Page 106 of Heartbeats & Highways

Chapter 28

“I need to go for a ride,”Savage said the moment we got to the apartment building parking lot.

I took a deep breath and nodded. “I understand.”

He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “That’s one of the many reasons I love you.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked, a slight smile on my face.

“Yeah. You just—let me be who I need to be.”

I swallowed. “Are you coming back tonight?”

“I don’t know,” he said. He tapped his head. “It’s really fucked up in there right now. And I don’t wanna saddle you with all of it.”

“You can saddle me with it,” I insisted. “We’re in a relationship. That’s what you’re supposed to do.”

“Yeah.” He nodded slowly. “This is new for me, you know? I don’t always know how to do this.”

“I don’t know how to do this either. My marriage was hardly a shining example of success.” I reached over and linked his hand with mine. “I want you to always be able to go for rides, do what you need to do to clear your head. But I also want you to sleep next to me every night.”

He lifted our hands to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. “From now on, no matter what goes down, as long as I’m not on a run, I’ll sleep next to you.”

I frowned. “What’s a run?”

“A run for the club,” he explained. “I’m actually leaving tomorrow morning to go on a run up to Idaho.”

“Tomorrow morning? Way to give me a head’s up.”

“Sorry, babe. It came together last minute.”

“What’s in Idaho?”

“Another club chapter,” he explained. “We can’t ride our motorcycles up there this time of year. The pass is mostly ice. So we’ll caravan in cars.”

“Are you going to take the SUV?”

“No. I’m leaving it here for you in case you want to get some driving practice in. I’m sure Roman or Virgil wouldn’t mind riding shot gun.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“A week? Ten days? Not sure.”

“Ten days?” I squeaked. “You’re going to miss our first baby class. And probably our second one, too.”

He rubbed his jaw. “Fuck. Yeah, I didn’t think about that. Sorry, babe.”

“It is what it is, I guess,” I murmured. “How are you going to sleep without me?”

“Few shots of whiskey,” he said dryly.

“Savage,” I murmured.

He ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “It is what it is, babe. I’ll figure it out.”

“But what willIdo without you?”

“You start looking at places. When I get back, we’ll see a few that you’ve chosen and decide which one is best for us. Okay?”

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