Page 32 of Flirt

“Love you, too, Tori.”

I hit the button and disconnected. After a brief mental shake, I realized Tori was right, and I had nothing to lose. When Max and I meet up next week, I would lay it all out. It would either work or not. I’d face whatever happened.

Chapter Thirteen

Flirt

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The wind that hit mewhile I made my way to the hospital held the bite of winter. With the official day of Spring still a couple months away, any break in the weather that allowed me to take my bike out was more than worth the cold air.

Slowing, I turned into the hospital parking lot. Once I found an open spot for my bike, I parked and made my way to the entrance. Shortly, the newest members of Black Hawk would be making their appearance if they hadn’t already.

As I rode the elevator to the maternity floor, I grinned, thinking not only of the call from Coast about Sami and Luna being in labor, which I received before I had reached the entrance to Whispering Nights. It was the text that came in as I sat on my bike for the return trip home, typing my own text.

Unable to meet with u tonight. I will explain later. G— had pinged my phone before I had finished mine. I deleted what I had already written, then retyped a reply and hit send,Hope everything is alright. See u soon.And wouldn’t she be surprised?

I was looking forward to seeing her since we hadn’t been together since before Christmas. She and Sawyer had gone to Las Vegas to celebrate Christmas and New Year with her family. When she got home, it was back to work, and this was the first time in the New Year we had a chance to be together.

Even though I missed and wanted to see her, there were many different ways to do it without getting her upset. And she would be upset. I hadn’t planned for it to happen that way today, but there was nothing I could do.

The elevator stopped, and I stepped out. After looking at the sign on the wall with the arrow pointing in the direction to the waiting area, I headed down the hallway. I felt refreshed, happy, and content. The previous feeling of being out of sorts had long passed and was a distant memory as far as I was concerned. I chalked the brief period of doubt to the fact my best friends and brothers had each found women who fit them, which left me wondering if there was a woman made for me. And I was finally ready to admit, I had found her months ago. Admitting everything to my dad had helped bring it all into perspective.

I could admit now that I had felt left behind as they started a different chapter in their lives while my life felt as if it was at a standstill. At least until the last several months. Knowing it was in my head and not remotely true, I had come to the conclusion it had nothing to do with loneliness and everything to do with envy. I wanted a connection with a woman as they each had.

I felt it with Gabriella the moment I met her. There were just things we were going to have to work on before she was totally mine. First up—trust. Oh, she trusted me as a dominant to her submissive in regards to what took place between us at Whispering Nights. She didn’t trust me with anything outside of the club that didn’t revolve around our sexual encounters. Even the time we had spent together outside the club, she held back, only giving basic answers to questions about her life. If she only knew how out of character it was for me to take a woman on a date or spend time with one outside of sex.

Though she’d shared her body with me a couple times a month, the only personal information she divulged was being a single mom with a little girl and generic information about her family. I had already deduced she had had a child from a couple faint stretch marks marring the skin between her hipbones.

It wasn’t just Gabriella’s silence when it came to personal information. When I had first met her, I had no idea she lived in Shades Valley until I met Sawyer, her daughter, at Coast’s house. The little girl’s eyes were the same deep brown as her mother’s. The resemblance between the two didn’t stop there. They shared the same facial bone structure and the rich brown coloring of their hair.

For months, I kept the knowledge of Gabriella to myself and made sure I held parts of my life from her. Going as far as to stay scarce when she was anywhere in the same area as me. Which was the opposite of how I was with her daughter. If she was at Sami and Speed’s house, I found myself drawn there. I enjoyed being around Sawyer. It had nothing to do with her being Gabriella’s daughter and everything to do with I had fallen for a little girl, who was smart, funny, bold, and at times a little shy. I wondered more than once what traits came from her father. Sawyer’s dad, yet another subject Gabriella never talked about.

She would be upset when everything was said and done, but I wouldn’t allow her to stay mad at me for too long. I couldn’t. She was mine, and I was at the end of waiting for her to accept me. I had fallen for her fast, and it was time she caught up. I needed her to.

I walked into the waiting room on the delivery floor and looked around. My brothers were there with their women and kids. Ally sat between Crusher and Carly, her legs swinging back and forth as she shifted in the chair.

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