks the air out of the room. My chest feels tight. Did Kyle also lose someone to a motorcycle accident? If so, then how could he bear riding his own death trap all the time?

“Sorry,” Susie says.

“It’s fine,” Kyle says with a shrug. “It happened a long time ago.” Restlessly, he picks up the cards and offers them to Susie, who is sitting to Jonathan’s left. “Another round?”

My friends jump at the chance to play again, wanting to break the serious air that has fallen over us. I bump Kyle’s arm with my shoulder and he smiles down at me.

“It’s fine,” he repeats, bumping my shoulder back.

His eyes are clear and there’s a genuine smile on his face. He’s not like me, who still can’t talk about my father’s tragic death without cringing. He’s made his peace with his loss.

I wonder if I should take some pointers from him.

“Good,” I say.

Something changes after that. Paige, Jonathan, Susie and Jake, who had all still been a little tense because of the tall, rough stranger among us, suddenly begin to relax. As the second game winds to a close, Jake throws an arm around Kyle’s shoulders, looking ridiculous because Kyle is so much taller, even while sitting, and laughs at something he said. Paige and Susie seem to be competing to see who can make Kyle blush the most, and even Jonathan is calming down, though he doesn’t seem too pleased by his girlfriend’s antics.

Somehow, impossibly, Kyle is fitting in with my friends, and I watch it happen, both stunned and a little relieved by it. It’s nice to see them all getting along so well, though I’m not sure why this is so important to me.

In the third game, I ended up out very quickly. Foolishly, driven by recklessness as the alcohol flushes my system, I threw everything I had into a single bet and ended up losing it all to Susie, much to everyone’s amusement. I laugh with them and lean back on my hands, watching them all play with fond eyes.

This is nice.

Jacqui is out next, and she leans back next to me, grinning at the group.

“Looks like Kyle is relaxing,” she says.

I glance at the man. He’s laughing and joking with everyone. I smile, pleased.

“Yeah,” I say.

I see Jacqui glance at me. It looks like there’s something she wants to see, but a mischievous gleam enters her eyes and she turns away, watching as the game draws to a close. When Jake, this time, manages to win the pot, she sits up quickly and snatches the cards before anyone else can.

“Let’s raise the stakes!” she announces, grinning wildly. “Strip poker!”

Normally, it’s not something me and my group of friends would go for. But we’ve been drinking for hours by this point, and we’re all flushed with giddiness and excitement.

“Yeah!” Paige says, punching the air. “How do we play?”

“Easy,” Jacqui says, eyes gleaming. “The one with the worst hand in a round loses a piece of clothing. You can fold, but you can’t fold twice in a row, to make it more exciting, so choose wisely!”

I laugh. “With those rules, even if you win the game, you could still end up naked!”

“Exactly,” Jacqui says, winking at me. “You all in?”

“I’m in!” Susie laughs.

A chorus of agreements sounds, and Jacqui shuffles the deck, grinning. The moment she passes the cards out, however, a serious air descends as we suddenly realize something.

We can’t lose.

Kyle, surprisingly, is the first one to fumble. Though, perhaps not so strange; despite the fact that he’s relaxing, he’s still among strangers. He coughs, embarrassed when he’s the only one not to have anything at all.

“Should have used your fold!” Jonathan laughs.

“Yeah,” Kyle says with a chuckle.

He unzips his jacket and shrugs it off, throwing it carelessly in the corner. I see the way Jacqui, Paige and Susie all stare at the way his black t-shirt molds itself to his chest, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Suddenly oddly irritated, I collect the cards.

“My turn to deal,” I announce.

The game is brutal. Suddenly, everyone is throwing everything they have into it, the reality of our situation dawning on us now that someone has removed an item of clothing. I find myself calculating exactly what I’m wearing and just how many times I can lose before I end up naked in front of all my friends.

As such, too focused on that, I end up with the dud hand on the next round. I stare blankly at the cards in my hand and flush at my own idiocy.

“Your turn!” Jacqui sings.

I stick my tongue out at her and remove my own jacket. Thankfully, I switched the heater on before we began playing, so the apartment isn’t as cold as it could be at this time of the night.

“Aw, no fair, you’re wearing two shirts!” Paige protests.

“It’s an undershirt,” I say primly, then grin at her. “All’s fair in love and war.”

Susie cackles and Paige pouts. I hear Kyle laugh beside me and grin, pleased.

Slowly, the minutes tick by. Chips are passed back and forth. Eventually, both Jonathan and Jake end up shirtless, and I’ve managed to get away with it by first removing both my shoes and then one of my socks. Poor Paige is left only in a thin shirt and a skirt, and Susie is huddling next to Jonathan in a bra and jeans. Jacqui, on the other hand, is doing fairly well for herself; she removed her socks and shoes first, and then her jeans, leaving her to continue huddling into her jacket.

Kyle, on the other hand, is doing the best of all of us. He’s still only lost his jacket, and I catch Paige’s eye; we need to do something about this.

Though it turns out we don’t need to cheat. Kyle, caught because he folded on the last hand, is left with nothing, and we turn gleaming eyes on him as he laughs, draining the last of the beer beside him.

“Yeah, yeah,” he says.

He shrugs his shirt off. My mouth goes dry, and I suddenly wonder why I thought it was such a good idea for him to lose, after all.

“Shit, girl,” Jacqui mutters to me. “I suddenly know why you jumped him.”

I don’t even have the presence of mind to hush her, though no one is paying attention to us. Seeing Kyle half-naked brings vivid memories to my mind, of running my hands down his chest and pressing myself against his firm body. My gut feels tight and I shiver in the night air, though, this time, not because I’m cold.

Paige is staring too and there’s an expression of want on her face that I recognize. Did I look like that the other night right before I threw myself at Kyle? I want to tell her to back off, but it suddenly occurs to me that I have no right to do that.

Kyle isn’t mine. We slept together once, and that was it. He’s here only because he seems to have a protective streak a mile long, a streak that he’s decided to wind around me for the time being. What does it matter if Paige wants to sleep with Kyle? It isn’t any of my business.

Except maybe it is a little because I saw him first. I’m the one that tasted his skin and felt his body all around me and within me. I feel myself ache at the memories, and I swallow with difficulty.

“Keep going?” I ask.

It does the trick; Paige tears her eyes away and hands the cards to Jonathan, who is beside her. She’s flushed and there’s a smile on her face that I don’t like.

Later, I won’t be able to say why I do it. But I wait until Paige is looking at me. And then I deliberately lean against Kyle, staring at her intently.

Her mouth drops in shock. Then realization crosses her expression. She leans back and I see the acceptance in her eyes.

That’s it, that’s the end of it. Paige won’t pursue Kyle, and that means Kyle is…

My thoughts stutter to a halt. Kyle is what, exactly? Mine? Because he isn’t, and it really isn’t fair that I just chased Paige off, especially if I’m not going to do anything about it.

Except…

Kyle leans back toward me. He doesn’t seem to realize he’s doing it, his eyes on the game. His skin is warm, which in turn heats mine as my arm presses against his.

Why can’t I do anything about it?

A distant part of my mind is exasperated at myself because a thought like this is exactly what caused us to tumble into bed the first time. I ignore it, however.

Because, suddenly, I’m really looking forward to the end of this party.

Chapter Twelve

Kyle

The door closes behind Jonathan and Susie, who can’t keep their hands off each other even as they leave through the door, and I laugh, stretching my hands over my head.

That…had been a surprisingly fun night. When I asked Allison if I could stay for her party, I hadn’t expected much. A little music, some snacks, maybe some chatting, that was it. I hadn’t expected to have fun.

But now, sitting in only my boxers and jeans, I realize that I did enjoy myself. I look over to Allison who is smiling as she looks around, clad only in her undershirt and a skirt. I flush as I remember she isn’t actually wearing any panties; rather than sit in only her underwear, the last piece of clothing she had taken off were her panties, shimmering them down from underneath her skirt, much to the amusement of her friends.

“Did you enjoy yourself?” Allison asks.

“Yeah,” I say. I glance at her clock. It’s one in the morning. Then I set my shoulders, determined. I don’t know if it’s the alcohol talking again, but there’s no way I’m leaving with the threat of Jesse around. “I’m taking your couch again.”

It isn’t a question. No matter what Allison says next, I’m staying the night. I can’t drive my motorbike, and I can’t leave her alone.

Allison just smiles, however, and I relax.

“Yeah?” she says, and there’s a tone in her voice that instantly sets me on edge. “But wasn’t that uncomfortable?”

“It was fine,” I assure her. “I’ve slept in more uncomfortable places.”

“I’m sure,” she says. She’s stalking toward me, and my chest tightens uncontrollably. Damn, she’s beautiful. “But wouldn’t you rather be comfortable?”

“Uh…” I’ve lost my voice.

She grins at me and laughs. “Come on, my bed is big enough, we can share.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” I try.

There’s no way I can share a bed with Allison, not with the way my groin is already tightening. It would end in disaster.

“We’re adults, we can handle sleeping in the same bed,” Allison says, rolling her eyes. “Come on, already. I’ll feel safer with you there.”

Well, I can’t argue with that. I waver and then, against my better judgment, I follow her into the bedroom. She smirks at me over my shoulder, and I have the oddest feeling that I’m missing something.

Her room is as messy as I remember it being, and her bed is still unmade. I can’t help but smile at this; for a clever college student, Allison is incredibly unorganized.

“You tired?” I ask.

“Yeah,” she replies.

She doesn’t look very tired, I note as I follow her to the bed. Her eyes are bright and there’s expectation in every line in her body. But expectation for what?

I get my answer when we reach the end of the bed and she whips around. I catch sight of her grin as she plants both her hands on my bare chest and pushes, and I fall backward, confused by this sudden turn of events. Then she climbs onto the bed, swings a leg over me and sits, straddling me.

My body instantly wakes in interest. I stare up at her, my mind moving sluggishly due to all the beer I’ve consumed and the late hour.

“Did you see Paige looking at you?” she murmurs, leaning down to nip at my jaw.

“No,” I gasp as she circles her hips, her thighs tight around my hips.

She grins.

“Good,” she says.

Then she presses her lips to mine, hungrily opening her mouth and tapping at mine with her tongue. Aroused by this turn of events, I open my own mouth and she swirls her tongue inside, sucking and lapping at my lips. Her hands slide up my chest, her nails scraping along my heating skin.

Shit, where the hell did this come from? I don’t know and I suddenly don’t care. Suddenly, Allison is on top of me, and that’s all that matters. Her body is moving against mine, her hands searching my skin, and all I can do is kiss her back and grip her hips while she steals the breath from me.

Eventually, we part, panting against each other. Her eyes are dilated with lust, and I’m sure I don’t look much better.

“Fuck, Allison,” I groan.

“That’s the plan,” Allison says with a sultry smile.

She slips off my lap and lands between my knees, her hands pushing them away from each other. For a moment I don’t know what she’s doing; my mind isn’t working at full capacity right now, still scrambling to catch up. She smiles up at me and reaches up to play with the zipper on my jeans, her palm pressing lightly against the hardness in my pants.

I groan and buck my hips upward, needing more pressure. Allison just moves her hand, grinning wickedly, before she leans forward and takes the zip in her teeth.

It’s fucking hot. All the breath escapes me as I watch her pull the zip down slowly, her chin brushing against my erection. Her hands grip my hips before I can buck again, holding me down, and it’s too much, too much.

She lets go before I can dive over the edge, desperate for release, and sits back. There’s an expression of concentration on her face as she lets go of my hips and fumbles with the button and my belt but, eventually, they both loosen and my jeans fall open. My penis, desperate to be free, juts out from the fly, straining against my boxers, already leaking.

“Patience, Kyle,” she purrs.

“Fuck patience,” I pant.

She laughs and slides my pants over my hips and down my legs, taking my boxers with them. She shifts backward so she can remove them completely, and then slides back between my legs. I’m now completely bare beneath her intense gaze.

I need something. My body is flushed and I’m too far gone to care what happens next. Seeing this, Allison grins at me and then reaches out to take my cock in a firm hold.

I groan, throwing my head back, at the sensation. She’s gripping it just hard enough to be tight, but not enough to be painful. She gives it a tug, and everything blurs for a moment.

Why am I so close the edge? I’ve been tense since Allison took her panties off, so long ago, feeling tight and uncomfortable, but I hadn’t realized just how desperate I was for her. Now she’s tugging on my dick, playing with the tip and pulling my release from me with just the twist of her wrist.

Then, suddenly, she stops. I raise my head, wondering what’s going to happen next. I catch sight of her ducking her head, and then the tip of my penis is encased in something wet and warm.

My brain shuts down. I buck upward before I can stop myself, but Allison, possibly expecting this, moves with me, licking at the tip and curling her tongue around the hard length of my penis. The world is spinning, overwhelmed with sensations and lust, leaving me with little else to do other than hold on to the covers beneath me.

“Fuck, oh shit, fuck…” I groan.

I reach out and tangle my hands in her hair as she slowly bobs her head up and down, slowly getting used to my penis being in her mouth. Her hands are on my hips again, preventing me from thrusting upward, and I groan again. I’m on fire now. There’s nothing more important in the world than Allison and what she’s doing.

Then she gives a tentative suck and I’m gone. I have just enough time to give a shout of warning, letting go of Allison’s hair, but she’s already moving, as though she had anticipated this. My release comes swiftly and I burst with lust, wave after wave of pleasure crashing down on top of me.

After what seems like forever, my body relaxes onto the mattress beneath me. I try to catch my breath and I look up. Allison is standing now, looking ridiculously pleased with herself as she leans over me.

“That was perfect,” she breathes.

She kisses me fiercely, and I can taste myself on her lips and in her mouth. She steals my groans as my body, still trembling with the aftershocks, sparks weakly. Then she pulls back, her lips shining and a fiery promise in her eyes.

“But we’re not finished yet,” she says.

There’s something about the way she’s taking control. It’s incredibly sexy, and I’m helpless to do anything more than watch her as she crawls over me, still clothed. Her hair is tumbling down around us, messy and knotted from the way I had clutched at it. She leans down and bites my collar bone, sucking hard and sending bolts of electricity through me. Then she soothes it with her tongue before she bites again, near the first spot.

Marking, I realize somewhere in the back of my mind. She’s making marks on my skin, as though to tell the non-existent world around us where I belong.

With her.

Part of me wants to know where this odd possessiveness has come from. She and I aren’t together. We slept together once, both of us drunk and not completely in our right minds after a fright. We were total strangers only a couple of days ago. Even after I knocked on her door in the dead of the night last night, we were still strangers, and the only reason I was allowed to stay was because I was so focused on Jesse and because I was soaking wet.

What changed tonight? What made her react like this?

Didn’t she ask something about Paige?

Allison bites a third bit of skin and my thoughts are pushed away as my body slowly begins to wake up, realizing that there’s more to come. I slide my hands over her hips and up, under her shirt, feeling her soft skin and slim waist. I wind an arm around her and my hand brushes up her spine, making her arch her back at the sensation.

I grin. Two can play at this game.

“You caught me off-guard,” I murmur to her. “But I’m awake now.”

Allison looks up and grins at me.

“Good,” she breathes. “Now what are you going to do about it?”

I find the clasp on her bra and unclip it. I slide my other hand underneath the loose bra and cup one of her breasts, kneading the soft flesh with my thumb.

“Return the favor,” I grin.

I hook a leg around her and roll us over. Startled, she falls to the side, and I use the momentum to shift us until she’s on her back and I’m hovering over her. She starts to sit up, but I push her back down and capture her lips, taking control of it to swirl my tongue deeply inside her mouth, tasting and exploring every inch of it.

“Fuck, no,” I say to her when we part, grinning. “It’s my turn, now.”

“Is it, now?” she asks.

There’s challenge in her eyes, and I can’t say no to that. I press my hands to her shoulders, keeping her from getting up, and lower my body over hers. My new erection presses against her leg, and I can feel the heat of her skin through her clothes. I lower my head and press fluttering kisses against her neck, lapping for a moment at her pounding pulse. When I reach the spot just behind her ear, however, she yelps and her entire body jolts.

We both pause. Then I grin against her skin.

“Sensitive, much?” I ask, my voice deep.

She draws in a shuddering breath, but she manages a smile that is both a reassurance and further challenge.

“Seems so,” she says.

She’s still playing, trying to keep her composure. She’s not going to let go easily; she wants me to fight for it. I chuckle, the sound rumbling through my chest and against her breasts, and bite the spot that I’ve just found. She groans and writhes beneath me, her legs winding around my waist to keep me in place.

Her skirt rides up and I press against her, suddenly remembering, again, that she left her panties behind in the other room. The space between her legs is hot, and my erection pulses against her with need. My heart is hammering in my chest, and I lick at the bite mark I’ve left, tensing myself. I’ve already lost control once. I’ll make Allison lose it before I lose it again.

“What are you waiting for?” she asks me, her legs tightening as she draws me even in closer.

I consider fighting her. But then I push myself flush against her, my penis pressing against her entrance, and she gasps, not expecting that. I run my hands over her legs and up her thighs, cupping her butt in my hands, and she groans at the feel of my calloused palms in such a sensitive area.

“I’m waiting for you to beg,” I whisper.

Allison’s breath catches, her legs tightening impossibly around me. I use her distraction as the opportunity I needed to push her shirt up, forcing her arms above her head as I pull both the shirt and her bra off, leaving her clad in only the skirt that is now bunched up around her hips.

“You were wearing too many fucking clothes,” I murmur.

She opens her mouth to respond. But, before she can, I dip my head down and take one of her breasts in my mouth. I nip lightly at the nipple as it hardens under my ministrations, sucking and biting the soft skin around it. I circle my tongue around the nipple to soothe it and her hips buck down against me.

“Please…” she moans.

I ignore her as I release her breast and take the other one into my mouth, teasing the other nipple to complete hardness as well. My legs are trembling with need but I’m holding out, because I want Allison to be a complete mess beneath me, unable to do anything other than tell me she wants.

“Oh god,” Allison pants, throwing her head back. “Shit, fuck, Kyle…! Please…!”

I let go of her breast. My hips are thrusting lightly against hers; there’s only so long we can both hold out now. Her wild eyes meet mine.

“What do you want?” I ask, my breath catching.

“Fuck, Kyle,” she moans, her eyes fluttering closed. She reaches up to wind her arms around my neck, trying to draw me closer. “Fuck me!”

There’s no more playing around. I pull back, making Allison groan in disappointment as her nails scrabble at my skin, trying to draw me in again. I line myself up against her, trembling and aching with want.

Then I slide home. Allison’s eyes fly open as she cries out, her fingers tightening on me. I inch into her, my body remembering the feel of her clenched muscles around me. The walls inside her are fluttering, contracting and loosening at the intrusion, and it takes all I have not to just tip over the edge yet again, overwhelmed by the feeling of being inside Allison once more.

Finally, I’m fully seated in her. We pant, our bodies trembling, and Allison’s legs loosen around me before dropping, giving me space to move. Her hips thrust against mine, and I take that as the signal that she wants me to move now.

I pull back and thrust in again hard. Allison’s head falls back, her eyes fluttering, and her hands drop down to grip at my arms, holding on so tightly that I wondering if I’m going to bruise.

“Fuck, more,” she groans. “Harder.”

Her body is writhing beneath me, alive with need and lust, and I can’t help but obey as she presses back against me, her hips meeting each one of my thrusts to drive me in deeper and deeper within her. I angle my thrusts, looking for that one spot, and when her eyes roll back, I know I’ve found it.

Allison lifts her arms again, winding them around my neck and raising her head to meet my lips in a kiss. It’s sloppy and frantic, and I swallow her moans and cries as we move together, a blazing inferno whipping up around us as sweat pours from our bodies. Her muscles clench around me and I groan into her mouth, choking on the sensations around us.

It’s bubbling and boiling under my skin, something so deep and terrifying that it bursts within my chest and washes through my body. I could stay here forever, wrapped up in Allison’s skin. I never want to leave this bed. If I stay right here, with her, we would never have to leave, never have to face the world that wants to hurt and terrorize. I could protect her here.

My head spins and I thrust in deeply, her body jolting at the force. I’m too far gone to wonder about what I’m thinking, and I can’t bring myself to care. Right now, it’s just me and Allison. The rest of the world can get fucked.

Because this is a feeling I never want to let go of.

Chapter Thirteen

Allison

“Fuck, Kyle, more, more!” I groan, my body moving in time with his as he thrusts into me.

I can barely breathe, so caught up in all the sensations around me that I’m choking on the fire that surrounds us. But I can’t bring myself to care. I can feel the hard muscles in his neck as well as the way he’s sweating, his body trembling with desire.

He’s trembling with desire for me. Fuck Paige. I saw him first, I’m here and she isn’t. I’m the one he wants.

A distant part of my mind tells me just how stupid I’m being. Kyle isn’t mine. We’ve tumbled into bed again, too caught up in lust for one another to think logically about what we’re doing, but it doesn’t mean anything. I don’t know anything about Kyle other than that he rides motorbikes and that he’s a mechanic. He knows nothing about me other than the fact that I have a crazy ex and I’m a law student. That isn’t enough to base an actual relationship on.

Even if I did know every inch of his body now. I’ve run my hands over the dips and curves of his skin, tangled my hands in his hair, traced the line of an old scar that he has on his shoulder. Physically, I know him intimately, just as he likely knows my body as well, by now.

Is that enough?

No, the logical part of my mind reminds me.

Yes! screams the part of my mind that is currently in ecstasy, riding the waves of pleasure that crash over me with each thrust of Kyle’s body into mine.

“You’re so fucking perfect,” Kyle breathes above me. “Your body is taking in every inch of me.”

I hook a leg over his knee and draw him in. I want him so deeply in me that I’ll never forget that he was there. My skirt is chafing at the skin on my hips but I don’t care. All I care about is the way he is sliding in and out of me, hitting the spot that makes my eyes roll backward as stars explode across my vision.

But we’re drawing to the end. I can feel it in the way his legs are trembling, his thrusts slowing down. Mine are too, my whole body shaking with aching need, wanting release. I’m not ready to tip over the edge yet, I want to cling to this moment as long as I can, but our bodies aren’t going to hold us up for much longer. They’re too desperate for release.

Then Kyle hits my g-spot once more and my body shudders and releases. I clench myself around him and, with a shout, Kyle releases his own orgasm deep within me, thrusting in so deeply that part of me wonders if we’ll ever part again.

I wonder if I should care more if we can’t.

I ride the waves that are carrying me over the edge, sending me tumbling into a white world of noise and overwhelming sensation. When my vision clears, Kyle is holding himself up over me, his arms trembling as he pants. It gives me the oddest sensation of déjà vu; this is the same position we ended up in the other night.

And, just like that night, Kyle pulls back and crashes down beside me. His chest is heaving and he’s clutching at the bedspread, his body still trembling in the wake of his orgasm. I watch him, trying to catch my own breath.

“Shit,” Kyle finally says.

I can’t help but laugh.

“Yeah,” I agree.

I stare up at the ceiling. I wonder, for a moment, if I’ll regret this in the morning. I was so convinced that I could keep away from Kyle, but all it took was a few drinks and a game of strip poker (and, if I’m honest, the flirtatious looks from Paige) to drive me into his arms once more. So much for my resolve.

I don’t want to regret this when I wake up, though. Whatever my motivations, I wanted Kyle tonight. It’s different from the night before when I only needed someone to drive Jesse away from my mind. Tonight, it was Kyle, and only Kyle, that I wanted. I wanted to feel him again, to have his hands on me once more, to feel his body moving within me.

I turn my head to look at him. My limbs don’t feel as weak any more. He’s staring upward, his expression relaxed and, as though he feels my eyes on him, he turns his head and smiles.

Will he regret this? After all, he was the one that snuck out on me that morning. Did he regret it happening the first time?

I find I don’t like that idea. If we end up regretting this and never touching each other again, is this all I’ll get?

I’m not tired. And I want more.

I reach out before I can stop myself, rolling onto my side and putting my hand on his arm. His body jolts, not expecting my touch. He stares at me and then covers my hand with his. Tiny sparks of electricity, pleasure left over from the force of the orgasm that had hit me, travel through my body.

“I still want you,” I tell him before I can remind myself to hold my tongue.

I lean forward and kiss him before I can say anything else. His mouth opens for me, and I lazily map the inside of his mouth with my tongue. There’s no rush this time. I’m not in a lustful frenzy. I want to feel him, to explore the areas on his skin that I haven’t found yet. Tentatively, his tongue touches mine, and stronger sparks travel through me, setting my nerves on fire.

No. I’m not done, yet. I’ll take everything I can get tonight.

I draw back. Kyle stares up at me, his breath catching.

“Allison…” he breathes.

I kiss him again. This time his arms wrap around my shoulders and he pulls me close until I’m lying flushed on him. My skirt is irritating me and, not breaking the kiss, I shimmy it down over my hips. As I do so, my hand brushes against his penis, and it twitches wearily, a little interested in what’s happening now.

I grin suddenly against Kyle’s mouth and I draw back.

“I’ve already pulled you over twice,” I purr. “Can I do it a third time?”

Kyle groans.

“Fuck, yes,” he gasps.

I rub my hands over his chest and sit up, straddling his hips like I was doing earlier. But, this time. I’m not teasing and playing games. I lean down and nip and suck at his skin, feeling his erection behind me beginning to perk up in interest at my actions.

I’m not rushing. There’s a quiet, gentle heat sweeping through me. I want to feel every bit of this. I don’t want to just fuck Kyle in a frenzied heat, thrusting against each other until we’re forced to release. I want to feel him sliding in and out of me as our hands explore each other, slowly getting to know everything about our bodies and how they’re connected.

I want…

I want…

I don’t really know what I want. Other than Kyle. I want Kyle so badly that it’s like an aching need in my chest. Kyle, who tried (though, perhaps, not very hard) to push me away despite his own aching erection, not sure if I really wanted him in that alley. Kyle, who ran through the rain last night to warn me about Jesse, just because he was scared. Kyle, who followed me home because he doesn’t trust the police to protect me.

“I don’t need you to protect me,” I’ve told him.

And I don’t. Why do I need protection against Jesse? He’s a fool. There’s no need for Kyle to be hanging around. I should tell him to leave and never come back.

But I don’t. I can’t.

There’s something that draws me to Kyle, I realize as I slowly gyrate my hips on his. His earnestness and his desire to protect, even his rough yet awkward exterior, they’re all part of the reason why I let him in last night, and why I allowed him to stay for my party tonight. Maybe they’re part of the reason why it annoyed me so much when Paige looked at Kyle like he was something she wanted when I was the one that wanted him first.

She saw what I saw first, his amazing muscles and strong arms. She wanted his body, which is exactly what I wanted when I first met him.

Now I just want him.

“I want to feel you,” I whisper to him. “Every part of you.”

“Fuck…” Kyle says in reply.

His hands grip my hips, and I can feel his erection, hard and weeping again. His body is tense beneath mine, and his breaths are panting in his throat. When I lay a hand over his chest, I can feel his frantically beating heart. He wants me just as much as I want him. He’s here, with me, because this is the place we both wanted to be.

“Do you want me?” I ask, thrusting my hips down against his.

“Fuck, yes, yes,” Kyle says, groaning underneath me.

I lift myself up on my knees, and he looks up at me. Our gazes connect, and I’m lost in the depths of his green eyes, which are so intense that I can’t tear myself away. His hands loosen on my hips and he gently guides me back so I can line myself up against him.

I slowly sink down on his erection. The tip breaches me, and my breath catches in my throat. This all somehow feels even more intimate than before. I can feel his body struggling, but he doesn’t move, waiting for me to do so first. I draw in a deep breath and push myself down, bit by bit, feeling his skin sliding against mine. I can feel every bump and line of him as he slowly enters me, and I almost sob when I’m sitting flush against his hips. It’s so overwhelming.

“Shit,” I moan. “This is so…”

I can’t even think of the words as my brain stumbles to a halt. His hands are still on me and, if I can concentrate, I can feel his callouses, feel the way they catch on my skin. My thighs clench and unclench, and there’s sweat on his brow as he forces himself to wait for me.

“Ready?” I ask him.

“Yes,” he groans. “Fucking go.”

I slide myself up, raising myself on my knees once more, and then back down. It’s slow and sensual, every part of me meeting every part of him. My eyes flutter at the feeling and I’m anchored only by the touch of his hands gripping my hips, guiding me.

He thrusts up to meet my hips circling downward, but it isn’t hard or rough, as though he’s understood what I want and is helping me. Or perhaps he wants it too, to feel the two of us together in a way that lets us feel everything.

I slide up and down. My legs are trembling, and violent sparks are crossing all over my body, but I’m not ready to give this up yet. I want to feel more. Kyle is trembling as well, but his hands are firm, even as I falter when we find my g-spot, pleasure rocking me. His erection is hard and swollen within me, as the walls within my vagina caress him, and I know neither of us is going to last much longer. We’re already too overwhelmed from before, our bodies tired and being forced through one last effort because neither of us wants to let go.

“Kyle…” I gasp.

His fingers tighten on my hips.

“What do you need?” he asks huskily.

I lean down to kiss him, thrusting down on his hips in a different position that makes us both groan, our breath mingling together as our tongues lazily dance.

“You,” I say against his lips.

He thrusts up into me, and my body jolts, warning me that we’re at the limit now. So I let go; it’s enough for now.

Our movements become jerkier as our thrusts speed up. We’re chasing, now, the pleasure that will rock us both, pushing us over the edge and into relief. I thrust downward and he thrusts up, our hips meeting each other. His erection hits my g-spot, and I can hear my own, ragged breath in my ears as I sob out each breath, needing and wanting and aching.

I think his name spills from my lips, but I can’t hear it over the rushing in my ears as I rut against him, barely strong enough to lift myself any longer. His hands tighten around my waist and he helps me. Then the walls of my vagina tighten and I feel a cry ripping from my throat as my world goes white once more.

When I blink my eyes open again, I’m lying on top of Kyle’s heaving chest. His arms are around me, and I feel oddly safe, as though nothing in the world can touch me.

I don’t need protection, a tiny part of my mind tries to say.

“Shut up,” I slur lazily.

“What?” Kyle asks with a yawn.

I look up at him with a smile. “Nothing. Let’s go to bed.”

“Bed sounds fucking good right now,” Kyle says with a rumbling chuckle.

I lift myself off him with some difficulty. My limbs have turned into jelly, but I can’t say I care right now. My body is aching pleasurably, and I collapse on the right side of the bed with a quiet hum. I feel him laying down beside him and I unconsciously scoot closer to him, wanting to be near the warmth and security he offers.

I remember my worries about tomorrow. Suddenly, though, I can’t care about that. Tomorrow will bring whatever it does.

Right now, I just want to lay here and pretend that I can bask in this comfort forever.

Chapter Fourteen

Allison

My head is pounding.

“Ow…” I groan.

How much did I drink yesterday?

I can feel movement in the bed. Someone is getting up. Kyle… It would be Kyle because I invited him to my bed and we had sex again. Is he leaving again?

My heart stutters in my chest and my breath catches. I don’t want him to sneak away, not like last time. My hand shoots out and brushes against warm skin. I open my eyes a little. I can see his wrist right in front of me, and I grab it.

“Allison?”

“Don’t go,” I groan piteously.

For a moment I think he might ignore me. Then he chuckles.

“I wasn’t leaving,” he says. “My head is killing me. I was going to get some aspirin. Do you want some?”

That sounds absolutely heavenly right now.

“Yes,” I say with feeling, forcing my eyes to open a little more.

Kyle’s face swims into focus. He’s smiling slightly as he slides his jeans on, not bothering to put his boxers back on.

“I’ll be back,” he promises.

It sucks that he’s in better condition than I am when I know he drank more than I did. I groan again and collapse back against my pillow. Why do I do this to myself?

When I open my eyes again, Kyle is back into the room. He’s still wearing only his jeans, and I appreciate the view as he approaches. He’s holding a glass of water in one hand and two pills in the other. It occurs to me that he must have rummaged around in my kitchen to find either, but I find that I don’t care about that right now as I sit up, wincing at a particularly harsh thump in my head.

“Here,” Kyle says, sitting on the side of the bed and offering me the water and pills.

This all feels oddly domestic. I suppress a smile at the thought.

“Thanks,” I say.

I swallow the pills and drain the water in a few gulps, which soothes my dry throat. I sigh in relief and hand him back the empty glass.

“They should kick in soon,” Kyle says, setting the glass on the table.

