Page 8 of Faithless
“Means you’ll keep watching her like a hawk but be too chickenshit to actually date her.”
A tense silence fell, and Lily took the opportunity to leave the kitchen, which I was grateful for. Daren always signed when she was around so she wouldn’t be excluded from conversations, which was fine under normal circumstances. But I didn’t want an audience forthistalk.
“Rori doesn’t want to dateme,” I reminded him. “And besides, she’s your sister, bro.”
Daren held up an index finger. “One, of course she doesn’t, not with the way you’re acting now. And two, you know I don’t give a shit about that. The four of us hang out all the time anyway. You two are always squabbling like a married couple as it is.”
I didnotwant to get into this with him. The sound of Rori’s motorcycle was already fading, and I needed to have eyes on her to make sure she was okay.
“Daren,” I sighed, shrugging my leather jacket on. “ No offense, bro, but you’re a terrible fucking matchmaker if you think me and your sister would be good together.”
“If both of you pulled your heads out of your asses, maybe it could work.” He whipped a dish towel in my direction. “But what do I know? I’ve never run away from the person I fell in love with.”
“Yeah, good for you.” I got my shoes on and headed for the door. “I’ll see you later. Tell Lily I said ‘happy birthday’.”
“Yup. Later.”
I headed for my motorcycle, parked alone now that Rori’s was gone. She’d said our rides matched one time a few years ago, so we always made the effort to park next to each other. Two peas in a fuckin’ pod.
“When I’m president of a club, you can be my VP,” Rori had teased. “Only the best bikes get to ride next to mine.”
“And what if I want to become president?” I’d asked her.
“You’d have to kill me for it.” She’d laughed. “Rules of the road.”
Once my steed roared to life, I eased onto the road, deciding to loop around and take a different route to her family home. Even if she didn’t see me behind her, there was a chance she would hear my bike. It wouldn’t be as obvious that I was following if I spotted her from a different direction.
Rori. Gorgeous, infuriating Rori.
I hated that Daren was right. It pissed me off how perceptive he was sometimes. Like he had a sixth sense for the things I tried to bury in a vault.
Everyone asked me why I could never keep the same girl around, why I couldn’t just settle down and commit to someone nice. The excuse I gave was always accompanied by a smirk and a shrug. “I’m twenty-five, not forty-five.”
I’d never spoken a word of the truth to anyone, but Daren had apparently caught on somehow. Every girl I hooked up with was a poor attempt at a distraction. A means to get Rori fucking Wilder out of my head.
Newsflash: it never fucking worked.
When I closed my eyes at night, it was always the wild, fiery biker princess with the short bob of blonde hair that I saw. Instead of being excited to see whoever I was fucking at the time, I always looked forward to hanging out with Daren or the parties at the Steel Demons’ house because she was always there.
Shit, I got half of my tattoos from her dad Shadow’s shop because she worked the front desk part-time. I’d schedule my appointments for when she was there, and we’d talk while her dad or one of the apprentices worked on me. It was just convenient that Shadow was the best artist around for hundreds of miles.
I’d known for years that Rori was the only one I could see myself with long term. But Daren was wrong about one thing. She truly didnotfeel the same way about me. If she did, I would know.
Rori was bold. Ever since we were teens, she was never shy about making her interest in a guy known. At parties, I’d seen her walk right up to a guy, kiss him, turn around and kiss his friend, then lead both guys to a bedroom and close the door.
Yeah, she wasn’t shy about wanting multiple men either. And honestly? She deserved it. I’d have no qualms about sharing her with a guy or a few, as long as they were good to her and she was mine too. I knew deep in my marrow that I’d never so much as look at another woman again if I had her.
But I was never one of the guys she kissed and dragged to a bedroom. I was the guy she treated like, well, a brother.
We were friends, sure. Close enough and trusting enough that we could rely on each other in times of need. But our relationship rarely went beyond a surface level—partying or riding together, cracking jokes and giving each other shit. And every day I tried to be satisfied with that while I buried my cock in someone else.
I came to a four-way intersection and slowed to a stop. Looking to my left, I saw a glint of short blonde hair in the sunlight before Rori turned another corner. She appeared to be driving fine, which was a relief to see. When it was my turn to go, I continued on straight, hoping to catch sight of her again at the next block.
My strategy worked, and Rori had no idea I was following her. Lily was right in saying she’d be pissed if she knew, but, well, Rori didn’t have to know.
If the chumps she dated couldn’t appreciate her enough to stick around and actually watch out for her, it might as well be me.
As she crossed the bridge over the long, skinny lake that cut through our town, I maneuvered onto a side street to make sure she wouldn’t spot me. This side of Four Corners was older and not as condensed as the downtown area where Daren’s apartment was. The lots here were bigger with more land per household, especially on the other side of the bridge where Rori and her family lived.
