Page 51 of Redeeming Rabbit

“To… watch Kaos get his Boy Scout patch?” Hadn’t that been established? Where was she going with this?

“Okay, good, but could it be at least a little to see Rabbit, too?”

I rolled my eyes, covering the stab of his name to my heart.

“Seriously, I have never, ever seen you get choked up over a guy. What is it about him?”

Since it would do no good to dispute her claim, I gave her question serious consideration. “It doesn’t matter. He hasn’t returned my texts.”

“Your two texts.Two. In how many weeks?”

I shrugged, unable to see her point. I had reached out. He hadn’t reached back. End of story.

She studied me a moment longer. “Morse said Rabbit thinks you’re too good for him.”

I stared at her. “Morse, the technician who works with Tap?”

She nodded. “That’s the one. The bikers gossip like you wouldn’t believe. And they’re all hoping you’ll give Rabbit a chance. Well, as long as you don’t hurt him. The consensus is that he’s a good guy who deserves to be happy. And you make him less of a miserable bastard, so they’re pulling for the two of you to work your shit out.”

“Are you aware you’ve developed the vernacular of a biker?”

She grinned. “Absolutely. I’ve been working on it.”

“That’s weird. You know that, right? This whole thing is bizarre. You and Kaos. Rabbit professing his love for me. Me feeling like something vital has been missing since the moment he walked out my door. None of it makes sense.”

I tried to ignore how her eyes softened because it made mine sting again.

“That’s love, El. It’s only weird because you’ve never experienced it before.”

18

Rabbit

Istood in the back of the church hall, the room we used for mandatory club meetings, and watched as Kaos was officially patched in as a member of the Dead Presidents MC. I was happy for my new brother. He was a solid dude, born to be a Boy Scout.

Boy Scouts on Bikes,Elenore’s voice whispered in my ear.

Yearning hit me like a goddamn lightning bolt, practically driving me to my knees. I couldn’t seem to go five minutes without thinking about her, and every memory fucking hurt. But I must have been a masochist because I craved the pain. Hell, I even went out of my way to ensure I suffered. I’d even watched the ridiculous movie she’d nicknamed me for.

According to Elenore, I didn’t know her well enough to love her, but I wasn’t buying that bullshit. My days had been straight-up miserable without her. If that wasn’t love, I didn’t know the meaning of the word. Take tonight, for example. I was at a party with the best bastards I knew. I should be getting plastered and celebrating the addition of my new brother. Instead, I was moping by the door, waiting for the opportunity to pat Kaos on the back so I could make my escape.

What I didn’t expect was for him to drop his voice so only I could hear him say, “Good luck tonight. I hope shit works out for you, man.”

Before I could ask what the fuck he was talking about, I got jostled out the door. Morse tugged me away from the crowd and turned to face me with the impatience of a three-pack-a-day smoker waiting for delivery. I hadn’t exactly been at the top of my game for the past few weeks, but I wasn’t out here dropping balls.

“What?” I asked, annoyed that he couldn’t tell me what he wanted without the dramatics.

“What do you mean,what? I told you I had a fuckin’ plan.”

Great. The asshole was being cryptic again. “And did you happen to finally share your supposedly brilliant plan with me?”

“Yes. I texted you today. Right before you got off work.”

“Phone’s dead.” Which was rapidly becoming the norm for my cell. Whenever the thing had so much as a bar of power, I used it to look at pictures of Elenore on the internet. Or to watch the videos Morse had sent me links to of the night she’d partied at the club. It had been almost a month since I’d seen her, and I kept waiting for the yearning to recede, but every day, staying away from her sucked a little more.

I’d been surviving until Morse had shown me those goddamn videos. How was I supposed to leave her alone, with that image of her smiling at me like I was something special? Every sexy inch of her had lit up with the smile she’d directed at me. I’d made her happy. She might never love me, but at least I had that. Would it be enough to encourage her to give us a shot?

Morse narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you drunk again? Jesus, Rabbit, I told you to stay sober tonight.”

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