I stretch my arms over my head. The sheet falls and it’s only then that I remember that I’m buck naked under the covers. Kyle’s eyes dart downward and he flushes before he looks away.

“Uh, I’ll give you some privacy,” he says.

My hand is on his arm before he can get up. I’m a little surprised at my own boldness. But does it matter? He and I have slept together twice, now. He’s already seen my whole body. It’s not like my naked breasts are anything new.

On top of that…

I remember Jacqui pulling me aside last night, right before she left. Her hand was on my shoulder, and she leaned in to whisper in my ear so that no one else can hear.

“I see that look in your eyes,” she’d said, her eyes gleaming. “Go for it, and don’t let him go this time.”

Somehow…I really don’t want to let him go.

“It’s fine,” I say nonchalantly. “Give me a minute and I’ll get up. Are you hungry?”

His stomach rumbles and he smiles sheepishly. He’s still carefully keeping his eyes angled away, I realize.

“Yeah,” he admits.

“I’ll make breakfast,” I say with a nod.

I yawn and sit for a moment, waiting for the pounding in my head to dim until it’s more manageable. Then I get out of bed, uncaring of my own nakedness. Kyle’s eyes bug out and he quickly looks away, much to my amusement. Who would have thought that big, rough biker Kyle would be so easy to tease?

I find a robe on the ground and I slip it on, cinching it around the waist. Only when I’m covered does Kyle dare to look back, and I resist the urge to tell him that I want him to look.

Far from my concerns the night before, I find that I don’t regret anything that happened yesterday. At some point last night, I came to the startling conclusion that I wanted Kyle. My reaction to Paige’s interest told me everything I needed to know.

I don’t know where this is going to lead me. But I know I’m interested in trying to find out.

“I’ll make some toast,” I say cheerfully. “Unless you want cereal?”

“Toast is fine,” Kyle says, clearing his throat.

He follows me into the kitchen.

“Can you grab some bread?” I say, flicking the switch on the kettle.

It boils quicker than I expect, and I realize that Kyle must have boiled it while he was out here looking for aspirin. I smile appreciatively.

“You make the toast, I’ll make the coffee?” Kyle offers.

“Sounds like a plan,” I say, taking the bread from him.

I hum as I work. I feel relaxed and happy, which is vastly different from how I felt with Jesse. I’m okay with everything that happened last night. And I’m more than okay with wherever we go next.

“Do you have work today?” I ask him.

“Uh…not until Monday,” he answers. “I don’t work on the weekends.”

I grin. This is even more domestic; making breakfast together and talking about our day, as though we’ve been together longer than a couple of days. Jacqui would squeal if she could see us.

“What are your plans?” Kyle asks after a moment, following my example.

“Not much,” I say with a shrug. “I have some assignments I could be working on, so I might do that. Otherwise, I think I’ll just hang around at home. What will you do, since you don’t have work?”

“Probably do some grocery shopping,” Kyle says with a grin. “Maybe hang around down at the bar with some friends. Maybe try not to get so drunk that I end up at your doorstep at two o’clock in the morning again.”

“Two-thirty, actually,” I correct with a laugh. “I’d appreciate that.”

Kyle finishes stirring the coffee and several pieces of toast pop up in the toast. It occurs to me that we’re ignoring the elephant in the room. Despite how happy I am, I think we really should talk about it.

“So… I should probably apologize,” I say. “For throwing myself at you again.”

Kyle coughs. “It’s okay. I wasn’t arguing.”

I laugh at this. “I noticed. But, I also remember that you weren’t really expecting it so…sorry.”

“Do you remember everything?” Kyle asks curiously.

“Most of it,” I admit. “There are a few things that aren’t clear, but I remember definitely wanting you very badly.”

Kyle’s lips quirk into a smile.

“Same,” he says.

He stirs the dark liquid in one of the cups and slides it over to me. I take it gratefully and sip at the dark liquid, humming as it slides down my throat and warms me up. There’s nothing like a cup of coffee to make my head feel better in the mornings, especially if I have a hangover.

Though it doesn’t make my stomach feel much better. I grimace as it rumbles, threatening mutiny if I don’t allow it to calm down, so I regretfully set my cup down again, resolving to nibble on some toast until I no longer feel like I’m going to throw up.

“Look, I really didn’t mind,” Kyle says after a long moment, and I look up, blinking at him. “Ever since the other night…I haven’t been able to get you out of my head.”

I slowly butter the toast and put it on a plate, bringing it over to sit between the two of us. He picks up a slice and bites into it, glancing back at me.

“You’ve been on my mind a lot, too,” I admit.

Kyle chuckles. “Both times we’ve had sex, I’ve been a little drunk. You too.” He slants a sideways look at me, his eyes intent. “I wouldn’t mind giving it a try while we’re both sober.”

My breath catches and my heart thumps. Talking about it like this makes it seem like more than just the one-night-stand it was before. Even last night could be explained away by a myriad of different factors. But now, it’s something more, something that neither of us can quite put our finger on, but we both know it’s different and that we want more out of it.

I control myself and push away, a piece of toast in my hand.

“You might have to buy me dinner first,” I say with a smile.

Kyle laughs and turns so he’s leaning back against the table.

“Might?” he asks.

“Might,” I confirm with a wink. “I might be interested in skipping that step with the right persuasion.”

Kyle grins and steps forward. “And what sort of persuasion are you looking for?”

I lean back against the other side of the kitchen counter as he comes toward me, feeling an odd sort of thrill. I know what I’m doing, we both know what we’re initiating, and we both want it.

“I don’t know,” I say as he draws closer. “Why don’t you try something and see if it works?”

He leans in closer, his hands reaching out to grip the counter on either side of me, trapping me within his arms. He isn’t quite touching me, but I can feel how close he is, and my body arches toward him, aching to be touched by him again.

“Does this work?” he asks.

I grin.

“Maybe,” I say.

He laughs, the sound deep and powerful. He leans in closer, his nose just barely brushing against mine.

“What about this?” he asks.

“A little closer,” I whisper.

He leans in. I can feel his breath on my lips, his heated body brushing against mine. I close my eyes, waiting for our lips to meet…

A loud knock sounds at the door, and we spring apart like startled cats, disoriented and confused by the suddenness of the intrusion into our world. My heart is racing for two different reasons now, and I adjust my robe, flustered.

“Allison!”

I groan at the high pitched whine, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

“Damn it,” I mutter.

“Who is it?” Kyle asks with a frown.

“It’s Mrs. Phillips,” I say with a sigh. “She lives next door.”

Kyle runs a hand through his hair. “She has the worst fucking timing.”

“Tell me about it,” I groan. “But I better see what she wants, or she’ll be knocking all day.” I glance at him. “Uh…would you mind staying out of sight? Only, she’s a horrible gossip…”

“Got it,” Kyle says with a nod, disappearing into my bedroom.

I sigh and head to the door. I’m annoyed and bereft of the attention that I thought I was about to receive from Kyle. As such, I open the door a little harder than I meant to, and the smile I give the old woman on the other side is hard and sharp.

“What can I do for you, Mrs. Phillips?” I ask as politely as I can manage.

The old woman scowls at me, not cowed at all.

“You and those friends of yours were ridiculously loud last night,” she scolds. “You didn’t even tell me you were having a party!”

Someone, give me patience.

“I did, Mrs. Phillips,” I say. “I told everyone on Tuesday night.”

Mrs. Phillips huffs, not looking convinced.

“Then there’s that motorcycle down in the alley beside the building,” she exclaims. “It’s been there all night! Allen saw it on his way to work and asked me about it, but of course, I have no idea. I don’t associate with that riff-raff. I’m sure no one here does.”

I feel my eye twitch. This is too much. Not only does she interrupt Kyle and I, but now she’s insulting him? Granted, she probably doesn’t realize that she’s insulting someone that I know, but I find that I’m too irritated to care about that.

“I see,” I say. “Well, I’m sorry we disturbed you, Mrs. Phillips, but I am busy today, so…”

“No respect,” the old woman grouses, glaring at me. “And after I came over here to tell you about this letter at your door!”

I pause.

“Letter?” I ask, confused.

Mrs. Phillips taps her cane on the ground. I look down and step back. There’s a plain white envelope right outside my door. The old woman scowls at me.

“Did you leave it there?” she demands.

“Not me,” I promise. “Someone must have dropped it off.”

“Was it that bastard who was banging on your door at that ridiculous hour the other night?” she asks with a scowl.

I fight to keep my face straight.

“I doubt it,” I say. “I’d say someone just dropped it off so I could see it when I left today. Thank you for letting me know.”

She squints at me, as though trying to figure out whether or not I’m being sincere. I give her my sweetest smile, hoping that I look innocent enough.

Eventually, she huffs and turns away.

“Tell your friends not to litter!” she shouts over her shoulder as she hobbles off.

“I’ll let them know!” I call to her.

Shaking my head, I move back into the apartment, turning the envelope over in my hands curiously. As soon as he hears the door shut, Kyle comes out of the bedroom.

“Who was that?” he asks, frowning.

“Mrs. Phillips,” I repeat with a grin. “Dealing with her is always an experience.”

“You don’t say,” he says dryly. “And what was that about motorcycle riff-raff and bastards knocking on your door?”

“First, the bastard knocking on my door was you,” I say, and he grins. “Second, Mrs. Phillips is very traditional and set in her ways, so I wouldn’t listen too much. At least you know your bike survived the night.”

“It was locked down so tightly, I’d be more impressed if it wasn’t there,” Kyle says with a laugh. He glances at the envelope I’m carrying. “What’s that?”

“No idea,” I say with a shrug. “Mrs. Phillips actually came to tell me that it was at my door. Looks like someone dropped it. Maybe Jacqui, though I don’t know why she didn’t message me to tell me she’d dropped it.”

“Well, you won’t get anywhere by not opening it,” Kyle points out. “Let’s see what’s in it.”

I shake the envelope. It feels flimsy. Frowning, I rip it open and peer inside.

“Photographs?” I mutter, confused.

Kyle looks as puzzled as I am. I overturn the envelope and allow the photos to fall onto the table. Some of them are glossy and new, I notice, as though they’ve only just been printed out. Others are a little older.

“Is that you?” Kyle asks, pointing to one.

“Yeah, it’s…” I say, picking it up.

I trail off. I can feel my face draining of color as I stare at the glossy photo, barely able to believe what I’m seeing. Kyle, who’s staring at it from the back, gapes.

“It has two holes in it,” he points out unnecessarily.

With a shaking hand, I pass the photo. It’s immediately clear what’s causing me distress; the photo is one of me and my family and, in it, someone has poked out my eyes in my photo.

“Fuck,” Kyle swears.

He quickly goes through the photos. There’s photos of me and Jesse, some of me with my friends, quite a few with me and Jacqui. A lot of them I recognize from my social media site, which means the culprit accessed my page and downloaded several of my photos just to print them out.

All of them have the eyes poked out on my photo counterparts.

“What the fuck?” Kyle snarls. “Who…?” He stops. His expression darkens. “Jesse.”

I don’t want it to be true. But I can’t deny that it was likely him. There are several photos here that I left behind at the apartment because Jesse asked to keep them. Now they’re here, on my table, mutilated beyond repair.

“Why would he do this?” I ask, turning beseeching eyes on Kyle.

He looks back helplessly. He has no more idea than I do.

Chapter Fifteen

Kyle

Blood is pumping through my veins. I’m so angry that I can’t even think straight anymore. Allison is standing on the other side of the table, trembling as she looks at the photos, shocked by what she’s seeing.

Me? I’m ready to take to the streets, find that fucking scumbag and deal with him so he never comes near Allison again.

“Allison,” I say.

“Just…give me a moment,” she says, holding up a shaking hand. “I just…need to process this. It has to be Jesse, especially after the spray paint, but why…?”

“Because he’s insane,” I say in a low voice. “He doesn’t care that he’s hurting you, he just wants to put you in your place.” I pause. “Jesse knows where you live, Allison. If he’s making these kinds of threats…you aren’t safe here.”

Allison’s head jerks up. There’s fire in her eyes.

“Why should I have to be the one to move!” she shouts, infuriated.

“You shouldn’t have to,” I say, as calm as I can manage. Allison doesn’t need me shouting back at her right now. “It isn’t fucking fair that you should have to. But Jesse knows where you are, and this is the second time he’s threatened you.” I hold up a hand before she can snap again. “I’m not trying to tell you to do something about it now. I’m telling you to think about it.”

Allison stares at me, still angry. After a moment, however, she calms and sighs, running a hand through her hair.

“Yeah,” she says after a long moment. “You’re right. I’ll think about it, okay? Just…” Her eyes drift back to the photos. “Not right now.”

Alright, first order of business is to get rid of these fucking photos. I gather them all up. Allison watches me, not making any move to stop me, not even when I take them all to the trash can and throw them inside. Once I’ve done that, I tie up the bag and haul it out.

“I’ll take this on my way out,” I decide, stalking over and dropping it beside the front door.

“Thanks,” Allison says quietly. “I’m glad you’re here.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. How long have I known Allison now? It was Wednesday night when I saved her from Jesse. It’s now Saturday morning. I haven’t known her for very long at all.

But as I look at her, her shoulders hunched in vulnerability, her eyes far away as her mind races through possibilities, I know I want to do anything I can for this beautiful woman who has let me into her life. I want to protect her from everything, including jealous ex-boyfriends that can’t take a hint.

“Allison, I’ll do what I can,” I say, stepping toward her. I catch her hands in mine and hold them tightly. “If you want me, I’m here for you, I swear.”

She looks up at me. Her eyes are too bright and they’re searching mine, looking for something. She tugs her hands out of my grip and I let them go instantly.

Then her arms wind around my neck and her lips meet mine in a hungry kiss.

It’s nothing like before, when we were teasing each other, the heat slowly pooling in my stomach in excitement for what’s to come next. Suddenly it's hot and hurried and desperate, and I know this is only happening because Allison is upset, because Jesse has targeted her once more and she wants to pretend that he doesn’t exist.

So I break the kiss and step back. Fifteen minutes ago, she was looking at me. She wanted me. Now she only wants to forget, just like she did on that fateful night we met.

What do I do in this situation? Is it okay to give her what she wants? Or would she be better off if I refused and made her another coffee instead?

I don’t know.

“What?” Allison asks when I step back, hurt. “Sorry, I know that was unexpected. But it’s okay, right?”

“Allison…” I take a moment to stamp down on the heated lust that had flushed through me the moment her lips touched mine.

“You don’t want this anymore?” she demands, suddenly angry.

“I do!” I exclaim, wincing at the volume of my own voice. “I do want this, Allison, so fucking much. But only if you want it.”

For a moment she looks confused.

“I kissed you,” she reminds me. She’s recovered at my assurance that I do want her, and she’s stalking slowly toward me, and intense look in her eyes. “So, yes, I do want this. I want you. I want to feel your hands on my skin, feel you in me, thrusting deep inside. I want you to fuck me hard.”

Fuck. My body trembles at her words. It’s a losing battle, and she hasn’t even touched me yet. I try to stand my ground anyway.

“Allison…” I try.

“No more talking,” she whispers.

She kisses me again, her hand drifting downward to cup me through my jeans, her other hand on her shoulder, and I’m gone. It was hard enough to back away before, when the touch of her skin is like a drug. Now that she’s telling me what she wants and is touching me again, I simply can’t refuse her.

It will be okay, I decide. I could talk to her about this afterward. For now, I’ll let her work off some steam.

I kiss her back just as hard. I remember last night, how we had moved slow and sensually against each other, taking the time to feel everything about each other’s bodies. This is nothing like that. This is more like the first time we had sex, when Allison had pressed me up against an alley wall until we decided to move onto her apartment.

It’s rushed and animalistic, taking only what we each want from the other, biting and scratching until all we can feel is each other’s touch. I put my hands under Allison’s butt and lift her up, and her legs wind tightly around my hips, her fingers digging into my cheeks as our tongues tangle and fight, unwilling to be apart for even a moment. I walk blindly forward until we hit the table, and I push Allison so she’s sitting on top of it, her legs spread open and me sitting between them. All that’s between us is my jeans and her robe, as neither of us saw fit to dress properly when we got up.

I’m thankful for that now.

“Fuck, you’re all ready for me like this,” I say with harsh, panting breaths, pushing Allison’s robe over her shoulders.

She smirks at me and grabs my hardened penis through my jeans again, and I choke on my next breath.

“What about you, Mr. Commando?” she teases.

Of course, she would have noticed that I didn’t put my boxer shorts back on when I got out of bed to get the aspirin. I grin at her and wind my hand through her hair, tugging lightly on a fistful of strands. Her hand falls back obediently, exposing her neck to me. I lap at her jaw and travel down, biting at her neck as I go. Allison wriggles beneath me, gasping with each bite, her hands gripping my arms as an anchor.

“Shit, Kyle,” she groans.

I reach her collarbone and, remembering the way she marked me last night (I can still feel the bite marks), I bite down and suck the skin in my mouth, working it between my teeth and then soothing it with my tongue. She lets out a wordless groan this time, her head falling to the side to give me better access, and I grin against her skin before I pull back.

“Look, now we match,” I chuckle.

“Seriously?” she asks, glaring at me through half-lidded eyes. “Now isn’t the time for jokes, Kyle.”

She tightens her legs around me and pulls me forward. My clothed groin meets her bare one and we both groan. Allison rubs herself against me, looking for some friction, and my hips buck toward her without permission.

“I need more,” she gasps. “Fuck, make me feel more, Kyle.”

She wants to feel, not to think. I know I should pull away and talk to her now. I know she’s stressed and scared, and she’s just using me, right now, to make those emotions disappear. But I don’t pull away.

I can’t.

She’s here in my arms, and I can’t let go of her, not now. I’m sweating and my breath is heaving, and we’re so close together that there’s nothing that could pry us apart anymore. If Allison wants to feel rather than think, I’ll give her exactly what she wants.

I put my hands under her knees and tug her forward. She almost falls backward, but she catches herself on her elbows, her expression confused as I sit her right on the edge of the table and step back, forcing her legs to unwind from around my hips.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Patience, Allison,” I say, repeating what she had said last night.

She grins. “Fuck patience,” she laughs.

I grin at the role reversal and drop down to my knees. I see the moment she gets it. Her expression goes wide and her legs tremble as I gently push them further apart so I can kneel comfortably between them. I wink up at her.

“Just thought I’d return the favor from last night,” I say.

I reach out and rub my fingers over her folds. She’s wet, and it smears over my fingers as I rub them over her entrance, her entire body trembling. I look up at her; her eyes are fixed on me, watching my every moment.

I hold her gaze and slowly put the fingers I touched her with into my mouth, swirling my tongue around the digits. She gasps, panting hard as she watches me taste her. I remove my fingers, which are now wet with saliva.

“Just preparing,” I say, my voice rough.

I move them back to her entrance. Her body is shaking so hard that I’m surprised she hasn’t fallen off the table already. I reach up to put a hand on her leg, holding her in place. Then I circle her entrance with one wet finger, teasing it.

“Oh please, fuck, just do it,” Allison moans.

“When I’m ready,” I promise.

I circle it twice more, then, without warning, I plunge my finger into her body. Her body sucks the digit in as she writhes and moans, and I thrust it in and out, watching as it disappears into her. I curve my finger, stroking her inner walls, and she falls back against the table them with a sharp gasp.

Then I wriggle another finger in beside it, scissoring them in and out, crooking them as I search for that one spot that will make Allison scream. I move them around, thrusting the digits in as deeply as I can, hitting gold when Allison’s entire body jolts with a loud cry.

“Looks like I found it,” I say, satisfied.

“Do that again!” she groans.

I pull my fingers out and thrust them back in, and she’s like Jell-O on the table, unable to do anything other than feel my fingers moving in and out. Her hips jerk down to meet my thrusts, trying to force more of me in but, long as my fingers are, they aren’t long enough. She wants more, and I know that.

But she wants to feel, too, and I’m willing to draw this out for as long I can, until the only memory left in her head is me.

“What do you want, Allison?” I ask.

“More,” she sobs. Her hands find my head and she tangles her fingers in my messy hair. “I want more!”

I grin. I can give her more. I remove my fingers and her hips jerk downward, disappointed at the loss. I push her legs back even further so I can lean my head in. Her body is so hot it feels like a furnace, and I blow on her fluttering entrance, making her jerk.

“What are you…?” she gasps.

And then my mouth is on her, my tongue wriggling inside her body, and she falls silent.

“…Fuck,” she whispers under a long moment, her entire body going boneless, helpless against the waves of pleasure that she’s feeling.

I lap at her entrance, licking and sucking, my tongue swirling around the walls inside her. It’s thicker than my fingers, though not as long, but I know she’s feeling every ridge of my tongue as her walls clamp around me. I hold her hips in place, stopping them from jerking down, massaging the skin with my thumbs.

“Shit, oh shit,” she cries, panting. “Kyle…too much! Kyle…!”

That’s okay. Too much is more than okay. Too much means that she isn’t thinking about Jesse anymore, that her only thoughts are of me and what I’m doing to her. If that’s the case, then I’m more than fine with bringing her over the edge again and again and again. I’ll catch her every time and drag her back up into my arms, where she’ll never have to worry about Jesse again.

Allison is tugging at my hair now, her body trembling with need. My tongue isn’t quite enough, she needs more, but her body is still being wracked with pleasure, leaving her little room to consider anything else. It’s just me and her, nothing else.

Finally, though, I pull away. She’s panting, her chest heaving, her robe falling open on the table. My dick is hard in my jeans, pressing uncomfortably against the denim. Slowly, uncomfortably, I stand. I lean over Allison, now lying on the table with her legs dangling over the edge, bracing my arms on either side of her head.

“Do you want more?” I ask, my voice low.

“Yes,” she moans. “Fuck, yes, please.”

I grin. She’s thinking only of me and what I can do with her. She isn’t thinking about Jesse. She isn’t thinking about the photos. It’s just me.

I’ll make sure it stays that way for now.

Chapter Sixteen

Allison

I know I’m using Kyle right now. And Kyle knows I’m using him, too. He’s known it since he pushed me away and asked me if this is definitely what I want. I was afraid that he was going to make me stop and think about all this.

But he didn’t. And I’m grateful, because I can think about it all later. Right now, I just want to feel everything Kyle will give me, to erase the thoughts of Jesse and whatever vendetta he has right now from my mind.

Kyle pulls back from me, his lips glistening with the moisture from my vagina, and my chest heaves as I pant at the sight. The feeling of his tongue inside me was like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Jesse had never done that to me before. It was wonderful and overwhelming and too much and not enough, all at once.

“Do you want more?” he asks, his voice pitched low.

“Yes,” I moan. If it will mean Kyle touching me more and wrecking me further, I want everything he’ll give me. “Fuck, yes, please.”

He grins at me and pulls himself to his feet. He’s still wearing his jeans and I’m still wearing the robe, even if it’s now open and pulled underneath me. I feel like a mess, and I can’t bring myself to care.

Jesse who? He’s the furthest thing from my mind right now. All I want is Kyle’s hands to be back on me.

Kyle leans in and kisses me, and I throw my arms around his neck as our tongues tangle. The kiss isn’t as rushed as it was before, and I breath in. His breath smells like coffee and toast, and I’m sure mine isn’t much better, but I don’t care.

When he pulls back, I leave my arms linked around him, and he pulls me up to with him, hauling me up until my chest is pressed against him. My ear is pushed against his collar bone, and I can feel his heart thudding beneath me. It’s an oddly soothing sensation that makes my own chest tighten and then relax, reminding me that I’m safe here.

“You alright?” Kyle asks, and I can feel the question rumbling through his chest.

“Fine,” I sigh.

I feel calmer now, I realize. I’m not as frantic as I was before, desperate for Kyle’s touch before I fell to pieces. He had put me back together in that alley, my frenzied mind had decided, so surely he could do the same today. His touch would stop me from breaking.

And it did. Now my fingers have stopped trembling, and I can sit here quietly for a moment, listening to Kyle’s heartbeat. Perhaps he understands, because he doesn’t move, just stands and waits for me to be ready.

When my breath is no longer stuttering in my chest, I open my eyes, unaware that I had closed them at some point. Kyle’s breathing is even beneath my ear. He’s calm and content, too.

Time to change that.

He shifts as I move, turning my head to press my lips against his skin. I kiss downward until I reach his nipple, and I nip at it, making him gasp. His heart rate, I notice, instantly begins to speed up, and I smile against him, pleased at the reaction. Kyle can make me fall apart with his touch alone. But that’s okay, because I can do the same to him.

I lick his nipple again and he shudders at my touch. Encouraged by his reaction, I find his other nipple and bite that too before licking over it. I can feel his erection straining against his jeans against my leg. My robe is brushing against us both; it’s almost too much on my sensitive skin, and it’s already fallen down to my elbows, to the point where I’m barely wearing it anymore. I leave it on, though; the two of us being half-clothed is strangely arousing, and I wonder if Kyle feels it too and if that’s why he hasn’t yet taken anything off.

“Touch me, Kyle,” I whisper. “Make me feel you.”

His hands are instantly on me, sliding over my shoulders and over my breasts, pinching the nipples and massaging the skin. My own hands are exploring, running over his broad shoulders and down the curve of his spine, bumping over the ridges of his muscles. I’m intimately familiar, now, with these parts of Kyle’s body, and touching them again makes me aware of everything that I’ve already learned about him.

I’ll need to sit down and really talk to him soon, I decide hazily. It isn’t fair that we could know each other’s bodies so well, and yet still know next to nothing about each other’s lives.

The thought is swept away when Kyle nips at my ear and licks at the lobe, his hot breath brushing against my eardrum. I can reflect on what we’re missing in our relationship later. Right now, I just need to focus on what Kyle is doing to me and what I’m doing to him.

“Allison, your body is fucking perfect,” Kyle murmurs into my ear, biting the lobe again. “It’s so responsive when I touch you. I bet you would just fall apart if I kept teasing you like this.”

I would, and I would love every minute of it. My back arches as his hand trails down my spine.

“Do you want me to break you?” he asks.

“Yes,” I hiss, throwing my head back, exposing my neck to him.

He smiles against my collar bone.

“I’m going to tear you apart,” he promises, “until you don't know anyone’s name but mine.”

That sounds absolutely perfect right now, I decide. I moan at his words as he presses in closer. I can feel his penis throbbing against me in his jeans, and I’m so close to the edge that one more good push will send me into a spiral of pleasure.

But then Kyle steps away, pulling himself from my grasp. For a moment I have no idea what’s going on until his huge hands cup my elbows and pull me off the table.

I almost think I’m going to fall, because my legs are wobbly. I stumble forwards, pressing against Kyle’s body, and use the opportunity to drag him into a kiss, raising myself onto my toes for better access. He responds hungrily, pushing my robe off my arms to allow it to drop to the floor, and then opening his mouth so that he can suck my tongue into it, his teeth scraping against my bottom lip. It feels like he’s devouring me, and I push forward even further, almost wanting to be merged with him if I could only find some way to satisfy this craving within me.

But there’s no satisfaction here. Kyle is addictive, and I won’t be content until I’ve taken everything he’ll give me.

It takes me a moment before I realize that Kyle is moving backward, dragging me along with him. I don’t care where we’re going, though, and I meet his kiss with equal fervor, dragging everything out of him.

Then he turns around and I’m falling backward until I hit the soft cushions of the couch. I look up at him and laugh.

“You like letting me fall,” I accuse him.

“I like the surprise on your face,” Kyle corrects, leaning over me.

He captures my lips again and presses me back against the arm of the couch, maneuvering me until I’m laying lengthways on it. I’m too tall for it and my ankles hang over the other arm, but I’m too far gone, right now, to mind.

We separate, breathing heavily at each other.

“I thought you were going to break me,” I challenge.

He grins. “I’m getting there, you fucking tease.”

He stands up and takes a step back. His grin widens as my breath catches when his hands go to the button on his pants, teasingly flicking it open. Then he grabs the zipper, playing with it for a moment with one hand while palming himself with the other, his hips bucking against midair and the pressure.

“Unzip it,” I say hoarsely.

“At your command,” he says, his voice low.

He drags the zipper downward, and his erection springs free from the fly, hard and weeping from being confined for so long. Kyle’s eyes lock on mine and he slowly shimmies the jeans down his hips, dropping them to the floor before stepping out of them.

“Next time,” he says huskily, stalking back over to me. “You can give me a strip show.”

“Just remind me of that and I’ll give you a lap dance, too,” I say, my voice husky with need.

“I’ll fucking hold you to that,” Kyle says.

He swings a leg over me and straddles my hips. The couch groans and there’s definitely not enough room for both of us on here, but neither of us cares. Our naked skin meets and we both moan, panting as we pause, adjusting ourselves and trying to take a breath before we continue on.

“Ready?” Kyle asks for a moment.

“Fuck me,” I reply.

Kyle grins and lifts himself up, one hand braced on the arm beside my head, the other gripping the back of the chair. My legs fall open, one of them falling off the couch as Kyle settles between them and lines up. His penis teases me for a moment, rubbing against me as the tip slowly slides in.

“Faster!” I groan.

“Fuck,” Kyle gasps, and then he grins. “I can do faster.”

His hips snap forward, burying himself in one smooth movement, and I throw my head back with a guttural cry, my vision going black for a split second at the overwhelming pleasure that races through me. Kyle, sweat dripping from his body and glistening on his muscles, chuckles.

“Now, I’m going to fuck you hard,” he murmurs.

He pulls out and snaps back in, his hips moving back and forth. Helplessly, my hips try and thrust down to meet his, but each thrust sends black spots crawling against my vision; he’s found my g-spot, and he’s trying to strike it each time, leaving me unable to do anything but writhe underneath him.

“I’m going to wreck you,” Kyle promises. “I’ll fuck you so hard you’ll never forget it.”

Never forget… I like that idea. If I never forget, I can draw the memory up when I need it, and use it to wash away every other feeling even when Kyle isn’t here. I wonder if that’s his aim. I decide I don’t care if it is.

“Don’t stop,” I beg.

“Never,” he whispers and kisses me.

Never. I never want this to end. Why does it always have to end eventually? My heart is pounding in tandem with Kyle’s, and I can barely figure out where he ends and I begin. He’s in me so deeply that we might as well be one, because we’ve shared everything. Every scar, every dimple, every sensitive spot that could be exploited. I’ve felt his penis, he’s explored inside me. Our bodies hold no more secrets from one another.

I curl my arms around his neck and tangle my fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck, desperate to continue hanging on for just a few moments longer. I can feel my climax building in me and it’s going to explode at any moment, dragging me under and pulling Kyle along with me. But I want to relish these last few seconds before we’re pushed over the edge, and commit them to memory for me to remember later, when I need to.

Kyle pulls back, our lips separating.

“So close,” he moans. “So fucking close, your body is so tight around me, Allison.”

I clench around him without meaning to, and his hips snap forward. With that last thrust, I’m thrown over the edge, my vision going black for a second as pleasure knocks me over with a cry. I feel Kyle thrust a few more times, and then his body trembles with his own release, shaking on top of me. We ride it out, clutching each other, trying to anchor each other as we shake and moan, helpless to do anything against the force of the orgasm that has ripped through us.

Then Kyle collapses on top of me, panting. His body is stiff, and I wonder if he’ll be sore in a few hours. I barely fit on the couch, and we’ve just squashed ourselves on it to have sex. At the time it didn’t seem to matter; we were too desperate to care where we were. But now I’m starting to feel the pain, and it has to be worse for him.

After a moment, Kyle rolls off me and slumps on the floor beside the couch, groaning. I sit up, propping myself up against the back of the couch.

“Ouch,” Kyle grumbles.

A reluctant grin quirks at my lips.

“You’re the one who carried me to the couch,” I feel the need to point out.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t think that through,” Kyle said, making a face as he rubs his lower back. “Still, though…” He looks up at me and spears me with an intent look. “How do you feel?”

I blink, puzzled. How do I feel? I’m not entirely sure why he’s asking me that now. I feel sated and content and…

My thoughts trail off.

Oh.

“Okay,” I say, shrugging. Kyle frowns at me and I manage a smile back. “Really, I feel alright. I feel better than I did. Thanks.”

Thanks for what? For giving me what I wanted, allowing me the moment I needed to erase everything so I didn’t have to feel it all? For making me briefly forget Jesse again?

“It’s fine,” he says.

We sit quietly. It’s isn’t awkward, despite the fact that we’re both naked and catching our breath from a round of fierce sex. I’m cold, so I cover myself with a blanket that was left on the couch and curl my legs beneath me.

