Page 38 of Falcon

“Nope. I don’t wanna have to pee before you’re ready for a break.”

The brunette with short hair sat in the chair and Daisy watched me walk away. I was getting under her skin. She was definitely already under mine. “You good?” I asked before I rounded the door.

She nodded. Yep. Now I just had to remind her to use her words, but I wouldn’t do that to her in front of a stranger.

Chapter 25

Daisy

All week, Falcon dragged me around to the tattoo shop during the day, and then parties at the clubhouse. Jeannie wasn’t at the clubhouse two nights, but she was there the rest of the week. She was cool and happy to explain club life to me. Mama Hen was also still showing me the ropes and trying to help Lacy and I with the lingo. Living with a motorcycle club was like nothing I’d ever experienced. Not that I had really lived much, but still.

Mama Hen also offered to take me to the club to show her what I could do, but she told me to talk to Falcon about getting me there. He had a full schedule and the evenings were spent between getting me settled in the bar area with food and drinks, and he and some of the guys going off somewhere for a while for “club business.” I was curious to know what that meant, but besides a few sarcastic jabs, I didn’t want to push my luck.

Lacy seemed completely content to hang around and chill with Eagle, but mentioned if I went to the club, she wanted to go check it out, too. I didn’t know what his game was, but Falcon was nothing but a gentleman. I did have to argue with him about random girls coming into his room since I was staying in there. He said they were just getting the laundry, but I told him that was bullshit. I didn’t need another woman to wash my clothes, and if I was doing mine, I could do his. He didn’t need to know I didn’t like the idea of the “bunnies”, as they called them, in his room, touching his underwear. And I didn’t want to single out anyone to him, but I didn’t want that Sugar girl touching my shit, or his.

It had only been about a week, but I practically spent every waking moment with him, except when he went off to that other room with his brothers, as he called them, and the few times they took off for a while. But I was still so confused. He tended to all my needs, even making sure I had tampons in his bathroom, he fed me, and he slept on the little bitty futon while I slept in his bed. He held my hand to lead me in and out, sat close, even if there were open seats across from me. However, besides the hand-holding and the occasional hand to my lower back, he hardly touched me. But he got close, really close…all the time. He was purposely doing it. I knew it. He’d get right up on me, but stop short, then practically whisper things, and his warm breath would dance over my skin.

It was driving me crazy. I started to look forward to riding with him because it was the only time I could be against him. I’d always thought it would be scary, but I saw the draw. It was like flying in the wind, soaking up the heat of the sun; so different than being in a car. Calling vehicles cages made sense to me now. Once you’d been on the open road on the back of a motorcycle, riding in a car seemed stuffy. The only thing was, I didn’t think I’d feel the same if I was with someone else. And trying to ride one myself seemed comical. I didn’t know if I could even hold it up.

“Gotta run to the store. Let’s go,” Falcon said as Lacy and I sat on the couch in the common room. It was like a living room clearly designed by single dudes for single dudes. There were lots of recliners, leather couches, a big screen TV, every game console you could imagine, stacks of playing cards, a dart board–you name it, it was there. A few of the bunnies hung out there when things weren’t hopping in the bar area, where there were also plenty of playing cards and dart boards. This whole place was a bachelor’s paradise.

Even though beautiful women were all over the place, not once did I see Falcon look at any of them the way he looked at me. At first, I thought it was easy enough to play it off, but after a few days and him not even sneaking a glance in their direction, I paid close attention. There were even two girls scissoring it in the bar the previous night for everyone to see, but he only looked at Hawk, Eagle, or me. He would barely make eye contact with Lacy, but he had no problem having a staring contest with me.

I stood up and hugged Lacy’s neck but felt fine leaving her there. Everyone, except Sugar, had been so welcoming. The ladies helped us find our way in the kitchen, showed us where the laundry was, and even showed us their own secret stash of booze. They seemed more excited for fresh meat than the men.

Once I got to the door to the common room, Falcon grabbed my hand and led me outside. Instead of walking to the bike, we headed to his truck. He pulled the door open and I climbed in, but instead of closing it, he leaned in. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Why?” Was I that obvious? I climbed in and didn’t think the disappointment of not riding the bike was so transparent.

“Can’t take the bike because I gotta pick up some kegs. Can’t fit those in the saddlebags.”

I shrugged.

“Don’t do that. It’s just you and me, darlin’. What’s wrong?”

This was silly. I was being silly. “It’s really fine. I just like the bike. I didn’t know we were taking the truck, but it’s okay. Like you said, can’t fit a keg on there.”

He leaned in close again but stopped short of my lips. “Anytime you want to take a ride, all you have to do is say the word.”

I stared into his hazel eyes, noticing the gold as the sunlight bounced off them. I was barely able to whisper, “Is that so?” The intended sass in my voice was non-existent.

“Anything at all you want, darlin’, just say the word and it’s yours.”

My heart thumped in my chest. The hints of citrus from his beard oil tickled my nose. I knew what I wanted, but still wasn’t sure it was a good idea. Something about the fact that this man could probably kill a tiger with his bare hands but was always so gentle with me, made me feel safe. And the fact that he could have taken me more times than I could count but didn’t even try to sleep next to me made me feel respected. I’d been wanted before. I was a dancer; lots of men wanted me. But hardly anyone I knew ever showed any kind of respect. He was an enigma.

“You’re really frustrating, you know that?” I asked.

He smiled, which he hardly ever did. “I could say the same about you.”

I gritted my teeth and blew a breath through puffed cheeks. He chuckled before he shut the door and walked around to climb into the driver’s side.

We rode quietly for a few minutes, the radio on low with some classic rock. The club I danced at before Tony’s played that a lot. It was almost nostalgic, but instead of reminiscing about the time before my life went to shit, I couldn’t stop replaying that moment before we left in my head. I should have just told him to kiss me. But why didn’t he just do it? Why hasn’t he done it all the times he crowded my space and was close enough for his breath to wash over my face?

The more I thought about it, the more aggravated I became. I couldn’t take it anymore. “What are you playing at, Falcon?”

He didn’t hardly blink or even look over. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb. You know what you’re doing.”