Page 48 of Love is Blind

Maybe it’s not just her strength I’m attracted to.

Maybe I’m drawn to her because she’ll never know all the ugly parts of me.

“Friends,” I agree.

She smiles and fuck me because that wobbly feeling in the back of my knees returns. My fists curl at my sides and I glance away.

If I stay here a second longer, I’m going to fucking kiss her and I won’t stop there. I’ll peel my shirt from her body and spread her out across Emmy’s couch. I’ll take my time exploring every inch of her body. Play with her tits and suck on her clit until her legs wind around my head and she begs for mercy.

“I’ve gotta go,” I growl. Taking one last look at her, I tap my closed fist against the door. “Lock up.”

Then I drag my ass down the hallway ignoring the ache in my chest.

~*~

“Well it’sabout time you showed your face ‘round here,” Ink calls as I throw my leg over the side of my bike. My gaze shoots to the picnic table where he sits on top of it nursing a beer. Sitting on the bench in front of him, Hawk turns his head and looks over his shoulder at me.

“Had us worried, man,” Hawk agrees.

“Appreciate the concern,” I say as I straighten and make my way toward them. They know better than to ask questions and by now I’m sure Leftie has clued them all in on my visit to Abigail’s grave. I do another sweep around the table before glancing across the lot. “It’s fucking hot as hell out here, why aren’t you all inside?”

Wiz stands up from the cooler and pops open the top, pulling out a couple of long necks. He hands me one and supplies, “AC unit is broke, and Leftie won’t let Maverick call someone in to repair it.”

I twist the cap off my beer and the corners of my mouth lift.

“Sounds like Leftie,” I return.

The man ain’t going to willingly toss money at a repair man when we rebuild Harley’s for fun. He’ll figure out a way to fix it—even if that means we all got to sweat for a couple of days.

I toss the cap into the bucket on top of the table and bring my gaze to Hawk.

“I was hoping I’d catch you.”

He lowers his beer and raises a curious eyebrow as I take a pull of mine. The ice-cold ale is refreshing and slides down my throat with ease.

“I need a dog,” I announce.

Hawk stares at me in shock. Hell, they all do. To be fair, I can’t believe it either. After I left Birdie my mind kept wandering back to our conversation. I may have walked in the door a grieving father, but I left feeling a little lighter. A girl gives you that, you find a way to repay that debt. I don’t have much to offer, but after hearing her talk about Oreo and seeing that sadness flash across her face, I wanted to lighten her load too.

“Don’t take this offensively, but, you don’t exactly strike me as an animal lover,” Hawk says.

“That’s because he’s not,” Ink chimes in.

I take another swig of my beer before tipping the neck of the bottle toward Ink.

“It’s not for me, dickhead.” My gaze slides back to Hawk. “I need a guide dog, something hypoallergenic.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot the shit-eating grin on Ink’s face and quickly point a finger at him. “Don’t start, motherfucker,” I warn. “Unless of course you want to tell me what’s going on between you and Emmy.”

Again, Hawk looks shocked and his gaze cuts to Ink.

“The bartender from Sally’s? You’re hitting that?”

“What about Cherry?” Wiz asks.

Gritting his teeth, Ink glares at me. It’s a shit thing—airing his laundry like that, but it takes the heat off me. They’re chomping at the bit and I can barely wrap my head around my decision to get Birdie a guide dog, much less validate it to anyone else. Ink potentially banging Emmy should buy me time to figure out an excuse as to why I’ve lost my fucking mind.

“No, I’m not hitting that,” he growls.

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