“Want to watch a movie?” I ask.

Kyle looks up at me. It feels ridiculous to ask, especially after what we just did together, but he smiles.

“Sure,” he says. “Want some more coffee?”

“I’d love some,” I say, smiling back. “I have some popcorn, too.”

Kyle heaves himself to his feet and wanders away, collecting his trousers as he goes. A moment later, my robe flies through the air and settles on my head, while Kyle laughs at me.

“Popcorn sounds great,” he says, turning the kettle on. “Do you want to get dressed first?”

“I’m okay with lounging around,” I say, shrugging the robe on and tightening the belt. “If you don’t mind.”

“It’s fine,” he says. “Pick a movie, I’ll find the popcorn in the cupboard.”

I slide off the couch and open the cupboard underneath my television, scanning the DVDs I have stored there. There would be time enough, later, to talk about Jesse and everything that I’m feeling about him, I decide.

For now, though, I just want to curl up next to Kyle and ignore the rest of the world until I have to face it again. For just this moment, I want to feel safe.

I can figure out the rest later.

Chapter Seventeen

Kyle

My phone vibrates and I whip it out of my pocket, staring at the screen. It’s just a notification, though, and I curse myself for my own stupidity, rolling my eyes at myself. I sent Allison a message only half an hour ago, and she was likely still at college, or out with some friends, since she isn’t home yet.

Not that I should know that. I remember how she joked, before, about how I was a stalker, and I gloomily think that I’ve become closer to that than I meant to recently.

It’s been three days since Jesse left those photos for Allison to find. I ended up staying the night, this time on the couch since neither of us trusted ourselves to keep our hands off each other. On Sunday, however, Allison went shopping with Jacqui, and then we both went back to our regular lives yesterday.

As such, I took up my new hobby. Apartment watching. It’s a wonder no one has called the police on me yet, or maybe no one has noticed me skulking around the alley, glaring at the apartment as I wait for Jesse to show his face. I’m starting to wonder if maybe Allison was right about her original assessment; he really is a fucking coward.

The main problem is that he’s a desperate coward, and that makes all the difference, unfortunately. I grimace and rub my head, glancing at my phone again. Still no answer from Allison.

That’s okay, I tell myself. She doesn’t have to answer. She’ll probably answer later.

Despite the fact that I haven’t actually seen Allison since Sunday morning, when we finally parted ways, we’ve spoken over messages. Sometimes I think she knows that I’ve been staking out her apartment in the middle of the night, because she sends messages that say “Don’t stay up too late” and “You’re going to fall asleep at work if you stay up all night”. She hasn’t reprimanded me or told me to stop, though, which tells me more than I think she wanted to about how shaken up she is about this situation with Jesse.

I’ve also conversed with Jacqui. At some point during the game of poker, Jacqui got hold of my phone and put her number into it. Annoyed by the lack of privacy, I put a password lock on it, but the damage had already been done. Now she sends me messages about Allison, and I wonder if Allison’s spoken to her about her suspicions about me guarding her apartment in the evenings.

“Allison is finally considering looking for a new apartment. What did you say to her?”

“Allison tells me that you stayed until Sunday ;)”

“She seems cheerful today. You must be good for her”

That last one made me drop a heavy metal pipe on my foot at work. I’m good for Allison? I’m still not sure if I am, since I’m allowing her to ignore her problems (since we still haven’t spoken about Jesse), but I’m pleased by the comment, regardless. Old Man Brooks just rolled his eyes at me when he saw my grin and wandered away.

Suddenly, my phone vibrates in my hand. At first, I think it’s another notification, but then I see it’s the message I’ve been waiting for from Allison.

I unlock the phone quickly and read the message.

“Tonight? No plans. Movies and popcorn?”

I grin. I had asked her what her plans for the night were. I should have asked yesterday, but I chickened out at the last minute. Today, however, I was going to send that message no matter what. Suddenly, the half hour that I’ve waited on tenterhooks are worth it. I send a reply:

“Sounds great. I’m picking the next movie. The last one sucked.”

The reply comes much quicker this time.

“Hey, asshole, that was one of my favorites!”

I laugh and then another message comes in.

“I’ll see you later ^_^”

No time, I notice, bemused. Just a “later”. She definitely knew that I was keeping an eye on her apartment, and likely expected me to just be here whenever she did turn up. Seems I’ve done a shitty job of going undercover. Maybe even Jesse knew I was here, which is why he hasn’t shown up at all.

Well, at least I’ve done a mostly good job, then. If I’m scaring Jesse off, it means he isn’t in the apartment, scaring Allison.

I lean against my bike, surveying the street. I wonder if Allison is already on her way home.

“Hey, Kyle! What are you doing here?”

I look up. It’s Grant. He’s wearing his jacket, which is unusual; normally I see him behind the bar where he wears black clothes and an apron. He smiles good-naturedly at me as he approaches, a plastic bag in one hand and waving with the other.

“Grant,” I greet. “This isn’t your usual route?”

“No, my taxi driver got lost, but I recognized the area so I told him to drop me on this street,” Grant says, rolling his eyes. “His GPS wasn’t working right. At least I got a discount.”

I laugh. “That’s good.”

“So what are you up to?” Grant asks curiously. “I haven’t seen you around much since last Thursday, and now I find you sulking around this alley.”

“Nothing,” I try to say nonchalantly.

I glance at Grant. He’s giving me a hard look, his eyebrow raised. I wince. There’s no escaping that look.

“Whose apartment is this?” Grant asks.

“Allison’s,” I mutter.

“What?” Grant asks.

I glare at him. He’s doing this just to torture me, I know it.

“Allison’s,” I say, louder this time.

“Huh, I should have guessed,” Grant says cheerfully, slapping me on the shoulder. “What the hell are you doing outside her apartment? Did she throw you out on your ass?”

“No,” I snap. “If you must know, I’m just keeping an eye out.”

Grant looks confused for a moment, and then his expression clears.

“Is this about that Jesse guy?” he asks. “Has he been around here?”

“Yeah, twice,” I grumble. “Once to do some graffiti, and then next time to leave Allison an envelope of fucking photos with her eyes poked out on each one.”

“Creepy,” Grant says, making a face. “This guy sounds like real bad news, Kyle. Maybe you shouldn’t get involved. Have you called the police?”

“Allison did, about the graffiti,” I say, gesturing at the building; the letters are still there until the landlord can afford to get them cleaned off. “She said she was going to tell them about the photos. But they fucking fobbed her off last time, so I don’t think it will do much good this time.”

Grant nods grimly. While I don’t like the police because I never see them doing anything useful, Grant has an entire other reason to hate them. I’ve never figured out what, exactly, happened, but I know it has something to do with a false arrest and butchered evidence that could have cleared everything up in a heartbeat.

“Sounds like you can’t really rely on them,” he says, his voice hard. “What’s Allison going to do?”

“She’s talking about looking for a new apartment,” I say. “On Saturday night, we looked through apartments that were nearer the college, which is at least busier, even at night, but they’re all so damn expensive. She can’t afford that alone, not while she’s working a job at a fucking grocer’s.”

“Why don’t you move in with her, and pay half?” Grant says, sounding amused.

I snarl at him.

“That won’t work,” I say tightly. “I’m still a stranger, and so is she. We can’t just move in together.”

I won’t say I haven’t already considered this possibility and come up with all the reasons why it’s a bad idea right now. Allison might be okay with me occasionally staying on her couch while she’s feeling vulnerable, but that’s a little different to moving in together.

“Sorry, sorry,” Grant says, holding his hands up in a peaceful gesture. “I guess I struck a nerve. You’re right, that was stupid.”

I settle, grumbling.

“I’ll help her move when she’s ready,” I say. “Hopefully we can keep it from Jesse for as long as we can. She doesn’t have a car, so as long as he never goes inside the apartment, he’ll never know she moved.”

“What if he is going into her apartment?” Grant asks.

“I would have noticed,” I say instantly.

“I hate to say it, but no, you wouldn’t have,” Grant says carefully. “You aren’t here all the time, you know. How do you know he hasn’t been here during the day, while you’re at work?”

I turn to glare at the front door of the apartment. It’s an old building that doesn’t even have a lock, because it’s rusted through and the damn landlord is too cheap to replace it. I know Allison was going to lobby for a camera at the door, but I doubt that will ever happen.

“I don’t,” I say finally, sighing. “And I can’t be in two places at once. I wish I knew what to do, Grant. I know Jesse is dangerous, and even Allison is starting to figure that out. Those pictures…”

I shake my head. Even if Jesse was just messing around, the threat in them had been truly horrifying. I would punch him for it even if it was all just a sick joke.

But I don’t think it’s a joke. I think the threat is very real. Which is why I spends my nights outside Allison’s apartment, making sure he doesn’t get anywhere near her until she’s ready to leave.

“How easy is it to break into the individual apartments?” Grant asks.

I look at him incredulously. “How would I know?”

“You should,” Grant says harshly, and I draw back. “The front is unguarded. All that’s left to stand between each occupant and a robber is a door lock. Is it strong enough to withstand a break-in? If you can answer that question, then you’re doing everything you can.”

I wince. My knee-jerk reaction to that question had been horror, though I know Grant well enough to know that he would never bring up my past without permission. It was bad enough that I used to be a delinquent, breaking into stores and homes, before Old Man Brooks caught me trying to steal one of his cars one night. If it hadn’t been for him, I have the feeling I would be in jail by now. I really owe that old man.

I sigh and stuff my hands in my pockets.

“It’s not the strongest,” I say reluctantly. I don’t like noticing this stuff, because it reminds me of how far I fell as a teenager. But it’s hard to stop my mind automatically cataloging the best ways to break into different places. “It’s a little hard to lock, sometimes, and you have to shake the door to get the lock to slide into place. The hinges are pretty fragile.”

“And the windows?” Grant presses.

I hunch my shoulders. Of course I’ve noticed them, too.

“She’s on the second floor,” I try.

“If you’re determined enough, you can get up there,” Grant reminds me.

Don’t I know it.

“No locks,” I say after a long moment. “Allison always closes them at night, and they squeak badly when we open them, so you wouldn’t be caught off-guard if someone tried to sneak in that way. On the other hand, a little oil would probably fix that if you knew what you were doing.”

“So, you have an apartment that’s really only protected by the awful sounds everything makes,” Grant says with a nod. “According to what you’ve told me, Jesse doesn’t sound like the brightest spark, so you might not have to worry too much about him finding the clever ways in.”

“That was my thought,” I say, nodding back. “I’ve been thinking about installing a camera outside Allison’s door – with her permission – while we wait for the landlord to get back to Allison. That way she can see who comes up to her front door.”

“They’re expensive,” Grant says.

Yes, and Allison came up with the same argument. But it doesn’t matter. I have some money saved up. I can buy it for her and, if I just turn up with it one day, she can’t exactly tell me to take it back, especially if I open the box and break the seal on it.

I just need to find the time, between work and guarding the apartment, to go and have a look at them.

“What are you planning?” Grant asks suspiciously.

“Nothing,” I say hurriedly.

Grant glances at me, suspicious. Then he sighs.

“Well, regardless, it doesn’t sound like you’re having much luck out here,” he says. “You’d be better off going searching for him and making him stay away.”

“If I go searching for him, he’ll probably just turn up here,” I point out.

Grant grunts, accepting that. “Why don’t we put the guys on it, then? We can sniff the bastard out and send him running for the hills.”

The idea is very tempting.

“Lots of guys will be willing to help you out with this,” Grant continues.

“You think?” I ask, grinning. “Fine. You know what, put the word out. And if they find him, I don’t care what they do to him. They can throw him off a cliff for all I care. Just make sure he never comes back here again.” I snort. “It would probably be better if he just goes ‘missing’.”

I hear a clatter as something is dropped. Grant and I look up. Allison is standing at the mouth of the alley, staring at us in slowly dawning horror.

For a moment I don’t understand what’s wrong. Then I think about what she just overheard. I open and close my mouth. I want to tell her that I was only joking around, that I wasn’t serious. But I can’t make the words leave my mouth.

Because I was serious.

“Allison…” I say.

“No,” Allison snaps. “I can’t believe… What the hell, Kyle? How can you talk so casually about killing someone?”

I feel Grant sidling away. I wince.

“I don’t…” I start.

“Stop,” Allison snaps, putting her hand up. She looks betrayed. “I thought…” She shakes her head. “I think I seriously misjudged you, Kyle. You’re not the person I thought you were.” She looks at me, her eyes shining. “Would you really be willing to…?”

Lie to her, my mind whispers.

But I can’t. I haven’t lied to Allison yet, I’m not about to start now. I look at her helplessly, and she reads the answer in my eyes. She takes a step back.

“I didn’t realize that that was the sort of person you were,” she says quietly. “But I should have known. Go back to your gang, Kyle. I don’t want to see you around here again.”

She’s gone before I can say anything more. She leaves behind the bag she dropped. It’s full of chips and packs of popcorn, everything we would have needed for a movie night. She must have been on her way home when I messaged her, and she stopped at the store to grab some snacks for us. Slowly, I pick up the bag.

“Fuck,” I groan.

“Sorry,” Grant says quietly.

“Not your fault,” I say, drawing in a deep breath. “It’s mine. I should have been more careful.” I pause. “I should have told her more about me before now.”

Grant claps a hand on my shoulder. “Do you still want us to look for Jesse?”

“Yeah,” I say, staring at the ground. “Tell them…don’t approach him. Let me know where he is first. I’ll…figure something out.”

Grant nods. He hesitates, as though he wants to say something, and then he turns and leaves, clapping me on the back once before he goes. I stare at the bag in my hands.

It’ll be okay. I’m not surprised Allison is mad but…I can fix this. I think. Or maybe not… The look in her eyes is going to be hard to forget. She really looked at me, in that moment, like I was scum.

I close my eyes. I’ll fix this. Somehow.

Chapter Eighteen

Allison

I’m not surprised when there’s a knock on my door barely ten minutes later. Of course Kyle followed me home. I consider not answering it, but then I grit my teeth and stalk over to the door, throwing it open.

“What?” I snap.

Silently, he holds out my bag of groceries.

“You dropped this,” he says quietly.

Stiffly, I take it. I don’t really want it anymore. Then again, there’s some good quality snacks in there. I can stuff myself with them tonight in order to forget all about Kyle and the ease with which he could talk about making Jesse go “missing”.

“Look, Allison, I’m sorry,” he says.

“Are you?” I ask frostily.

“What?” he asks.

“Are you sorry?” I repeat. “Are you sorry you said it, or are you sorry that I overheard you?”

He winces. I know that’s my answers.

“What if I hadn’t overheard you?” I demand. “I would keep looking over my shoulder for Jesse, and all the while you’ve casually arranged for him to meet some sort of accident to remove him from my life. Do you think that would make me happy?” I can hear my voice raising. Mrs. Phillips would probably come and bang on my door later. “This is exactly the sort of thing I’ll be trying to get convicted in court!”

He winces again and runs a hand over his face.

“I’m not a killer,” he tries.

“Could have fooled me,” I snap. “How many others have you arranged to go ‘missing’?”

“None,” he says, and there’s a pleading note in his voice, begging me to believe him. “I swear, Allison. I had a rough past, but I’ve never killed anyone.”

“Then why would you say that?” I ask coldly.

Kyle hesitates, and then he sighs.

“Because I hate him for what he’s done to you,” he says bluntly, and I lean back, surprised by the passion in his voice. “I wasn’t lying. I don’t care where he ends up. I just want him out of your life.”

For a moment I’m stunned by his sincerity. I know he’s telling the truth. In the back of my mind, part of me is swooning, wanting to hear more.

The rest of me, the more logical part of me, is slowly getting angry.

“Seriously?” I ask in a low voice. “So, you’re okay with turning a blind eye to murder if it means you won’t have to dirty your hands? You do know the assassin’s client is just as culpable as the assassin, don’t you?”

He grimaces. “I’m aware.”

“Maybe you’re angry and you said something you didn’t mean to,” I allow. “But that message will get passed on, and someone who doesn’t mind killing will find Jesse and remove him. Then what? You’ll be a party to murder because you started it.”

I search his face, looking for some kind of shame, something to tell me that he’s upset that he could be causing something like that. But he just looks stressed that I’m angry at him, and I realize that, as long as Jesse leaves me alone, he doesn’t care what happens next.

The idea that Kyle would be willing to go to those lengths to protect me is, frankly, horrifying. I step back.

“Please leave,” I say, my voice hollow.

“Allison,” he tries.

“Leave!” I demand. “I need to think.”

Kyle looks conflicted. But then he sighs and nods.

“Don’t come back,” I warn. “If I see you around here when I told you to leave me alone, I’ll call the police on you. Don’t even go creeping around that damn alley.”

His face twists into a grimace, but he nods. I slam my door shut and drop the bag of groceries to the floor, running for the window.

Five minutes later I hear an engine starting up. I watch the alley carefully, and a motorbike roars out of it. Kyle is wearing a helmet now, but I recognize his bulk, even if he’s hunched over the handlebars. Seconds later, he’s gone, the roar of the engine disappearing into the distance.

I sigh and draw back from the window.

Now what?

Oddly, the apartment feels strangely lonely. Which is ridiculous, because I was here by myself both last night and on Sunday night. Then again, I knew Kyle was outside, carefully keeping watch, so I wasn’t actually alone.

I grimace. Damnit. Looks like I’ve somehow gotten used to Kyle being around.

He’s only been in your life less than a week, I remind myself. It’s stupid to get attached.

But I am attached. I’m an idiot who decided to feel safe in the arms of a stranger. I should have just thanked him and gone on my way last week. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about problems like these, where worrying aspects of Kyle’s personality suddenly come up.

I believe him when he says he’s never killed anyone. I’m curious about this “rough past” that he mentioned, but not enough to call Kyle back. I can live without knowing it. Right now, I just want to lick my wounds in peace and pretend that I wasn’t such a damn fool.

My phone dings in my pocket, and I look at it. It’s Jacqui.

“What movie?”

In the last message I sent her, I told her that Kyle and I were going to sit and watch movies tonight. I slowly sit on the couch and stare at the message before replying.

“No movie anymore. Kyle went home.”

There’s no reply for a long time. Just as I’m about to put my phone away and ignore it, it rings in my hand. I start and pick it up.

“Hello?” I say.

“What do you mean he went home?” Jacqui yells, and I flinch, pulling my phone away from my ear. “Did something happen? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine,” I say sharply. “I sent him home.”

“...What?” Jacqui says, sounding lost. “Why?”

“Because…” I trail off. It suddenly feels petty to say “because I discovered something about him that I didn’t like’”.

“Did you guys have an argument?’ Jacqui presses.

“Sort of,” I hedge. More like I yelled at Kyle and he just let me. “I might have told him I’ll call the police if I see him around here again.”

There’s shocked silence on the other end.

“Is this about him stalking your home?” Jacqui asks, hushed. “Because I thought you were okay with it?”

“I was,” I say. I know I’m not making a lot of sense, and I’m not surprised that Jacqui’s very confused. But my thoughts are all really muddled right now; I’m still trying to figure out what I’m feeling. “I just overheard something, and then we argued, and…”

I shrug helplessly, forgetting that I’m on the phone and that Jacqui can’t see it. I can’t almost hear her mulling over what I’ve said, trying to figure out what’s going on.

“Alright, I’m going to need you to start from the beginning,” she says. “Last I heard, you were buying movie snacks, and now you’re threatening Kyle with the police. What happened that could have been that bad?”

“I…” I draw in a deep breath. “I got home and Kyle was in that alley, with his bike. But he had someone with him, someone with the same jacket.”

“Okay,” Jacqui says slowly. “But you already knew he was part of a club.”

“It was probably a bit of a shock to see someone else with the jacket,” I say, thinking about the odd feeling I got when I saw the other man in an identical jacket to Kyle’s. It had really hit home that Kyle was actually part of a club of motorcycle enthusiasts. Then I remember calling them a “gang” to Kyle’s face and I wince. “Anyway, they were talking about Jesse.”

“He must have been one of Kyle’s friends, then,” Jacqui muses.

“Probably.” I hesitate. I know I’m beating around the bush, and I’m surprised that Jacqui isn’t more impatient as she waits for me to get to the point. “The other guy asked Kyle what to do about Jesse if they found him, so they must have been planning to look for him. Kyle told him… He said he didn’t care what happened to him, he just wanted him out of my life. He strongly implied that he wouldn’t even mind if Jesse was killed.”

“Really?” Jacqui asks, surprised.

“I confronted him about it and…he pretty much admitted that he didn’t care if Jesse died, as long as he was gone,” I say. I run a rough hand through my hair. “He didn’t care that he was essentially giving a kill order. He tried to apologize, but he was more upset that I had overheard and that I was upset by it. Now I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Jacqui doesn’t say anything for a long moment. I wait tensely as she thinks.

“Well…” she says slowly. “I have to admit that a lot of our problems would be solved if Jesse just disappeared.”

It isn’t the reaction I was expecting. I gape, horrified.

“Jacqui!” I yelp.

“What?” Jacqui asks sharply. “I’m sorry, Allison, but I’m not such a good person that I’m going to stand by and not feel a certain degree of hate for the man that has hurt you. I’d never do anything about it, but I definitely wouldn’t care if Jesse just stopped turning up.”

“I would!” I exclaim.

“Why?” Jacqui asks curiously.

“What?” I ask, taken aback.

“Why would you care?” Jacqui repeats. “I get that you’re up in arms about this whole ‘conspiracy to commit murder’ idea that you’ve got rattling around your head, and I’m not surprised, considering we’re law students and we know this stuff. But if Jesse just never showed his face in front of you again for whatever reason, why would that matter to you? You were perfectly okay with never seeing him again before.”

“Well…” I’m flustered. “Now that I overheard what Kyle was planning…”

“Except Kyle didn’t plan anything,” Jacqui points out. “You just overheard him saying that he didn’t give a damn what anyone who found him did to him. Would you be reacting to same way if Jesse just got a beating and ended up in hospital? If he was just scared away? Yeah, Kyle implied that he didn’t care if Jesse was killed, but I can’t say I care either.”

I purse my lips.

“It’s not the same,” I argue. “What happens if one of Kyle’s friends finds Jesse and they call him up instead of doing anything? Kyle’s probably just as likely to pull the trigger himself!”

“I’m not a killer.”

I grimace at the memory of his pleading voice. I don’t know what he is. I just know that I’ve misjudged him.

“Well, I think you’re being a judgmental bitch right now,” Jacqui says simply when I voice this.

“What?” I gasp.

“Kyle says one thing that you don’t like and you blow up at him and decide that you misjudged him?” Jacqui asks. “You can’t have misjudged him… You didn’t even know him! What, exactly, do you know about him?”

I frown.

“He’s a mechanic,” I say. “He’s part of that Roughshod Rollers club. He has a motorbike. He…”

I trail off.

“Yes?” Jacqui presses.

“He wants to protect me for some reason,” I finish quietly.

Jacqui scoffs.

“And that’s it?” she asks. “So, you decided to judge him based on that limited information. You don’t know what he’s been through, or why this thing with Jesse is hitting him so hard. But that guy has already done a lot for you, regardless.”

I grimace.

“Jacqui, I just…” I sigh. “Overhearing that, it…”

Surprisingly, however, Jacqui sighs, calming down. It surprises me that she would immediately go on defense of Kyle, but I know that she likes him and thinks he’s been good for me in the last week.

“I know,” she says. “But, you know, everyone has a darker part of their personality. Look, if Kyle did actually commit murder, then that would be different. But this is different, you know. He wasn’t even conspiring to murder. He was just saying he didn’t care. Yeah, he probably knows what some of his friends are like, and he probably knows that some of them wouldn’t hesitate to throw Jesse in the river. But, the only thing he’s at fault for is putting out the word that he doesn’t give a damn.”

I know what Jacqui’s saying. But I still can’t agree with it. Maybe she’s right and I jumped the gun; Kyle wasn’t actively saying that he wanted Jesse killed. And, for all I knew, he might just have a morbid sense of humor, which I haven’t yet seen from him, and his friend would have taken what he said with a grain of salt.

But I also know that Kyle was serious about wanting Jesse out of my life, no matter how it happens. He is completely okay with Jesse disappearing and never knowing why.

Maybe I would have been okay with that too, until I heard that. Now, if Jesse does disappear, what am I supposed to think?

“I think I need to think about this a little more,” I say to Jacqui.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Jacqui says with a sigh. “And, Allison? I do get it, I know. I know you feel a little betrayed right now, and that you’re trying to figure out if you’ve let some crazy murderer into your life. But I think you should actually talk to Kyle before you make any decisions.”

“Maybe,” I say quietly. “I’ll see you in class, Jacqui.”

“See you,” Jacqui sighs.

I hang up the phone and stare at it. Jacqui’s words and Kyle’s words are tussling for space in my mind. And I can’t get that pleading look Kyle had given me out of my head, as though he was begging me to understand.

Understand what, though? I suddenly scoff and stalk to the kitchen. Maybe later, when I’m not as angry, I can think this through and maybe bring myself to talk to Kyle about it. Right now, though, I’m perfectly okay with not seeing him for a while.

Suddenly, the phone in my hand rings again. Irritated, I look down at it. My eyebrows shoot up at the name on the screen.

Jesse

Of course. Things are already going badly, and he just shows up to make it all so much worse. I scowl and cancel the call. I don’t want to talk to him.

I don’t want to talk to anyone.

Chapter Nineteen

Kyle

It’s strange how heavy I feel as I ride home. If I’m honest, I know why Allison is so angry at me. Even if I meant what I said, I didn’t mean for her to overhear, and I didn’t mean for her to draw some terrible conclusions as a result.

But what do I do about it now? She’s told me to leave her alone, and I have to obey that, even if I don’t want to.

On the other hand, Jesse is still a threat. What am I supposed to do about that? I can’t protect Allison if I’m not there. I also can’t protect her if I’m in jail because she follows through on her threat.

I tighten my grip on my handlebars. There’s very little that I can do right now, and I know that. I wish Allison had allowed me to speak to her, but she was too upset to want to listen to me.

Part of me is, admittedly, hurt by that. Fine, she overheard me say something she didn’t like. So that’s it then? I’m just a fucking murderer that she doesn’t want anywhere near her?

This, I know, is that problem with how fast we moved. We’ve jumped straight into bed three times now and we haven’t taken the time to get to know each other. Maybe Allison wouldn’t have been so shocked if she knew more about me. Maybe I would have been more careful about my thoughts if I had known more about her.

Then again…I think about Jesse and scowl. No, I don’t regret saying that I wish he would disappear. But both Grant and I knew it was stupid. Grant would never have put that word out. I would never want to be a party to murder and, on top of that, I wouldn’t want anyone else to get in trouble for murder, either. At most, Jesse would have gotten the beating of his life. Then he would have been allowed to walk (or hobble) away and live the rest of his life in peace, which is more than the scumbag fucking deserves.

If he died, then I’m not going to shed a tear over him. But I’m not stupid enough to have a direct hand in his murder. I’ve done some shit over my life, but that’s the line I won’t cross.

Except Allison wouldn’t let me explain that. She just kicked me out, refusing to listen, and now, here I am, stewing about it on my way home, trying to figure out how to get her to hear what I have to say.

In my pocket, my phone beeps with an incoming message. I wonder if it’s Allison and then kick myself. It wouldn’t be. The disgust in her eyes told me all I need to know right now.

Still, it couldn’t be important, so I pull over and open the message. It’s Ethan.

“Haven’t seen you for a while. Lily misses you!”

I consider the message. Maybe going around to play with Lily is just what I need right now. Also, being able to vent to Ethan won’t hurt. I send him a quick message to tell him I’ll be over soon and then stick my phone back in my pocket.

Right now, I need a distraction.

* * *

“So, let me get this straight… Allison overhears you saying you won’t care if Jesse gets killed and blows up at you?” Ethan asks, blinking.

“That’s the gist of it,” I say with a yawn.

“That’s tough,” Ethan says sympathetically. “Still, it was pretty stupid of you to say something like that.”

“I was venting,” I say, exasperated. “You and I both know Grant would never have put that message out.”

“Does Allison?” Ethan asks.

I scowl. No, she doesn’t, which is entirely the point.

“Then, when you went to apologize, she asks you if you meant it, and you pretty much tell her that you did,” Ethan continues. “I don’t know what message you’re trying to send her here, but I’m not surprised that she got angry.”

“I do get it,” I say to Ethan. “I know why she got angry. But…” I frown. “You didn’t see that way she looked at me, man. It was like…”

“Like you were the scum of the earth and you didn’t deserve to be in the same space as her?” Ethan suggests.

I’m about to snap at him; it’s exactly how she had looked at me, but I didn’t need to hear it said so bluntly. But then I look at the twisted expression on Ethan’s face, and I remember what he’s gone through and why he ended up a single father to a ten-year-old girl.

It’s easy to forget, sometimes, because it happened so long ago.

“Yeah, that was it,” I say with a sigh, deflating.

Ethan shoots me a quick smile, the darkness disappearing from his eyes as he claps me on the shoulder. I hear running footsteps coming from the bathroom, and I look up as Lily dashes into the room, beaming when she sees that I’m still here.

“Uncle Kyle, do you want to help me build a tower now?” she asks excitedly.

I glance at the girl. She’s almost the spitting image of her father, though she inherited her mother’s curly brown hair and big eyes. It’s been a long time since I thought about Fiona, and I’ve put her out of my mind now. She’s gone, and she left Ethan heartbroken and her kid without a mother. The two of them are much better with Georgia in their lives.

That’s if Ethan can ever figure out just how much she loves him, I think wryly.

“Sure,” I say, sliding down to the floor.

I don’t really want to make a tower of blocks, but I’ve got little else to do right now. I didn’t realize just how much time I’ve been putting into watching Allison these last few days until suddenly I had nothing to do.

“Let’s make the tallest tower in the world,” Ethan says cheerfully, sitting on the floor opposite me as Lily drags a box of blocks over.

“Yeah!” Lily says, tipping the entire box over.

I see Ethan wince and I grin; that’s going to be a chore to clean up later.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Ethan asks as he selects a yellow block.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Well, you were watching over her, right? What are you going to do about that?”

“I don’t know,” I say glumly. “She promised she’d call the police on me if she saw me again.”

Lily looks up at me sharply. “Uncle Kyle, did you do something bad?”

“No!” I protest as Ethan laughs.

“No, he didn’t,” Ethan reassures her. “He was just an idiot, that’s all.”

“Oh, okay,” Lily says, accepting that.

I glare at Ethan. Exactly what has he been telling her that she would so easily accept that I behaved stupidly? I did, of course, but I’m not a stupid man, usually.

Ethan just winks at me and I roll my eyes.

“Anyway,” I continue. “Maybe I just need to find a new hiding place.”

“I hate to say it, man, but you aren’t inconspicuous,” Ethan points out. “You’re the sort of guy that people are going to notice.”

“Well, what else am I f-” Ethan glares at me before the swear word leaves my mouth and I stutter, glancing at Lily, “… supposed to do?”

“I don’t know,” Ethan admits, giving me a last suspicious glare. “And watch your mouth.”

“Sorry,” I say.

“Was Uncle Kyle about to say ‘fucking’?” Lily asks innocently.

“It wasn’t me!” I deny instantly.

“Lily, don’t say that,” Ethan scolds, scowling. “Who did you even hear that from?”

“Tom,” Lily says with a shrug. “He said it when you dropped him home the other day.”

Ethan’s eye twitched. “Of course he did.”

“You dropped Tom home?” I ask curiously.

“He…” Ethan hesitates. “You didn’t hear this from me, okay? He ran into a bad spot, I think, and got beaten up. It doesn’t surprise me, with a mouth like his. Lily and I drove past on the way home from school, and saw him lying in an alley, so we got him home.”

“He’s lucky,” I comment. “First that you own a car, second that you saw him at all.”

“Yeah,” Ethan agrees.

“Did he see who did it?” I ask.

“Nah,” Ethan says with a shrug. “He didn’t like me asking questions. I’d say it was someone he knows outside the club.”

I nod. Despite the fact that very few people like Tom, no one in the club would raise a hand against their own.

“I’m going to have to talk to him about mouthing off in front of my daughter,” Ethan adds, scowling heavily. “Lily, you’re grounded if I hear that word again, you hear?”

“What about Uncle Kyle?” Lily protests. “He was about to say it, too!”

