Page 23 of Manny

Okay, I’ll take the bait. “Wrong about what?”

“About you not bein’ property. You belong to the club, by association, so you’re club property.”

“I’m no such thing!”

He makes a sarcastic chuckle in his throat. It’s arrogant and I want to punch him in the face. Damn asshole. “That’s how it works,Lacey.”He turns to glance at me. “And if we fuck, then you will belong to me because you won’t be wantin’ any other dick after you’re done beggin’ me for mine and I’ve wrecked you.”

My mouth drops open. He did not just say that. “You arrogant fuck.”

“I’m an honest fuck, and a good one.”

“You know what,Jonah?I don’t want to fuck you. I wouldn’t do that if you were the last man on earth.”

He snorts. “Yeah, right.”

“Don’t you just have the biggest ego right now?” I toss back. “Here I was thinking you were just being a decent human being and not treating me like every other asshole I’ve ever been with, and there you go telling me I’m property.”

My words seem to snap some reaction into him other than sarcasm. His face changes as his brows knit together. “I didn’t mean it like that. But that’s how the club works.”

I look out the window. “I know that. I’m not an idiot.”

His next works shock me. “Did someone hurt you?” Wow. He sounds exactly like Manny right now. He said the exact same thing. That deep, dark part of me screams at how similar they are, but so different at the same time. Their intuition is spot on, which is equally frustrating as it is admirable.

I turn to look away. “Like that even matters.” His hand tugs my chin as I try to slap his hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

“I’m sorry,” his voice is low, making me turn to look at him. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t upset me. I just… There are some things I just don’t want to talk about. I barely know you.”

“Which is why I didn’t want to just treat you like a sweet butt,” he says out of nowhere.

My eyes go wide. The sweet butts are the girls who hang around the club for sex, booze and grub. Everyone knows what they’re there for, not that the ol’ ladies like it, but they have their men, so they keep their mouths shut about it. Voicing it on the group chat, however, has been hilarious.

“Maybe I want to be treated like one.” There, take that.

He shakes his head. “No, you don’t. You’re a club sister, I wouldn’t do that.”

My jaw drops. “Is that why you’ve been staying away from me all this time?”

He rubs his chin. “Partly.” His voice is low, like he doesn’t want to tell me, but also doesn’t want to upset me any further. “It’s different with a club sister. Things can get weird if we don’t work out.”

Does he want it to work out?I didn’t think Bandit was looking for anything other than fun, not that I’ve seen him around any of the sweet butts, but then again, I haven’t been at the club that long. He also soundsexactlylike Manny, and it’s starting to grate on my nerves.

“I’m not just some doll that’ll break if you so much as touch me,” I fire back. “And frankly, you’ve been giving off weird signals. You’re either into me, or you’re not. Life’s too short to be on the fence.”

His jaw ticks again and I’m beginning to like that a lot. “Of course I’m into you, but it’s not an easy thing bein’ around a sexy woman and tryin’ to convince her I’m not like all other guys.”

That’s kinda sweet. “So the best way to do that is to show me.”

“Noted.” He rubs his chin and I press my legs together, wondering how his stubble would feel between my legs.

We pull up at Manny’s gate and I give Bandit the code as the gates slide open. When he parks, he immediately ejects his seatbelt and then exits the car, storming around to my side. His eyes meet mine through the front windshield and I stop in my tracks.

He opens my door, pausing. “You comin’?”

I bite my lip. “No.”

His eyes narrow. “You think I’m gonna hurt you?” His tone is low. “I’m only gonna say this once,Lacey.I would never, ever hurt you or do anything that you don’t want. I’m rough. I like rough sex, but that doesn’t mean I’d ever lay a hand on you. This is me showin’ you. Like you said.”

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