Page 105 of Fighting a Riot

He wrapped me in a bear hug that was as awesome as it was short. “I need a drink, the stiffer the better. Want me to get you something?”

I shook my head. “Not right now. I’m gonna get some food from the kitchen.”

With my treatments, I couldn’t have alcohol, but I loved drinking from stemware so in the kitchen, I’d snagged a wine glass and filled it with water.

Yak found me and guided us to a sofa. We sat down and I suddenly noticed Yak’s jeans had holes in them. Full holes, unlike mine, which were frayed holes with lots of threads holding the denim together –or appearing to, anyway.

Yak nudged my shoulder with his. “Sorry I was being a jackass earlier. This shit’s had me a little wound up.”

I nodded. “I can only imagine. I was a little… wound up wondering how things were going to turn out.”

For some strange reason, I couldn’t stop staring at the hole in his pants. Part of me thought I should be more upset about this ordeal… but in the big scheme of things, I felt numb.

“Like your jeans,” he muttered.

I looked up at him, allowing the abrupt subject change. “I don’t. I mean, I like yours, but I really wish I could get jeans without all the distressing and shit.”

He tilted his head. “I can see that. It sucks that we pay full price for holey jeans.”

I nodded. “Yeah. The only upside with these,” I paused and wedged the flat stem-portion of glass between the frayed threads. When the glass sat secure, I looked up at him. “I have a built-in glass holder.”

He burst with laughter and slung an arm on my shoulders. “I love it, Nora. That’s funny.”

His voice trailed away on his last words and our faces were very close. I could kiss him, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. I was pretty damn certain he didn’t want to, with all the extra brothers around.

Yet again, my expectations were proved wrong because he wrapped his other arm around me and laid a hot and heavy kiss on me. Every stroke of his tongue told me how grateful he was that I was safe. The more I tried to return his kiss, the more controlling he became.

It pained me to do it, but I pushed against his shoulders to break the kiss. His eyes stayed closed and I stared up at him.

Finally, he opened his eyes. A strong feeling gripped my chest at the molten heat in his bronze irises. The rock music didn’t seem quite as loud all of a sudden. It felt like the two of us were in a small bubble amidst his biker brethren.

“I fuckin’ love you, Elenora.”

I rested my forehead against his and exhaled. That strong feeling surged through the rest of my body and I knew. Anything I’d thought was love before was nothing compared to this.

I smiled up at him. “I love you, too, Noah.”

With a grin, he leaned forward and gave me a quick peck. “That’s great, but I’m not having kids, babe. Are you gonna be good with that?”

I couldn’t help but tilt my head. “Why? Because you lost your parents? Or because the foster care system sucked so bad for you?”

“One and the same, Nora.”

I glanced around the room. Abby held Trixie and Roll’s eighteen-month-old daughter in her arms while Mallory and Andrea were playing games with Simone, Rafferty, and Alexandra.

With a wry smile, I looked back to Yak. “God forbid the unthinkable happened to you, all of these people would step up for your child. All of them, Yak. But I get it.”

He sighed and tightened his hold on me. “Doesn’t sound that way.”

I rested my cheek on his chest. “I do, but what about adopting teenagers from the system? Be the people you never had in your life at that time.”

“Princess, I was a fuckin’ hellion back then.”

I grinned up at him. “Funny, I thought you still were.”

“Nora.”

“What? Having been a hellion, you’re well suited to dealing with their bullshit.”

---