“Right,” Ethan says seriously. “Kyle, you’re grounded, too, if I hear that word again!”

“You can’t ground me!” I protest.

“Watch me,” Ethan says, glaring.

I shut my mouth. Ethan in protective father mode is not someone that I want to argue with. Ethan grins, satisfied.

“Now, back to Allison,” he says.

“Who’s Allison?” Lily asks.

“Uncle Kyle’s girlfriend,” Ethan says.

“She’s not…” I try, but Lily’s face lights up.

“Can I meet her?” she gasps.

Probably not, considering she was threatening to call the police on me. Ethan laughs.

“Maybe another time,” he says to his daughter while glancing at me. “Anyway, as I was saying before, there’s no way you can hide without her noticing you.”

“There’s other alleys,” I protest. “And trees…”

I imagine myself trying to hide behind a tree and wince. Maybe Ethan’s right. I really do stand out too much. I’m too tall for my own good.

“I’ll figure something out,” I say.

“So you are going back?” Ethan asks.

I carefully put a blue block on top of the wobbly tower that we’ve started to form.

“Yeah,” I say. “I’ll give her a few hours to calm down, then I’ll go back. That way she’ll be less likely to call the police on me if she does see me.”

Ethan is quiet for a long moment, and the only sound is Lily’s humming as she sorts through the bricks for the color she wants.

“Why?” he finally asks.

“Why what?” I ask, confused.

“Why go to all this trouble?” he says, frowning at me. “You’ve only known this woman a week. Now you’re risking jail time after she told you to leave her alone? What is it about her that makes you act like this?”

“It’s…” I hesitate, trying to figure out what I want to say. “It’s like I can’t stay away from her, you know? I’m scared about what’ll happen if Jesse gets to her while I’m not there. And…”

I trail off. There’s no way I can talk about how addictive her touch is in front of Lily. I clear my throat.

“I don’t know,” I admit. “I just know that I want to protect her and that I can’t bear seeing anything happen to her.”

Ethan frowns at me, considering this.

“It’s nice,” he says. “But don’t you think everything is moving a little too fast? You only met her last Wednesday night. Your entire relationship has been based around Jesse so far. That can’t be healthy. Doesn’t that mean she’s only holding on to you because you’re protecting her from Jesse, and that you’re only going back to her because she’s in danger?”

I won’t say I haven’t considered the possibility. Allison and I have tied ourselves together too tightly, too quickly. I think maybe it even started out like that.

But the feelings I have for Allison right now… They’re warmer. I can’t really classify them. Her smile makes something happy and comfortable bloom in my chest, and it pleases me when she’s happy. And it’s oddly painful to feel like she’s rejected me.

“I…don’t think it’s like that anymore,” I say, not sure how to explain all this. “At least, not on my end. And she keeps telling me that she doesn’t need me to protect me. Though…”

I grimace. Two of the three times we’ve had sex were because she wanted me to help her erase the thoughts of Jesse. Maybe Ethan was right. Maybe everything we’re feeling is because of the threat Jesse poses to us.

Does that mean that everything will go back to normal when Jesse is dealt with?

“I don’t know,” Ethan says with a shrug when I voice this question. “That’s something the two of you need to figure out on your own, I guess. Besides, when will Jesse be ‘dealt with’? Even if you scare him off, there’s no guarantee that he won’t come back in the future. Are you going to tie yourself to Allison forever?”

My heart thumps at the question. Ethan glances at my face and then does a double take, his eyes widening.

“Shit,” he murmurs.

“Daddy!” Lily shouts gleefully. “You’re grounded!”

Ethan blinks and flushes, laughing. “Whoops, so I am. How long am I grounded for, princess?”

Lily considers this. “For twenty-four hours.”

“Does that mean Uncle Kyle has to go?” Ethan asks.

“No way!” Lily says, horrified at the thought. “He’s playing with me, not you!”

I chuckle and pick up a red block.

“Yeah, Ethan,” I say. “I’m here for Lily, not you.”

Ethan laughs. “I see how it is. Then, I guess you don’t need my help with the tower anymore.”

“Uh…” Lily looks caught. “No, you can help. We need someone to do all the grunt work.”

I snort.

“You watch too much tv,” Ethan says, rolling his eyes. “Do you want something to eat?”

“Cookies!” Lily says, lighting up. “I’ll get them!”

She jumps to her feet and dashes away. I glance at Ethan. Why did he look so shocked and why did he swear when he got a look at me?

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

Ethan’s lips twitch.

“Nothing’s wrong,” he says. “Just…” Suddenly, he laughs. “You know what, you can figure it out, don’t worry.”

I frown at him, irritated. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ethan says, grinning at me. “It’s nothing to worry about. You go and protect Allison, alright? And maybe you should try and talk to her again when she’s calmed down. It doesn’t hurt to try, right?”

I look at him suspiciously. Wasn’t he just saying that he thought my relationship with Allison was a little weird? Now, suddenly, he’s all gung-ho about it? It’s strange.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I demand in a low voice, not wanting Lily, who is rummaging in the kitchen, to hear me.

Ethan grins. His face is alight with mirth, and I can’t figure out what he finds so funny all of a sudden. He puts a green block on the tower, which wobbles precariously but manages to stay upright.

“I have cookies!” Lily suddenly announces, returning with a packet of cookies. “Do you want one, Uncle Kyle?”

“Sure,” I sigh.

I decide to ignore Ethan. I don’t know why he’s suddenly changed his tune but, if he’s not going to tell me, then I’m not going to care. I take a chocolate chip cookie and bite into it, ignoring my friend with a scowl.

“Don’t be like that,” Ethan says with a wink. “As I said, you have nothing to worry about. Just try your best, okay?”

“At what?” I ask grumpily, but he just laughs again in answer.

I roll my eyes. Ethan is weird, but he’s not wrong, either. Despite anything else, I am going to try my best to protect Allison. No matter what happens, even if she ends up calling the police on me, I won’t let Jesse get to her.

Chapter Twenty

Allison

It’s almost hilarious how Kyle thinks he managed to stay hidden when he snuck back to the apartment last night. I heard his bike coming long before he got to the street, and then he parked himself in an alley across the road, where I can see him directly. It was harder to see him when it got dark…until he pulled out his phone and started reading something on it, washing him and the entire alley in a dim glow.

Kyle will never make a good spy, it seems.

I was half-tempted, when I heard him returning, to follow up on my threat to call the police on him. But I didn’t, knowing that I was just being petty. By that point, a lot of my anger had faded, and I started to feel bad for not listening to him. Jacqui had gotten into my head.

I’m still not ready to talk to him, but I’m content to think things through and then try. The fact that he returned hopefully means that he’s willing to try for an actual conversation, too.

I almost went to talk to him before he left that morning. But I stopped myself at the last minute, and then he headed off to work, leaving me to get ready for class.

“So, he came back last night, and you pretended you didn’t see him?” Jacqui asks when I tell her about Kyle’s return.

I shrug. “Yeah.”

Jacqui rolls her eyes. “You idiot.”

I glare at her. “Hey! Why are you even on Kyle’s side, anyway? Shouldn’t you be supporting me in this?”

“I would if you weren’t being a fool,” Jacqui says simply. She gives me a hard stare. “Look… I saw the way he looked at you on Friday. He looked at you like you hung the goddamned moon, Allison. Fucking Jesse never looked at you like that, you know? But Kyle, he looks at you like you’re something precious, something he wants to keep safe.”

“I don’t need his protection,” I snap, instantly irate.

“I didn’t say you did,” Jacqui says, shaking her head. “But he still wants to protect you, no matter what. You told him you would phone the police if he returned, and he still came back. Doesn’t it say something to you that he would risk that just to watch your apartment all night? Damn, how many sleepless nights has he already had because he’s keeping watch over you?”

I grimace. “I think he’s been dozing in the alley.”

“So, he’s been choosing to catch a few winks of sleep in an uncomfortable alley over his own bed,” Jacqui says, deadpan. “What does that say to you?”

“That’s he’s an idiot,” I mutter. I sigh when Jacqui rolls her eyes at me. “Alright, alright, I get it. I just can’t…” I look at her, grimacing. “Do you really think they’ll murder Jesse?”

Jacqui sighs. “Tell me, Allison. You’re so hung up on this, even though you must know, logically, that they would never do it. So why do you believe so easily that Kyle would orchestrate Jesse’s murder? Is it because you’re frightened you don’t know him? Or is it because he’s in a motorcycle club?”

“I’m not discriminating against him because he’s in a club!” I say, horrified at the thought.

“Yeah?” Jacqui challenges. “What if I say to you, right now, that I want to send some of my friends to find Jesse, and that I don’t care what they do to him? I could do it, too, and you know how rough some of my friends are.”

I look at her. Her eyes are serious. She really could do it, and, it seems, has thought about doing it before.

“It’s…different,” I say, faltering.

“What is it that is different?” Jacqui presses.

I don’t know why it’s different. My stomach drops. Is Jacqui right? Am I finding it so much easier to believe because Kyle’s in a motorcycle club?

Jacqui shakes her head.

“Just talk to Kyle,” she says. “If you guys decide it won’t work out from there, then fine. But don’t just cut him cold when you haven’t even given him a chance.”

“But…” I try.

“Allison.” Jacqui turns to face me and puts her hands on my shoulders. “Is this about Jesse? Are you scared to trust Kyle because of what happened with Jesse?”

I say nothing. She hit the nail on the head. Jacqui sighs.

“Okay,” she says, nodding. “I think I understand a little more. This is what we’re going to do. You’re going to take Kyle on a date.”

“What?” I ask, shocked.

“And on this date, the two of you are going to talk,” Jacqui says. “Hear me? You need to get things out into the open. And you need to learn more about each other. You can decide what you want to do then.”

I inhale deeply and let it out slowly. She’s right. I nod to myself. After college, I decide, I’ll track Kyle down and talk to him. It won’t be hard, after all.

I’ll probably find him right outside my apartment.

* * *

I hear the roar of Kyle’s motorbike as I get off the bus. He’s a tad early this afternoon, since it’s only four. I draw in a deep breath for courage and walk down the street, setting my shoulders. I can do this. I owe it to both Kyle and myself to do something about this stalemate that I pushed us into. I’ll talk to him and get some answers.

And then I’ll decide what to do next.

Surprisingly, I don’t see Kyle anywhere when I approach the apartment. I know he’s definitely here, because I heard him arrive, but for once, he’s managed to hide himself somewhere that I can’t see him. There’s very few places he can be, though; he’s so tall and broad that the alleys are the only real place he can go.

But I’m not here to play a game of hide and seek. Knowing that he’s probably watching me, I snatch my phone out of my pocket and send a message.

“Come and talk to me.”

I hear a phone chime with an incoming message somewhere to the left, but I don’t look, waiting. Finally, I hear shuffling footsteps and Kyle comes into view, looking sheepish.

“How did you know I was here?” he asks.

“You’re the worst spy in the world,” I inform him.

I look him over. He has bags under his eyes, which proves that he’s barely been sleeping the last few days, too busy watching over me to make sure Jesse doesn’t get to me. I sigh. It’s harder to be angry with him when I can see the proof of him running himself ragged for my sake.

“Were you serious?” I ask him abruptly.

I see him hesitate. I wound up kicking him out of my apartment last time he answered this question. But I’m calmer today, and I’ve promised myself that I won’t jump to conclusions until I hear him out.

“I…want Jesse to go away,” he admits. “But! I wouldn’t kill anyone. And I wouldn’t have him killed, either.”

His expression is earnest. It’s exactly as Jacqui said. Kyle doesn’t care what happens to Jesse. But he also wouldn’t organize something like that.

“Grant wouldn’t have repeated what I said,” Kyle continues when I don’t say anything. “He would have just told the guys to keep a look out for Jesse, maybe rough him up a little with some threats. Nothing else. I swear.”

Do I believe him? I want to.

“Why didn’t you tell me this yesterday?” I demand.

Even as the words exit my mouth, I know I’m being stupid. Of course he didn’t explain. I didn’t give him much chance to.

“Sorry,” Kyle says anyway with a sigh. “My friend Ethan… He told me I was a fucking idiot, that I should have chosen my words more carefully and then not messed up when I tried to explain. All I did was make it worse.”

Well, admittedly, all he managed to do when he attempted to explain was make me angrier and more liable to believe that he would conspire to commit murder. But…

“It’s partly my fault too,” I admit. “Jacqui ran me over the coals, too. She said I was being an idiot, even if she understood why I was angry, and that I should at least have let you explain before kicking you out. Also…” I sigh. “I’m sorry I said I misjudged you. I shouldn’t have been judging you at all. How can I judge you when I don’t even really know you?”

Kyle winces. “Yeah, there’s that, too. I’m not surprised you jumped to conclusions. I’m just a stranger, after all.”

“Well…maybe not a complete stranger,” I snort.

We’ve slept together three times by now. One of us should have behaved like an adult and said something instead of just going with the flow. I had planned on talking to Kyle on Tuesday night, when we organized our move date, but then all this happened.

And I know Kyle wanted to talk to me, too. He wanted to know how I was feeling after the photos at my door on Saturday morning. He wanted to talk before I dragged him into sex, but then we collapsed and watched movies for the rest of the day, ignoring the world, instead.

Now, however, it’s just awkward. How do you say to someone that you’ve had sex with three times that you want to go out on a date and get to know them? That’s what should have happened first.

“We really did things in the wrong order, didn’t we?” I ask.

“Yeah, but that night was just a fluke,” Kyle says, shaking his head. “A one-night-stand. I left your apartment on Thursday morning thinking we’d never meet again.”

“Then you knocked on my door at two-thirty, demanding that I let you protect me from Jesse,” I say dryly. “After that, you never left.”

Kyle makes a face. “Maybe I really did become a stalker.”

“The last few nights certainly suggest you have,” I joke.

We laugh. It’s tentative, but we’re smiling at each other, and something warm blooms in my chest. I didn’t realize that I actually missed Kyle since yesterday. His absence had left an oddly large hole in my life, and I find myself relaxing now that we’re filling it back in.

“I guess we were both idiots,” I say. “Good thing we both had friends to knock our heads together.”

Kyle chuckles. “I had fun trying to explain that one with Ethan’s daughter in the room, trying to take part in the conversation. Lily was horrified to hear that I might get the police called on me, and she automatically thought it was my fault.”

I snort. “I would have loved to see that. How old is Lily?”

His smile turns fond. “She’s ten, now. Her mother ran off not longer after she was born. Ethan has his hands full with her; she’s always propositioning other women for him because she wants a new mother. Of course, both she and Ethan are completely blind to the woman who stands beside them, wanting desperately to be part of their family.” He laughs. “Like father, like daughter, I guess.”

His face is lit up and his smile is soft. He really loves these people, whoever they are. I feel a little jealous of the people that can put that sort of smile on his face.

“I’d love to meet them all,” I say.

“I’ll take you around one day,” he promises. “Lily demanded to meet you, anyway, when Ethan told her you were my girlfriend.” He coughs, suddenly awkward. “Though, I know you’re not. I told Ethan off for that.”

I blink and smile. But my chest clenches at his denial. He’s right, we’re not actually in a relationship with each other. All we’ve done is have sex.

And cuddled together to watch movies, my mind argues. And didn’t you organize to watch a movie last night? That would definitely have counted as a date!

“I could be.”

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. Kyle blinks at me and I flush. But, suddenly, I don’t want to back down.

“Could be what?” Kyle asks, confused.

“Your girlfriend,” I say, and his eyes go wide. “I could be that.”

We stare at each other, neither of us knowing what to say. In the end, I break the silence first. I snort and then burst into laughter.

“Oh my god, look at us!” I exclaim, giggling. “We’re acting like a pair of teenagers!”

Kyle laughs too, shaking his head. “You’re right. This shouldn’t be so difficult. We’ve had sex. We’ve watched movies together. You made me fucking breakfast and I made you coffee and popcorn. Aren’t we already in a relationship?”

I laugh harder. “You’re right! Shit, we’re idiots!”

I’m laughing so hard that tears are coming to my eyes. Because I can’t believe the two of us. I can suddenly understand why Jacqui is so exasperated. I’ve known Kyle for a week and, in that time, I’ve been so drawn to him that it was painful to send him away. Should that be a good enough foundation for a relationship?

Maybe it isn’t. But it’s good enough for us, right now.

Finally, we calm down. It’s hard to believe how ridiculous we’ve been, dancing around each other like we have no idea what to do next.

“So, if you’re my girlfriend, we should probably go on an actual date,” Kyle finally says, grinning at me. “Not that poker parties and movies on the couch aren’t nice, but…I’d like to take you out to dinner?”

“You asked before I could,” I say, chuckling. “Actually, Jacqui challenged me to go on a date with you. Said I needed to go on an actual date and get to know you a little better before I made any decisions about our relationship.”

“Sounds like she knows what she’s talking about,” Kyle says.

He smiles at me. It’s soft and fond, and reminds me, oddly, of the smile he wore when he was talking about Ethan and Lily. I flush and clear my throat.

“Let’s meet back here in a couple of hours?” I ask. If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it tonight. “We can find somewhere to go.”

“I’ll figure something out,” Kyle promises. “Do you mind if I bring my bike around and park it here? We can walk to the bus from here.”

An odd sort of recklessness comes over me then. I need to get to know Kyle. That means appreciating and understanding the things that he likes.

“No, we’ll ride your motorbike,” I decide.

He shoots me a look. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” I say, looking him in the eye. “Don’t forget to bring me a helmet.”

The smile he gives me, this time, is giddy, and it washes away some of the doubts that I still have. I draw in a deep breath. I don’t know what tonight is going to bring, but I’m determined to see this through.

Chapter Twenty-One

Allison

I’m a bundle of nerves by the time Kyle arrives back, the engine’s roar announcing his arrival. I almost messaged Kyle four times to tell him that I’ve changed my mind.

But, no, I promised I would do this. I might hate it, and I might never do it again, but I need to experience life with Kyle at least once. His motorbike is his only form of transport, so I would need to get used to it being around if we pursue a relationship.

Admittedly, that doesn’t mean I need to get on it. But if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it properly. My stubborn streak has won out here.

Keeping in mind that I’ll be riding a motorbike, I dressed in jeans and a nice jacket. When he pulls up beside me, I unclench my hands as he flips up his visor.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asks.

“I’m sure,” I say with a nod. “Do you have a helmet?”

He nods and hands me a helmet that he had clipped to the back. He helps me put it on; it’s heavy and clunky, and just a little too big for me, but Kyle tightens it so that it won’t fall off. Then he drags a leather jacket out and throws it at me.

“Added protection,” he explains when I look at him surprised. “It’ll be too big because it’s one of my old jackets, but it should help with the wind, too.”

“Thanks,” I say, touched.

I shrug the jacket on. It’s plain black, and it’s well worn. It’s also miles too big for me, but I roll the sleeves up and zip the front up.

Then I face the motorbike. Up close, it’s huge. It’s gleaming and black, and I can see Kyle takes very good care of it.

“Want some help?” Kyle asks, offering me a hand. “Just grab my arm and swing your leg over.”

I do as he says. It’s like mounting a bicycle, something I haven’t done in many years. The seat is wide and my legs settle on either side of it.

“Scoot up and wrap your arms around my waist,” Kyle says, turning back to face the front. My stomach clenches as I realize that I’m really about to do this. “And make sure your visor is down. You don’t want anything to get in your eyes. I’ll take it slow, alright? You’re safe with me, I promise.”

I lift a shaky hand and flip the visor down, then wrap my arms tightly around Kyle’s waist.

“Okay, let’s go,” I say.

“We’re not going far,” he promises.

Then he starts the engine. It roars to life beneath me, making me jump, and the entire machine trembles. My breath catches, and I suddenly don’t want to do this anymore.

But it’s too late. Kyle kicks off the curb, and suddenly we’re riding down the street. My arms tighten so hard around Kyle that I’m probably leaving bruises, but he doesn’t say anything at all. I close my eyes tightly, trying to gulp in deep breaths.

I’m panicking. It’s hard not to remember, suddenly, the phone call that told us my father had been in an accident, and the rush to hospital only to find out that he was already dead. For so many years I had blamed the motorcycle for the accident; if my father had only been in a car, not on one of these death traps, he might still be alive.

Slowly, though, the tight feeling in my chest begins to fade. I can feel Kyle breathing, I’m pressed so close to him, and I concentrate on the movement of his body instead. The memories fade and I blink my eyes open.

“How are you doing?” Kyle calls to me.

“O-okay!” I yell back over the wind.

And, surprisingly, it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I draw in a deep, shaky breath. It really is just like riding a bike…just one that is large, powerful, fast and loud. Trembling slightly, I sit up.

The wind catches my hair and the world is whizzing past. We’re not going very fast and I can see each face that we pass and read all the signs on the side of the road. Kyle is riding carefully, slowing down as he goes around the corners and turning his head constantly to look for hazards. He’s being careful.

That, more than anything, reassures me. Kyle isn’t going to let me down. He promised I was safe with him, and I believe him.

By the time we pull up in front of a brightly lit restaurant, I feel I can breathe easier. It wasn’t the most fun thing in the world to do…but I can see why Kyle likes it. There was something freeing about having the wind in my hair and no car walls enclosing me.

I’m the first off the bike, and I almost stumble when I hit the ground, my legs shaky. Kyle puts a bracing hand on my elbow.

“Careful,” he says, pulling his helmet off. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” I say with a smile.

I pull my own helmet off, grimacing as my hair sticks to my face. So much for brushing it nicely. I try and bat it down, wishing I had thought to put a brush in my bag. Then I slip the large jacket off.

“Where are we?” I ask.

“I phoned around and made a booking at this Italian restaurant,” Kyle says with a small smile. “Is that okay?”

“That’s perfect,” I say.

Kyle hesitates, and then he slips his own jacket off, revealing another coat, this one blue, underneath.

“Most places don’t like me walking in with my club’s symbol on my jacket,” he explains, folding it up tightly and placing it in a compartment under the seat. “Give me a second to lock up.”

I remember Jacqui accusing me of discriminating against Kyle because of the sort of club that he was part of, and I wince. Does Kyle face that all the time?

“Ready?” Kyle asks, smiling at me.

“Yeah, let’s go,” I say.

He reaches out and takes my hand. His palm is warm and I smile as I curl my fingers around his, giving them a gentle squeeze. This is nice.

When Kyle asks about the reservation, we’re directed to a small table near the window. Before we even have a chance to ask, the waiter takes our drink order and leaves us with menus. Kyle laughs.

“Efficient,” he comments. “Have you been here before?”

“Last year, Jacqui had a dinner here for her birthday,” I say. “It’s a nice place.”

“It looks it,” Kyle agrees. He opens his menu casually. “So, what’s with you and motorbikes?”

I’m honestly surprised that it’s taken him so long to ask.

“My dad was in an accident a long time ago,” I tell him. “He had a motorbike, and he was part of a club, too. I was young when he died, and I’ve always associated motorbikes with his death.”

Kyle nods solemnly. “I get that. But, you know, you don’t have to push yourself. I would have been okay with taking the bus.”

I smile at him. “I know. What about you? How long have you been around motorbikes?”

“Almost all my life,” he chuckles. “My dad rode them, though I was never allowed to until I was teenager. I always wanted him to teach me.” His face falls. “I…fell off the rails when I was a teenager, though. Did a lot of bad stuff. During that time, my dad had a heart attack. He managed to teach me how to ride a little, but never got to finish. Instead, it was Old Man Brooks who taught me the rest, after he took me by the ear and asked me what I thought I was doing with my life.”

I feel my heart going out to him. Is that why Kyle loves his motorbike? Because it makes him feel closer to his father?

“Old Man Brooks?” I ask.

“The mechanic I work for,” Kyle says with a half smile. “He caught me stealing from him when I was nineteen. He could have called the cops on me, but he didn’t. Instead, he gave me a job, taught me the trade and put me through school.” He chuckles. “That fucking old man… I’ll never be able to repay him for that.”

“Wow,” I say, sitting back. “Looks like you’ve had an exciting life. I haven’t done anything more exciting than move out of home and go to college.”

“That sounds plenty exciting,” Kyle laughs.

“What about the Roughshod Rollers?” I ask. “How’d you get involved with them?”

“It was Ethan that found me,” Kyle says with a smile. “He brought his motorbike to us to be fixed. We became fast friends, and then he introduced me to George Barker, the one who started the club in the first place. Unfortunately, I didn’t know him for very long; about two years after I met him, he also died in an accident.”

I remember thinking, before, that Kyle knew what it felt like to lose someone in the same way I did. He must be the man who set up the poker nights for them, the one that passed away.

“I’m sorry,” I say; his losses are both a lot more recent than mine.

“It’s okay,” he says with a smile. “We just keep moving forward.”

The waiter approaches again, and I quickly scan the menu, realizing that I don’t know what to order. I give him the name of a pasta dish that looks nice and he leaves again. There’s an awkward silence left in his wake; we’d been interrupted in the middle of talking about something serious, and now neither of us knows what to say next.

“What about your family?” Kyle asks.

“Oh, I just have an older brother,” I say, startled by the question. “He’s a doctor.”

“A doctor and a lawyer,” Kyle says, sounding impressed. “Your mother must be proud.”

I smile. “I like to think so. I’ll be finished with my degree, soon. My brother keeps joking that I can defend him from a lawsuit if it comes up. I tell him that if he does anything that requires a lawsuit to be brought up against him, then he’s on his own.”

Kyle laughs. “I wish I had siblings, but I was an only child. It was just me and dad.”

“What about your mother?” I ask curiously.

Kyle shrugs. “Don’t know. She ran off when I was little, and I never asked about her. It’s not like it mattered much. I saw a picture of her, once. An old photo of my dad and mom when they were young. They weren’t married, and they weren’t expecting me, but they still tried. But mom found a better life and left us behind, I guess.”

I’m not sure what to say to that. Kyle says it so matter-of-factly that it throws me off. I guess he’s had a long time to come to terms with it.

“I see,” I say. I rally myself again. “So, do you have any other interests?”

“I play the guitar,” Kyle muses. “What about you?”

I grin. “Poetry. I love poetry.”

Kyle laughs. “You’ll have to show me some time.”

“No way,” I say, making a face. “You’ll just laugh at me.”

We laugh again. This is comfortable, I realize. I’m enjoying my time out with Kyle. I’m really enjoying it. This was what I wanted to know, wasn’t it? If the date bombed, then it was never going to work out.

But I like finding out more information about Kyle and learning more about his life. It’s nice to be sitting across the table from him, watching his expression change with each story. I want to know more. I want to know everything.

I really can’t pull away from him. I smile slightly.

Maybe I was a fool to try.

* * *

I convince Kyle to come up to my apartment for coffee after the date, not quite ready to let him leave just yet. He grins, pleased, and follows me up the old stairs. My entire body is thrumming.

Coffee? Coffee sounds great, of course. But I want Kyle, right now.

The date went well. Very well. I found myself pulled closer and closer to him, drawn in by the magnetic attraction that I’ve been trying to escape. As he spoke, revealing more pieces of himself, I gave in. I’m never going to be able to escape him.

And that’s okay, I decide. Maybe I don’t want to, anymore.

On the ride home, I pressed the full length of my body against him, wrapping my arms tightly around his chest. There were too many layers, I found myself thinking. I wanted them all off. I wanted to reveal more of him, to strip him bare and learn more.

Now we’re back home, and all I want is for Kyle to touch me and for my hands to be on him once more.

“Did you enjoy yourself?” Kyle asks as he follows me into the apartment, closing the door behind me.

And, in a flash, I’m on him, pushing him up against the door. His eyes widen and then his arms wind around me, his pupils dilating in seconds. I’m not the only that has been thinking about it, then. I give him a slow grin.

“Yes,” I say into his ear. “It was a wonderful date. God, Kyle, do you know how much I want you right now? All the way home, I just wanted to slip my hands under your jacket and touch you.”

Kyle growls and reverses our position, so I’m the one up against the door, and leans in close.

“I wish you did,” he says huskily. “I wish we hadn’t been in traffic so you could. I can just imagine your hands all over me while we sit on my bike. How badly did you want me, Allison?”

“So much,” I purr. We’ve barely even touched each other yet, and my body is trembling with need, remembering what it feels like to have his hands on me. “I almost didn’t make it all the way up here.”

Kyle presses himself against me. His erection is already throbbing in his pants.

“Me neither,” he says.

I wrap my arms around his neck and press my lips to his. The door is hard against my back, and my leg lifts to curve around his hips, dragging him closer so that I can feel every line of his body pressed against mine. We’re both wearing too many layers, dressed as we were for the weather, and I scrabble at his jacket, pushing it off his shoulders. He unbuttons my jacket, too, his fingers rough and demanding, and both articles of clothing drop to the floor.

“It’s not fair, you’re wearing two jackets,” I say, breaking the kiss.

“Why don’t I take those off,” Kyle says, biting my ear. “And you can give me the show you promised me?”

It takes me a moment to remember what he’s talking about.

“You can give me a strip show.”

“Just remind me of that and I’ll give you a lap dance, too.”

Heat races through me and I give him a slow grin, pushing him back.

“Sit down, then,” I purr. “I’ll give you that show and, if you’re lucky, I might even fulfill the other promise, too.”

I can see that he remembers, and I grin as he stumbles backward and crashes onto the couch, fumbling with his jacket to remove it.

“Take off your shirt, Kyle,” I say, stalking toward him.

He scrambles to obey. As he does this, I finger the hem of my shirt, lifting it teasingly to show him my stomach. I inch it up bit by bit, and he barely seems to breathe as he watches me, his mouth slightly open. I shimmy my shirt up and over my head, dragging it slowly over my arms before dropping it to the ground.

“Your jeans,” I say, my voice rough.

He almost chokes, but he hurries to do as I ask, unbuckling his jeans and throwing them aside once he’s slipped them over his legs, taking his socks and shoes with them. His cock is standing tall in his boxers, leaking through with need.

I kick off my shoes and lift a leg, slowly sliding one sock off. Then I take the other off. I’ve never felt sexier than now, with the way Kyle is watching me take off my clothes, and I stretch my arms over my head, his eyes following the bounce of my breasts and the twist of my hips. Then I snap open the button on my jeans and drag the zipper down, showing just a hint of my panties.

Kyle’s eyes are fixed on my hands. I feel a thrill run through me at how closely he’s watching me. I push my jeans over my hips and bend over, slowly guiding the material over my legs. When they hit the floor I straighten to find Kyle tugging on his own penis, his hips thrusting up with a groan.

“No touching,” I say teasingly, stepping out of my jeans and making my way toward him, clad only in my underwear.

I slap his hands away and swing a leg over his lap, straddling him. I sit down on his hips, and I hear his choked cry as his hardened penis slides underneath my body. His hips buck up, seeking pressure, and I put my hands on his shoulders as I slowly circle my own hips, pressing down against him.

“Fuck,” Kyle says, his eyes rolling back.

I grin. “Do you like that?”

“Fuck, yes,” he groans.

His hips hump up against me, desperate for release, and I grind down against him, panting as my body thrums with pleasure, wanting more. I had planned to tease him for a little while longer, though, to show him just how much I needed him before we moved on.

But, all of a sudden, Kyle stands. His hands are underneath my butt, and he hauls himself up off the couch, my legs wrapping around his waist before I fall. He meets my lips in a hungry kiss, my hands tangling in his hair.

“You fucking tease,” he says roughly when we part. “I’m going to fuck you hard for that.”

My breath catches. “Yes,” I hiss, my fingers clenching on his shoulders. “Fuck me as hard as you can.”

Nothing else matters. Not our misunderstanding, not the fact that we’re still feeling our way through something new. All that matters is me being here in Kyle’s arms.

I’m right where I want to be.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Kyle

It’s the first time that I’ve felt like we’re actually doing this because we want to. Every other time we’ve had sex, something else has been happening in the background. We’ve either been drunk or Jesse has been hovering over us, leading Allison to desperately seek reassurance. Ethan wasn’t wrong in saying that our entire relationship, so far, has been based on the bad things that have happened.

But not tonight. Tonight, Allison got on my motorbike. Tonight, we sat in a restaurant and finally spoke about ourselves, and got to know each other. Tonight, we haven’t had anything other than soda to drink, and Jesse is distant in both our minds.

Tonight, we want each other just because we want each other.

The knowledge gives me a heady feeling as I carry Allison to the bedroom, her legs wrapped around me. She’s alive in my arms, kissing my neck and biting my collar, her hands exploring my shoulders and my arms. I almost falter as she pinches my nipple, and I feel her grin against my skin.

