Page 55 of Hollywood

I reached for her, desperate to have her close to me but pain tore through my right arm. “Dammit.”

Winter stopped the kiss and pulled back slowly. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Gimme one more kiss for good luck.”

She leaned in and kissed me again, slower but so fucking hot beads of sweat popped up along my hairline. “Better?”

“Fucking perfect.”

A knock sounded on the door before it opened, not that either of us were paying any attention to that until a throat cleared. It was my best friend, and he looked less than happy about his daughter kissing me.

“Win, hey.”

“Hey,” he grunted and folded his arms as his gaze bounced between me and Winter. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got shot three times. There’s some pain but I’m alive.”

“Thank goodness for that.” Winter ran her fingers through my hair, and she didn’t even wince even though I was two days past needing a thorough washing. “I’ll let you talk.” She kissed my forehead and left the room without looking back at Winston.

He waited until she was gone to dial up his angry glare, complete with folded arms. “Do you love my daughter?”

“Yeah, Winston, I do love her. You know I wouldn’t risk our friendship for anything but the real fucking thing.”

“So this isn’t just sex?” He shuddered. “I hate that I said that sentence out loud.”

We shared a laugh. “It’s more than sex, Winston. I thought I was long past love and all that sappy shit until you asked me to look after Winter. She treats me like I’m just a guy and when she looks at me, she sees me. Not just the biker or the ex-con, but me.” It was a hell of a feeling and one I’d do anything to hang onto.

Winston was quiet for a long time, his blank stare studied me for even longer. “Good. Yeah, that’s really good to hear. I love you like a brother Greg but if you hurt my little girl, I’ll pick up a gun for a second time. Got it?”

“Yeah, loud and clear. And I wouldn’t expect anything less, Win.” I tried to adjust myself in the bed, but it was difficult. “You’re the best man I know Winston and I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you what was happening, but I can’t lose you man. You’re my brother.”

“Not if you’re sleeping with my daughter. That’s illegal in Nevada.”

A loud laugh barked out of me and pain shot through my entire upper torso. “Funny. And painful. Look Win, I owe you a lifetime of thanks for saving my life. Thank you so fucking much.”

“Of course. I was happy to know that I could come through for you the way you’ve always come through for me.”

“Always will. It’s what we do.”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “But you don’t need my help with your homework anymore.”

“True enough. But now that I’m back maybe we can just meet up regularly for a beer and a burger?”

“Sounds good. Really good, actually.”

“Then we’re good?”

He nodded. “Of course we are. We’re family, man. We’ll always be good.”

Always. I was starting to like that word a lot. Hell, I was starting to believe it was possible.

Chapter Epilogue

Winter

Six months later

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Gio stood in front of me with his arms folded and one brow quirked into a high arch. “Like really, really sure?”

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