Page 32 of Laying it Bare Biker Style - Grayson

“Every one of my patients has to sit on here.” Her fingers lightly prodded and probed before she cleaned out the gash. “No fragments and you probably only need a few stitches.” Efficiently and effortlessly, she numbed the area and added a few stitches. The entire process didn’t take long at all. “I don’t like seeing you guys hurt at all, but I know it comes with the territory. But I’m always thankful when it is something really minor. You remember the recommendations for showering with stitches, right? Not for at least twelve hours and then don’t let it get soaked. It will only be for a few days. I can remove the stitches in four days.”

She twisted and reached up into a cabinet to get ointment and a bandage.

“Can you give me a waterproof bandage or something? I want to shower tonight. I’ll be sharing my bed with a beautiful girl tonight and I feel really grungy after our incident today.”

Turning around, she raised an eyebrow at me. “I don’t think the skanks you take to bed will mind if you don’t shower. She probably wouldn’t even notice.”

It was my turn to raise my brow at her.

She shrugged. “I don’t hear you denying it.”

“Your comment is true, but I’m not taking a skank to bed. I actually have a girlfriend now. Cop’s daughter and nowhere near a skank.”

“I’m happy for you. First Ryder, now you. I’m impressed. That’s great.” She paused and her expression grew thoughtful. “Not Chief Nolan’s daughter?”

“The one and only.”

She blew out a low whistle. “Well you must be in love to venture into that. Great girl. I met her once at Community Days. She stopped by my booth and gave a really nice donation. She’s really friendly and has a beautiful heart. But he’s a hard man. Especially after he lost his wife. I can’t imagine he’s too thrilled about the two of you.”

My brain was still processing her words about love and it took me a long minute to respond. Did I love Brooke? The thought didn’t freak me out and when I considered how she made me feel, how much I wanted her in my life, and how insane I grew when she was in danger, it made sense that the answer was yes. I loved Brooke. But I wasn’t about to dive into that little revelation here. “He hates me. Although hate might not be a strong enough word to describe the contempt he feels for me. But I’ll figure something out. I don’t plan on letting her go.” I was sure Doc picked up on the words I wasn’t saying. And I was relieved when she didn’t comment.

Instead, she twisted once again to grab different bandages out of her cabinet. Then she covered my wound. “You can shower tonight. I agree. I don’t want you offending your girlfriend either. I’m sure she will appreciate your dedication to hygiene.” Her lips curled into a teasing grin. “Good luck. But I think he will eventually see that you’re a pretty great guy. I’m assuming I still don’t need to give you after care instructions.”

“Nope. I’ve had enough injuries I know the drill. And I’ll come back in if it gets infected before I need the stitches removed.”

“You mean you’ll actually return to have me take them out?”

“Maybe.” I gave her my own teasing smirk. “I don’t want to keep you any longer. Thanks for squeezing me in. Hope I don’t see you for a while.”

“Likewise, Grayson. You can see yourself out.” With that, she slipped out the door.

I immediately followed and walked down the hallway to the rear entrance and on out to my bike. Stopping at a little café, I grabbed a quick sandwich and drink before continuing to the garage. And less than fifteen minutes later, I was back under the hood of the car I had been working on earlier. Thankfully, no more interruptions and I was able to finish the car and get out of work on time. During my ride home, I spun the concept of loving Brooke around in my head.Should I tell her tonight? Did I just blurt it out? Fuck, I was new at this. Maybe I’d just wait for the perfect moment and hope I recognized it.

When I pulled in at my house, Brooke’s Civic was parked in the driveway, so I maneuvered around her car and into the garage. Stepping in through the side door, I entered the kitchen.

Brooke had been sitting on the couch, but leapt from her seat like the cushion had caught on fire the moment her eyes landed on me. Rushing into the kitchen, she stopped in front of me and peered at the bandage on my arm. “So you got it all taken care of? Is it okay? Does it hurt when you move your arm?”

“Princess, unfortunately this isn’t my first injury or even first bullet wound and it won’t be my last.” I released a disheartened sigh. Maybe her dad was right. I mentally shook my head. No, he wasn’t. We kept the girls out of club business. Sage was a unique case. And she wasn’tinclub business; she was targeted because of her unintentional involvement with one years ago. “But I’m okay. And I don’t want you to worry every time there is an incident. It’ll make you crazy. And I know Sage will have similar emotions as well each time we have club business to take care of. But I am always careful and I will always keep you safe.”

“I know you will. I’m not concerned about that.” She raised a brow at me. “You’re allowed to worry about me, but I can’t worry about you?”

“Yup.” I popped the p at the end of the word.

“Well, I’m going to worry about you too. And you can’t stop me. I dare you to try, big bad biker dude.” She threw her hands onto her hips.

“Fiesty, just how I love you.” I was deliberate with my words and waited a few beats for them to sink in.

One, two, three, four . . .

Her eyes widened. “Wait. Do you mean what I think you mean?”

“That I love you? Yes.”

Her lips curled into a stunning smile. “I love you too, Grayson.”

“So you think big bad biker dudes can’t fall in love?” I teased.

“I don’t believe that for a second. I can not only see it between Sage and Ryder, but I can feel it too; it’s incredibly strong. And I knew you were capable of it too. I knew you cared a lot about me. I just didn’t think you’d want the hassle because of my dad.”

---