“I’ll drop you,” I warn her.

“No, you won’t,” she says confidently.

That, right there, is worth more than gold. I knew she trusted me before now, but it was only because I was the only one she felt she could rely on to protect her from Jesse since I’ve already done it once. Now, though, Jesse isn’t around, and she’s trusting me just because I’m me.

I groan.

“You’re killing me here,” I tell her.

“Good,” she whispers into my ear, her breath blowing against my earlobe. “Maybe you’ll hurry up then.”

I want this woman so badly that I’m almost going to burst with need. Her bedroom door is closed and I stop, pressing her up against it, kissing her deeply. She kisses back just as hungrily, our tongues tangling with each other, and I fumble for the doorknob. When I find it, I pull away from the door slightly and open it, not wanting to fall inside.

I avoid the open boxes on the ground, which are exactly where I saw them last on Saturday, and we fall down onto the bed. I settle between her legs, which are still wrapped tightly around me, and brace myself over her, our chests almost touching. She’s still wearing her underwear, and it needs to go.

“Your bra,” I say huskily. “You never finished your show.”

“Want me to finish?” she asks with a wink. “Step back then.”

She loosens her legs and I take two steps back. She props herself up on her elbows, her eyes meeting mine as one of her hands slowly drifts behind her. I hear a soft click and then the bra falls loose. Her gaze never leaving mine, she slowly pulls her arms out, and allows the bra to drop to the floor with a muggle whump. Then she leans back again.

“You first,” she says, her eyes drifting down to my boxers.

I’m about to kick them off, and then I pause. Then, slowly, I hook my thumbs in the waistband and tug ever so slightly at them. Her breath catches.

She isn’t the only one who can give a show.

I wriggle the waistband down my hips. Every part of me is telling just to hurry up, to shove them down and make this quick. But Allison is watching me with wide eyes, and the self torture is worth the hungry look on her face as my cock slowly jumps free and I bend over to push the boxers down my legs.

Then I stand, completely naked. I try to talk, but my mouth is dry. I clear my throat and try again.

“Your turn,” I tell her.

To my surprise, she drops back, angling her head so that she can still see me. She smiles and hooks her thumbs in the waistband of her panties, copying what I did, and slowly shimmies them off her hips, arching her back off the bed so that she can do it. Then she sits up, bending over to slowly push the material down her legs, looking up through her curtain of hair to watch me with a sultry smile. The panties drop to the floor.

There’s a bit of silence. And then I explode forward, my arms going around her and my lips meeting hers. Her hands are going everywhere, leaving trails off fire in her wake as she kisses back, biting my lip and then mapping out the inside of my mouth with her tongue, fighting with mine. I pant against her, cupping her breasts in my hands and kneading the soft skin, making her groan against my mouth.

Her hands find my penis and she grips it hard, tugging on it slowly, and my entire body shudders, not prepared for the sensation. The rest of the world drops away. There’s only Allison and her touch.

“Fuck,” I moan against her lips.

I push her legs apart and step between them. She’s sitting on the edge of the bed, and her ankles curl around my knees until I’m almost pressed against her, only her arms in the way as she touches me and tugs relentlessly on my cock. She’s going to drain me dry before we even get to the best part. My legs tremble.

As much as I want release, I don’t want it like this. I plant my hands on her shoulders and push her back, making her fall flat onto the bed, her hands slipping off me. I step in closer, our groins meet, and we both groan as our hips buck toward each other.

“I told you I wanted to fuck you hard,” I growl. “I want to come deep inside you.”

“Fuck, then do it,” Allison groans, throwing her head back, her legs falling open even further to give me room to move.

She’s so beautiful in every way. I look at her through lust-filled eyes, seeing how she’s splayed out on the bed for me, her chest heaving with passion, and all I want is to take her in every way possible, to touch her and ruin her and drive her over the edge of sanity. I surge forward, guiding my penis toward her, and circle her entrance with the tip.

“Oh god,” she whimpers. “Just fucking do it, already!”

I slowly slide into her. I want to slam forwards like I did the other day, but I stop myself before I can, panting with the effort of waiting. I don’t want this to be like that day, when we rushed through it just to feel as much as possible, to slam all memory of Jesse from Allison’s head. This time I want her to feel every inch of me as I slide into her, to know that I’m the only thing she needs to think about as I enter her.

It seems that Allison isn’t the only one who has a small possessive streak.

“Shit,” Allison cries, writhing beneath me until I’m seated fully in her.

The muscles inside her are pulsing, hot and heavy, and I pant, trying to calm myself before I release straight away. The feeling of her clenching around me is amazing, and I almost don’t want to move. I just want to sit there and feel her all around me, to know that we’re connected so intimately.

Then Allison’s thighs clench around me.

“Move!” she pants.

Her hips jerk up and a wave of heat rushes through me. I pull out slowly and then slam back into her, her eyes rolling back up as her hands clench on my shoulders, holding onto me for dear life. I clutch her hips, helping her to roll her hips up as I thrust down, sweat dripping from our bodies.

Allison’s hair is a tangled mess around her head. I didn’t tell her how it had gone frizzy after even such a short time in the helmet, amused and endeared by the sight, and now it’s even messier, splayed out around her head. I reach up with one hand and twirl a lock of her hair around my finger before burying my hand in it, clutching at it and tugging light at the strands with each thrust, anchoring myself in the real world before I get swept away on the tides of passion that are threatening to drag me under.

“More,” Allison moans, her head thrashing, her body trembling. “God, Kyle, I can feel you, every bit of you…!”

“Fuck, Allison,” I groan, panting harshly as I struggle to catch my breath. “You’re so tight around me. It feels so good.”

The words fall from my lips, but I’m so far gone that I’m barely aware that I’m saying the thoughts that are going through my mind. This feels amazing, and I’m so close. My thrusts speed up, angling in a different direction, trying to drag Allison under the tide with me. Her nails are sharp and they scratch into my skin, but I don’t have the presence of mind to care if she’s made me bleed. It’s all just another sensation.

Then Allison cries out and shudders, clenching tightly around me. It’s so overwhelming, and I thrust once, twice more before I bury myself deeply in her and come as well, trembling as the orgasm hits me and drags every bit of pleasure out of me.

Then the world goes silent, the roaring in my ears disappearing. I’m breathing hard, my heart thundering in my chest, and I can see Allison’s chest heaving as she lays on the bed, staring up at me, still buried inside her.

Finally, I step away, slipping out of her, and she sits up, her hands on my shoulders as she pulls herself toward me. She smiles and angles her head up. Knowing what she wants, I dip my head down and meet her lips.

We kiss slowly. It’s deep and intimate, not rushed and hungry like before, and our tongues slowly touch each other, curling around each other as I explore her mouth and she investigates mine. There’s no passion in this case. Just quiet contentment as we feel one another and come down off the high that we had reached, our bodies slowly calming.

Fuck, I love this woman.

The thought passes almost without notice. I watch it cross my mind and then mentally shrug. I can explore that possibility later. It explains a lot, I realize, and probably explains Ethan’s odd attitude yesterday. Maybe he realized it too.

Perhaps it’s too soon. Maybe it isn’t really love. But I think part of me fell in love with her on Wednesday night, when her brilliantly blue eyes met mine and she begged me, without words, for help. She became everything to me very quickly – maybe too quickly – and I can’t bear the idea of being without her anymore. My life without her in it would feel very empty.

But I keep these thoughts to myself. I’m not ready to acknowledge them just yet. I don’t think Allison is ready for me to voice them, either. I’m happy to just go along the path we are already traveling, exploring our new relationship.

I pull back and smile at her.

“Bed?” I ask.

She laughs.

“Bed,” she agrees.

We slide under the covers of the bed and curl toward each other, Allison’s head on my shoulder, my chin resting against her head as she tucks it into my neck. My arms wind around her, pulling her close, and having her there in my arms is better than any feeling I’ve experienced yet.

This is where I belong. I’m never letting this go.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Allison

When I wake up, Kyle’s arms are still around me and I’m tempted just to drop straight back to sleep, where I feel warm and safe. He’s sleeping deeply, his breathing slow and even, and I can feel his calm heartbeat against his chest.

I’m happy. How long has it been since I’ve felt this happy? I thought I was happy when I left Jesse, but it hasn’t been until now that I’ve realized just how much I’ve been stressing about everything. Jesse, college, travel, trying to unpack…

But here, in Kyle’s arms, I feel relaxed and content. I slowly close my eyes. I really should just go back to sleep.

But then my bladder becomes a problem. I grimace as it insists that I need to go to the toilet, becoming louder the longer I ignore it. Finally I huff in exasperation and open my eyes again.

Looks like I have no choice but to get up.

I slide slowly out of Kyle’s arms. He stirs but then relaxes back into sleep. I giggle. I’m not surprised that he’s so damn tired. He’s barely slept this week while he was keeping watch over me. I’m glad that he’s sleeping now.

I pick up my robe off the floor and shrug it on, tying the belt around my waist. Then I leave my room and creep across to the bathroom, shivering at the feeling of the cold tiles on my bare feet.

Unfortunately, the shock is enough to wake me up completely, and I grumble as I realize that I won’t be getting back to sleep now. I sigh and smile to myself. Maybe, then, I can make some coffee. I’m sure Kyle will appreciate that when he wakes up.

I head out into the living room. First I pick up Kyle’s clothes and take them back to the bedroom, so he’ll have something to wear when he wakes. Then I yawn again and head to the kitchen.

Maybe it’s because I’m still sleeping and happy. Or perhaps it just took me longer than I want to admit to notice the change in my environment. But it isn’t until the kettle finishes boiling and I turn to grabs some cups that I notice them.

They’re sitting on the kitchen counter and I frown. A bouquet of flowers? It isn’t a large bouquet, and they’re in a small, square box that’s packed with dirt and wrapped with cellophane. The flowers are colorful, exactly the type that I love.

Were they here yesterday? I know I didn’t put them there. Did Kyle bring them in? Even if he had, he wouldn’t have had time to put them on the counter. We went from the door, to the couch, and then straight to the bedroom. There’s also nowhere that he could have hidden the flowers; I would have noticed them as soon as he arrived.

So where did they come from?

My breath catches. The flowers weren’t here when I left my apartment to go on my date with Kyle. I’m almost certain they weren’t here when we arrived back at the apartment. So, at some point between Kyle and I arriving back here, and me waking up, someone has been in my apartment.

Was it Jacqui? She’s the only person that has a key. But I can’t see her doing something like this. If she was going to leave flowers, she would have messaged me or left a note or…

That’s when I notice the card.

It’s blue and nestled between the flowers, blending in with them. My heart rate settles. There’s a note. Maybe it was Jacqui after all. Though I’m still going to yell at her about frightening me half to death. She could have sent me a message!

I pluck the card out of the flowers and open it. As soon as I look at the writing, however, I drop the card back to the counter, trembling. It falls open on the counter.

I know that handwriting. It isn’t Jacqui’s.

It’s Jesse’s.

Jesse was in my apartment.

“Shit,” I pant. “Shit, shit.”

How the hell did he get in? I swing around, my eyes darting everywhere. Is there anything out of place in here? I can’t tell; the place is already an unorganized mess, so I really don’t know whether anything is missing or if something else has been moved.

Did he come through the door? I stride across the room. Surely it wouldn’t be possible; I would have heard someone coming in the front door. I twist the door handle.

And it swings open, unconnected to the door frame. It was already open. No, more than that, the lock on it is broken and the frame is chipped. My door won’t close anymore. I already knew it was hard to lock it, but not that it won’t close.

My chest is tight and I can’t breathe. My hands are shaky.

Last night, Jesse was in my apartment.

He came in, broke the door - quietly, or I would have heard it even while I was asleep.

He left a bouquet of flowers with a card.

Then he left again, swinging the door shut behind him.

A door that no longer closes, allowing him access to my apartment whenever he wants.

I almost go and wake up Kyle. But I stop myself before I can. This isn’t Kyle’s problem. He already hates Jesse for my sake. I don’t want him to get any more involved than he already is. This is my problem.

A voice in my mind that sounds like Jacqui’s is calling me an idiot, but I ignore it as I cross the room and pick up the card again. I didn’t read the card, but I think I probably should. If Jesse was here last night…did he see me? Did he see Kyle?

I read the words and close my eyes.

Look how easy it is to get in once I know where you are. Next time, I’ll do more than sneak in if I see him here again.

I don’t know if Jesse came in while we were having sex, or if he peered into my room and saw me in Kyle’s arms. I’m grateful that Kyle was here last night. Quite possibly, his presence prevented anything from happening.

But now…

The rational part of my mind is telling me to show this note to Kyle. This does involve him now. Jesse is now threatening me with Kyle. He’ll leave me alone if Kyle leaves. Or he’ll come after me if I don’t get rid of him.

The stubborn side of me, the part that is currently winning, is reminding me that this is still my fight. Not Kyle’s. Kyle has already shown himself to have a darker streak when it comes to Jesse. I don’t want to encourage that.

I pause and then tuck the card into my robe. There’s only one thing to do then, isn’t there?

I have to find some way to get Jesse out of my life. But I know that I won’t be able to do that while Kyle is around. So I need to remove Kyle from the equation until Jesse is gone.

I don’t know how I’m going to do it. I also don’t know how long it will take. But, this time, I’m going to see it through. No more just running and hoping he won’t follow me.

Then, and only then, will I be free to live my life.

* * *

It takes another hour for Kyle to wake up. When he leaves the bedroom, he’s fully dressed. I’m sitting at the table, sipping my second cup of coffee of the morning. By now I’ve planned exactly what I’m going to say, and what reasons I’m going to give him.

This is going to be painful. But it’s necessary.

“Morning,” Kyle yawns.

There’s a mug of coffee on the counter that I had made when I heard him stirring. He picks it up gratefully and turns to smile at me.

I don’t smile back.

“Morning,” I return quietly.

Kyle blinks as he takes a sip of his coffee, and then he lowers it. He frowns.

“Is something wrong?” he asks.

I take in a deep breath. It’s now or never.

“I’ve just been thinking,” I say. I sit up and look him in the eye. “First…I’m really sorry, Kyle. I’ve been sending you all these mixed signals because I didn’t know what I wanted. But I think I’ve figured it out now.”

“That’s okay,” he says.

He looks confused. But there’s a dawning understanding in his eyes, as though part of him has figured it out. His fingers are tense on his cup.

“So, what do you want?” he asks slowly. “Whatever is, I’ll support it, I promise. Even if…”

He trails off. He knows what I’m about to say. I give him a half smile.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think we should be together,” I say.

His expression doesn’t change. He takes a sip of his coffee and watches me, his eyes searching mine.

“Why?” he asks after a moment. “Am I allowed to ask?”

“Of course,” I assure him.

This is the test. Does he believe me? There are faint frown lines on his forehead, but he doesn’t seem overly upset. Or is he just holding it together for my sake?

I push the thoughts down. We’ve known each other for a week. We only agreed yesterday to start a relationship. This break-up won’t be as hard as it would be if we’d been together for weeks.

At least…I’ll try and convince myself of that.

“I really enjoyed last night,” I told him. “I liked getting to know you. But…we’re really different, Kyle. We don’t have anything in common. The closest thing we have in common is that I write poetry and you write songs. And even they’re vastly different. We don’t like the same music, the same movies, the same food. I’m at college and you’re…”

“A deadbeat mechanic,” he says flatly.

I wince. So, he’s more upset that he was letting on.

“No,” I say with feeling. I definitely don’t want him to believe that I’m using our status as an excuse for why we’re not together. “I just mean we have different interests in life. You’re an amazing man, and you’ve done so much in your life, but our experiences are so different. Even though we like each other now, I don’t think we’ll ever graduate beyond lust.”

Something flashes across his expression, too fast to see.

“Is that all this is?” he asks quietly. “Lust?”

“Yes,” I say, nodding. This was what I wanted to get onto. “I want your body, you want mine. We can’t build a lasting relationship on that.”

He looks…oddly hurt. I’m not sure why. Because lust has been the biggest factor of our relationship so far, right? Using that was the safest thing to do, the thing that would hurt the least.

So why does he look like I’ve said something truly terrible?

“I see,” he says after a moment. “Our different interests… It was the motorbike, wasn’t it? Is that the biggest difference that you can’t see yourself handling?”

Say yes, I think. It’s a ready-made excuse. Kyle already knows that I can’t stand the motorbike, that I only got on it for his sake yesterday. I never told him that I didn’t find it that bad.

Can I bear to say “yes,” though? His motorbike is a memento of his father, his childhood, of the man who turned his life around. I would be denying everything about him if I say “yes” right now.

But I need to.

“I’m sorry,” I say to him in answer.

His jaw tightens.

“It’s fine,” he says roughly. He drains the last of his coffee. “We both knew this was a possibility. We’ve only been on the one date, after all, and that was to see if we were compatible.” He pauses. “So, last night… Why?”

I wince. That one’s harder to explain away. Why did I jump him as soon as we walked in the door if I didn’t want a relationship with him?

Because I do want a relationship with him, it’s just not something we can do right now.

“I just wanted you,” I say. It’s a weak excuse. “Your body. Your muscles… They’re really amazing, you know.”

I give him a small smile. He doesn’t return it.

“So I’ve heard,” he says.

Is he angry? I don’t know if I would blame him if he is. I’ve given him so many mixed signals this week, telling him I want him, then casting him out, approaching him to ask him for a date, and then telling him I don’t want him after all. I’ve been really cruel to him.

It’s just until Jesse is gone, I remind myself. Maybe, after, he’ll forgive me.

“Kyle…” I say, and then hesitate. Why is this so hard? “I’m really sorry.”

He sighs.

“Don’t apologize,” he says. “We’re both adults, we both knew what we were doing. It’s fine.”

“Can we… stay friends?”

The question slips out without my permission. I don’t want to lose Kyle, I realize. I don’t want him to walk out that door and never return to me.

I really am selfish.

He looks surprised by the question. His brow furrows and then his expression clears. He looks at the flowers and sighs, running a rough hand through his hair. In my pocket, the card almost seems to burn.

“Yeah,” he says finally, and relief blooms in my chest. “Yeah, I’d like that. But…maybe give me a little while?”

“Of course,” I say hurriedly.

I’ll give him whatever he wants. The fact that he still wants anything to do with me after all this… It’s amazing. This man… I’m really letting go of something special. If Jacqui ever finds out what I’m doing, she’ll kill me.

My stomach drops. I can’t tell Jacqui. I can tell her the same story I told Kyle, but that’s it. If I tell her what I’m doing, I know she’ll tell Kyle for my own good.

No, this is my problem. It will just be me and Jesse this time, and I’ll make sure he stays out of my life before I’m through.

Somehow,

“I better go,” Kyle says, clearing his throat. “I’m going to be late to work.”

“Right, yeah, you better head off,” I say, getting to my feet and arranging my robe so that I don’t accidentally flash him. “Even if it didn’t work out…thank you for yesterday. It was nice to hang out.”

“Yes,” he says slowly. Then he gives me a small smile and I feel like I’ve won the lottery. “It was. See you later, Allison.”

I rush to the door to open it for him, not wanting him to notice the broken lock. He doesn’t seem to realize that anything is amiss, and I watch him go, clutching the door. I swing it closed when he’s gone. Several minutes later, I hear his motorbike roar to life, and then he’s gone.

A single tear slips down my face, and I brush it away impatiently. Now isn’t the time to be upset. I haven’t lost everything, after all.

And if I want to get it back, then I need to be the one to win this war Jesse has waged against me.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Kyle

Allison was lying.

I ride away from her house, and I know this is true.

I hadn’t noticed at first. Most of my mind had been taken up by confusion. We had had a nice night. We got to know each other. We had gotten along very well, which was almost a surprise considering it’s taken us this long to actually sit and talk. Then she jumped me the moment we walked in the door.

So, I was understandably confused when Allison suddenly said she didn’t want a relationship with me.

The problem was, what she said made sense. I had noticed it, too. We didn’t share very many interests. She hates my motorbike. We’re from two very different cultures, and we lead very different lives. My life, growing up, was rough and filled with loss. Hers was quieter, a steady line from school to university. On paper, the two of us didn’t make sense.

But what did the stats mean? Why should any of that mean we couldn’t be together? I thought Allison agreed with me, right until she blindsided me this morning.

Then she asked me if we could be friends.

And I knew she was lying.

If there’s anything that I’ve figured out about Allison, it’s that she doesn’t hold onto the things that are causing her pain. She admitted that she liked me, and that she lusted after my body, so the best thing for her do was to just get rid of me entirely, kick me out of her life so that I’m not a temptation any more, a temptation that we’ve both found impossible to ignore.

So why keep me around?

Something is definitely up.

While I was puzzling over this in her apartment, I noticed the flowers on the table. They were pretty with bright colors, in a wrapped box. They made the kitchen look a little brighter. I had noticed them when I walked into the kitchen, but I hadn’t paid them much mind.

But now, as I think about it, I start to notice the oddities.

I pride myself on observation. Those flowers hadn’t been there last night, when we arrived back at her apartment.

Not only that, but there was the weird way Allison rushed for the door to let me out. If I asked her about it, she probably would have said that she wanted to see me off. But I noticed the break in the frame, and the way the lock looked oddly loose.

It all added up to one thing. Someone had been in Allison’s apartment last night and, for some reason, she didn’t tell me. No, I knew what reason she would have.

I gripped the handles so tightly that my knuckles turned white.

Jesse.

Jesse was the one in the apartment last night.

Why would Allison keep this from me? Because she’s stubborn. She doesn’t want me involved. Maybe even part of her doesn’t trust me to involved after the mix-up on Tuesday.

So, what am I going to do about this?

I drive into Brooks’ driveway and park my bike, pulling my helmet off. The old man is there, working on a blue car, and he frowns at me as he looks up.

“You’re late,” he says severely.

“Sorry, old man, something came up,” I say.

Brooks’ brow creases, and his eyes search mine. I look back evenly. I adore the old man, because he gave me my life back, but I’m not going to apologize for this, not when I know something is going on with Allison.

“Is everything alright?” Brooks asks after a moment.

I smile slightly. He can always read me like a book.

“Allison broke up with me this morning,” I tell him.

Brooks blinks. “You don’t look upset by it.”

“That’s because she’s lying,” I say, taking my jacket off and laying it over the seat of my bike. “She’s doing this for my sake, somehow, but I can’t figure out why.”

“Huh,” Brooks says, handing me a can. “Check the oil, boy. Why do you think she lied to you?”

“It’s her ex, Jesse,” I explain, twisting the cap on the oil line and wiping the dipstick on a rag I found on the table behind me. I stick it back in. “He broke into her apartment last night, and she’s refusing to tell me about it. I think she wants to handle it on her own.”

“How do you know he broke in?” Brooks asks.

I remove the dipstick and look at it. The oil is low, so I open the can Brooks gave me.

“I saw the signs,” I say. “The frame was broken. So was the lock. I don’t even know if she can close the door properly. And she knew about it, because she rushed to the door to try and stop me from noticing.” I scowl. “What I don’t know is how he got in there without either of us noticing.”

“You were there last night?” Brooks asks with the hint of a smile.

“We went on a date last night,” I say seriously. “An actual one, and we asked each other questions and got to know each other. Allison even let me take her for a ride on my motorbike, and I booked an Italian restaurant for us. Then I stayed the night.” I find a funnel and brandish it at Brooks. “It was a great night. Which is why it was really fucking confusing when she broke up with me.”

“I bet,” Brooks agrees, bemused. “But have you considered the possibility that she just wanted to break up with you?”

I went quiet. Yes, I have considered that. Of course I have. Even if I know Jesse broke in last night, there’s still a chance that Allison already wanted to break up with me, and she was just hiding the signs so that I didn’t feel like I had to be involved with her any more.

“Yeah,” I say roughly. “And if that’s the case, then that’s alright, too.”

Brooks is silent for a long moment. Without him asking, I check the fluid, finding that that’s low as well.

“You’ve really grown up, boy,” Brooks says finally, his voice quiet.

I almost drop the bottle of coolant, I’m so startled by his words.

“What?” I say.

Brooks smiles at me. “You’ve come a long way from that idiot nineteen-year-old that wanted to take on the world for taking your father from you. I’m glad I decided to train you.”

I look away, suddenly feeling awkward. I’m not sure what inspired him to say those words, but I can’t deny the warmth that rushes through me.

“It was all thanks to you, old man,” I say gruffly.

“Which is why I have this to say to you,” Brooks says seriously, and I look up. “I don’t know whether that girl wants you or not. But, if you suspect that she’s lying to you, don’t sneak around on her to figure it out. Straight up ask her.”

“I don’t think she wants me to,” I admit.

“Then wait until she does want to answer,” Brooks says, waving a spanner at me. “In the meantime, I know you. You haven’t given up on taking down her ex, have you?”

I cringe. “Allison…overheard me talking to Grant about it. She wasn’t very happy when I said something stupid.”

Brooks snorts. “I know exactly what you would have said, boy, and I can’t say I blame you, based on what you’ve told me.”

“The guys are keeping a lookout,” I say. “They’ll let me know if they find him.”

“Then what?” Brooks challenges.

I shrug. Honestly, I haven’t thought that far ahead yet. All I know is that I want to keep Allison safe.

“I don’t know,” I admit.

Brooks rolls his eyes and whacks me over the head with a rolled up newspaper.

“Ow!” I yelp, glaring at him. “What was that for? I didn’t do anything wrong that time!”

“You were being a fucking fool,” Brooks says, glaring back. “Use that head of yours, boy! You aren’t an idiot. You know about Jesse. You know he’s dangerous. You know he’s a danger to the woman you love. So, what are you going to do about it?”

I stare at him.

The light clicks on.

Brooks sits back, satisfied.

“There we go,” he says. “I knew you could think when you want to.”

“Brooks,” I say, breathless. “Can I…?”

“Take a break,” Brooks says with a dismissive wave, rolling his eyes. “I know I’ll get no work out of you until you make your call.”

“Thank you!”

I grab my jacket and race out of the garage. There are a few people milling about but they scatter out of my way before I can duck around them. There’s an alley a few blocks away and I swerve into it. It’s empty. Good.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and scroll through my contacts, looking for the number I want. It rings three times and I tap my foot impatiently.

“Howard Detective Agency, how may I help you?”

I grin wildly.

“Alex,” I say. “It’s Kyle Jacobs. Do you have a moment?”

“Kyle?” Alex Howard asks, understandably confused. “If this is about town hall, I’m still…”

“No, no!” I say hurriedly. “I mean, yeah, I want to know how that’s going, but I have something else that I need your help with. Do you think you’ll have time to look into it for me?”

“I’m pretty busy,” Alex admits, sighing. “What do you need? I’ll tell you if I can do it.”

I cross my fingers.

“I need you to look into a man named Jesse Willis,” I say.

I remember seeing Jesse’s last name on a letter in the kitchen while I was making popcorn on Saturday. I had stored it away in my mind, in case I needed it, and I’m glad I did.

“Jesse Willis?” Alex repeats. “What type of man is he?”

I give him a short laugh. “He’s a deadbeat alcoholic who is currently stalking his ex.”

“Ah,” Alex says in sudden comprehension. “This is the man you asked everyone to keep an eye on? And I presume his ex is the woman you’ve been seeing?”

News gets around fast. I haven’t even seen Alex since last Wednesday, which was before I met Allison.

“Yeah,” I admit. “Can you help me?”

Alex lets out a long-suffering sigh. I grin. Despite his attempts to prove the contrary, Alex is a good guy. All the effort he went through to save George’s house tells me that; not to mention everything else he has done for the club over the years.

So even though he’ll put on a show of pretending it’s too much, I know he’ll do everything in his power to help me, and he won’t even ask for repayment.

But that’s okay. If he can do this for me, I fully intend on giving him his fee.

“…I suppose,” he says, and I can almost hear him rolling his eyes. Sometimes I wonder how a guy like him, who is normally so straightlaced, got involved with a club like ours. But he was with the club before I was, so I never got around to asking. “When do you need the information by?”

“As soon as possible?” I try.

“Ugh, you just make it harder,” Alex groans. “Fine, leave it with me, I’ll see what I can dig up. Don’t expect miracles, though. Chances are that this guy is just a loser that will hang around like a bad smell, even if he’s scared off.”

“Yeah,” I say with a nod. “But that’s why I want to try this first. I don’t know if you’ll find anything, but maybe there’ll be something that I can use against him to make him stay away.”

“Maybe,” Alex says doubtfully.

“And if you find anything, let me know what it’ll cost me,” I add.

“Kyle…”

“I’m not asking you do this for free, Alex,” I interrupt. “You’re doing me a huge favor when you could be taking on other jobs. The least I can do is pay you for it.”

Alex paused and then sighs gustily.

“We can discuss it if I find anything,” he says.

Then he hangs up, the dial tone ringing in my ears. I grin, not put off at all as I lower the phone. Maybe Alex is right, and we won’t find anything.

But I at least want to try it this way first. I think Allison will appreciate that, even if we just stay friends afterward. A guy like that… Surely he has a record somewhere, especially of violence. Allison told me he used to beat people up a lot. Maybe if the police knew more about it, they’d take Allison’s concerns more seriously, but I don’t want to get involved with them until I have something more concrete. If it gets bad enough, I might even be able to land him in jail for a few nights, which would hopefully teach him a lesson.

It feels strange to do it like this. Normally I face my problems head-on and force it to go away. I wish I could do that with Jesse, but I’ve already hit him once. If I hit him again, I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t make a complaint against me. And my record isn’t something that I want the police to be bringing up, either.

All of this would be a lot easier if the police would just do their jobs right. Would Allison tell them about the break-in? I hope she does. Or maybe she won’t because she’ll think they won’t believe her. She won’t think that she needs any help, so she’ll charge in without any weapons, hoping to stop Jesse.

And, like lightning, it hits me. Why Allison broke up with me. Why she hid the break-in and the broken door from me. I had already considered it, but the reason suddenly becomes a little more real.

She wants to do this herself.

“You idiot,” I say aloud, almost as though my words could reach Allison, who is no doubt in class by now.

I’m right here. I told her I would be there for her, that I would help her if she needed it. Yet, like a fool, she’s trying to do this all herself because she considers it to be her problem, and hers alone.

Except that it isn’t just her problem anymore. Jesse became my problem when I decided to protect Allison from him. I don’t know if he’s behind Allison breaking up with me (I still don’t know whether she was serious about that, or not), but I’m not going to let him run rings around her anymore.

It’s just become imperative that we get rid of that bastard as soon as possible.

In the meantime, however, I still need to protect Allison. Jesse has already gotten into her apartment once.

I clench my hand around my phone, determined. I have no intention of allowing him to do it again.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Allison

As soon as Kyle is gone, I grab my phone and dial the by-now familiar number of the police. I tap my foot on the ground, drawing my robe tighter around myself as it rings.

“Pick up, pick up,” I murmur, pacing backward and forward.

Finally, the line clicks and I pause mid-step, my heart pounding.

“Philadelphia police station, how may I direct your call?” a woman says.

“Hi, I’d like to report a break-in,” I say.

“And where did this break-in occur?”

I rattle off my address. My hands are shaking. The flowers are sitting on the table, mocking me.

“It’s my apartment,” I add. “I think I made a complaint the other day about spray paint…?”

“Yes, thank you,” the woman says. “Please hold the line, I’ll have someone speak to you.”

“Thank you,” I say.

The phone clicks and then music plays. Not wanting to just stand and wait, I head into my bedroom and start collecting some clothes. I know they’ll send someone over to look, and I don’t want to only be wearing a robe when they arrive. I think about trying to have a quick shower, but, with my door broken, there’s no way I want to risk it. What if Jesse happens to turn up?

He would be stupid to do that in broad daylight, but I’ve never claimed that Jesse is smart.

He was smart enough to break into your apartment without you noticing. The thought creeps in and sticks, making me shudder. I still don’t understand how he broke the door quietly enough that neither Kyle nor I heard him. He must have been slow and careful, two words I’ve never associated with him.

“Hello?”

“Hello!” I yelp, pulling up the leg of my pants and trying to keep hold of my phone. “Sorry, thank you for speaking with me.”

“No worries, Miss…?”

“Miller,” I supply. “Allison Miller.”

“Yes, yes,” the man on the other end clears his throat. “I’m Officer Bryant. Now, I’ve noticed that you’ve made a previous complaint at this address about graffiti?”

