Page 14 of Rocky Top

“Nope,” he agreed, without apology.

I wanted to slap him. I wanted to shake him. I wanted to grab him by that stupid leather cut and kiss him until he forgot how to breathe.

Which was ridiculous. And dangerous. And possibly fatal.

So instead, Ishoved past him.

“You think you’re protecting me by keeping me in the dark,” I snapped. “But you’re not. You’re just making it worse.”

I yanked the bathroom door open and stalked out into the hallway, heart pounding, eyes stinging.

Behind me, Rocky didn’t follow.

Good.

Screw him.

Except… not really. Or possibly...in the fun way.

The clubhouse was still alive. I wandered toward the bar, the scrape on my knee forgotten, the ache in my chest harder to ignore.

This place. These people. That biker.

None of them were what they seemed.

And I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run from them…

…or straight into the fire.

From across the room, I spotted Rocky standing near Knox, both of them talking low and intense. Rocky looked up at one point, right at me, and I swear to God, my breath caught. His eyes were all heat and warning, like a storm behind glass.

I looked away first.

“Eliza,” I murmured, slipping beside her again. “What’s really going on here?”

“Bird,you’ve had a fright, is all.”

“What’s up with Rocky? Why is he so grouchy? Why is he acting like some insane park ranger?”

Eliza hesitated again. “He’s not so bad,” she finally said. “He’s not like other guys.”

I barked a humorless laugh. “No kidding.”

She smirked. “Give it time, Birdie. Rocky’s... complicated.”

“I noticed.”

“You scare the hell out of him.”

That pulled me up short. “Me?”

“Yup.” Eliza grinned. “And trust me, for a man like Rocky, that’s saying something.”

I chewed my lip, glancing over my shoulder at him one more time.

He was already looking at me, again.

And I wasn’t ready to admit what that biker did to me.

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