Page 20 of Raze

“I don’t know what I want, all I do know is that I can’t stick around here too much longer.”

“Not yet, you gotta promise me that you won’t leave yet. Let me earn the cut then we’ll leave together. You know Davey’s always talking about what Jimmer’s doing out in Colorado. He’d always find a place for you at his table, you and him are practically family.”

“Don’t run before you can walk, Aaron. I’m sure your dad’s got plans for you.”

“That’s what scares me,” he admits, lowering his head back to the empty pool.

I look up when I see a young girl step through the archway that leads into the yard from the parking lot. I can’t recall ever seeing her here before and she’s looking around the place like she’s unfamiliar with it.

“You lookin’ for someone, darlin’?” I call across the pool at her.

“Shit, she’s pretty,” Aaron says under his breath, and when he turns a shade of pink I clip him around the back of the head for being so soft.

“Yeah, I’m looking for Vernon Anderson, I hear that some people call him Vex.”

“I know Vex.” I stand up suddenly wondering who this young girl is, and what her business with my father could be. She can’t be any older than Aaron. “He ain’t been seen here in a long while though,” I add looking her over suspiciously.

“Oh, I was just…”

“You want me to pass on a message?” Aaron stands up beside me looking eager to help.

“Sure.” The girl smiles at him shyly. “Could you tell him that his daughter stopped by?”

I don’t know why I keep letting old memories into my thoughts, I don’t know what I was thinking coming back here. And I don’t know what the fuck just went through my head when I kissed that girl. I don’t do spontaneous things, I’m always in control, but there’s something about Peyton that makes me feel all out of it. I’ve got no business kissing her. She’s far too young for me, clearly free-spirited and I’ve got responsibilities here that I can’t get sidetracked from. Have I learned nothing from the past?

“Raze.” When her soft voice comes from behind me, I don’t turn my head, I keep staring at the water, willing for her to go away, but at the same time wanting her to stay close. Eventually, she moves forward, sitting beside me and looking out at the same scene that I am. What is it about her that makes me wanna climb inside her head and read all her thoughts? Why is resisting the urge to look at her so damn fuckin’ hard?

“I love the ocean, there’s something so magical and undiscovered about it.” I want to turn and look at her, see how her face looks with the moonlight shining on it but I manage to keep focusing ahead of me.

“Do you ever–”

“I shouldn’t have kissed ya.” I blurt the words out and interrupt her, needing to draw a line under what just happened. Having her stay with me was a terrible idea, especially when there are rooms in the motel she could use. Up until now, I’ve convinced myself that I was letting her stay because of the guilt I felt for letting down my sister, but I’m realizing with every second that passes that it’s more than that. I know it because all I can think about is killing that man who hurt her, and kissing her again.

“I liked it.” She nudges me playfully with her shoulder, and despite the fact I’m raging at myself I can’t stop my mouth from twitching into a smile.

“It don’t matter whether you liked it or not. I shouldn’t have done it.” I fist my hands and try to cling to some self-control. This girl doesn’t make it easy.

“And why not?” She stands up tall and positions herself in front of me, blocking my view and forcing me to look up at her. My eyes, of course, get distracted by the long perfect legs, and the hips I want to smash my cock all the way into.

“Because, Peyton, I’m old enough to be your father, and to answer your earlier question. No, I didn’t kill someone tonight, but I did condemn a man to death. I ain’t a good person,” I explain, watching her frown back at me.

“And you think I am? You don’t know me, Raze.” She shakes her head and laughs at me bitterly.

“I don’t, but I do know myself, and I'm tellin’ ya, I ain’t good for ya. I think you should move into the motel. I’ll get one of the girls to fix you up a room on the second floor, away from the…” I stop myself from saying the word because I can’t even bear to think about her being like the other girls that hang out here.

“No!” She shakes her head looking devastated. “I don’t want to stay at the motel. I like the hut.”

“You like the hut?” Now it’s me that’s laughing. “No TV, no internet, you can barely swing a cat in the place and you have to shower outside,” I remind her.

“I like it because you're there,” she admits, staring me deep in the eyes, and making a heat spread through my chest that I promised myself I’d never allow myself to feel again.

“Listen, darlin’, I ain’t nobody’s hero, I said you could stay here and hide out, but that doesn’t make this a safe place for you to be. I’m here to try and fix this place up and I gotta lot of work to do. I can’t have any distractions.”

“So I’m a distraction?” She flashes me a pretty little smile that makes my dick fuckin’ twitch.

“Yeah, you’re a fuckin’ distraction and I need you to help me do the right thing here.”

“And there was me thinking you biker boys were all about doing the wrong things.” She steps so close to me that our toes are almost touching and her denim-covered pussy is right in my face. I wanna snatch the cute, little shorts off her hips and taste between her legs, but I somehow manage to look up at her.

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