“That’s right,” I say, putting my phone on speaker and tugging my shirt on. I feel better as soon as I’m dressed.

“You proposed that the culprit was Jesse Willis, your ex-boyfriend?”

“Yeah,” I say. “But there wasn’t any evidence.”

“Yes, yes, I see that.” The officer was silent for a moment. “May I know the nature of this complaint?”

“He broke into my apartment,” I say instantly. “The idiot left me a box of flowers with a card.”

“He signed it?” Bryant asks, startled.

“Well… no, but I recognize his handwriting,” I say awkwardly.

“Hm,” the officer says, and I wince. I know saying that I recognize Jesse’s handwriting isn’t conclusive evidence. “Well, we’ll come around and have a look, and see if we can collect any evidence. Were you the only one home last night?”

If I tell them that Kyle was here, they’ll want to question him. Then he’ll know that I lied to him.

“I was alone,” I say. “My…boyfriend dropped me home and left.”

It isn’t like it makes a difference, after all. Kyle didn’t hear anything either. He would have mentioned something if he had.

“Very well. We’ll be there soon, Miss Miller. Thank you for your patience.”

I bid him farewell and hang up. Then I let out a gusty sigh. That’s it, then. The police are involved, now. I’m worried, though; has Jesse left any evidence? If he was clever enough to manage to break in, then maybe he was clever enough to keep things clean. That means the police will only find my prints, along with a myriad of others belonging to Kyle and my friends, who have been in and out all week.

I deflate. Suddenly this feels like an impossible task.

I just need to hang in there for a little while. Surely they’ll find something. And if they don’t…

I’ll just have to figure out another way to get rid of Jesse.

* * *

By the time the police arrive, I’m a nervous wreck, pacing around my living room. I’ve sent a message to Jacqui, letting her know that I won’t be in class and asking her to take notes for me, but she hasn’t replied yet. She’s probably in class, wondering where the hell I am and worried about my odd absence.

There’s a knock on my door which swings open slightly. I dash toward it and pull it open the rest of the way.

“Miss Miller?” asks the man in front, and I recognize his voice from the phone.

“That’s me,” I say, holding my hand out to shake it. “Are you Officer Bryant?”

“Yes, yes, I am,” the man says with a smile. It falls, however, when he eyes the broken door frame. “May we come in? You can tell us what happened.”

I let the officer and two others into the apartment. The other two instantly set about examining the door frame.

“They’ll be looking for evidence,” Bryant explains. “Are you absolutely certain that the person who broke into your apartment was Jesse Willis?”

“One hundred percent,” I say, handing over the card. “He left this card with those flowers.”

Bryant frowns and hands the card over to one of the officers. The other officer walks over to examine the flowers at my words.

“We’ll see what we can get off both,” Bryant assures me. “In the meantime, I need a list of everyone who has been in your apartment in the last fortnight, particularly those who might have touched your door.”

My stomach falls. It’s quite a long list. As I start naming names, I see Bryant’s face fall, too. There’s too many people that have been here.

“And the most recent?” Bryant asks when I’ve finished.

“Uh, Kyle Jacobs...my boyfriend,” I say. “He’s the one that dropped me home last night.”

“Well, we do have a set of prints for Jesse Willis on file after a complaint was made against him last year; we had him in a cell overnight before his girlfriend bailed him.” Bryant glanced at me. “You?”

“Yeah,” I say with a grimace. “That was me.”

Bryant sighs and shuts his notebook. “With luck, we’ll find some evidence. You don’t happen to have a sample of Jesse’s handwriting around here?”

“Sorry,” I sigh. “I don’t.”

The officer mutters something that sounds suspiciously like “no one makes it easy,” before he nods with a wry smile.

“We’ll do our best, Miss Miller,” he says. “In the meantime, I might suggest that you find somewhere else to stay. Your apartment is no longer secure.”

“Yeah, I was considering that,” I say, eyeing the front door. “I’m going to have to get the landlord to fix it and…well, that’s going to be enough of a fight.”

Bryant chuckles. “The terrors of cheapskate landlords. I’ll be talking to them myself; the apartment building’s front door lock is shot, and there aren’t any cameras at all. This isn’t a safe place for residents.”

“I’ve been trying to tell him since I moved here,” I say heavily.

“Now, is there anyone else in the apartment who might have noticed something was amiss last night?” Bryant asks.

“Mrs. Phillips next door might have,” I offer. “She’s got ears like a bat, and she’s always listening out for anything she can complain about.”

Bryant makes a face at that. “Ah, that type. Well, I suppose I’ll go talk to her.”

“Thank you for your time, officer,” I say.

I’m glad that he didn’t just ignore me, like they did with the graffiti. Bryant is nice, and it sounds like he really wants to get to the bottom of this. But, as he walks away, I know that they won’t find anything. Jesse is an idiot…but he’s also the type who knows how not to get caught.

I sigh and pull out my phone. Still no reply from Jacqui. I need to ask her if I can stay with her. I doubt she’ll say no, though, especially when she hears that Jesse broke in.

With this in mind, I grab an empty sports bag off the floor and head into my room, leaving the police to their work. I grab some clothes and stuff them into the bag, not sure how long I’ll need to be away for and not wanting to return until I absolutely have to. I toss some books in and then I grab my laptop and all my chargers before zipping it up.

Just as I do this, my message tone rings out.

Call me!!!

It’s Jacqui; it looks like she’s on break from class, and she’s finally gotten my messages. I chuckle quietly and scroll down until I find her number.

She picks up on the first ring.

“Allison, what’s going on?” she cries.

“Sorry, Jacqui, I didn’t mean to stress you,” I say, wincing. “Did you get notes for me?”

“Of course,” Jacqui says impatiently. “Now, what’s happening?”

“Well…I kind of have the police here.”

“WHAT?”

I flinch at her yell and pull the phone away.

“Don’t yell, that was right in my ear,” I complain. “Jesse broke into my apartment last night. He left me flowers.”

“What the hell?” Jacqui asks incredulously.

“Anyway, the police are collecting evidence,” I say. “Can I stay with you for a few days? He broke my front door.”

“You can stay as long as you need to,” Jacqui says instantly. “We can go apartment hunting. And, in our spare time, asshole hunting.”

I smile slightly. “Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, Jacqui.”

“Does Kyle know?” Jacqui asks. “Damn, he’s got to be furious about this.”

I flinch again. “Uh, actually…about that.”

“What?” Jacqui asks suspiciously. “Did you ask him on a date?”

“Actually, he asked me,” I say with a short laugh. “We went to dinner last night. It was nice. I learnt a lot about him.”

“But…?”

“I broke up with him this morning,” I admit quickly.

“Seriously?” Jacqui asks. “Why?”

“Let’s just say that we’re two very different people,” I say with a sigh. “We had nothing in common, Jacqui. The only thing we shared was lust for each other.”

“That’s something in common,” Jacqui points out.

I snort. “That’s not enough, Jacqui. Anyway, we spoke about it this morning and we decided it was for the best. I feel terrible.”

“You should,” Jacqui says bluntly. “You’ve kept that guy hanging all week. I feel sorry for him.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?” I say grumpily.

“I am,” Jacqui assures me. “And you did what I asked you to, which was to talk to him and try to get to know him, so I guess I can’t complain too much.” She pauses. “I still think you’re an idiot, though.”

I make a face. There’s something in Jacqui’s voice that sounds suspicious, as though she knows I’m not telling her everything. I roll my eyes and sit on my bed.

“Yeah, well, it’s over now,” I say, shrugging. “We broke up and that’s it.” I hesitate. “We did agree to stay friends, though, so maybe…you never know what the future brings.”

“Oh,” Jacqui says, suddenly sounding sad. “I’m sorry, Allison. I didn’t realize that the two of you felt differently. But you don’t have to act strong for me, alright?”

“Huh?” I ask, confused.

“I can hear it in your voice,” Jacqui explains. “You regret it ending this way. So you wanted to try, but Kyle didn’t, huh?”

“What, no, I broke up with him,” I say stupidly.

A moment later I kick myself. I should have just allowed Jacqui to believe that.

“…What?” Jacqui says, deadpan. “Okay, now I’m really confused.”

“There’s nothing to be confused about,” I say sharply, more than done with this conversation. “We weren’t compatible. We broke up. Maybe we’ll get to know each other better and try again, maybe we won’t. Discussion closed.”

Jacqui falls silent. I wince. I hadn’t meant to snap at her like that. But I’m still on edge from everything. Jesse breaking in and leaving those flowers, lying to Kyle so I can break up with him, now I’m lying to Jacqui, too.

“Sorry,” Jacqui sighs. “You’ve been through a lot this morning, I shouldn’t be pushing. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

“I know,” I assure her, ignoring the spark of guilt I feel at her words.

“Alright,” Jacqui says. “Where do you want me to pick you up?”

“I’ll head over to the college and see if I can catch the last class,” I tell her. “Even if I don’t, I’ll hang around on campus until you finish. I haven’t eaten, so you might find me at the cafeteria.”

“Got it,” Jacqui says. “I’ll see you later, then. And, Allison?”

“Yeah?” I ask warily.

“Hang in there, we’ll make this better somehow.”

I swallow the sudden lump in my throat. I’m not sure I can see many ways that this could get better. My primary weapon to fight Jesse with is the police, but it doesn’t look like they’re going to be much good. I don’t know any other way to fight, which means that this war, for all I was determined to fight it not that long ago, could wage indefinitely.

“Thanks,” I say roughly. “I’ll see you later.”

I hang up the phone and draw in a deep, shuddering breath. I need to get it together. I’ve set everything in motion, now. All I can do is wait and see what happens next.

“Miss Miller?”

I look up. It’s one of the younger officers. He hovers awkwardly at the door and I stand, dragging my bag over my shoulder.

“Sorry, what can I do for you?” I ask.

“You can have this back,” the officer says, holding out the card. “We got all we can off it, and we’ve taken pictures.”

“Thanks,” I say, grabbing it. I hesitate and then put it into my pocket. “I’ll hold onto it, just in case. Is there anything else you need from me? I was going to leave; I’ll be staying at a friend’s place for now.”

“Just leave your number and your friend’s address, and you can go,” the officer says kindly.

I nod and duck into the bathroom, grabbing my toiletries, stuffing them into my bag. When I get to the kitchen, I jot down my number and Jacqui’s name and address, as well as her number.

“Here,” I say to the officer that gave me the card. “Thanks.”

He waves me off and I step through the doorway. Hopefully, the next time I come back here will be to collect my things. It was a mistake to settle for this place just because it was cheap and I was desperate to leave Jesse’s apartment. I should have stayed with Jacqui for a little while so I could find somewhere a little better, like she offered.

Oh well, regrets are pointless, now. I won’t regret anything that’s happened so far. I’ll fight Jesse with everything I have, and live my life out of his shadow.

I close my eyes and Kyle’s face swims into my mind as I head down the hall.

I’ll try not to regret anything.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Allison

I’m going insane.

That’s the only excuse I can think of.

That’s the only reason for why I keep seeing people in the corner of my eye, only for them to not be there when I turn around.

It looks like my decision to fight on equal ground with Jesse has driven me mad.

And it’s only been four days since I started staying at Jacqui’s house!

“Do you think it’s Jesse?” Jacqui asks, concerned, when I finally tell her about it.

“No… Maybe?” I groan, burying my head in my pillow. “I just want them all to go away already. Why are they stalking me?”

“Maybe I should find out?” Jacqui suggests darkly.

“On top of that, I have seen Jesse a few times,” I admit, raising my head up. “But he’s always in the distance. And he always looks frustrated.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jacqui asks, exasperated. “That’s something you’re supposed to tell me, Allison!”

“Sorry,” I sigh. “I just really don’t want to deal with any of this, anymore.”

I bury my head in the pillow again. I hear Jacqui sit down on the couch beside me.

“Do you want to talk?” she asks gently.

“No,” I say, my voice muffled.

Jacqui waits patiently. I groan and lift my head again.

“A week, Jacqui,” I say to her pitifully. “It was only a week.”

“A week for what?” Jacqui asks.

I glare at her. I know she knows what I’m talking about. She’s just playing dumb because she wants me to admit it.

“You know,” I say.

“I don’t, actually,” she replies.

We stare at each other stubbornly. Finally, though, I’m the one the backs down, and I let out a gusty sigh.

“Kyle,” I say, rolling onto my back and glaring up at the ceiling. “We were together only for a week.”

“Ah,” Jacqui says, with an air of comprehension. “Yes, you’ve said that.”

“Not even a week,” I correct. “In fact, I didn’t speak to him for a full twenty-four hours before we went on that date. We weren’t together before then. It was just sex.”

“Uh huh,” Jacqui says.

I glare at her. There’s no smile on her face, but the bitch sounds amused.

“We weren’t together,” I repeat.

“You said that,” Jacqui points out.

“It’s important,” I huff. “Because we only spoke about me being his girlfriend last Wednesday. Which was the day before we broke up.”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot that you broke up,” Jacqui says. “Why was that again?”

I scowl. I knew, the moment I told Jacqui about it, that she didn’t believe my reasons.

“Because we aren’t compatible,” I snap.

“Yes, that’s right,” Jacqui says with a sage nod. “Well, you’ve broken up, so there’s no reason to worry about it anymore, right?”

“Right,” I huff. “I’m not worrying about it.”

We fall silent. I can feel Jacqui’s eyes on me. There’s a question bubbling up to my lips and I try to fight it down. But it escapes before I can stop it.

“It’s been four days and I haven’t heard from him,” I grumble. “Do you think he was lying when he said he wanted to be friends?”

Jacqui coughs. It sounds suspiciously like she’s covering a laugh.

“I’m sure he wasn’t,” she says when she regains her composure. “It just takes a little while to recover from a broken heart.”

I scowl at her.

“We were only together for a week,” I remind her.

“I thought you were only together for one night,” Jacqui returns. “It was just sex before that.”

“One night, then,” I snap. “That’s not enough time to have a broken heart.”

“Says you,” Jacqui mutters.

I roll my eyes. Jacqui has made it very clear what her opinion on this matter is. She thinks I’m an idiot for breaking up with Kyle, and I think she has her suspicions that our break-up and my move from the apartment are connected.

But I haven’t told her the real reason. The card is sitting in my wallet, a reminder of why I’m doing this.

Kyle isn’t the only one who can protect others.

“Allison, did it maybe occur to you that you were a little hasty?” Jacqui asks, raising an eyebrow. “I understand that you analyzed it and decided that you and Kyle weren’t compatible, but you didn’t even give it a chance. If you’re going to be like this about it, then maybe you should have tried a little harder?”

“No,” I say with a huff. “It would be harder if we broke up in a month or two because we don’t have any real feelings for each other. This is easier.”

Jacqui frowns. “I’ve never known you to take the easy route out.”

“Jesse taught me to be more careful about who I date,” I say, looking away.

Jacqui goes silent. It isn’t true, not really, not for the reasons I’m giving her, but I want her to stop digging, already. I’ve made my decision. Her attitude just makes it harder than it has to be.

“You know I’ll support you,” Jacqui finally says. “I swear, I haven’t even messaged Kyle since you told me that you broke up. You’re my main concern.”

That makes me feel a little better. I had wondered if Jacqui and Kyle were in contact at all. I hope Kyle doesn’t feel bad that he lost both of us, since I know that he and Jacqui were getting along.

“Even if you and Kyle didn’t look compatible, I think you were,” Jacqui continues, and my stomach drops. I need her to stop talking. “Even if you don’t have anything in common, why does that matter? You and Jesse loved the same music and movies and had the same taste in food, but you guys weren’t compatible at all!”

I wince. Yes, that’s true. My excuses kind of fall flat in the face of that.

“So, talk to me, Allison, make me understand what happened,” Jacqui says. “Even if it was only brief, you seemed really happy.”

I sigh. That’s true, too. Kyle made me happy in a way I hadn’t thought possible. My heart clenches at the thought of him. What is he thinking about me now? He asked me to give him a few days, but I haven’t heard anything from him at all.

“Allison?” Jacqui asks.

“Fine,” I sigh. “I just…don’t think I’m ready for another relationship right now, Jacqui. Jesse and I were together for two years, you know. And we’ve only been broken up for several weeks. Now, when Kyle comes along, Jesse comes back in my life, too. I think it’s all too much. Especially since my relationship with Kyle started because of Jesse.”

“What do you mean?” Jacqui asks, startled.

“Every time Kyle and I had sex, it was because of Jesse,” I explained. “The first time, he had just assaulted me and I used Kyle to forget about Jesse. On that Friday night, Kyle was only there because he was worried about Jesse, and then we both got really drunk. Then, on Saturday, those photos came, and I used him again to put it out of my mind. See? Our relationship is based on me trying to forget Jesse or being too drunk to care who I’m sleeping with.”

Except last Wednesday night. But I haven’t told Jacqui about that night. I told her that we went on a date, and then I implied we went our separate ways, only for me to call Kyle in the morning and tell him that we weren’t compatible at all. That memory is something I’ll keep close. Besides, if I told her about it, she would never believe my excuses.

Jacqui has a grimace on her face.

“I never thought about it like that,” she says slowly.

“I used Kyle,” I say. It’s the truth, and I’m not proud of it. “Twice, he tried to push me away, because he thought I wasn’t dealing with what happened in a good enough way, once on the Wednesday night, the next time on the Saturday. And both times I threw myself at him and begged him for sex because I couldn’t handle what Jesse had done.”

“Wow…” Jacqui says, her eyes wide.

I scoff. “I’m surprised he agreed to even be friends with me. Or maybe he only said that because we were already talking, and he didn’t think it would be polite to refuse. Maybe now he’s just going to pretend I don’t exist.”

“I hate to say it, but that’s what I would do,” Jacqui admits. “You really put the guy through the wringer, Allison.”

I sigh and slump. “Yeah, I know.”

Suddenly, my phone chimes. We both jump, not expecting the sudden sound. It chimes twice more before falling silent.

“A message?” Jacqui asks as I pick up the phone and turn it on.

My eyes widen. “They’re from Kyle!”

“Hey.”

“Hope you’re doing okay.”

“I know we’re not together anymore. But if you need any help let me know.”

I stare at the message, speechless. And then my phone chimes one last time with another message.

“I’m still here for you.”

I’m not aware I’m crying until the sob rips itself from my throat. I try and wipe away my tears because I have no right to cry right now, and I shouldn’t be crying considering I’m the one that broke up with him, but I can’t help it. Jacqui plucks the phone out of my hand and smiles softly.

“He’s a better person than I am, then,” Jacqui says, shaking her head. “Seriously, girl, why did you let this one go?”

Because I had to. I gulp in a deep breath and rub my eyes dry, reminding myself of that. This isn’t Kyle’s fight. It’s mine.

But…it’s nice to know that he still has my back.

“You alright?” Jacqui asks, rubbing my shoulder.

“Yeah,” I sniffle. “I just wasn’t expecting that.”

“Well, now you have your answer,” Jacqui says, handing me my phone back. “He definitely still wants to be friends with you!” She winks at me. “Maybe, if you’re lucky, he’ll still be there when you change your mind.”

“When”, not “if”, I notice. I give her a small smile.

“I’m glad he wants to be friends,” I say simply.

I really was afraid that I’d lost him for good this time.

“Want a coffee?” Jacqui asks.

“Please,” I say.

Jacqui pats me gently on the shoulder and leaps up, heading to the kitchen. I hear her rattling around cheerfully, the kettle rumbling as she flicks the switch. I draw in a deep breath, composing myself, holding my phone close to my chest.

It was only a week, I remind myself.

But that excuse is getting harder and harder to believe. Only a week? It feels like a lot longer. I hope Kyle isn’t feeling the way that I am. I hope he’s doing okay.

I look at the messages. My eyes burn again and I rub at them, irritated at myself. Now isn’t the time for that. Slowly, I type a message back.

“Thanks.”

Then I hesitate. What he was sent was beautiful. Surely it deserved more than that. I consider this for a moment and then type another message.

“Please let me know if you need any help, too. I’m here for you as well.”

It feels stupid, considering I’m the one that broke up with him. But it’s the one full truth that I’ve told today. Sighing, I lower my phone and run my hand through my hair.

I really am an idiot, I decide.

* * *

Later that evening, Jacqui notices that we’re low on food, and she persuades me off the couch to do a food run. I sigh and grumble, but throw on a coat and some shoes. Then we drive down to the shops.

“There’s no dinner if we don’t get food,” Jacqui says cheerfully.

“So you said,” I sigh. “Why couldn’t I just have stayed at home?”

“Because you’ve been cooped up in the house all weekend, and I don’t want you to become a hermit,” Jacqui says. Then her smile fades. “Also…Jesse’s already broken into your apartment. Mine is more secure, but I don’t want him to break in and find you there alone.”

I smile at her, touched by her concern. I hadn’t even realized that this was something worrying her. I had noticed that she would drag me out with her every time she left, but I hadn’t complained about it until today.

“Sorry, I didn’t think about that,” I say to her. “Thanks for looking out for me.”

She winks at me. “That’s what friends are for. And, since you’re so grateful, you can push the cart.”

I laugh. It’s the first time I’ve laughed since Thursday, and it releases something that has been tightly wound in my chest since I found the flowers on my kitchen table.

And then I see Jesse.

I see him as we’re parking the car and my face drains of color. My hand shoots out and grabs Jacqui’s wrist before she can open the door.

“What?” she says, startled.

“Jesse,” I force out through stiff lips.

She looks up. Jesse is leaning against the wall of the building, smoking a cigarette. As I watch, he blows smoke at a passing couple who dodge around him with a look of disdain that makes him laugh at them.

What the hell is he doing here? I don’t think he’s waiting for me; while he seems to know I’m at Jacqui’s, there’s no way he would know that I would be coming here tonight. It seems he’s just hanging around to cause trouble.

But if he sees me, he’ll definitely approach us, and I can’t deal with that right now.

“What do we do?” Jacqui mutters. He hasn’t noticed us yet, and we both slide down in our seats. “Do we go somewhere else?”

“Is there anywhere else?” I ask.

“Yeah, but it’s a few miles away,” Jacqui says reluctantly.

I grimace. This place is close to Jacqui’s apartment and we’re both starving. We were hoping to be in and out, not have to drive around all night looking for groceries.

Then, suddenly, Jesse straightens. For one, horrifying second, I think he’s seen us. He drops his cigarette to the ground and steps on it, before snarling at something to the left. His fists are clenched beside him so tightly that they look white, even from this distance.

As I watch, he raises his fist to someone. But he doesn’t approach them. Instead he spits on the ground. Then his eyes widen and he takes a step back. In the next second, he turns on his heel and flees.

Jacqui and I stare, amazed. Then we look at each other.

“What was that about?” Jacqui asks, blinking.

“I have no idea,” I say.

Movement catches my eye. There’s a man walking into the parking lot from the direction Jesse was staring in. He’s straightening a leather jacket as he heads toward a motorbike and, when he turns around, I see a familiar symbol on the back.

My breath catches. So that’s what Kyle meant.

“Allison?” Jacqui asks.

“Nothing,” I say with a smile, sitting up. “Let’s grab the groceries.”

It seems that there’s a reason Jesse hasn’t approached me. The other people who are stalking me, the ones who disappear into the shadows… They aren’t following me. They’re protecting me and keeping Jesse away.

And I know exactly who set that up.

I shake my head in fond exasperation.

Kyle… You really don’t know when to give up, do you? I’m glad.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Kyle

Jacqui’s apartment has the added benefit of being right across the road from a little coffee shop. I feel sorry for the staff; I know all the men in leather jackets coming in and out are making them nervous, but it’s the best place to sit and relax while keeping watch.

I sip at my coffee and eye the door. From the reports I’ve gotten from the men I’ve roped into watch detail with me, Jesse hasn’t come near the apartment in days. Someone apparently even scared him away from the shops last night when Jacqui and Allison arrived there to do some shopping.

I wonder if he’s figured out. He must be blind if he hasn’t noticed all the different men, each of them wearing the same symbol on their jackets, who keep chasing him away. I hope he’s running scared, I think grimly.

So far, though, that’s all we’ve been able to do. Alex hasn’t gotten back to me yet, and I’ve just been left to keep a constant watch over Allison and Jacqui. I wonder if they’ve noticed too. I hope we haven’t scared them.

I sigh and lean back in my chair. Other than the messages we exchanged yesterday afternoon, Allison and I haven’t spoken since Thursday, when we broke up. Does it even count as breaking up? We only decided we could be together the night before, and then we went on one date. We had sex more than we dated.

I snort, making the barista at the counter give me an odd look. I wonder what Allison would say if I say that to her.

I’ve spent hours going over every bit of the conversation we had on Thursday, as well as looking for any sign that she was thinking about our lack of compatibility on Wednesday. But I just can’t figure it out.

It took a while for conversation to start between us but, when it did, it flowed easily until we were teasing each other and laughing like old friends. Then, when we got back to Allison’s apartment, we were all over each other, kissing and touching, desperate for more. There had been no sign, at all, of Allison’s change in feelings that night.

Then there’s the reasons she gave me. It all sounded good. It’s even believable enough that I’m still not sure if it’s the truth or not.

Because why would she break up with me just because Jesse broke into her apartment? That’s the one thing that doesn’t make sense. Did she break up with me to hide it? But that was stupid, there was no point in doing that. There has to be another reason for it.

And if there isn’t…

I swallow the lump in my throat. It means that, in the end, she was telling me the truth and she just didn’t see a relationship between us lasting very long.

I take a sip of my coffee and glance at Jacqui’s apartment building. No sign of movement. There’s a few people going past, but none of them look suspicious. I sigh.

Maybe this is all just in my head. Allison is with Jacqui now, and they’re living in an apartment that has much better security than Allison’s apartment. On top of that, I’ve noticed that Jacqui won’t go anywhere without dragging Allison along. Just last night they went for a five-minute run for ice cream; something Jacqui could have done alone, yet they both went.

Allison doesn’t need me. She told me she didn’t, and I didn’t listen. Now we’ve broken up, and she has Jacqui to watch her with an eagle eye. In this equation, I’ve become redundant.

Despite this, however, I can’t make myself leave this fucking coffee shop.

Suddenly, the door opens. Jacqui leaves the building but, for once, she isn’t with Allison. I can’t help but smile. It seems like Allison finally managed to convince Jacqui to leave her alone for a little while. Maybe she really has noticed us hanging around, protecting her, so she feels okay about being alone for a little while.

Or maybe she just had enough of Jacqui hanging over her shoulder all the time and wanted some time to herself.

I grin. It could be either. Allison is stupidly independent, and it’s more of a surprise that she’s lasted this long.

I watch Jacqui race to her car. Her phone is pressed to her ear, and I can see the worry on her face from here. I wonder if she’s talking to Allison, reminding her to be careful. I can almost hear Allison’s sarcastic reply.

“I’ll be fine; I don’t need you to hover!”

I sigh and haul myself out of my seat, stretching my arms over my head and snatching my jacket off the back of the chair. I head to the counter and the tiny barista looks up at me with a nervous smile. I attempt to give her a friendly smile back.

“I’ll pay for the coffee,” I say.

“Yes!” the girl says.

She takes the bill and I wave away the change.

“Keep it,” I say, turning around. “It was really good coffee.”

“Thank you!”

I shake my head as I leave. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so tall. No matter who I come across, they’re intimidated by my size, as though they think that just because I look like I can lift someone up with little effort that I will.

Allison wasn’t intimidated by my height, I remember. She’s fairly tall herself, so my height is nothing for her to worry about. In fact, it’s probably great; she can actually wear heels and I’ll still be taller than her, as she told me gleefully at our date.

I look up at the apartment. There’s no one watching it and I don’t know what window Allison would be in. Maybe it’s time to call it a day for now; I doubt Jesse will be stupid enough to try anything after all the times we’ve scared him away. He, too, must have noticed the way Jacqui won’t leave Allison alone. Between my group and Jacqui, Allison is well protected, whether she wants to be or not.

As for me, I think I’ll take a walk to stretch my legs. Sitting in one spot gives me cramps, and it allows thoughts to creep into my mind that I don’t want there.

Thoughts about Allison and why she didn’t want me, in particular.

I shake my head, irritated at myself. My main concern, right now, isn’t about my relationship with Allison. It’s about making sure Jesse stays away from Allison for good. Maybe if we scare him away enough, he’ll stay gone.

That’s probably too much to hope for, though. The photos were a clear indication that Jesse is absolutely obsessed, and that he isn’t going to stop any time soon.

That means I need to stop him.

Somehow.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and glance down at it. Several times, I’ve considered phone Alex and asking him for an update but each time, I stop myself, knowing that I need to be patient. I don’t know what sort of information Alex is looking for, exactly, but it must take time to find the kind of people he needs to talk to. On top of that, he’ll be doing it along with his other jobs, which includes riding the council people into donating George Barker’s house to the Roughshod Rollers, something they appear to be dragging their feet over.

I sigh. Sometimes, everything just feels far too difficult. I grimace as I stuff my phone back in my pocket and keep walking.

Then, suddenly, a message comes through. I blink and fish it out of my pocket again, frowning as I notice that it’s from Jacqui.

“Are you guys watching my apartment???”

I wince. I wondered if Jacqui would say anything about it when she and Allison figured out what was happening. I type a one word reply.

“Yeah.”

She replies so fast that she must have had the message app open, waiting for my message to go through.

“Good! Allison is a stubborn bitch!”

I snort, grinning despite myself, and reply.

“She can be.”

“No, she is! Fuck, she pushed me out the door while she isn’t feeling well! Are you there now??”

I look around. I’ve traveled a bit of a distance now, but I still feel restless.

“Not right now. Went for a walk.”

Admittedly, it probably wasn’t the best time to decide to do that. I wonder if any of the other guys are around tonight. I can’t remember if I paid any of them for today.

“Yeah I guess you need to stretch your legs. Seriously thanks for looking out for her. Even though you guys broke up.”

I flinch. Thanks for the reminder. I flick a message back.

“Its for the best.”

Jacqui’s message comes back almost in the same second.

“Is that her talking or you??”

I hesitate. Jacqui is Allison’s best friend. It isn’t right for us to be talking about Allison, especially since I’ve broken up with her. Still, maybe I should warn her…

“Something isn’t right. Watch her.”

This time, there’s no reply. I know my message has been received, though, and I sigh, feeling an odd sense of relief. At least Jacqui now knows about my suspicions. Maybe then we’ll be able to do the impossible and protect Allison from herself.

I swear, that woman is going to get herself into trouble. Jacqui must have been keeping a really good fucking eye on her all this time. Or maybe she just got lucky because Jesse was the one that got himself in trouble most of the time, and she had to clean up after his messes, instead.

Unfortunately, now Jesse is the mess, and there’s no way for her to weasel her way out of this one. I just wish she would reach out and actually ask for the help she obviously needs.

I glance at the messages Jacqui sent me again. There’s nothing in there to confirm any of my suspicions. Either Jacqui is being careful about what she says out of loyalty to Allison, or she genuinely doesn’t know anything.

Which can mean one of two things. Allison was telling me the truth about why we broke up, or she’s lying to Jacqui.

Unfortunately, I know which scenario is more likely.

I clench my hand around my phone. There’s an odd pain in my chest. Knowing that Jacqui doesn’t share my - admittedly paranoid - suspicions is like confirmation of something I didn’t want to know. Allison really didn’t want me, in the end.

That hurts.

Focus! I tell myself. Now isn’t the time for that!

I would have to think it through later. For now, I have other things to worry about. I turn back on my heel and start wandering back in the direction of Jacqui’s apartment.

Then my phone rings.

I almost drop it, since it’s still in my hand. This time, however, it’s exactly the phone call I’ve been waiting for, and I pick it up quickly.

“Alex!” I exclaim.

“Hello to you, too,” Alex says dryly.

“Sorry,” I say, drawing in a deep breath of air. “I’ve just been waiting, but I knew it would take a while, and I didn’t want to bother you…”

“Breathe, Kyle,” Alex says, bemused. “I should be the one apologizing. I should have kept you updated, but I wanted to give you something concrete. Then something else came up…but it’s all taken care of now. It’s taken me a few days, but I think I have something for you.”

“Yeah?” I ask breathlessly.

After four days…I have something! It looks like going to Alex was exactly the right thing to do.

“Let’s see,” Alex says, and I hear the rustling of papers. “Jesse Willis. He’s thirty-two years old, born in June. His mother passed away when he was younger, his father passed away three years later from alcohol poisoning, and his two brothers are both in jail.”

