Page 55 of Unmasked Rivalry
“He wasn’t going to tell me...”
“Yeah, he was, you just never gave him the chance. Think he was scared of how you were making him feel. Give him the chance, Callie, trust me, love like that only comes around once, if you’re lucky.”
I hang my head. “He already had it with Harper.”
Ruger snorts. “Trust me, that was nothing on the way he feels for you. Ask him, you might just be surprised.”
Do I dare?
Should I?
Dammit.
I should.
15
Idrive to the club with my hands clenched so hard around the steering wheel I can feel my own heartbeat in my wrists. I am rehearsing what to say in my head, but all the words feel too small, or too angry, or like I’m not sure if I even want them to come out. I park crooked, half on the gravel, and slam my door so hard the mirror rattles. The clubhouse is mostly empty, but I know where he will be—out back, away from the noise, killing himself one cigarette at a time.
I’m right.
I find him out by the old shed, leaning against the wall, one boot up on the old steel. He is just standing there, smoke curling from his mouth, eyes off in the distance, like he hasn’t got a care in the world. I know that isn’t true, though. I know his demons are eating him alive.
He turns when he hears my shoes crunch on the gravel, and he pauses. We just stare at each other for a second, neither of us blinking. I cross the distance between us and stop just out of reach. “Hey.” My voice is weak, soft, but I don’t care.
He lets the cigarette dangle between his lips. “Didn’t figure you’d want to see me.”
I laugh, but it is the sound of two rocks grinding together. “I didn’t. But I need to know why.”
His face goes blank at first, then all the rough burned edges light up at once. “Why what?” he rasps.
“Why would you risk your life to get my brother out? Hell, why do you even care after all this?”
He drops the cigarette in the dirt and crushes it out with his boot, pushing off the wall. He doesn’t step closer, he just crosses his arms. “Wouldn’t fuckin’ believe me if I told you.”
I take a step closer, my eyes fixed on his. “Try me.”
He doesn’t hesitate, but his voice is gruff. “Because it was the right thing to do. Not for me. Not for the club. For you. You need him, and I owed you that.” His hands curl into fists. “I broke you, and I wanted to give you back at least something good.”
The words hang between us.
“Is that it?” I whisper. “Just you paying me back because you hurt me?”
“What do you want from me, Callie? Do you want me to tell you that I tried to hate you, to avoid the way you were makin’ me feel? I didn’t want to feel a single fuckin’ thing for you, but I do. I do and there isn’t a single second I don’t fuckin’ rip myself apart for hurting you.”
It takes me a second to find my breath.
“You care about me?”
His eyes pierce mine. “More than I ever fuckin’ have in my entire life.”
I shake my head, confused. “Harper...”
He flinches, but doesn’t look away. “Loved her, and at the time, I thought it was with everything I have, but turns out, it was fuckin’ nothing. The way you light a fire in my fuckin’ soul is unlike anything I have felt with another person before.”
I make a pained sound in my throat. “You better not be fucking with me, Knox. I can’t handle any more pain.”
He steps forward, leaning down and taking my chin in his fingers, pressing his forehead to mine. “Believe me, sunshine, I wish I was fucking with you so this feeling would go away.”
