by Lila Rose
He grunted again and kissed my neck, where he’d marked me, before moving to rest his jean-clad ass against the counter.
“Breakfast is nearly done. We should have it all away and us showered by the time Zion gets home from work,” I told him as I puttered around. “Are you sure you want to watch Avengers here with Zion in his room sleeping?” Wade had said the previous night, when I went on and on about how good Avengers was, that he wanted to see it today.
“Yeah, Lucas. You tell me when he crashes, and I’ll come back.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I said, handing him his coffee. He dipped down again for a quick kiss, and then I moved back to the pan.
“Need a hand?” he asked.
“I’ve got it,” I answered and dished up the meals. We sat at the table, and I couldn’t stop looking at him enjoying the meal I made. This was what made it all seem real. Wade was in the house after staying the night, and we were doing what boyfriends did with each other.
“What are you thinkin’?” he asked, his brow quirked.
I finished what I was chewing and shrugged. “Um, just that, ah, this, what we’re doing, it feels real.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Real?”
I shook my head. “I mean, I know it’s real, you and me, but this sitting here with you after you sleeping over has me believing we’re actually in a relationship—that is if you, I… ah, as long as you think we are, then I’m, um, cool with it. If you don’t, then, ah, I’m okay with that also.” He stared at me. I sighed. “To be honest, I won’t be okay with it. I would like to name it and say we are in a relationship… if that’s okay with you?”
He grinned, and my chest stopped with its compression. “It’s what I want, so yeah, Lucas, we’re in a relationship.”
“Well, okay,” I said quietly because my body was refilling with all its gooey, mushy feelings.
A phone chimed. Wade pulled it out of his back pocket. “Fuck,” he clipped and then looked up at me. “Saint’s on his way back now. Death just told me.”
“Crap!” I cried and quickly grabbed up our plates and took them to the kitchen. I rushed around like a mad man and got things cleaned. I’d even taken Wade’s coffee from him and dumped the rest down the drain to put the mug in the dishwasher along with the other items.
“I hate this,” Wade said from behind me, causing me to jump.
With a hand to my heart, I spun around. “You scared me, and what do you hate?”
He was already fully dressed. “Sneakin’. I’d like to stay.”
“We’ll get there.”
“I know. Now kiss me and then text me when he’s gone to sleep.” He stepped close, only to pause and angle his head toward the front of the house. “Fuck, he’s here already.”
My eyes widened, and my heart gave off a nervous flutter. “What will we do? Your car’s in the driveway.”
“Shit. All right, relax. Just relax.” He rubbed my arms up and down. “Let me handle it.”
“Okay, yep, good, I’m terrible at acting.”
The front door unlocked. Wade leaned in, kissed me quickly, and said, “Since I don’t have a coffee now, pretend you’re gettin’ me one.”
I practically ran to the coffee pot and pressed it on just as the door opened, and Zion called, “Yo, what are you doin’ here, brother?” He dumped his things on the table by the door and moved our way.
Before Wade had the chance to answer, I opened my mouth with “Good morning to you, Zion. I had a great night, how about yourself?” I lowered my voice and pretended to be Zion, “Well, Lucas, my night wasn’t too bad, thanks for asking.” I heard Wade mutter something, and I quickly shut my mouth, only to open it and ask, “I’m just making a coffee. Do you want one?” I glanced back to see Zion had stopped and was looking at me like I’d grown another head overnight. “What?”
“You a bit buzzed there, bro? Maybe you don’t need any more coffee. How about I get it?”
“No, I’ve got it. Are you going to bed?” I blurted, and mentally cursed myself because it sounded like I was eager to get rid of him.
Zion’s brows dipped. “What happened to you? Wait… holy fuck.” He stomped forward, grabbed my chin, and turned my head. “Who in the hell gave you a hickey? Is that why you’re actin’ weird? Is that Gregory guy still here?”
Wade made a noise in the back of his throat, and Zion went to look at him, but I yelled, “What? Ha, yeah, no, I mean, I got the hickey, but he’s gone. Long gone.”
Zion’s eyes narrowed. “Did that fucker hurt you? Did he tag, bag, and run? I’ll kill him if he hurt your feelin’s.”
I laughed, only it was forced. “No feelings were hurt. It, ah, just didn’t work out for us.”
“Really?” he asked.
“Yes. Now you don’t need to hunt him down.”
Zion turned to Wade. “Did you see the guy leave?”
“No,” he bit out.
“What are you doin’ here?” Zion questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Food,” I yelled. They both looked at me. “Anyone hungry? I can make some, um, stuff.”
“I ate on the way home,” Zion said.
“I’m good,” Wade answered, his voice lighter, probably from being amused by me. I’d told him I was terrible at acting. I was so going to get us caught out.
“I stopped in to try and catch you before you crashed,” Wade told him. “Wanted to see how the night went.”
“All right,” Zion drew out. I could tell from his tone he was suspicious.
“Was gonna make an ad for the position you were talkin’ about. Wanted to run it by you,” Wade added, cottoning on to Zion’s suspicion.
