Page 48 of The Vows We Keep
Catalina removes her helmet. “He did. Now you have something to hold over me. Now you have to trust me.”
Bates stands and jiggles his legs like he always does to help his jeans fall back into place. “I don’t have to trust you for shit. The only person I care about in this room is the man standing next to you. And he just fucked up.” Bates turns to look at me. “King will have your ass for this. Remember our deal.”
Bates will have my back. He’ll cover me when I’m on a tear. He’ll stand by my side and help me make shit right. But he won’t lie to our president or any of the brothers for me.
“You’ve got twenty-four hours to tell him, or I will.” Bates moves to the door. “She could be the greatest thing that ever happened to you, or she could be your end. If it’s the former, I’ll be happy as fuck for you. If it’s the latter, I’ll kill her myself. But be careful, brother.”
The door slams shut before I can answer.
Not that I have a response for him.
I’ve seen what happens in the club when the guys hook up with their old ladies. Clutch dating King’s sister caused the two of them to fall out. Spark fucking Iris put the whole club on edge because of her connection to the Irish mob, and it also came between Spark and Saint. Saint and Briar were their own kind of special sauce. But King nearly destroyed the club for Saint’s sister Rae.
Old ladies cause shit between friends.
And I think Catalina is getting between Bates and me.
Am I being too impulsive with her?
“It might be easier if I just go,” Catalina says.
“Why?” I turn to face her. She’s slipped out of my jacket and her own.
“Whywhat?”
“Why should you leave?”
She points to the door. “Because of that. Because you’ll be in shit with your club. Because this clearly isn’t helping like I thought it would’ve. I thought your club might be different. But I guess I should have remembered my place.”
The fact she cares about the impact on me ... burns. I feel heat in my sternum. Her first thought was what it will mean for me. And I’m not used to being anyone’s first thought.
“Not gonna lie, Cat. I’ve got demons that hide deep, but I always stand with my choices. Never make excuses. And I won’t do that here ... with you or with my president. I would have done this mission with Bates. But I wanted to do it with you. I wanted to see how far you’d go. I wanted to test your resolve because I’ve never met a woman quite like you. So don’t bail on this. On us. Yet.”
She shakes her head. “Do you know how wild this is?”
Jesus, do I.
“Babe, I’m antisocial, abrasive, often compulsive, and very effective in self-destruction. I’m used to wild. This? You and me? It goes way beyond the definition of wild. But I’m here for the ride. Are you?”
Those eyes of hers hold mine, as if she’s trying to tell me everything she’s feeling in just one look. I step to her, waiting for her to put words to them.
“I shouldn’t.”
I rub my thumb over her lower lip. Softly first, then more firmly the second time. The tip of her tongue grazes the pad of my thumb. “I’m not asking what you should and shouldn’t do. I am asking what you want ... What your heart wants. What that pussy of yours wants.”
“And what about my brain?”
I shrug. “Thinking is seriously overrated. Feeling wins out over time.”
“I’m not usually reckless.”
“That’s good, because I’m reckless enough for both of us.”
The corners of her lips twitch into the start of a smile. “You aren’t making it easy to be sensible.”
“Meh. Definesensible. Sensible is run by those boring fucks who work a nine-to-five, which is more like a seven-to-seven. They get on the hamster wheel, same routine every day. They open their laptops and attend meetings they don’t want to be at, where they have to mask who they are. They have to smile at the asshole across the desk or screen and pretend that person isn’t the most irritating fuck they’ve ever met. Sensible leads you to counting macros and cutting carbs and not drinking. It leads you to marrying the person who compliments you every now and then and staying together, even though your body yearns to be devoured and worshipped and fucked raw by a person who is most definitelynotsensible.
“Don’t be sensible, Catalina. Not with me. I want the part of you that’s trying to push your ribs apart right now so she can burst free. I want the part of you that wants to strip right here and let me fuck you out of existence on this floor. I want the part of you that knows you are better than any club brother. I want the part of you that will scrape and claw and fight to shape a life you want more than anything else. No matter the cost or who gets in the way. Give her to me, Cat, because I’m really fucking hungry for her.”