I grimace. “Fun family.”

“You don’t even know why they’re in jail. I didn’t get much, but the younger brother murdered his girlfriend of six years.” He coughed. “Anyway, back to Jesse.”

I feel dread curling in my stomach. Murder? That’s a bigger charge than I was expecting. But Jesse is the only one out of jail, so…

“Jesse was sixteen when the brother’s girlfriend was murdered, and he was there at the time,” Alex says. “There was a charge of accessory to murder, but it was dropped and he was allowed to return to school due to lack of evidence.”

“At sixteen?” I ask. At sixteen I was committing petty crimes, and Jesse was on trial as an accessory to his brother’s girlfriend’s murder.

“Yeah,” Alex says. His voice turns grim. “It gets better. It turns out that Jesse is wanted in a few different states.”

This is both better and so much worse than I expected.

“As in he’s on the run?” I exclaim.

“Yeah. Mostly for robbery crimes; he robbed a jewelry store in Miami, and then fled the state, so they’re looking for him there. Didn’t you say he got arrested here last year? How did the police miss this?” He scoffs. “But that’s not even the biggest thing they missed.”

“What’s the biggest thing?” I ask, not sure I want to know.

“Turns out Jesse is wanted for the murder of three men back in Washington. There’s a report about a bar brawl that went wrong.”

“It could be manslaughter then?” I suggest.

“No, it was murder,” Alex says, voice grim. “He brought a knife with him, stabbed the three of them several times and fled the scene. The police missed him, and it looks like he escaped the state again.”

I give him a shaky laugh, running a hand down my face. “Sounds like he’s an escape artist. Considering how much trouble he’s been causing, why hasn’t he been picked up yet?”

“Only thing I can think of is that the system didn’t pick him up for some reason,” Alex says. “Maybe your girl bailed him out too quickly, and no one took a closer look at his prints. It was the only time he’s landed himself in jail in the last three years, though I don’t know how he’s managed that.”

“Fuck,” I say. “This is… Shit, I don’t think Allison has any idea about this. She’s convinced that he’s just an asshole and a violent idiot.”

“Well, he’s more than that,” Alex says, voice dark. “He’s a murderer, and he’s wanted. You keep an eye on his ex; if he’s gunning for her, he’s already got a history.”

I open my mouth, and then close it.

Jesse, a murderer, is after Allison.

And I’ve just left her alone at Jacqui’s apartment.

“Fuck!” I shout. “I have to go, Alex! Allison is alone! Can you…?”

“I’ll pass the information to the police,” Alex says quickly. “Go!”

I hang up and break into a run. I should have just stayed at the apartment. I shouldn’t have let my thoughts get the better of me. I fumble with my messages and send one to Jacqui, not watching where I’m going.

“Call police. Heading back to apartment. Get back asap.”

There’s a pause and then my phone vibrates with a message.

“No. 8.”

It takes me a moment to get it. Then I realize. Jacqui has just texted me the number of her apartment, knowing that I’ll be the first one to get there. I smile grimly.

Then I stuff my phone in my pocket and run faster than I ever have in my life.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Allison

“Jacqui, I’ll be fine,” I say, exasperated. “You’ll only be a few minutes, right?”

“But…”

I sneeze and Jacqui draws back, making a face at me. I’m not extremely sick, but I feel miserable enough with the beginning of a cold that I’m not willing to leave my cocoon of blankets on Jacqui’s couch, even if it means satisfying my friend’s protective instincts. I sniffle for good measure, playing up my cold a little more than I needed to.

“Weren’t you going to get me flu medicine?” I remind her.

She scowls, looking frustrated.

“I was,” she says mutinously. “I know you don’t feel well, but can’t you just…?”

“No,” I say, deadpan. “Do you want me to get sicker?”

Jacqui wavers. For a moment, I think she might just decide to stay anyway, flu medicine be damned. But then her eyes dart to my flushed cheeks, and I know she knows that she has to go. I’ve started running a slight fever, and I’ll only get worse without the medicine.

“Look, I’m still mobile,” I assure her. “I’m not so sick that I can’t get up. I’ll be okay while you go to the shops. All I’ll do is sit here and sneeze and sniffle, anyway.”

Jacqui looks at me, conflicted, and then sighs, her shoulders slumping.

“Fine, but only because I don’t want to drag you out while you’re looking that pale,” she grumbles. “You better not give that cold to me!”

“Then this is the perfect opportunity to keep away from me,” I say with a grin.

Jacqui throws her hands up in the air. “You better stay right there. And call me if anything comes up.”

“I will,” I promise her.

She glares at me, unfairly suspicious.

“Can I have some orange juice as well?” I ask hopefully.

“I’ll think about it,” she grumbles, picking up her wallet and keys. She opens her door and turns to point imperiously at me. “Stay!”

“I’m not a dog!” I shout after her as the door closes.

Honestly, she’s worse than Kyle! I wait several moments, just in case Jacqui returns for some reason, and then haul myself off the couch, making my way over to the window. I look out just in time to see Jacqui’s white car join the traffic, finally leaving me alone.

I blink. This is a weird feeling. I haven’t been alone for over a week and a half. If it wasn’t Kyle trying to inconspicuously watch over me, it’s been Jacqui nagging me to stay with her, or one of Kyle’s clubmates keeping watch in the corner of my vision. For the first time, I feel like I can breathe without everyone hovering over me.

Then I catch sight of a familiar jacket in the café across the road. In fact, I would know that tall form, hunched hilariously at a tiny table, anywhere. Maybe I’m not completely alone, then.

My lips twitch into a smile. I haven’t seen Kyle since we broke up, but it somehow doesn’t surprise me to know that he’s also on protective detail. And he calls me stubborn.

I lean against the window. Part of me wants him to look up and see me, to meet his eyes once more. I’ve missed him more than I want to admit to. I keep looking over the messages he sent me yesterday, wondering if I replied in the right way. Even now, every part of me wants to go down to that café and tell him how much I want him.

Then I remember the card. I close my eyes and lean my forehead against the window, the glass cool against my skin. Jesse is still out there, after all. He’s only been staying away because Kyle’s friends are chasing him off, but he would probably become determined enough to break through that if he noticed me hanging around the biker again.

I’m not going to take that risk until Jesse is out of our lives.

I haven’t heard much from the police. I had a call from Bryant yesterday morning, but all he could tell me was that they were still investigating, sounding tired and fed up with it all. Meanwhile, I’m having an ongoing argument with my landlord, who is pissed off about being forced to shell out the money for security cameras, and, as such, is dragging his feet about fixing my door.

Well, more fool him. Jacqui and I have applied for a few different apartments, even if they’re slightly more expensive than what I’m paying now, and I’ve already had an offer to come and look at one of them. I’ll be moving before long, and then he’ll have to fix the door if he wants to rent the room to another tenant.

I open my eyes with a yawn and then I see movement. It’s Kyle. He’s standing, dragging his jacket off the back of the chair, and heading to the counter. I squint, ducking my head down a little, but I can’t see him anymore. Then he strides out the door and I duck to the side as his eyes scan the apartment. Is he looking for me? Making sure there aren’t any threats?

I watch him shake his head. And then he stuffs his hands into his pocket and walks away.

I watch him go. His shoulders are slumped, and my heart clenches at how dejected he looks. Did I do this to him? I keep my eyes on him until he disappears around the corner and I sigh.

I’m not sure where he’s going and, selfishly, I feel a little lonely now that I know he’s gone. I also feel exasperated; he really is a fool. He has no idea why I really broke up with him; as far as he knows, I didn’t want a relationship with him. Yet he still comes here day after day, watching out for me while keeping his distance.

I really don’t know what I did to deserve this type of devotion.

With nothing left to keep my attention outside, I push away from the window. Coughing absently (I pretended that I was feeling worse that I am to push Jacqui out the door, but it would be karmic retribution if I did end up really sick), I head to the kitchen and open the fridge, scanning the contents. Since we went shopping last night, there’s plenty to eat and drink, but my stomach still feels oddly tight. Eventually, I close the door and retrieve a glass instead, filling it with water.

The worst thing about all this is the guilt, which piles right on top of the odd loneliness I’ve felt since I last saw Kyle. I hadn’t noticed it at the time, but the way that Kyle treated me was like I was the most precious thing in the world, someone to be taken care of and protected. I had baulked at this, because I don’t need protection; I was taking care of myself long before I ever met Kyle.

But…it was nice. I sip at my water and consider this. Jesse never treated me like that. On the occasions where he was nice to me, I would be lucky if I got a box of chocolates lugged in my direction. Kyle, though, touched me reverently, and looked at me like I hung the moon.

Maybe, one day, I’ll be able to apologize to him for everything I put him through.

I hear the lock click open and I yawn, drawing my blanket tighter around my shoulders. I put my glass down on the sink, turning to the door as it swings open silently.

“That was quick,” I commented, moving toward the door. “Did you get…?”

I trail off. I assumed that it was Jacqui entering the apartment after breaking a few speeding laws to get back her quickly. But it’s not. Instead, Jesse steps inside.

My brain stutters to a halt. Of everything that I could have expected today, it was not Jesse entering my friend’s apartment while I’m here. How did he even get in? My eyes dart down to his hand, which is clenching a set of lock-picking tools.

How long has Jesse been able to pick locks? I raise my eyes slowly to meet his, incredulous. Did I even know this man, despite dating him for two years?

“Thought you were clever?” Jesse asks, and there’s a smirk I’ve never seen before curving at his lips. “Thought you’d chased me away?”

I should feign innocence; I’m not supposed to know about the men guarding me, considering the lengths they go to, to stay out of my sight. But I’m too stunned to do anything other than stare. Jesse steps fully into the apartment and slams the door closed.

The sound is what finally snaps me from my stupor.

“Jesse!” I exclaim. Shit, where’s my phone? “What are you doing here?”

Jesse snorts. “Not that it was hard to find you. There’s only one place you’d run to when you couldn’t stay at your place.”

I take a step back. My phone isn’t in my pocket. Where is it? Finally, with a sinking heart, I see it on the coffee table in front of the lounge; I left it there when I got up. There’s no way for me to get it without Jesse noticing.

Jacqui is gone because I pushed her out the door.

I just watched Kyle wander off. I haven’t seen any of his friends around today, either.

I’m completely alone.

I clear my throat. “How did you know Jacqui was gone?”

“Watched her leave,” Jesse sneers. “Then I saw that mountain run off, too. I figured now’s my best chance to talk.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. Somehow, I feel like Jesse doesn’t just want to talk.

“You’ve been coming to my apartment,” I say, lifting my chin.

I’ve never backed down from Jesse. I’m not about to start now.

“Yeah, figured I better keep an eye on you,” Jesse says, taking a step toward me. “I haven’t seen your mountain around lately. Run him off, did you?”

I scowl. He should know, considering the note he left me. His expression is darkly pleased, and it makes me feel angry to know that I did what he wanted. Suddenly, I wish that I’d told Kyle everything, if only I could rub it in Jesse’s face that he has no control over me.

“You said you’d leave me alone,” I snapped.

“Did I?” Jesse laughs. “I don’t remember that.”

And with a sinking heart, I know he’s telling the truth. He didn’t promise to leave me alone. He just told me what could happen if I didn’t leave Kyle.

“Get out,” I say, straightening my shoulders. “This isn’t your apartment, and I don’t want you here. We broke up, Jesse. There’s no reason for you to be here.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Jesse says.

There’s an ugly expression on his face. I take another step back, and my heel hits the wall. Jesse grins.

Then, suddenly, he’s there, dashing toward me, his arms outstretched. It reminds me of that night, when he accosted me on the street. But, this time, there’s no Kyle. I duck, but he grabs the blanket and pulls, and I’m too startled to let go before his hands are on my shoulders, shoving me back against the wall.

“You shouldn’t have left,” Jesse snarls.

His hands wrap around my neck and his fingers clench on my skin. I scratch at his hands, shocked and horrified by what’s happening. Doesn’t he realize what he’s doing? Does he realize that he could kill me?

I look into his eyes. Part of me is hoping to find some sign that he’s just making a stupid, baseless threat again. But his eyes are wild, and there’s a horrible smile on his face as his fingers slowly tighten, making me gag as I frantically try to break his grip.

He’s going to kill me, I realize dimly.

From somewhere far away, I hear an almighty bang. Then Jesse is gone, his hands slipping off my neck, and I slide down the wall, heaving in huge gulps of breath, black spots in my vision. I’m trembling, unable to believe what’s happening.

I hear a yelp and another bang, and I look up just in time to see Jesse falling over the coffee table. As soon as he lands, he scrambles up, but Kyle – when did Kyle get here? – advances on him, a look of fury on his face. He’s huge and terrifying, and he grabs Jesse’s shirt before drawing back his fist once more.

“Wait…!” Jesse says.

Kyle scoffs and then lands the punch. Jesse’s eyes roll backward and he slumps, making Kyle drop him to the floor in disgust. He straightens and looks around, his eyes landing on me.

“K-Kyle?” I ask.

I don’t know what’s happening anymore. I don’t know why Jesse wanted to kill me. I don’t know where Kyle came from. And now it’s suddenly over, and I’m left reeling, struggling to figure it all out.

“Allison,” Kyle breathes. He strides across the room and drops to kneel beside me. He reaches out a hand and then pauses, as though he’s not sure if he’s allowed to touch me. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”

An incredulous laugh bursts from me. Kyle just saved my life, and he’s apologizing?

“I… I saw you walk off,” I say to him. This is the thing that is confusing me the most. “How did you know…?”

“I got some information that I didn’t like and hurried back,” Kyle says grimly. “I was coming to warn you about Jesse. But he was already here. I’ve called the police. They’ll be here any moment. Jacqui, too. She told me what apartment number you were in.”

“Jesse?” I ask, looking toward my ex-boyfriend; he’s still out cold.

“We’ve been doing our research,” Kyle says, and a grin spreads across his face. “Turns out he’s wanted in a few states for various crimes. Between this and those crimes, he’s not going to be able to escape.”

I’m stunned. While I was rattling around Jacqui’s apartment, feeling sorry for myself and trying to figure out how to fight Jesse, Kyle was out there collecting all the weapons we needed.

I can’t help it; I laugh.

“Allison?” Kyle asks.

I just shake my head. I don’t know what to say about this. I should thank Kyle. I should apologize to him. I should explain why tears are dripping down my cheeks as my laughter turns to croaking sobs that force themselves from my bruised throat.

But I don’t need to. Instead, Kyle’s arms wind around me and we sit there as I clutch at his warm jacket, listening to the sounds of the sirens coming ever closer.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Allison

The next few hours passed by in a whirl of motion.

I remember Jacqui, strong, cheerful Jacqui, bursting into tears as soon as she saw me, throwing herself into my arms and sobbing that she was sorry for leaving me alone, dropping a bag full of orange juice and flu medicine on the floor. I think I told her it was my fault, but I’m not sure if the words actually came out.

Then there was the police. Bryant was there and his expression was dark as his officers hauled the dazed Jesse to his feet, cuffing his hands behind his back. He read a list of crimes, and none of them made any sense. Robbery? Assault? Murder? When did any of this happen?

Bryant scolded Kyle, too, for being too rough, but he didn’t sound completely serious, and Kyle’s solemn apology lacked any sincerity. I heard Jesse yelling as he was escorted away, but I didn’t hear anything he said.

Then Jacqui and Kyle were discussing something about living arrangements. My apartment isn’t safe. Jacqui is nervous about staying in hers after what just happened, especially with police tramping around it. Somehow, while I just stood there and let it happen, they came to an agreement; Jacqui was going to spend the night at her mother’s. I was going to stay at Kyle’s apartment.

Which is how I find myself being shuffled through the door into a tiny, surprisingly clean apartment. There’s a few pictures on the wall of scenery and bikes, and there’s a guitar in the corner, bright and gleaming. The kitchen is clean and there’s only a sock on the floor under the table, which Kyle coughs and picks up, as though he’s embarrassed by it.

Which I don’t get. He’s seen my apartment.

“It’s clean,” I say blankly, the first thing that leaves my mouth.

“Were you expecting mess?” Kyle asks dryly.

“Sort of,” I admit. “You don’t seem the type to be overly concerned by a clean home. Then again, I probably do, and I can never seem to get around to it.”

“Which turned out to be a good thing,” Kyle points out. “Since you’ll be moving soon.” He pauses. “If you want, I can come over and help you clean when you move. Fuck knows you need it.”

I know he’s teasing me. But I can’t bring myself to smile as I sit on his couch. I think I’m still a little shocked by how fast everything is moving around me. I want answers. I want to give Kyle answers. But I don’t know where to start.

“Jesse is going to jail,” Kyle offers, breaking the awkward silence as he bustles around the kitchen, making coffee.

“For murder?” I ask.

I still don’t understand that.

“He was wanted,” Kyle explains. “In Washington. He killed three people.”

I look at him, stunned. “How did you even figure that out?”

“I have a detective friend,” Kyle says with a shrug, carrying over two mugs. “I hired him to look into it for me. He came up with a shitload of information, and we gave it all to the police.”

“Right.” I don’t know whether to thank him or be angry with myself. “Is that why you got people to watch me?”

“Ah… No,” Kyle says awkwardly. “I figured out that he broke into your apartment on Wednesday night. The signs were all there. So, I figured, in case he came back…”

So, Kyle had figured that out too. Was there any point to anything I did?

“Look, I’m sorry,” Kyle says after a moment, and I blink. What does he have to be sorry for? “Is there somewhere else you want to go? I know you’re probably not comfortable here, but Jacqui was really pushy, and…”

“Kyle… Shut up,” I say.

Kyle’s mouth snaps closed.

“Sorry,” I say. “It’s just… You have nothing to apologize for. At all. You’ve been watching over me, protecting me. You found the evidence to get rid of Jesse. You saved my life.”

Kyle looks down. “If I hadn’t left, it wouldn’t have needed saving.”

I rolled my eyes. “Please. I’m not surprised you needed a break. I’m sure it was hard watching over the woman who broke up with you.”

The air in the room turns cold in an instant. We both look away, neither of us knowing what to say to that. I hadn’t meant to bring up our break-up. Then again, it needed to come up eventually.

“Kyle… I’m sorry,” I say.

Kyle gives me a forced smile. “Are you breaking up with me again? Because it was bad enough the first time.”

“No!” I exclaim. “No, I’m not. And I shouldn’t have broken up with you the first time. It was stupid and it didn’t amount to anything, anyway.”

Kyle frowns, confused. I fish my wallet out of my pocket and find the card. Slowly, I hold it out to him.

“You probably figured out that Jesse left those flowers, too,” I say, tired. “This card was with them.”

Kyle takes it, his eyes moving slowly over the words. His face is expressionless.

“I’m sorry,” I say again. I give him a small smile. “If it’s any consolation…I really missed you. I…really did want to try, even if we don’t have much in common. I mean, I like sushi and comedy movies, and you prefer hamburgers and actions, and I listen to love songs, and write poetry, and my favorite color is blue…”

“Same,” Kyle suddenly says.

“What?” I ask, derailed.

“Blue,” Kyle says. He looks up, his eyes intense. “My favorite color is blue, too. Does that count as something in common?”

My mouth goes dry. I still can’t read the emotions on his face, but my heart is starting to beat faster.

“It probably does,” I manage to say.

Kyle looks at the card. Then, slowly, he rips it up and allows the pieces to fall to the floor. He reaches out and carefully cradles my face in his large hands.

“Good,” he whispers.

His lips meet mine and he licks my lip, requesting entrance. Heat flashes through my body as I wind my arms around his neck and push back into the kiss, slowly opening my mouth and touching my tongue to his.

When breathing becomes an issue, Kyle pulls back, trying to catch his breath. He trails his hand down my neck, lightly touching the purpling bruises. Then he dips his head and presses a soft kiss to the marks, making my breath catch and my eyes burn.

“Good,” he repeats, raising his head again. “Fuck, Allison, I can’t tell you how much I missed you. I wanted you so badly.”

“What did you want?” I ask, shifting closer to him.

Kyle’s hand runs down to the small of my back and presses me closer. His other hand is still on my cheek.

“You,” he says roughly. “Your laugh. Your stubbornness. Everything. I just wanted you.”

I don’t know what to say to that. It opens something so much larger than I want to admit to right now. So I just cling to Kyle, needing to feel the touch of his hands, wanting his skin against mine, pressing myself as close to him as I can while we’re both still sitting on the couch.

I still don’t know what I did to deserve this. But I’m selfish enough to want to grab onto it and never let go anyway.

I slide my hands up to the zipper on his jacket and tug it down, revealing the white shirt that’s underneath. I breathe in his musky scent and push the jacket over his shoulders, which he rolls to help me, his eyes never leaving me, watching my every movement. I look up at him; his eyes are burning straight through me, and it sends a thrill down my spine.

“I want you,” I say, my voice rough with need. “Now.”

We stare at each other for a second that lasts forever. And then Kyle’s arms wrap around me, tugging me forward and into his lap, his mouth finding mine with feverish desperation, biting and licking, exploring every inch of my mouth. I lift myself up, my hands on his cheeks, my nails digging into his skin as his hands dart under my shirt and press against my bare skin, his fingers spreading out around my hips. His handprints are like fire burning themselves against me, and he’s pulling me impossibly close.

I swing my leg over him and straddle his hips as I push him back, kissing him hungrily, not caring if we stop to take a breath. I want all of him. I feel like I’ve been suffocating, and, now that Kyle’s in front of me, I can finally breathe.

Questions burn in my mind. What did Kyle know? What did he suspect? Why is he accepting me back so easily? But they’re washed away on the tide of passion that is flowing between the two of us, a flickering flame bursting into a raging inferno as I tug at his shirt and pull it up over his firm abs, feeling his muscles contracting beneath my touch. We break the kiss and his back arches as I pull the shirt up and over his head before throwing it to the side.

“Tell me what you need,” Kyle pants.

“I need to touch you,” I reply.

If I can touch him, it means he’s really here, underneath me, and the nightmare is finally over. It means that all my wishes have come true. Jesse is somewhere that he can’t trouble me anymore, and Kyle is mine.

“I need to feel you,” I murmur into his ear.

I reach down and fumble with his belt, scooting back slightly so I can reach it. He’s rock hard in his jeans, and I palm his erection with one hand while I pull on the buckle with the other. He gives me a guttural groan, his hips jerking up at the pressure, his body writhing beneath me. I pull the buckle loose, finally, and thread the belt through before tugging it completely free. Then I pop the button and tug down the zipper.

I can see his penis straining against the soft material of his boxers. I lift myself and pull Kyle’s jeans down over his hips. He kicks his legs out to help me, and the jeans drop somewhere on the floor. He’s only in his boxers now, and his chest is heaving as he lowers his eyes to watch what I’m doing. I grin at him and then wrap my hand around his clothed erection.

He groans, low and deep, throwing his head back. I can feel the heat from his cock even through the material, but it isn’t enough. I pull back and tug his boxers down and over his legs, throwing them aside too. I look up.

“I need to taste you,” I say.

“Fuck…” Kyle moans, drawing in a deep, shuddering breath.

I push myself back even further and lean down. I blow softly over his cock which shudders at the feeling. He’s so hard already, and I’ve barely even touched him.

“Do you want me to suck you, Kyle?” I ask him.

“Yes, fuck, yes,” Kyle groans out.

I smile at his reaction, wriggling a little on his legs. It feels heady to know that I can make him feel so deeply, to watch him come undone at my touch. I want to watch him fall to pieces underneath me, and to know that I was the one to do it, that he wanted me to do it.

I lean down, my eyes never leaving his, and lick the tip of his penis. His entire body shudders and he groans again, this time without words. I taste the leak on the top, swirling my tongue around it and licking my lips as he watches. His eyes flutter closed and he tosses his head back, too overwhelmed to say anything.

I press a soft kiss to the tip and the lick down the length of it, reaching up to hold his hips in place as they buck up violently, seeking more. I lick my way back up it again, lapping at it and tasting the salty sweat of his skin, and, when I reach the tip, I open my mouth and wrap my lips around it, giving it an experimental suck.

“Fuck!” Kyle gasps.

I suck harder, bobbing my head down on his cock. His legs twitch underneath me, I shift to settle my weight more fully on them, keeping him from moving as much. I feel his hands run through my hair and tangle in the strands. He pulls lightly on my hair, and shivers run down my spine as I move down on his erection, taking as much of it into my mouth as I can.

“Shit, fuck, Allison,” Kyle groans.

I hum around his penis, sending vibrations through it, and Kyle’s entire body jerks. Fascinated by this reaction, I do it again, and Kyle’s hand tightens on my hair.

“You’re killing me,” he groans. “Fuck, Allison, it’s too much…”

I want to pull everything out of him. I breathe through my nose and relax my jaw, sucking insistently on his cock now, trying to draw an orgasm out of him. His hands clench and he tugs harshly on my long hair, both trying to stop me and keep me in place so he can feel more of me. Every brush of my clothes on my skin sends sparks through me, and my fingers dig into the skin of his hips, my nails scratching him. I’m gripping hard enough that I must be leaving bruises, but I don’t care. He doesn’t seem to, either, or perhaps we’re both just too far gone to think about it right now.

“Allison…” Kyle moans. “Stop… I’m going to…”

I chuckle around his erection and suck again. I know that he’s about to orgasm, and I’m driving him there as quickly as I can, wanting to see him fall apart beneath me. I release his hips and run my nails up his side, scratching lightly as his sweaty skin as I hollow my cheeks and suck one last time, my tongue licking the tip.

I feel him shudder, and then his cock twitches right before he comes. I taste his salty release, and I pull every last drop from him before I pull back, his flaccid penis finally relaxing. Kyle is panting, his eyes half-lidded as he watches me, his chest heaving.

“Shit,” he pants.

I smile and slide over the top of him, running my hands over his muscled chest, and cup his face in my hands. Then I kiss him, giving him a taste of himself as I pull his tongue into my mouth, encouraging him to nip and lick. His whole body is still twitching with his release, and I smile against his mouth as his arms come up around me, pressing me into him.

“You’re perfect, Allison,” he says, his voice rough.

His questing fingers find the hem of my shirt, and he tugs it up a little so he can run his fingertips over the skin of my waist. I shiver at the light touch, my mouth going dry. Then Kyle looks at me and his eyes are burning, a small smirk coming to his lips.

“But we’re not finished yet,” he promises.

Chapter Thirty

Kyle

I can feel the coarse material of Allison’s jeans on my legs, and the brush of the cotton of her shirt against my chest. It’s strangely arousing to know that she’s still fully clothed while I’m not wearing anything. I play with the hem of her shirt, and her breath catches as my fingers ghost over her skin.

I wrap my hands around her hips. My fingers are long enough that they stretch toward her stomach, sliding over the smooth skin there. Allison’s back arches and her head falls sideways as I carefully touch her.

“I need you to touch me more,” she says, her hair falling in waves off her shoulders.

“Then you need to get these fucking clothes off,” I reply.

I catch the hem of her shirt again and tug it upwards. She raises her hands above her head as I sit up, making her fall back into my lap, and I slide the material over her arms and head, throwing it carelessly to the side once it’s off. Then I reach around her, putting both arms around her shoulders to press her to my chest, and fiddle with the clasp of her bra, getting it caught before I manage to pull it free.

She pushes back and allows her bra to fall from her shoulders. It drops to the floor and Allison raises herself up onto her knees, her hands on my shoulders. She leans in to kiss me deeply, and I pull her in, our bare chests meeting. My hands are running down her back and tracing each dip of her spine, which arches and flexes under my touch.

“Touch me more,” she demands, groaning.

“Tell me where you want me to touch you,” I demand, running my hands down the dip of her hips and over her clothed backside. “Tell me what you want me to do to you.”

“I want you to pull me over the edge,” she gasps as I lean in and gently bite on the soft skin of her breast. “I want you to make me forget everything but you, and then I want you to fuck me hard.”

A wave of fire bursts through me at her words. All I’ve wanted is for Allison to look at me, to only see me. And now, with Jesse out of the picture and nothing else to come between us, I hope that she’s finally looking my way with clear eyes, prepared to cast everything out of her mind other than me. My penis twitches in growing interest, and I run my hands down her front until I find the button on her jeans. I pop it own and drag the zipper down, feeling the soft cotton of her panties through the fly. She gasps, arching toward me, at the contact.

I wonder if this is how she felt only moments ago, knowing that my pleasure was in her hands, and that I was reacting solely because she was touching me. Now it’s my turn to watch the way her eyes roll back; groans bursting from her throat as she writhes on my lap, sending sparks of pleasure.

“Do you want more?” I ask huskily.

“Yes,” she groans, her eyes closing as she concentrates solely on the feel of my hands on her.

I push her back, toward the arm of the couch, pushing her jeans down over her hips. She raises her hips off the couch as I hover over her, and I slide the material over her legs, feeling the smooth, shaven skin beneath. I wrap my hand around one of her ankles and press a soft kiss to it, my eyes rising to meet her as she watches me with bated breath.

She’s only wearing her panties, now, and they’re already wet with need.

“Take them off,” I say, my voice rough.

She groans but hooks her fingers in the hem of her panties, dragging them down. She curls up to take them off and, as soon as she drops them to the ground, I push her back, looming over her as she lands on her back, staring up at me.

“Can you feel me now?” I ask.

“I can feel all of you,” she replies, panting.

My erection is swiftly tightening as I look at her, running my eyes over her bare hips and the curve of her breasts. She lying here, waiting for me to touch her, and I swallow past my dry throat.

Allison hooks her ankle around my legs and pulls me closer to her, slowly anchoring me to her as her body arches toward mine, seeking the feel of my skin. I press close and brush my hands up the lines of her body, my eyes never leaving hers. Her breath catches when my hands brush the skin of her throat, but I don’t linger. Instead I slowly trace the line of her jaw and press a finger to her lips. Her tongue darts out to taste my skin.

Fire is burning lazily around us. We’re not moving quickly anymore, not trying to rush through anything. I slowly rest my weight on Allison, bracing my elbows on either side her, and her legs wrap around my waist, our groins meeting as she grinds against me.

“You’re perfect,” I whisper. “I want to know every part of your body.” I slip my finger past her lips, which wrap willingly around the digit, sucking lightly. Sparks fly through my body. “Suck my fingers so I can touch you inside, and explore every inch of you so I can fuck you.”

She groans around my fingers, and opens her mouth so I can put two more in. Her tongue winds around them, coating them with saliva, and I’m so hard again that it’s almost impossible to think. Eventually, I pull my fingers away, panting, and tug her into a rough kiss.

When we part, she smiles up at me, her eyes expectant. I slide down her body, pushing her legs apart so I can sit comfortably between them. Her legs fall open, and I see her wet vagina, twitching and waiting. Heat flares in me as I remember eating her out, tasting her.

I circle one of my wet fingers around her entrance, and her hips buck with a groan.

“Do you like that?” I ask in a low voice.

“Yes,” she groans.

“Do you want more?”

“Fuck, yes!”

I slide my finger inside her up to the knuckle, and Allison throws her head back, gasping for breath. I crook my finger, slowly thrusting it in and out of her.

“More!” she demands, her hands reaching up to grip my shoulders.

“Greedy,” I tease.

I slip another finger in her and, when her hips start to jerk down frantically, I push the third in. I twist them inside her, bending them, until she lets out a low groan, her entire body shuddering, as I press her sweet spot. I watch in fascination as she comes undone beneath me, her body greedily sucking my fingers in.

“Fuck, Allison, I wish you could see how your body is pulling me into you,” I groan. “Do you need more than this?”

“I need more,” she agrees immediately, her fingers clenching on my skin.

I roughly thrust my fingers back in, again and again, picking up speed. Allison’s eyes are closed, and her hips jerk down on my hand, sobbing gasps being pulled from her throat as she writhes, needing more than what I’m giving her.

“Please,” she begs.

“Please what?” I ask, leaning down to press a kiss to her shoulder, and then biting lightly.

“Fuck me,” she cries. “God, please, just fuck me already!”

My body twitches at the demand. I’m not going to be able to hold back for much longer, either. I need her just as much as she needs me, and I need to be inside her now. With a choked gasp, I pull my fingers from her body, and she groans at the loss, her shakes trembling.

“I’m going to fuck you hard,” I promise, lining myself up as her legs fall open even further, inviting me in.

I slide into her, and it’s suddenly hard to breath. She’s so hot and tight that black spots are already dancing across my vision, and my heart is beating so frantically that it feels like it’s trying to burst from my chest. I pause, panting, trying to control myself.

