Page 62 of Rebel

“This is my house,” he explained when he stopped in a wide, paved driveway that sat beside a two-story home. “Come on.”

Silently, I exited the car and followed him inside. The house was tidy and sparsely decorated with a few photos of himand the other Steel Demons. I dropped down on the first sofa I spotted and turned to him. “We came here to talk, so talk.”

“You and Livvy can stay here.” He motioned to the place. “There’s an extra bedroom and a kitchen. You’ll be happy here. Happier,” he added.

Maybe. It would be better than the clubhouse but being here would only put me more at Logan’s mercy, and that was somewhere I couldn’t afford to be. “Thank you for the offer but we might as well stay where we are.”

“What? Why?”

“Because,” I sighed. “Livvy has friends at the clubhouse now and she won’t be isolated there.” I stood and looked around the house once more. “Like I said, thanks, but no thanks.”

“Why are you being so damn stubborn?” He raked a hand through his hair, a classic move that highlighted his frustration.

“I’m not doing what you want so I’m being stubborn?” This was just another reason I stayed single all these years. “Fine, I’m stubborn. Take me back to the clubhouse.”

“No. I’d like to clear the air so things aren’t so tense between us.”

“So I’ll be more compliant, you mean?” I folded my arms, even my inner voice reminded me that I was in fact being stubborn. “Don’t worry about me, worry about Livvy. She’s what matters.”

“She’s not the only one who matters.”

My heart squeezed at those words. “She is, and we both know it.” My eyes slid closed. “It’s better this way.”

“Is it?” He stepped closer.

“Yeah, it is.” I folded my arms, my chin tilted high in defiance.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” The pleading in his voice nearly unraveled my resolve.

I sighed and opted for the truth. “Because I don’t know you, Logan. I needed to make sure you could be trusted first. I told you about Livvy when I did, because I thought that maybe I did know you, I thought that maybe there was something more happening between us, and I knew keeping it from you was wrong—but the longer I waited, the more worried I got about how you’d react. I guess I was right to be worried, because look at us now.”

“I’m sorry, Nikki.”

“Don’t be. You have the information you need, and we both love Livvy. Let’s just focus on that. Neither of us are who the other thought, but the one thing we have in common is her best interest.”

“That’s not true,” he insisted.

“It is. You don’t trust me anymore and you certainly don’t like me. And I don’t trust anyone who can’t understand why I… never mind. It’s better how it is. We don’t have to be friends, or like each other, we just need to be civil towards one another for Livvy’s sake.”

“So you’re going to punish me forever?”

“I’m not the one who ignored you, Logan. I’m not the one who was so furious I couldn’t even look you in the face.” My anger bubbled up again. “No one is being punished, okay? Now,let’s get out of here.” I didn’t want to be in his space any longer than necessary.

“You are so fucking stubborn,” he growled as he invaded my personal space and gripped the back of my head. “I should hate it. I should hate you, but dammit I don’t. I can’t.” And then his mouth crashed down on mine in an intense kiss that shook my body from head to toe. His tongue swept across my lips before he dove in and laid claim. He kissed me like I mattered to him, like the past week hadn’t happened.

He kissed me like maybe, just maybe, he was sad to hear that I no longer thought we were on the cusp of something significant.

And I fell into that kiss, my traitorous body coming to life at the touch of his lips.

Chapter Thirty

Rebel

Dammit, there was just something about Nikki that made resisting her impossible. The moment our lips touched I knew that it wouldn’t be just a kiss. It couldn’t be, because it never had been. She was mad at me, and I was fucking pissed off too, but that didn’t stop the heat and the electricity that swirled around us. She smelled good, like flowers and musk. She felt good, that strip of skin between her shirt hem and waistband was silky soft, and her hair was like silk as my fingers tangled in it.

My cock surged to life behind my zipper, and I pushed my hips forward, smiling when Nikki pressed back. She was as hungry for me as I was for her, kissing me deeper while she damn near climbed my body. Her curves were fucking perfect under my hands as I slid them down her ass, hoisting her in my arms, growling when she wrapped her legs around my waist. “Nikki,” I moaned against her skin.

She tilted her head back, giving me her full neck, which I took advantage of, kissing and licking every inch of her exposed flesh until she squirmed and writhed against me. “Logan,” she moaned as she rolled her hips against mine.

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