Page 25 of Tess, Property of Blaze

“Yeah, I am. I’m gonna go now, see if she’ll pick up my call.”

“Okay, I’ll send her a text, see if she’ll respond.”

“Good idea. Stay where you are, I’m heading there.”

“Okay, I’ll see you soon,” Lu says.

I end the call from Lu and immediately dial Tess’s number, but she doesn’t answer, and it goes to voicemail after a few rings. Not leaving a message, I curse and shove my phone inside a pocket of my jacket. Grabbing my helmet, I put it on then start up my engine. Tess, where the fuck are you? I curse again before I take off toward the café.

Lu’s car is parked not far from the café. I park my bike behind her, and she gets out of her car and walks toward me.

Once I take off my helmet, she smiles. “She texted me, she’s okay.”

Relief fills me and I run my hand through my hair. “So, where is she?”

Lu shrugs. “She wouldn’t say, just that she’s okay but not feeling the best.”

“Not feeling the best? Where the fuck would she go, if she’s not at the club?” I’m happy that Lu heard from Tess, but the whole disappearing thing still doesn’t make any sense and is sitting heavy in my gut.

Luisa shrugs again. “If it’s any consolation, she said she’ll call me later.”

I bang my helmet on my handlebars. “Fuck!” Luisa steps back at that, a flicker of terror in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Lu, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She steps back toward me and places her hand on mine. “I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but fix it, Blaze, find our girl. She was off today.”

I inhale deeply and drop my gaze to the ground. “Yeah, seems we’re both havin’ a bad day.”

“What do you mean?”

Her voice is gentle, encouraging me to open up, and without thinking, I blurt out, “I asked her to marry me, Lu.”

Luisa smiles widely and leans in, hugging me and causing me to let go of my helmet. I hug her back, then she shoots her head up and back, her eyes narrowing as she looks at me. “Wait. If you asked her to marry you, why didn’t she tell me? Why are we not celebrating right now?”

I laugh bitterly, then sigh. Luisa lets go of me and tilts her head to one side. “She said yes, right?” I don’t reply. I can’t lie. “Blaze? She’s gotta say yes.”

“Yeah, well. That’s what I said.”

Luisa gasps then covers her mouth with her hand. She slowly removes it after a few moments, her disbelief coming through when she hesitantly asks, “She said no?”

“Yup, seems like she doesn’t want to marry me.” I shrug my shoulders, trying to act nonchalant when it still feels like I’ve been kicked in the gut every time I think about it.

Shaking her head, she says, “No, she loves you! Of course she’d want to marry you.”

“I guess not.” I explain further, “It’s the second time I’ve asked her to marry me, Lu. A guy takes the hint after the second time.”

Moisture fills her eyes. “Oh, Blaze. I’m so sorry.”

She leans in and hugs me again, and after a brief moment I grasp her arms and pull her back. “It’s okay, I guess she just doesn’t love me enough,” I mumble, defeat leeching into my voice.

A hard slap lands on my shoulder and I cover the sting with my hand. “What was that for?”

“Because, dummy, she loves you. Of course you’re enough.” I can almost hear the eye roll in Lu’s voice, but she’s looking at me with a gentleness that threatens to unravel me.

“Yeah, well, I mustn’t be, because there’s only so much rejection a man can take.”

She places her hands on her hips, and the eye roll manifests this time. “Blaze, when Hawke asked me to marry him, of course I had doubts—but, I knew deep in my heart that he was it for me. Maybe Tess just needs time.”

I frown. “You think? Even though it’s been a year since I asked her the first time? How much more time does she need?”

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