Bit by bit I slide into her, pushing myself past her tight muscles, until I’m buried deep inside her. Her nails are embedded in my shoulder, and she’s panting, too, her eyes closed tightly as she gets used to the sensation.

Slowly, the overwhelming heat begins to fade away, and Allison wriggles her hips before opening her eyes, looking up at me.

“Fuck me,” she says.

My breath catches and I pull out before slamming back inside her, both our bodies jolting. I set a fast pace, her hips jerking down to meet my thrusts, moving as one as I slide in and out of her, the only sound being our harsh breaths and the slap of our skin meeting. I can feel sweat on my brow, and her nails are becoming painful now.

“More, harder,” she pants.

I reach up to pull her hands off my shoulders, wrapping my fingers around her and pressing her palms down beside her head. Her hands clench around mine, and her body is constantly moving, her chest heaving, her heart pounding, her body trying to meet mine. She’s gasping and sobbing, and I thrust deeply inside her, wanting to feel everything, wanting to feel how tight she is around me.

The heat is building, and I choke on it, trying to breath. But it blazes higher and higher, until I lose my grip and, with a shout, I release deep inside her. I feel her shudder too, crying out something, and my vision whites out for a moment.

When I come to, I’m still hovering over Allison. We’re both breathing harshly, and she slowly shifts sideways. I pull out of her and collapse down behind her, wrapping my arms around her as she turns to face me.

Slowly, Allison lays her head on my chest, trying to catch her breath. My arms are securely around her, keeping us both from falling, and I feel her eyes flutter closed from the faintest brush of her eyelashes against my skin. Our legs are tangled together, and the way our skin presses against each other feels intimate and full of promise.

I bury my face in her hair and breathe in. She uses some sort of floral shampoo, I notice dimly. It smells nice. It reminds me of every other time I’ve been close enough to take in her scent. I tighten my arms around her.

“Not going to run off on me tomorrow, are you?” I ask.

It was meant as a joke, but it comes off sounding more serious than I meant it to. Allison stiffens slightly in my arms and then raises her head.

“No,” she says after a long moment. “Unless you want to kick me out.”

I chuckle. “No, I don’t.”

Allison smiles up at me. Her bright, blue eyes are calm and happy, and her whole body is relaxed against mine. She takes in a deep breath.

“Want to watch a movie?” she asks.

“Sure,” I agree.

But neither of us move. There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to let go of her, half-frightened that she’ll disappear on me the moment I do. She doesn’t seem to want to move either; she doesn’t even twitch to allow me to get up and find something to watch.

“Your pick,” Allison reminds me with a yawn.

“You’re laying on me,” I tell her. “I can’t get up.”

“That’s a shame,” Allison says, though her tone is insincere. “Guess we can’t get up, then.”

“Guess so,” I say with a smile.

We fall silent, lying quietly together for long moments. It’s nice and comfortable, and I don’t feel the need to break the silence at all. I’m content just being here, with Allison.

“Hey, Kyle?” Allison asks after a while.

“Hmm?” I reply, sleeping and content.

“I’m sorry I messed around with you so much,” Allison says quietly.

I hesitate, thinking this through. Then I sigh and smile slightly.

“You had a lot on your mind,” I reply. “Though I wish you could have trusted me enough to ask for help.” I snort. “I get why you didn’t; we still barely know each other.”

“Yeah,” Allison sighs. She makes a face. “But I should have just asked you from the beginning. You and your friends are efficient. Is your detective friend part of the club?”

“Yeah,” I say. I laugh. “You wouldn’t believe it if you met him, though. He’s not as rough as the rest of us. I’ve never asked him why he joined. I should, one day. His “friend”, on the other hand, she’s as rough as you get. Sometimes we joke that she should be the one in the club.”

“What sort of person is she?” Allison asks curiously.

“Argumentative,” I say immediately, laughing at the memory of the last public argument Alex and Hayley Reed had in the bar. “She’s nice to everyone, except Alex.”

“And they’re friends?” Allison asks doubtfully.

“Well, we all think they’re fucking,” I say casually.

Allison snorts, a smile spreading across her face. I grin, glad to have dissipated the solemn air around her.

“I’d like to meet some of these people,” she says, smiling as she presses a soft kiss to my shoulder. “I want to thank Alex, too.”

“I’m sure he’d appreciate that,” I say. I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re beautiful, Allison.”

She flushes. “Thanks.”

“I’m serious,” I tell her. “Jesse was an idiot to let you go.”

“More like I’m the idiot,” Allison groans. “How could I have dated him for two years without having any idea about what sort of person he was?”

She rubs her neck. The bruises look painful, and I scowl at the sight of them.

“I really thought I knew him,” she adds quietly. “And then I found out he could do something like try and kill me. I really am stupid.”

“You couldn’t have known,” I say instantly. “I’m glad you didn’t figure it out when you were with him.”

Allison shudders at the thought. “I probably wouldn’t even be here.”

I grimace at the thought.

“He’s gone now,” I say. I press a kiss to the top of her head. “And you’re here, in my arms, instead. Jesse can get fucked.”

“Thanks to you, he’s going away to prison,” Allison says with a small smile. “He kept calling you a mountain; I think your height intimidated him.”

“Good,” I say, laughing.

Allison curls up against me. I smile and hold her close. She’s so beautiful. I’m lucky to have her here with me.

“I love you,” I say without thinking.

Allison’s head shoots up, her eyes wide. I wonder if I should kick myself, but then I shake my head. It’s the truth. I’ve thought about it a lot since Allison broke up with me, and I know this is the way I feel.

“I fell in love with you almost from the moment I saw you,” I tell her softly. “I knew I wanted to keep you safe, and that I wanted to be by your side. Jesse fucking around with you just gave me an excuse to do that.”

Allison stares at me. I can’t tell what expression is on her face, and my chest tightens.

“I missed you,” she says finally. “So much. I thought about you constantly, wondering what you were doing and how you were, and I complained to Jacqui when I hadn’t heard from you since the break-up, even though it was my own fault. I felt lonely when you weren’t there. This… It feels so big and terrifying, but…” Her face relaxes into a smile. “I think I’m falling in love with you, too.”

I wrap my arms tighter around her and bury my face in her hair, taking in a shuddering breath. She clutches back at me, pressing herself against my chest. It’s so perfect that I can’t even find the words.

Somehow, despite everything that happened, Allison is here, in my arms, and she’s safe. That makes everything worth it.

Epilogue

Allison

One month later…

I hear the roar of Kyle’s motorbike and I drop my pen, grinning, as I walk over to the window. I’m just in time to see Kyle pull up in front of the apartment, swinging his leg over the bike and stretching. I see Mr. Hudson from across the road leaving through the door, and I can’t help but laugh at the scandalized look the old man gives Kyle and his bike.

Then I push myself away from the window before Kyle sees me. He’ll tease me if he realizes how excited I am, so I sit back at the table, pick up my pen and concentrate on the assignment in front of me.

Barely two minutes later, my door opens, and I look up to smile calmly at Kyle.

“Hey,” I say to him, then glance at the clock. “You’re early.”

“Brooks let me off early,” Kyle says with a grin. “You ready?”

I’ve been ready for an hour. I clear my throat and look away from the knowing look in his eyes.

“Let me just finish this page,” I say, gesturing at my book. “I need to read this for Monday.”

Kyle glances at the page filled with tiny typeface and raises his eyebrows. “Have fun with that.”

I laugh. Where before, after the entire mess with Jesse and while we were still trying to figure out where we stood, we hesitated to tease each other about our work and training; it pleases me to see Kyle joking about my coursework being above his understanding. I’ve told him over and over again how much I appreciate what he does with his life, and how amazing he is.

Maybe it’s finally sinking in that, despite our vastly different personalities and lives, I want him anyway.

“I swear,” Kyle says, rolling his eyes. “Every time you tell me you’ve finished an assignment, another one comes to take its place the next day.”

“Don’t I know it,” I say dryly. “You try living through it.”

“No thanks, brainiac,” he teases. “I’ve done my time. It was hard enough going through Brook’s traineeship and doing my certification in that. Though that might be because Brooks never let me sleep.”

“How’s he doing, anyway?” I ask.

One week ago, Brooks fell down and broke his leg. I still remember the panicked phone call I got from Kyle when it happened. Even though the circumstances were bad, I couldn’t help but feel pleased that Kyle was coming to me in his time of need. It was about time I got to help him for a change.

“He’s fine,” Kyle says with a shrug. “He keeps hobbling around the garage, telling me everything I’m doing wrong. I swear, the old man comes in every day just to annoy me. He doesn’t even do anything useful.”

His face is twisted in annoyance. But I know him well enough to know that he would worry more if he didn’t see Brooks at all.

“It’s nice that he’s trusting you to handle everything on your own,” I venture.

Kyle grumbles, but a faint flush rises to his cheeks. It’s been no secret, in recent months, that Brooks has been angling for Kyle to eventually take over the business. As his only other worker, and the only one he personally trained, it doesn’t surprise me that Brooks would want this for Kyle.

“Damn old man keeps talking about fucking retirement,” Kyle says with a scowl. “I think he’s joking around; he’s going to outlive all of us from spite.”

I smile softly, deciding not to comment on that. To Kyle, Brooks has been like a father, taking up the mantel after his biological father passed away. I just pat his arm and stretch.

“What about the house?” I ask. “The one your club is using. How’s that going?”

Kyle’s face brightens. Two weeks ago, some incredible news came through; the town hall finally stopped dragging their feet and decided to sign over the house as public property. It isn’t owned by the Roughshod Rollers, but they are leasing it. On top of that, they struck a damn good deal with the authorities; they’re paying a pittance every month under the condition that the club fixes the place up themselves.

The Roughshod Rollers definitely got the better end of the deal, but, privately, I think the council knew what they were doing. I saw the house before they started any work on it. The place looked like a stiff wind could blow it over. They definitely have their work cut out for them.

“It’s pretty good,” Kyle says, pleased. “Ethan finished drawing up the plans for it; we’re thinking about just knocking some walls out and starting again.”

“I think that’s the best way to go about it,” I agree with a laugh. “It’s better for you to bring the roof down yourselves instead of have the thing come down on top of you when you aren’t expecting it.”

“That’s what Ethan said,” Kyle says with a grin. “We’ll keep the foundations and work our way up.”

“Are you hiring some builders to do some of the initial work?” I ask curiously.

Kyle shakes his head. “We have a few guys that build as a trade, so they’re doing us a good deal,” he explained. “But we have to tear it down ourselves.” He winks at me. “Want to grab a hammer next week and work off some stress?”

I beam. He knows me so well.

“Yes, please,” I say with feeling. “Will the roof be down by then?”

“It’s coming down this weekend,” Kyle says. “We’ve spent the last week moving everything in it out. Not that there was much left; a few items and some furniture. Grant offered to store it at the bar after checking to make sure it was okay with the owner. There’s a backroom that no one uses, so the stuff will be okay in there for a little while.”

“Sounds like you guys have been busy,” I say, impressed. “No wonder this is the first time I’ve seen you since Wednesday.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Kyle says sheepishly.

“It’s fine, I understand,” I assure him. “I’ve been pretty busy myself.” I smile at him. “But I’ve been looking forward to our date.”

I don’t know much. On Thursday, Kyle sent me a message to ask if I wanted to go on a date on Saturday afternoon. Intrigued, I accepted, and he told me he would pick me up at two o’clock for a late lunch. When I tried to ask him where we were going, he refused to say.

I raise an eyebrow at him.

“Actually, have you been avoiding me so I don’t bug you?” I ask suspiciously.

“No,” Kyle says, but it doesn’t sound convincing. He clears his throat. “Almost ready to go?”

I roll my eyes at his clear avoidance, and snap my book closed. “Fine. Let me get my jacket and helmet.”

It took almost a week for me to convince Kyle that I was really okay with being driven around on his motorbike, which was, admittedly, my own fault. It’s not my favorite pastime, but I certainly don’t mind pressing close to Kyle for warmth and security as the wind whips through me. In the end, I got tired of his stubbornness and marched into a specialty store to buy my own helmet and jacket, and met him outside one day.

The look on his face was priceless.

I told him I don’t want to go everywhere on the bike, though, and he compromised by buying a small car off Brooks. He got it for cheap because Brooks told him it needed fixing up, and he worked on it for several days to get it ready for us. Now it sits in my parking spot under my apartment for whenever we want to use it.

“Hey,” Kyle says, frowning down at a box. “What’s this doing here?”

“My mother brought it over on Thursday,” I explain as I stand.

Kyle rolls his eyes at me and bends down to pick the box up. I hide a grin behind my hand as he carries it to my cupboard. True to his word, he came around to help me unpack and clean my apartment when I moved here, and he tends to pick up after me when he visits. Jacqui is already joking about how he just needs to move in so he only has to keep one apartment clean.

“Sorry,” I say to him, trying not to laugh. “I can unpack it when we get back.”

“I’m sure you will,” Kyle says dryly; he doesn’t sound like he believes me.

I duck into my room and giggle. It’s honestly hilarious to see Kyle, with his messy hair, rough beard and broad build, fussing over the cleanliness of my apartment.

My helmet is sitting near my dresser, where I dropped it the other day, and my jacket is lying at the end of my bed. I retrieve them both and leave my room, unable to help the grin that spreads over my face.

“Ready?” Kyle asks.

“Ready,” I confirm, shrugging my jacket on and zipping it up. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going yet?”

“Not until we get there,” Kyle says.

He looks pleased, so I don’t bother him as we leave the apartment, firmly locking the door behind us. Mr. Hudson is still out the front, chatting with Mrs. Foster from next door, and they both frown at us as we leave. It’s like having two Mrs. Phillips living near me. I just grin at them both and put my helmet on.

We mount the bike and I scoot close to Kyle. This is definitely my favorite part of riding the bike. I can feel his muscles shifting in my tight hold, and the engine roars to life beneath us. Then we pull away from the curb and into traffic.

I close my eyes and lay my head against Kyle’s back. I don’t like to watch as we weave among the cars, so I just listen to the world moving around me. All too soon, though, we slow to a stop, and I open my eyes, wondering where we are.

It doesn’t look like anywhere special, just a small park with lots of trees and bushes. There’s a children’s playset over in the corner and there are shrieks of laughter coming from it as a few kids run around. I pass this park all the time.

“Why are we here?” I ask, confused.

“Just wait,” Kyle says, stepping off the bike and helping me down.

We lock it up and enter the park. Kyle veers into the trees, where it’s denser and more closed off from the outside world. I follow him blindly, grateful for the leather jacket that protects my arms from the scratching branches.

Finally, Kyle comes to a stop, and I lean around him, interested what all the secrecy is about. My eyes widen.

“A picnic?” I ask, blinking. “You’re taking me on a picnic?”

“Yeah,” Kyle says with a small smile.

It isn’t fancy, just a large plaid blanket on the ground with a wicker basket sitting beside it. But it’s the thought that counts and I smile as I lean against Kyle.

“Wow,” I say. “I didn’t expect this. What’s it for?”

“I just thought it would be nice,” Kyle says with a shrug.

I laugh and punch him lightly on the shoulder. “Better not let your friends see it. What would they think about big, rough Kyle sitting down for a picnic with his girlfriend?”

Kyle glances at me, his eyes serious. “If they say anything, I’d tell them to fuck off and let me enjoy my picnic.”

I laugh. But then he turns around and puts his hands on my shoulders.

“I did this for you,” he says. “I know this doesn’t seem like something I would normally like, and it isn’t. But I know it’s something you enjoy.” He smiles at me, his expression soft. “So I set it up for you.”

“You didn’t have to do that, Kyle,” I say, touched.

“I know,” Kyle says. “But I would do anything to make you happy.”

He leans down and presses a soft kiss against my lips. I press my body eagerly against his, flushed with warmth at his words. I really do love this man.

“You’re amazing.” I murmur. “I love you, you know that, right? God, I want you so badly right now.”

“I know,” Kyle says. Then he pulls away. “But lunch is getting cold, and there are children only a few feet away.”

I snort. “Look at you, being all responsible. Fine, I’m taking a rain check, then.”

Kyle laughs. “Gladly. And I love you, too.”

I smile. It was a rough road to get here (and, admittedly, I didn’t make it any easier), but it was all worth it to be sitting here, on this blanket, with Kyle.

“What did you bring me?” I ask, pulling the basket toward myself and peering inside.

There’s a bottle of soda as well as packet of cookies and a few pre-packaged sandwiches. I grin; I hadn’t expected Kyle to make anything, since he has a tendency to burn everything when he tries.

“Awesome, ham and cheese,” I say cheerfully, pulling out one of the sandwiches. “My favorite. And, ooh, are these chocolate chip?”

“You’ve been working on assignments all morning, so I figured some chocolate might perk you up,” Kyle says with a laugh when I tear the packet open.

“Yum,” I say, selecting a cookie. “Actually, I had the best cookie I’ve ever tasted the other day. Did I tell you I met up with an old friend?”

“You mentioned it,” Kyle says, taking a sandwich. “What was her name again?”

“Jessica,” I reminded him. “I haven’t seen her in years. She has a kid now! Damn, that makes me feel old. Anyway, the kid was in daycare, so we met up for coffee. We went to that café near Jacqui’s place – you know, the place you stalked me from.”

Kyle splutters. “I wasn’t stalking you!”

I wink at him. That joke never gets old.

“Anyway, they make fresh cookies every day,” I continue. “Did you ever try one?”

“No, I just drank coffee there,” Kyle says. He pulls out the bottle of soda and a few plastic cups. “Do you want a drink?”

“Yeah, thanks,” I say. “You definitely should try one of their cookies, they’re heavenly. Maybe I’ll take you there on our next date.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Kyle says with a smile.

“Though not on Wednesday,” I say. “I’m meeting with Jessica again. She seems really lonely, so I’m hoping we can meet up a bit more. I should introduce you to her.” I grin. “Got any eligible bachelors in your group? She’s a single mom, so she could use a little company.”

Kyle laughs. “How about you just let her get used to getting out a bit more. I remember when Lily was younger; Ethan was overwhelmed by trying to look after her and getting some time to himself. Thankfully, he did have Georgia to keep him in line.”

“Maybe we should introduce Ethan and Jessica,” I say thoughtfully. “They can exchange stories, and Ethan can give her some advice. Her son is still pretty young, and she looked really frazzled.”

“It might be a thought,” Kyle agrees. He laughs. “It might even be the push Georgia needs to make a move.”

I laugh with Kyle. It’s nice to be sitting here, laughing about our friends and making jokes. I can feel his shoulder pressing against mine, warm and comfortable. Slowly, I lean into him and smile.

I almost let this go once. But now that I have it once more, I’ll never let him go again.

I hope you enjoyed your time with Allison and Kyle! If you loved this one, you would not want to miss my Amazon TOP 100 book and a bestseller in many categories. And it’s a boxed of 4 stories, Dark Desires I have included an excerpt from the same in the following pages. So, keep reading!

Excerpt

A collection of 4 full length bad boy novels that are hot, steamy, and down right addicting!!!!!! It may be hot this summer, but you won’t mind getting hotter while reading this set!!!!

Taken

I never thought I’d sleep with the man who murdered my fiancé…it wasn’t just a one-night-stand…

Alessio was more than just a crime boss…strong and tough, the kind of passionate man I’d always wanted.

But I had to testify against him…and if I didn’t, I’d never be able to seek revenge.

Alessio told me he’d changed.

But I never expected my heart to change.

What was going to happen now?

Betrayed

I’d gone undercover before, but never with the intention of getting a suspect into my bed.

That’s how hot Sean O’Connor was.

A criminal and yet the hottest crook I’d ever seen…so sexy he makes my mouth water and my panties melt.

I wanted to cuff him to my bed and make him sing like a bird.

But it’s hard to slap the cuffs on a guy when his tongue is in your ear and his arms are wrapped around you so tight you can barely breathe.

I know if I’m not careful, he might steal my heart and run.

I can’t let that happen.

I’m a cop and he’s a crook.

And when it comes down to the wire, Sean O’Connor is going down, no matter the cost.

Rescue Me

I love my life the way it is.

No commitments, no heartbreaks!

That’s until Josie enters my life.

One look at those perfectly structured curves and legs that could go on forever,

And I’m hooked.

But things are not as simple as they seem.

Josie and Blaine – they say we’re made for each other.

Until death, mayhem, trickery, and suspense follows us down what appears to be a dead-end road.

But guess what…

I found a new purpose to my life – Protecting Josie.

And this time, I am not letting her go…

Fatal Attraction

Pregnant. A baby. A lifelong commitment. Seems fu@king serious.

Well, I don’t do commitments.

I believe in fun and one night stands.

And that was supposed to be just one such night.

But now, I can’t stop thinking about her.

Maybe it’s time for a change…

Her perfect skin, those sparkling blue eyes, and that captivating smile.

Let’s just call her irresistible;

My brain says no but my heart wants to take control,

And that’s how she enters my world.

A world where fighting criminals is a routine.

But soon it got too dangerous.

Someone wants me dead.

They don’t care whom they take along the way.

Even if it’s Cici or our baby;

Now, all I know is I have two lives to protect.

I need to bring that smile back on her face and make her happy.

And no one can prevent that from happening. Absolutely no one!

Alessio

Thanks to that nosy brunette bitch, Beth, I served six months in Rikers Island for violating parole and cocaine possession. I spent every single day of those six months cursing her. I couldn’t wait to get out of jail – then I’d be able to really make that bitch sorry.

I hadn’t counted on her being so sexy. I hadn’t thought someone like Beth would be capable of arousing someone like me. But somehow, her innocence and naiveté turned me on more than ever before. Soon, the nosy little cunt was all I could think about.

Fucking her didn’t get her out of my system. But she’d be the one fucking me if I didn’t convince her to change her mind and refuse to testify against me.

And there was no way I could let that happen.

Beth

I never thought I’d sleep with the man who murdered my fiancé, Michael Bennett. But Alessio Amoruso wasn’t just a one-night-stand…I was starting to realize that he was more than just a crime boss with a sick sense of humor. He was strong and tough, the kind of passionate man I’d always wanted.

Too bad there was the little problem of Alessio murdering my fiancé. If I didn’t testify against Alessio, I’d never have revenge against the man who’d first asked me to marry him. Alessio told me that he’d changed. He swore up and down that he’d do whatever it took to prove that he was a different man.

But I never expected my heart to change. What was going to happen now that I was falling in love with the man who murdered my fiancé?

Alessio

I smiled as I sat down in the leather executive chair behind my desk. The morning papers were spread across the desk surface, along with my breakfast – freshly squeezed orange juice, a bran English muffin with peanut butter, and half of an apple, sliced neatly into wedges.

Picking up the paper, I stared at the headline on the first page.

“AFTER A TRAGIC YEAR, AMORUSO FAMILY REBUILDS”

Damn straight we’re rebuilding, I thought with a smirk as I opened the paper to the article and began skimming down the page. The photo accompanying the headline showed our flagship restaurant, Amoruso’s, with all of the wait staff standing out front and smiling. I grinned at the sight of the hostesses and waitresses in their short black skirts with tiny white aprons. When my father, Gianni, had founded the local chain, he’d decided that he was only going to hire the prettiest girls and make them wear the sluttiest uniforms possible. Forty years later, it was seen as a little jab against the nature of the politically correct world. But I enjoyed it. I’d fucked a lot of those girls in my day, and I didn’t plan on stopping. Just because I was thirty-eight didn’t mean that I was slowing down.

If anything, I was starting to move faster than ever before.

My father, Gianni, had been killed. Ten months ago, to the exact date, he’d been in a car driving to Jersey for a business meeting with the restaurant partners. He’d been killed instantly when a tractor-trailer crossed the highway median and hit his car, head on.

I’d been devastated. At thirty-seven, I’d thought that I had years and years before taking over as the head of the Amoruso family business. But instead, I’d been catapulted into the spotlight and I was still recovering. I missed my father, but to tell the truth, I hadn’t had very much time to grieve. Death stops for everyone, and business can’t stop for death. While some people said it was shameful the way I’d moved on, the truth was that I couldn’t have stopped. If I’d even slowed down, the business would have tanked.

And god knows, I couldn’t have that.

I sighed, stretching as I reached forward for a piece of muffin. It had already cooled, but I didn’t mind. There was something satisfying and savory about the taste of salted butter on top of the crunchy surface. I closed my eyes and chewed for a long time, thinking of everything I’d have to wrap up later in the day. First, I had a meeting with my best friend, Silvio – my advice man. Then, I was going to drive out to Jersey and check out two of the restaurants.

I smirked. There was a girl working at one of them – Cara, or Carina, or whatever the fuck she called herself – who was damn cute, and she’d been making cow eyes at me ever since we first saw each other. I’d been too distracted to try getting her alone, but today, I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be content until I left with her spit still clinging to my dick. I hadn’t had sex in weeks, and I was achingly horny. Most of the time, I called in girls to my home whenever I needed…release. But lately, I’d been so busy that I’d resorted to porn, stroking myself to the sight of three naked blondes licking each other’s pussies and moaning theatrically. It wasn’t as good as the real thing, but it had been a decent substitute.

Taking a long drink of juice, I unfolded the rest of the paper and skimmed the article. I wasn’t worried about any negative press – the local paper was on our side, and I knew they wouldn’t print anything sordid or inflammatory unless we were in on it.

The truth was, I wasn’t just a local business owner. Amoruso’s had done better than anyone in my family had ever expected – including my father. But while we slung pasta and “Italian” dishes at sloppy families, that wasn’t the only goal. The original restaurant had started as a place to launder money. We’d been a cheap takeout (cash only, of course) and my father Gianni hadn’t expected the venture to last more than six months. But to everyone’s shock, Amoruso’s chicken parmesan was such a crowd pleaser that in less than two years, my father and Silvio opened two more restaurants. The year after that, we opened four. Now, we had ten restaurants in New York and New Jersey combined, and we pulled in a solid sixteen million per quarter.

Of course, all of that money didn’t come from chicken parmesan. But no one had to know that – even if some suspected. New York was full of crime family activity, and it was my job to make sure the Amoruso family did our part and kept our heads down. Most of our revenue came from dealing with shipping firms under the table. But there was a big problem right now, and it was starting to give me a headache.

I hadn’t thought that I’d be tested this much in my first year of running the family business. Things hadn’t ever been easy. All ten restaurants had done poorly over the winter, because of snowstorms that kept people inside, and I was dealing with a real pig over at Magnate Shipping. Magnate had been our partner for years. The owner, Douglas, and my father Gianni had even been friends. But now, the owner’s son Michael was making a real big stink and I was going to have to think of something radical if I wanted to stay on top.

I stood up and walked across the plush carpeting of my office. A small mirror by the door showed that my dark hair was beginning to grey at the temples. I frowned – I knew some women liked the idea of a silver fox, but I wasn’t even forty years old yet. I made a mental note to visit a hair stylist and have her do something before I went out to Jersey. If I wanted to get inside little Carina’s panties, I was going to put my best foot forward.

My phone buzzed on my desk and I picked it up without glancing at the caller.

“Hello?”

“Hey, boss,” Silvio said. “How’s it going?”

I nodded stiffly, forgetting for a moment that Silvio wasn’t in the room to watch.

“I’ve had better mornings,” I said honestly. “We need to figure out a way to deal with that prick over at Magnate. The most recent shipment has been held up for days, and unless I act soon, it’s staying like that for some time. We’re bleeding money, Sil.”

“I know, I know,” Silvio said. “Look, I’m on my way over. I have some news.”

The last word struck my chest with fear. “What news?”

Silvio sighed. “I’ll be honest, boss,” he said slowly. “It ain’t good.”

I steadied myself with a hand against the back of my desk chair.

“Hurry up,” I barked into the phone. “I ain’t waiting around all morning just to hear some bad shit, Silvio.”

“Of course,” Silvio said. “I’ll be there in five.” He hung up without saying anything else. Normally, Silvio’s brusque demeanor would have irked me. But today, all I could think about was how to get out of this mess. Ever since Douglas’s son had started working at Magnate, I’d had shit like this to deal with during almost every delivery. The Amoruso family smuggled cocaine, heroin, and ecstasy with the help of Magnate shipping…and I needed to make sure I was getting the money that I deserved.

True to his word, Silvio showed up no more than five minutes later. I heard his heavy footsteps thundering through my home before his tentative, soft knock on the door.

“Sil, come in,” I called loudly, sitting down in my chair and grabbing a pen and paper. Over the past year of leading the Amoruso family, I’d learned to conceal my nervous ticks pretty well. I still didn’t feel like the head of a crime ring, but I was learning. My father would be ashamed, I thought as I glanced down at my right hand. It was shaking.

Silvio pushed the heavy office door and strode in, hands clasped in front of his wide belly. He was wearing a grey flannel suit with the first two buttons of his shirt unfastened. A tuft of silvery-grey hair stuck out, against the stark tan skin of his chest.

Silvio leaned down in a respectful bow. He was my father’s age – early sixties –and because of a lifetime of drinking and partying, he looked it. He looked like he’d aged ten years overnight – especially around his eyes.

“Boss, I’m sorry to tell you,” Silvio said heavily. “But we lost two men last night.”

“What the fuck?” I narrowed my eyes. “What the fuck happened?”

Silvio sighed. “I know,” he said. “We had men go over to Magnate, try to soften Douglas up. But Douglas stood firm – said you owe him somewhere in the neighborhood of a cool three million.”

Blood inflamed my face and I glared angrily. “That’s fucking horseshit,” I muttered. “You know I don’t know that old man shit!”

“I know,” Silvio said. He shrugged casually. “It ain’t about that, Alessio. You know that as well as I do.”

I glared at him. “Then what the fuck is this about?” I rolled my eyes, feeling anger tear through my body with astonishing precision. I felt like my veins were inflamed with rage, like I could tear a block of concrete in two pieces just because of the anger controlling me.

“You know what it’s about,” Silvio said evenly. He met my eyes with his intense gaze and I didn’t back down at the black look in his eyes.

“I don’t know what that fuckin’ means,” I growled.

“He’s testing you, Alessio,” Silvio said. He shook his head sadly from side to side. “Your old man didn’t take no shit from Douglas, and now that Gianni’s gone, he’s tryin’ to mess with you. It ain’t about what you owe him or don’t owe him. It’s about him thinkin’ he can push you around to get a higher rate.”

The anger intensified and I growled as the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Nothing made me angrier than knowing that someone was trying to fuck with me because they didn’t think I’d retaliate. I wasn’t my father – I was my own man, and Douglas Bennett was going to learn that as soon as possible.

“We gotta do something,” I said, leaning forward and closing my eyes. I tried to think – how could I hurt Douglas? He was rich – even richer than me – and powerful. But he had to have a weak spot…

“He just got a new wife,” Silvio said. He smirked. “Some bitch he bought from eastern Europe. She’s a real slut. You thinkin’ something to do with her?”

I shook my head. “He goes through women like some people go through tissues,” I said dismissively. “That ain’t gonna be enough to make him take me seriously. Plus, it’s the most obvious option.”

Silvio nodded. “What about a little…destruction of property?” His dark lips curled into a smirk. “You think he’d be hurting real bad if one of those warehouses suddenly blew up.”

“No,” I said. “That hurts us, too. We depend on that asshole to get our stash. We can’t take the hit by shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Silvio nodded. “You’re right,” he said slowly. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, boss.”

I waved my hand dismissively through the air. The compliment was nice, but I wasn’t going to feel any better about this fucking situation until I had an answer ready to go.

“Well,” Silvio said. “There is one more idea.”

“I’ve got it,” I said suddenly. “He’s got a kid, don’t he?”

Silvio smiled unpleasantly. “A boy,” he said. “Some kid named Michael.”

I grinned. “How old is he?”

Silvio shrugged. “Like I know? Maybe twenty-five, thirty. He ain’t that old.”

My grin grew so wide that my cheeks ached.

“Perfect,” I said.

Want to read the rest of Dark Desires?

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Dark Desires Boxed Set

Author’s Note

Thank you to all my readers, especially those who are reading my work for the first time. I know there are so many books to choose from these days, and I am glad and thankful that you all chose to spend a day or two reading mine.

If you have a minute—or even, say, like 30-40 seconds—please take a moment to leave a review on Amazon for SINFUL PROTECTOR. Reviews help indie authors so much!

XO, Mia

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Mia is a contemporary romance writer who loves to write about strong, gorgeous, Greek God like alpha men who love protecting their sassy and sexy women.

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