Page 6 of Cougar

Fuck, this dude is skinny.

The tiniest legs are rolling toward me. When he sits up, I quickly learn he isn’t a he at all.

I feel like I’ve been punched in the chest. She hasn’t seen me yet. She’s too busy getting herself up and is already angled toward Storm. Her smile is even more vibrant in the daylight. My heart is pounding, and my hands are starting to sweat. She’s here. In my shop. Working. She works here. Fucking thank you, fate.

“Should my feelings be hurt that this Cougar guy didn’t want….”

She turns toward me, and her smile gets bigger when her eyes meet mine. Before I can say a word, she runs and jumps onto me. Her legs wrap around my waist, and my hands instinctively cup her ass. Her hands are around my head, and her lips crash onto mine.

The kiss is ferocious and perfect. I thought I had lost my chance of being with her. The woman I would marry right now. The only one I have ever wanted to make mine. I grip her hair tightly as I hold her face to mine. I don’t want to separate from her ever again. We can stay just like this. Right? There’s no reason ever to pull apart.

But she does. She smiles at me, “You found me.”

“To be honest, I didn’t think I’d find you here, but I’m fucking glad I did.”

“Same,” she says before her lips are on mine again. Only this time, the bliss I feel doesn’t get to last. A throat clears, and it’s then that I notice that the music is off and the garage is quiet. Not a single noise.

Well, shit.

“AJ, Birdie, we might need to talk to the guys,” I tell her.

“Yeah. We, uh. Yeah. Yeah.” she agrees.

She turns her head away from me, and I can tell she’s nervous. What the hell is going on?

“So. Someone want to explain to me what the fuck is going on?” Storm asks. AJ looks back at me, I give her a quick kiss on her forehead, and she unwraps her legs from my waist. With her feet firmly planted on the ground, we angle ourselves and face my brothers.

“We met before.”

“I’d fucking hope so, considering she mounted your ass.” Gears says, and everyone chuckles.

“Ya, we met, and I saw my whole future flash before my eyes. So she’s mine.” I pull her in again, closer this time.

“Please tell me you didn’t say that to her?” Storm groans.

“Great, a-fucking-nother one.” Gears mumbles simultaneously as Storm asks me about what I said.

“He did,” Birdie looks up at me with stars in her eyes and a hint of mischief. “Before he even told me his name or asked mine.”

“Are you claiming her?” Storm asks. His smile looks like he knows something I don’t.

I look at AJ and smile. I want to claim her more than anything, but she needs to agree to be my Ol’ Lady. Which isn’t something we’ve talked about. Fuck, we haven’t talked about much of anything, if I’m being honest.

“I’m trusting fate with this, John.”

Looking into her eyes, I can tell this is a big deal for her. She doesn’t seem like one to jump in head first and give away her whole heart. It’s not going to stop me from earning her heart every single day. She can agree to be mine. She can allow me to claim her, but I am going to make sure that I’ve earned that right.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fucking claiming her.”

The guys hoot and holler, and after giving AJ a quick kiss, I look back at them. The look on Storms’s face has me worried. I’m missing something. I want to go over and ask him what the fuck he’s hiding when AJ clears her throat, “Listen. I need to talk to you about a couple of things.”

“Yeah, of course. Do you wanna—”

I’m cut off by the sound of an engine pulling up in front of the bays. We all turn our heads and find Butcher walking toward us.

“Hey, Butcher! Come meet Cougar’s Ol’ Lady!” Storm shouts out with—in my opinion—too much enthusiasm.

“No shit? Fuck yeah, man,” he comes up to Storm and looks at me, “Where is she? She head to the bathroom or something?”

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