Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47714 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47714 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 191(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
He puffed up his scrawny chest and tried again. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she gets home safe.”
My eyes narrowed when he set his hand on her lower back, and she shifted uncomfortably.
He shot me a smirk that scraped every nerve I had. I stepped forward until my shadow covered his shoes. His smirk wilted. Then he took in my much larger frame, the ink on my knuckles, and the scar splitting my brow before his eyes caught the patch on my chest. The one that said Redline Kings, Tail Gunner. The color drained from his face, and what little confidence he had left cracked.
I didn’t need to say a word. The air did it for me, practically rippling with the menace and lethal vibes coming from me.
“Drift.” Alanna’s hand brushed my arm, her pulse visible at her throat. “It’s fine.”
“I’ll be right here,” I repeated, my voice low enough to vibrate. My stare stayed on Ethan. “When you’re done, come straight out.”
She nodded, and her shoulders loosened a fraction—barely, but enough to see her relief.
I didn’t like that she needed to feel it, but I liked being the reason she could.
Ethan muttered something about coffee and hurried toward the door.
I watched him go, jaw locked, then leaned back against the bike once more. The sun beat down, the metal hot through my jeans, but I didn’t move. Inside the glass storefront, she sat across from him at a two-top table. Every time Alanna smiled politely instead of naturally, my pulse kicked harder. And every time he leaned in too close, I wanted to rearrange his teeth.
5
DRIFT
Two hours passed before the café door opened again.
Alanna stepped out first, sunlight catching in her hair, followed by Ethan—still talking and standing too close. I didn’t like the way his hand brushed her arm. Then he leaned down to say something in her ear, and she flinched. It was just the slightest movement, but that was enough.
I pushed off the bike and started walking.
She saw me before he did, her eyes widening at my expression and body language. She moved fast, intercepting me before I reached him, and pressed a small hand to my chest. “Can we go?”
The heat of her palm bled through the cotton. For a second, neither of us breathed. Then she stepped back, and the spell broke.
My attention shifted to him. One look—cold and unblinking—and he got the message. Whatever noise he’d been making died in his throat. He muttered something about being late and took off for his car.
I watched until his taillights disappeared, then looked back at her. “Helmet.”
She nodded quickly, grateful and flustered, slipping it on without a word.
The ride back to her apartment was quiet except for the wind and hum of the engine beneath us. Her arms were tight around me, her cheek pressing lightly against my shoulder. Every curve in the road pulled her closer, each exhale syncing with mine until I wasn’t sure whose pulse hammered harder.
By the time we rolled into her complex, the afternoon heat had turned the morning breeze into a thick humidity that the wind struggled to move. Alanna didn’t let go right away when I stopped. I could feel her breathing against my back, shallow and uneven. When she finally slid off, she handed me the helmet like she was waking from a dream.
I dismounted and walked her to the door. Inside the hallway, the light was soft, filtered through cheap blinds. Nothing like the warmth and homey feel of her apartment.
She turned the key in the lock, then looked up at me. Her hair was a little messy from the helmet, her lips pink from where she’d been worrying them. “Thank you for coming to my rescue.”
“Wasn’t an option.”
A giggle popped out, and her eyes twinkled.
“Which is funny because…?”
She shrugged and tried to hide her smile. “Never saw you as the knight-in-shining-armor type.”
I frowned. “I’m the furthest thing from that. Don’t get it twisted up in your pretty little head, Alanna.” If she thought I owned even a single link of chainmail, she was deluding herself about who I really was. “Never forget what I’m capable of. I’m no one’s knight. And no one’s happily ever after.”
The sparkle in her eyes dimmed, and I immediately wanted to take it all back. I wanted to be whoever and whatever she needed. But reality was a bitch. There was a reason Jax didn’t want his sweet, innocent little sister with a man like me. And I couldn’t blame him. But it didn’t stop me from wanting her.
“I’m around if you need me,” I muttered, so she didn’t think my little speech meant she was on her own. I would always protect her. Even from myself.
Something flickered in her expression—relief, maybe. Or something deeper. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say more, then stopped. The silence stretched between us.