Page 15 of Striker's Yield

“Yeah, sure, I don’t have anything else better to do since Striker grounded me until the end of days,” Lila retorts, looking upset, more like completely miserable.

“Why did he do that?” I find myself asking before I could stop myself.

“Because I went to a party without him knowing about it. Something happened, and I ended up having to call him to come pick me up. My friend was totally shitfaced. There was no way she could drive, and she promised not to drink since we took her car,” Lila explains, seeming a bit peeved at her friend. This I could understand.

“Well, it’s a good thing you were smart enough to call your brother and didn’t get in a car with her,” Athena remarks. “Were you drinking too?”

“I had a few drinks and knew it wouldn’t be safe to chance it,” Lila admits. “Striker would have had my ass if I did, and he found out about it.”

“Rightly so too,” Athena agrees and looks at me. “Brass told me that your night with Striker was interrupted.”

Damnit. Why did she have to go and say that?

“Wait, you were with my brother last night?” Lila asks, turning wide eyes in my direction.

“Ugh . . .” How do I explain to her that it isn’t something I’m sure I could discuss with her? Especially considering I don’t understand it all myself. Finally, I just nod. “Yes, he brought dinner to my apartment, then left when he got a call he needed to get to the clubhouse.” I twist to face Athena. “And no, nothing happened. Well, he kissed me, but that’s it.”

“Striker kissed you.” Lila gasps, and I turn back to see she’s staring at me wide-eyed.

“Yes,” I answer.

“This is totally huge,” she squeals and starts jumping up and down in place while clapping her hand. She glances from me to Athena and then back to me. “I don’t go to the clubhouse much unless it’s family days and when the nasty skanks are hiding away. But I’ve been there plenty of times. I’m not blind, I know my brother is hot, and I’ve heard things even though I wish I hadn’t. One thing I know for certain is he doesn’t kiss women he’s screwing around with. It’s not something he does.”

“This is true,” Athena confirms.

“I don’t think I need to know this,” I tell them both. “It was just a kiss. One kiss.”

“Technically, it was the second one since he kissed you in the hall yesterday,” Athena says, not having to remind me.

“This is so cool.” Lila laughs, bouncing side to side, her eyes bright with amusement.

I do my best to hide my horror at her thinking this was the best of news. I decided my best course of action right now is to run and hide in my office, at least for a few moments. I make my excuses and all but rush out of there. I’m so much in my head that I don’t hear the bell over the door or them calling out a greeting. My only thought is to escape.

I barely manage to sit behind my desk and power on the computer when my door opens. I’m taken aback by the man stepping into my office. Though I probably shouldn’t be. It’s just he’s been surprising me far too many times in a short amount of time. It doesn’t help that last night I hadn’t been able to sleep.

All I could think about was the kiss he’d given me and what he said.

“What are you doing here?” I find myself asking, staring at him as he closes the door and leans against it.

“Came to see you,” he says, crossing his arms. “And to speak to my sister since she left for work before I had the chance to finish talkin’ to her after laying her ass out last night for her stunt and groundin’ her.”

“She mentioned you grounded her,” I tell him, though I’m sure I didn’t need to. “She told Athena and me what happened. She also told us how she called you, which was the responsible thing to do.”

“Yeah, but she still wasn’t supposed to be at a party. Her ass is grounded until I decide to unground it.” He shrugs and pushes away from the door. “I’d been pissed and hadn’t told her about you and me.”

“Well, Athena took care of that for you.”

“Of course she did.” Striker grins, drops his hands from his chest, and prowls, more like stalks, toward me. He rounds the side of my desk only to stop next to me. But even then, he bends at the waist and plants a hand on either side of my chair. Leaning in, Striker gets close. So close, our noses touch. “Soon as Lila saw me step inside, she made it known to me she thought it was cool. Means it’s good for me ‘cause I came here to tell you?—”

“We can’t do this,” I blurt, interrupting him. He’s already freaking me out, and I can’t handle more. My mind is going a hundred miles an hour. My heart won’t stop racing. It’s all I can do to focus.

“Told you already, Mama, we’re doin’ this,” he says far too gently for my liking.

Okay, so I like the gentleness in his voice. It’s just when it comes to him, he’s making me so nervous I can’t think straight.

“We can’t. I mean, I can’t. I have too much on my plate right now,” I tell him and myself, though I know deep down it’s a lie.

The café is doing great. So good, I could take time off now, but I’m not ready to do that. I have to be here. To make sure mine and Avery’s dreams continue as it was supposed to always be.

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