Page 75 of Cold Hard Truth

I should. I haven’t touched another woman since Lyla came back. I’m wound up and pissed off, and sticking my dick in some patch bunny would prove to Lyla I’m not the man she remembers.

But one look at Brandi, and I know there’s no point. I’ve always belonged to one girl, and now that she’s back, I’m not fucking it up again.

24

Lyla

Hopping off Sage’s bikebrings the air back to my lungs. It’s impossible to breathe around him when every inhale has me wanting more. And it’s something Kane’s clearly noticed given what he did back at the clubhouse just now.

I know how my dad works. He invited that random girl to hang out with Sage to try and prove a point to me. He wanted to irritate me and remind me exactly how Sage is with women.

As if I don’t already know.

I’ve heard the stories. And yes, it bothers me. But I’m the one who walked away from him. I didn’t expect him to sit around and not have a life just because I was gone.

I’m sure Kane hoped Sage would take him up on his offer. That if he dangled enough temptation in front of him it would keep him from touching me. But that would require Sage to be interested in doing it.

He didn’t. And the reason I know that isn’t because I didn’t smell a hint of her on him as I rode on the back of his motorcycle. It’s because I knowhim. I feel the truth in my bones.

Sage won’t do that.

He’s resisting us right now, just like he did when we were younger. But he’s not a pathetic waste of space like my father. And it doesn’t matter what Sage did with however many women while I was gone. When we’re around each other, we’re destiny.

He’s mine and I’m his.

“That was interesting.” I walk up the steps ahead of him, glancing over my shoulder.

“Everything go okay with Kane?”

“I guess.” I shrug. “He wanted to make sure you were keeping your paws off me.”

“My paws?”

“Paws, claws. Same difference.” I turn to face ahead again when his amusement forces a smile to my cheeks.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“And you love it.”

He doesn’t respond to that, but he doesn’t argue either, so I take the little win.

Pausing at the top of the steps, there’s not much space for him to maneuver his key to the door, which forces his body to press against my back.

He still smells like gasoline from the motorcycle ride. And his body heat has my skin tingling.

Sage unlocks the door and pushes it open.

I want to spin in his arms and grab him—remember how it feels to actually trust someone. But laughter from inside Sage’s apartment has me stepping forward instead.

Mason’s leaning against the island, sipping a beer. And a dark-haired girl is propped up on the counter, laughing at whatever he just said. It takes me a moment to place her, and my heart might as well stop in my chest once I do.

“Reed?”

Her brown eyes flit in my direction. “Lyla.”

Sage’s sister hops off the counter and runs over to me, wrapping me in a big hug. Reed, Ellie, and I were inseparable, and the fact that there are only two of us now has my heart tightening in my chest.

“I can’t believe you’re here.” She pulls back, smiling at me. “It’s been so long.”

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