Page 122 of Leather & Lies

He laughed. “Come here.”

I rolled into his side and he settled his arm around me. “This okay?”

I snuggled closer. “It’s perfect.”

One moment I was asleep, the next I was awake. I stared into the darkness, knowing it was sometime in the middle of the night. I also knew I wasn’t going back to sleep because my brain was immediately on.

At some point, we’d changed positions. He was foiled around me like a candy wrapper.

I slowly wiggled from his embrace, pausing to see if he’d wake up. He slept on.

My robe was somewhere on the floor, and I felt around in the dark for it. I found it and put it on before quietly leaving the bedroom. I closed the door behind me.

I made my way to the kitchen and turned on the electric kettle. While I waited for it to boil, I got a mug and the loose-leaf tea Bones had brought me.

There was a sleeping biker in my bed upstairs.

My house suddenly felt full.

Full of laughter.

Full of emotion.

Full of life.

I cried in the kitchen as the water came to a rolling boil.

“Hayden?”

I tensed when I heard his voice. “Sorry, did I wake you?”

“Yeah. I thought you were coming back to bed, and when you didn’t, I wondered what you’d gotten up to.”

“I didn’t even hear you,” I said.

He placed his hands on my shoulders and I let him turn me around.

Bones stared down at me, his brow furrowed. “You’re crying.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

I swiped at my cheeks. “Lots of reasons.”

“Tell me.”

“It’ll sound stupid.”

“I doubt that.”

I swallowed. “Haven’t I bared my soul enough for one night?”

“Ah,” he said, pulling me toward his chest. He’d put on his boxer briefs, but he was still on display.

I pressed my cheek to his warm skin and closed my eyes, finding unexpected comfort, which only made me start crying again.

“Tell me,” he urged. “Let me make it better.”

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