“Right, yeah, an ad would be good. I tried to come up with one but wasn’t sure statin’ we’re lookin’ for guys to do guys and gals was good.”
Wade chuckled. “Doubt it.”
“So, you’re going to add men to the Polished Pussy?”
“Shit, now you said that, what about the name? We’ll need to add somethin’ to it, so people know men are available as well.”
“Polished Pussies and Penises,” I said, more to myself than the other two.
Zion clapped, I jumped, and my brother grinned. “That’s it. All we need to add is ‘and penises.’ It’ll be simple. There’s room on the buildin’.” He punched me in the arm. “Good thinkin’, bro.”
“Well, I’ll get out of here and get an ad started. I’ll also contact a signwriter to change the name.”
“Sounds good.” Zion nodded.
“Coffee,” I announced, blushing when they both looked at me. “Um, no one has had any.”
Zion shook his head. “I’m good. It’ll keep me up if I have one now.”
“Another time,” Wade said with a small smile.
I didn’t want him to go, but I knew he had to or else it would look suss he stayed while his friend went to bed, leaving him alone with me, someone he supposedly didn’t know much about.
“Right, okay.” I nodded. “I’m going for a shower then.” Wade’s jaw clenched. Was he thinking about me naked in the shower? “Um, bye.” I waved to Wade.
“Later,” he called.
“Hey, bro, wake me about five, yeah?”
“Yep, got it, five.” Now hurry up and get to bed so Wade can come back.
When I heard the front door being unlocked, my stomach swirled in excitement. Wade was back. I jumped up from the couch where I’d been studying and quickly raced over. Only when the door opened, my grin faded when I saw not only Wade but Death and Kylo as well.
“Hey, kid,” Death said, stepping into the house.
“Um… hi to all of you.”
“Kylo overheard me and Wreck talkin’ about watchin’ those movies you were goin’ on about and wanted to join.”
Kylo laughed. “Still can’t believe they haven’t seen Avengers. Crazy, right?” He walked by me with his arms full of pizza.
Death moved closer. “Go and calm your man down before he rips
Kylo a new asshole.”
I could see the scowl on Wade’s face, which was directed to Kylo. Before blood was spilled, I said, “Um, Wreck, I need to show you that app on my phone I was telling you about.” I gestured toward my room. “It’ll only take a moment, but my phone’s in my room.”
“What app?” Kylo asked. He dumped the pizzas on the coffee table and went to move over near us again.
Death stepped in his path. “You and me, we gotta talk.”
Kylo glanced at Death, then me, then Wade, and finally back to Death. I knew he hadn’t worked anything out because he still looked confused with his brows drawn.
“Sure,” Kylo said, sounding very unsure.
Wade stepped in, closed the door, and with his hand on my lower back, he moved us down the hall and into my room. There he closed the door before turning to me.
“Fuckin’ prospect,” he complained as he pulled me into his arms. He dipped his head to bury his nose into my neck, where he drew in a large breath. “Crazy how a person can miss someone even after a few hours.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist. “I know what you mean.”
Groaning, he lifted his head and pressed a kiss to my temple. “We’re goin’ to have to watch these movies with Death and the prospect.”
“I know. But are you okay doing it without killing Kylo?”
His jaw clenched. “As long as you’re sittin’ next to me, I might be able to manage to stop spillin’ blood.”
Chuckling, I said, “I better make sure I’m next to you then.”
“It would be wise.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
He groaned. “Don’t say okay like that because every time you do, I want to kiss you.”
“Then kiss me,” I told him on a whisper, and he did. I gripped him tighter to me as his hand threaded through my hair he loved so much, and we deepened the kiss, leaving us both panting at the end.
“Fuck,” he uttered, resting his forehead against mine. “Come on, we’d better get out there.”
“Boo.” I smiled.
I was glad to have made him laugh before we left the room. With the kiss and the laugh, he looked less like he was willing to murder someone.
Wade dropped my hand at the end of the hall, and we entered the living room. Only I stopped as soon as I saw Kylo. His eyes were wide, and he sat on the chair stiffly.
I glanced at Death. He was sitting in the other chair, leaving the couch for me and Wade. As I moved over to sit by Wade, I watched Kylo’s gaze shift from me to Wade and back again many times.
Sighing, I sat down, making sure to leave enough room between Wade and me, then looked at Kylo. “Death told you?”
Death gasped. “What? I would never.”
“Fuckin’ hell,” Wade clipped.
“How… when… how?” Kylo muttered. He rubbed at his eyes. “Was he serious?” he asked, pointing at Death.
“What did he say?” I asked. For once, I wasn’t nervous about the outcome. I didn’t really want to hide things from Kylo because he was a friend. The only one who couldn’t know, who could cause problems for Wade and me was Zion. That was if he didn’t like Wade for me.
“That you two are… together?”
I didn’t get to reply because in the next moment, I had an arm around my waist, and I was being pulled sideways into a large body. “Yes,” Wade said roughly. “And if Saint finds out because of you, I’ll fuckin’ make sure you regret it.”
Grinning up at Wade, I patted his thigh. “Kylo won’t say anything.”
