Page 66 of Lucky's Trouble

“Then why still wear the collar?”

“So that I remember.” He doesn’t expand on what that means, and I don’t ask.

“I don’t think I believe in God. Not anymore.”

“That’s valid.”

I adjust my position on the stool. “See, how can you say that?”

“Tinleigh, my relationship with God has nothing to do with you, so what would I get out of trying to convince you? It’s obvious you’ve been hurt deeply by religion. But that’s not me. Being spiritual means I believe and have faith. There’s no room for you in there.”

My shoulders slump as I realize how rude I’m being. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I was trying to get an explanation out of you when you’re not the one who hurt me.”

“I wish I had the answers you need.” He rubs my shoulder, the touch comforting and forgiving. “Can I offer you some advice?”

“Please.”

“Let it go.”

“Really? That’s all you got?” I joke.

“If you had all the people who hurt you standing in front of you right now, is there anything they could say that could make you forgive them? Any explanation that would satisfy you?”

I think about that. What could they say? The answer is nothing. There are absolutely no words to take back what was done.

Judge takes both my hands in his, and I give him my attention. “Let it go, sweetheart. The only person you’re hurting by hanging onto all this anger is you. I guarantee they don’t give a fuck.”

Shit. I think he’s right.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

LUCKY

After working on cars all day, I come home to find Tinleigh on the couch, looking like she’s ready for a night out. She has makeup on, her hair is curled, and she’s wearing what I now recognize as her standard outfit, meaning a cropped band tee and torn jeans.

“You look sexy as fuck,” I say, stopping to kiss the top of her head before heading to the kitchen to scrub my hands with the orange degreasing soap I keep there.

“Thanks.” She joins me in the kitchen, watching as I use a wire brush to clean my nails. My calloused hands are permanently stained from the hours I spend under the hoods of cars, but I try anyway.

“You got plans I don’t know about?”

“No. I just want to look nice if I’m going to meet your friends.”

“If that’s the case, go change and clean that shit off your face.”

She frowns, tugging on the ends of her hair. “You just said I looked nice.”

I dry my hands on a towel before drawing her close, my hands going to their favorite place in the world, her ass. “No, Hellcat. What I said was you look sexy as fuck. You think I want those horny bastards seeing you looking like every man’s wet dream?”

“You’re an idiot.” She smiles, and it’s goddamn breathtaking.

“Yeah, but I’m your idiot. What does that say about you?”

Her face falls, but she keeps the joking tone in her voice as she pulls away from me. “That I must be an idiot too.”

I frown, noticing she does that whenever I mention a future with her. I thought after I spelled it out last night that she’d get it, but maybe I was wrong, or maybe I’m reading too much into it. She did agree to be mine, even after I told her what kind of future I could offer, and she did open up, telling me about her past.

I never wanted to settle down because fucking the same pussy every night felt boring, and I never wanted to answer to anyone. Turns out, the biggest problem with finding a forever kind of girl is this constant worry that I’ll lose her.

---