Page 74 of 12 Months of Mayhem

I rolled the window down and leaned out a little.

“You good?” he asked, his voice gentler than I expected.

I’d been working night shifts for years. I was more than good. “Yeah. I won’t crash until ten or so.”

He nodded and tapped a couple fingers against the gas tank of his bike. “You gonna be working by yourself tonight?”

I shrugged. “I probably won’t know until closer to midnight. I know Diamond will try to be here, but I really don’t want her around if she’s sick and contagious.”

Tank nodded slowly, like he was already making a decision I didn’t know about. “Well, maybe I’ll see you around, mama.”

Part of me wanted to say, As long as you don’t wander too far. But I didn’t. I just smiled instead. “Have a good day.”

I started the car, backed out of the parking space, and headed toward home. The drive was quiet. The streets were familiar and sleepy, with the sun starting to shine brightly.

But my thoughts?

They were all tangled up in him.

Tank.

The hot biker who’d stayed outside all night long just to make sure I was okay.

I shouldn’t have been thinking about him. I knew better. He told me straight out—he was a wanderer. The kind of man who didn’t stick around. Who didn’t set roots. Who didn’t build a life, he passed through them.

That was the opposite of what I needed.

Tank was no good for me, but that didn’t stop me from thinking about him all day. And when I finally managed to catch a nap, he was all over my dreams.

Oh boy.

Chapter Six

Tank

“Again?”

I shrugged on my jacket and didn’t even try to hide it. “Yeah.”

Moose stared at me like I’d lost my damn mind. “Bro, are you serious?”

I grabbed my bike keys from the dresser. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I mean, are you serious right now? This chick doesn’t sound like one of the girls you normally hook up with.”

I grunted but didn’t say anything.

Maddie wasn’t like other girls.

If she was, I would’ve already slept with her. Simple as that. I wouldn’t be standing here, fielding Moose’s judgment and heading out into the night for the second time in a row just to see her.

If she was working by herself again, I was going to be there. No question. If her friend was there too, I’d check in, maybe talk to her for a few minutes, and head back here. Harmless.

“She’s got a kid, man,” Moose said. Normally, that would be a dealbreaker.

“Yeah. I know.”

He gave me a look like I’d just told him I was planning on marrying a nun. “And that doesn’t scare the fucking shit out of you, man?”

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