Wade glanced down at me, his eyes softened, and he tipped his head down to give me a quick kiss. I curled into Wade more and brought my feet up onto the couch while his arm wound around my shoulders.
Kylo was still staring at us, his mouth open in shock.
“I… never… when?” he got out.
“After the party at the compound,” I told him.
He jerked his head back. “When I told you there wouldn’t be a chance?” Wade growled under his breath. Kylo’s hand shot up. “Wait… was he the guy West said to forget about when you went on that date with Gregory?”
Holy God, he was just trying to get himself killed.
Wade had tensed beside me. I pressed into him more in case he thought to jump the coffee table to kick Kylo’s butt. Rubbing up and down Wade’s thigh, I said, “Yes, but that… look, um, let’s not talk about that. Just know we’re, ah, seeing each other and that my brother can’t know just yet because all this is new, and I don’t want anything to come between us.” I smiled. “Can you do that? Keep it from Zion?”
Kylo glanced between us, and then finally nodded. “But…” He ground his teeth together. “Even if this gets me beat up.” He looked to Wade. “If you hurt him, I’ll find a way to make you pay.”
It was a tense moment for a while as Wade just sat there glaring at Kylo. Finally, Wade nodded.
“Right,” Death started. “Now that’s all out of the way, and we all love one another again, let’s watch this show and eat the fuckin’ pizza.”
“Show?” Kylo questioned. “Lucas, did you tell them how many Avengers movies there are?”
Laughing, I shook my head.
“Wait, what do you mean? How many are there?” Death asked.
“Well, if you count the movies that are connected to the Avengers, then there’s many.”
Death groaned. “This better be worth it.”
Apparently, because Death found Black Widow hot, he didn’t mind the movie at all. Wade was just happy to watch them, and me, comfortably where he could hold me and touch me whenever he wanted without hiding it.
Chapter Eighteen
Wreck
Time fucking flew by when you were happy. I didn’t realize it before Lucas, how the shit days just dragged, and you’d wish for a new one just to get over the previous one. Now, each day over the past month had passed in a flash of damn bliss because I had Lucas in my life.
However, I was starting to get sick and tired of hiding.
As I glanced around at the brothers while sitting at the bar in the compound, I wondered just how much they’d care if I was with a guy. Would they accept my happiness over the fact it was because of a dude? I hoped so because I needed them to. I wanted to stay within the club and have Lucas at my side at the same time. I knew the prez and VP would accept it, so really the others could go fuck themselves if they had a problem.
The worst one would be Saint. Not because he wouldn’t like Lucas in a relationship. If anything, it would be because Lucas was with me and that I’d never been with a guy before. Saint would worry I wasn’t fully in this with Lucas and just messing around, just testing the waters, but he didn’t know how much I cared for Lucas.
My phone chimed. I pulled it out and smiled when I saw Lucas’s name on there.
Lucas: Just picked up Mom and Dad from the airport and dropping them at our aunt’s. I think Zion is heading to the compound after.
Me: What are you trying to tell me?
Lucas: Well, that you can come over… if you want to that is. You might be busy and I didn’t even ask. Wait, are you working tonight and I forgot about it?
Hell, I loved his ramblings.
Me: Never busy for you. I’ll be by in a couple of hours. Unless you have studying to do? You said you’ve got a test tomorrow.
Lucas: I do have a test, but I’m all studied out. I just want to see you.
My chest expanded.
Me: Then I’ll be there.
Lucas: xoxoxo
Christ, he was a goof, but I loved him for it. He was my sanity, my calm. I couldn’t see my days without him in them. Fuck me, but I was a goner for the man.
Shit… I loved him.
I fucking loved him.
Realizing it and accepting it just felt right. Over the past month, we’d got to know each other on all levels. I knew what he hated, what he liked, what made him smile, laugh, and stammer in shyness. He was also the only one who knew all of me.
“Wreck, what’s happenin’, brother?” Country asked as he took the stool next to me.
“Not much, Prez. Same old shit.”
He tapped the bar and the prospect, or as Lucas called him, Kylo, put a beer on the counter for him. Prez took a drag and then turned to me. “Gotta say, brother, never seen you more yourself than I have in the last month. Shit, it’s like a weight has been lifted off you, and you’re damn happy all the time. Who has you happy?”
Fuck.
“Just someone.”
“Brother, you know the club. You know that when a brother gets in close with someone, we gotta do a background check on them to see if there’s anythin’ in their past we need to worry about. Anythin’ that can cause shit for the club. We’ve held off outta respect, hopin’ you would come to us, but you haven’t.”
Fucking hell. I knew the rules, but I’d wanted to keep Lucas a secret a while longer and that really was only because of Saint.
I scrubbed a hand over my face and nodded. “You won’t need a background check on this person.”
He eyed me and eventually nodded. “I believe you, but I still gotta know. It’s okay if you don’t tell the others yet, but why all the secrecy over this?”
Leaning in, I said, “Lucas Storey.” I moved back and witnessed when the name hit Country. His eyes widened, his head swung my way, and then he whistled.