Page 41 of Taken By the Biker Daddies

To be honest, I was. I didn’t want to risk making another mistake. After all, Max was kind enough to overlook the last one I’d made. Now that I knew how it felt to kiss her, I didn’t want to be alone with her. I didn’t trust myself to have enough self-restraint, which was never my forte.

I wasn’t going to admit that out loud, though.

I sighed. “Why does everything have to be about you?”

Lauren stepped forward. “If you teach me how to fight, it will be good for you, too. And Max. And Jake. You won’t have to worry about me as much.”

I shook my head. “Even if you knew how to defend yourself, the Devils are bigger than you. And stronger. If you fight back, they’ll only hurt you more.”

“But at least I would have a chance of hurting them, too. Fighting might be my only chance to escape. Like you said, I’m not big or strong. But maybe that can be my advantage. Maybe they won’t expect me to fight back, so if I did, I would be able to pull the rug out from under them.”

I said nothing, feeling myself being swayed. Lauren did make a good point, after all.

She touched my arm. “I know I can’t win, Wade. I’m not you. All I’m asking is for you to give me a chance. It may be my only chance to get away, or at least stall for time, until you guys arrive. It may be my only chance to survive.”

Fuck, she was good at making arguments even when she was sober. Maybe better. Still, I wasn’t going to give in easily.

“I’ll ask Max,” I told her.

“He won’t mind.”

She sounded so sure of it, making me wonder if she had told Max about our kiss, too, and if Max had told her the same thing he had told me. Would Max really be okay if something happened between Lauren and me? I still wasn’t sure, though.

“And Jake,” I added.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Must we ask Jake’s permission for everything? Aren’t you big enough to make your own decisions?”

I didn’t answer. I just started to walk away while I still had the chance.

“Wait.” She grabbed my arm. “How about we do this...why don’t we play a game or something and make a bet? If I win, you’ll teach me self-defense. If I lose, I won’t bring it up again. This way, we don’t have to bother Jake. He’s got enough on his mind, anyway.”

True. And tempting.

“Surely, that’s a fair proposition,” Lauren went on to hammer at my wavering conviction. “If you win, you’ll have peace of mind. If you lose, you’ll make me just a little bit less of a burden.”

If I lost? No fucking way.

“What game?” I asked her.

She grinned. “I was thinking maybe…a game of pool. I saw a table at Billie’s.”

“There’s one in the basement, actually. Do you know how to play?”

“Yeah. I’ve played before…I think.”

“You think?”

“I remember enough. It’s easier to recall doing things than memories, I guess.”

I shrugged. “If you say so, but I don’t think you’ll win.”

“Really?” Lauren’s grin just grew wider. Then she put on a serious face as she poked my chest. “We’ll see, won’t we?”

I, too, grinned. “Oh, we will.”

Something told me this was going to be the most fun I’d had in a while.

And it was fun, with me winning the first match of our best-of-three, only narrowly losing the second and pocketing four balls in a row here in our final one.

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