Page 20 of Keys

I was shocked into silence for a few minutes while I contemplated her question. For a minute, I thought maybe I’d imagined those words. Hell, I know I’d imagined them several times in the past, only this time, they actually seemed real.

“Unless you no longer want to,” she tacked on hesitantly as I continued to stare while at a loss for words.

“Sorry, I was trying to decide if I was just imagining you saying that again, or if it was real this time.” Her laughter dimmed in comparison to those eyes of hers that offered up a bit of understanding. She had denied anything more between us so vehemently, it almost felt like a trick that she had changed her tune.

The woman I’d become so enamored with sighed as I continued to stare and wait for the other shoe to drop. “I get it. I’ve been a bit of a bitch about things. I would probably be less than trusting if I were in your shoes too. I’m tired of fighting it though. Tired of fighting my feelings whenever you’re around, tired of hiding from any potential future I might have where I don’t end up a lonely old cat lady. I’m just tired, Wallace. I want to be normal, and maybe this is the best shot I have at that since you already get me on some level. You understand my need to know everything because you’re the same.”

“I’m not sure that’s a ringing endorsement for wanting to start a relationship with me, but I’ll take it.”

“I do have one concession.” I nodded my head as an indication that she should continue. “Can we keep it just between us for now?”

My heart felt as though it sank inside my chest, so deep that I’d never feel the damn thing beat again. “Let me get this straight,” I said after catching her eyes and holding them with my own. “You want to try for a relationship with me, but you want to keep it a secret?”

“Not forever,” she explained quickly. “Just for now, while we adjust to things.”

I narrowed my gaze on her and took a moment to think things through. “You want to keep this secret from who, exactly?”

She glanced around as if looking for people who might be sitting back and taking notes of our encounter. “Pretty much everyone.”

My eyebrows rose damn near to my hairline. “Seriously?”

She nodded, though at least the gesture made her look a little bit unsure of what she was demanding of me. “What if someone comes right out and asks about what we’re doing? Am I just supposed to say that we’re fucking and nothing else? It’s not like they didn’t already know that much.”

“I guess, that would be the easiest.” She slipped her hands into her lap where she nervously fidgeted even as she tried to keep her movements out of sight. “I’m not saying we’ll stay secret forever. I just need some adjustment time without both of our clubs being up our asses about what our relationship might mean for them too.”

Keys kind of had a point there. With Angel Girl and Sweet both being President of their respective chapters of their MCs, people had already speculated that we might somehow merge the clubs there in Georgia. With something maybe going down between Tash and Spike, and then if you add Keys and me to the mix, that would be like pouring gasoline on the already lit speculation fire.

“I think I get where you’re coming from with that.” It took a while, but I finally came to the same conclusion she did. “I have to insist on a time limit though.”

Keys seemed as though she was about to argue, but I jumped in before she could get a word in edgewise. “I don’t want our secret to be the crutch you use to keep from moving forward with a relationship with me. If that’s how you want to do things while we adjust and figure out how to tell people without them freaking out about the future of the clubs, then we will. I won’t hide it forever though. I won’t even hide it past a month.”

“A month? That’s not long.”

“Nope, it’s not. It’s just long enough to make sure that we both want to move forward with one another before we tell everyone. It’s just short enough that you won’t get comfortable living that secret life. From what you just told me of your family, I can’t believe you would ever be down for a secret relationship anyway.”

I saw the truth of my words settle in the weight that pulled her shoulders down. “You’re right. A month it is. We’ll take the time to get to know one another better and decide if we’re on the right path together.”

“Oh, we’re on the right path, honey.” I winked at her as I popped a wing in my mouth and chewed.

Keys wrinkled her nose at me. “Why on earth you ordered boneless wings is beyond me. If you wanted chicken nuggets, we could have gone to McDonalds or something.”

I laughed as I popped another one in my mouth and chewed vigorously while she took her time gnawing around bones. “I get more meat out of mine while you have to work to get that tiny bit off those bones you like so much.” I thought about it a moment and then decided teasing her wasn’t out of the question. “Should have known though, you seem to enjoy making life’s simple pleasures harder than they need to be.”

She threw her wing at me, sauce and all. It splattered on my cheek and slid down my face to plop right in my lap. Luckily, my kutte avoided the brunt of her attack. “I’ll make sure you pay for that later, Sarah.”

“I told you not to call me that.”

“Well, I thought it went without saying that you shouldn’t throw food at me. You know what this means?” She shrugged her shoulders but couldn’t hide the smirk that tipped her lips up at the corners. “It means we can’t always get what we want. I’ll learn to understand your enjoyment in making a meal difficult, and you my sweet, will learn to love your name when it sits on my lips.”

The tiny gasp she made was the only outward sign that what I said made an impact. It was good enough for me. I imagined that the way she hated me using her name had something to do with her despicable family, but I wanted to change that for her. It seemed like Keys had already lost enough to the family who always put her last or didn’t want her at all. Some people really shouldn’t have children, and while that was true and she had suffered for it with her parents, I was so fucking thankful that this woman was here in front of me.

“So, about our next date,” I said.

Keys chuckled as she stopped me there. “This wasn’t a date. It was two friends having lunch and discussing things.”

“So, a date then. About the next one,” I pushed.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “What about it?”

---