Page 159 of Timeless

I glanced down at his messages. He must be drinking, because he wanted me to come over for sex. I knew I shouldn’t write back to him but I did, telling him to get a hooker. He said he already had one. Me.

That’s all I was going to be worth to him. Good for sex, good for cleaning, and making him money. I was basically going to be his slave.

Maybe I should just tell Amber what was going on?

“You all right?”

My head snapped up. Troy was standing near the kitchen island, no shirt on, and he actually spoke to me. I was positive he wanted me nowhere near him, that he didn’t want to speak to me. Because, clearly, he was pissed off he had to get involved in my business. But he had done it for Amber.

“Fine,” I finally answered and then took my eyes off him. I wanted to know why he was up. But I couldn’t say another word to him. Because my stomach was full of nerves all of a sudden, which always seemed to come when I was near him.

“It’s after three in the morning.” His voice caused me to look back up, I was surprised to see he had walked toward me. “You really should go to bed.”

If I wasn’t mistaken, it was like he was nervous speaking to me. I swear, Amber has a similar tone to her voice when she was nervous. But it wasn’t just that making me think Troy was nervous speaking to me, it was how he seemed like he may have crossed a line suggesting I should go to bed.

I didn’t know what to say. I was drowning in work and my dickhead of an ex wouldn’t stop messaging me. At least I was screening his calls. As if on cue, my phone starting buzzing and I ignored it.

“I know.” It was only two words but my tone said it all. The weight of the work I had to do, the fact I knew Mason wouldn’t stop until I went and saw him. My life was a wreck. And the dread and doom I was feeling was clear in my voice.

My eyes dropped to the spreadsheet in front of me. Maybe a few hours’ sleep, a break from work, might get me in a better mood? I was meant to be heading to work at eight. Maybe I could go in at nine. Sleep for a few hours, get breakfast in, try and finish this and head in.

I sighed and started to tap my pen. I glanced up and Troy was still standing there. Actually, he was slightly closer. He seemed hesitant, like he wanted to say something to me but wasn’t sure if he could. I frowned. Would he mind if I made conversation with him?

“So, um, why you up?” God, I sounded like a teenager speaking to a boy for the first time. I took a quick breath in, about to try again. “Anything I can help you with?” Okay, that was better.

He scratched the back of his neck, not answering but looking at me, slightly frowning. Almost like he was embarrassed to tell me.

My eyes dropped to his lips and I couldn’t stop my mind from reminding me just how much I loved it when he kissed me. Why he kissed me was still a mystery, one I knew I wouldn’t get an answer to. But the memory of that kiss hadn’t escaped my mind and I knew right now wasn’t the time to relive it.

I swallowed sharply, taking my eyes off his lips.

He was still silent. His eyes not meeting mine. And then I saw it, a flash across his eyes, barely noticeable and he was hiding it well, on purpose. He was in pain.

“Seems your sister takes after you.” I pushed myself away from the table and getting up, walking toward him. “She likes to hide when she is in pain, too.” I came to a stop in front of him, crossing my arms.

His eyes went slightly wider. “I’m fine.” The words were so quick off his lips, that I couldn’t stop the small smile on my face.

Everything about Troy, said confidence. The way he spoke, the way he carried himself, how he dealt with problems. But right now, that normal air of confidence that surrounded him wasn’t there. For some reason, that gave me a dose of faith in myself that I could talk to him.

“Troy.” My voice was firm. I was surprised I sounded so confident. “Just tell me what the problem is.” My eyes were on him, watching his expression drop. Clearly, he wasn’t used to anyone speaking to him like that. Or maybe just not a female talking to him like that? I sighed, uncrossing my arms. “Come on, seriously, I owe you one.”

It was like a debate was playing in his eyes. I didn’t know much when it came to bikers. Only what Jack and Amber told me plus what I’d learned from the documentary that Jack would make me watch.

Amber had mentioned Troy over the years. I somewhat felt like I knew a little about him. She always spoke about him with love in her voice and some of her stories about him showed he might be an outlaw biker but he loved his sister.

I felt like he was close to telling me but at the same time, ready to just head back upstairs and forget about the reason he got up to begin with.

Guess I couldn’t stop him. I certainly couldn’t force him to tell me. I wasn’t his sister, girlfriend, or anything. I was basically a stranger. Yep. A stranger.

I took a step back from him. “I’ll just leave you alone.” I wasn’t dumb. I could take a hint. He wasn’t opening his mouth because he didn’t want to tell me anything. I got the point the other day when he wouldn’t say a word to me. I smiled at him- and in return he looked the other way.

“I’m not great with words.”

I turned back around. Did he just speak? I frowned, his words going through my head again.

“Just don’t have it like my siblings.” He seemed really embarrassed to admit it. He ran a hand through his hair. “I wanted to say sorry about the other day, just didn’t know how to bring it up.”

He finally met my eyes. I saw how nervous he was. And I wanted to smile at him, because the fact he was nervous to talk to me was funny. I was the one nervous near him.

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