Page 31 of Thor
“Listen here, dude. We’re not the kind of guys you want to mess with. I’ve put a lot of bullets in men for less. I’ve buried a lot of bodies with the cops being none the wiser. Right now, I have a Glock in my jacket. The only thing stopping me from blowing your brains out is my respect and love for Thor. Sorry,Tobias. We’re one-percenters. Bikers. Don’t think we won’t get away with putting your head on a pike after we’re done with you. The wolves around here will get the best meal of their life.”
Felix’s face paled and so did Dana’s. She gasped and stumbled away from us, holding her daughter closer to her body. I would never hurt her, but telling her that wouldn’t help. The people around here had been happy to ignore my patch, until now. Until they heard what we—I—could do to them.
Felix’s wide gaze shot to the skull on the right side of my leather and the words Vice President curved around the top of our patch. He sucked in a breath and his face fell, grief stealing the fury from his eyes.
I wanted to tell him I was sorry, but I’d said it so many times it’d become a mantra to me when it came to Andy’s family. I understood how he felt. I’d loved Andy, too, but his family had been too busy blaming me. Itwasmy fault, but I couldn’t change the past. I couldn’t change my actions. Andy’s face would haunt me for the rest of my life.
Felix backed away and clenched his jaw, spinning around, then storming out of the diner. Dana gave me one more look—an apology—before she followed him, and I was left standing beside Loki with everyone’s eyes on us.
Marion’s shoulders slumped and she frowned. “You should go, Toby.”
“I know,” I whispered. Glancing toward the window of the kitchen where Jalen watched us, I raised my hand in a wave, and he returned it with a sad smile. I reached for my wallet, but Marion shook her head.
“Go. It’s on the house.”
I nodded, then grabbed Loki’s wrist and dragged him out of the diner. We got to our bikes before I yelled as loud as I could. I bellowed until I had no air left in my lungs. I kicked the loose gravel of the parking lot and crouched, angry tears filling my eyes.
Loki was at my side, hand squeezed tightly at my shoulder. He didn’t ask questions and I was thankful. It was all too raw. Too painful. Andy’s happy smile haunted me. The night at the party—before it went to shit—we’d all been enjoying life. I’d even been kissed by Andy. It’d been a small peck on the lips he’d instigated that surprised the hell out of me, but he’d grinned as though he didn’t regret it. I’d shared my smile with him. I’d wanted it; I’d wanted him. I left that party thinkingtomorrow will be completely different. It was, just not how I’d imagined. I wasn’t having a breakup conversation with Dana so I could date Andy and kiss him regularly, instead I was sitting in a police station with gashes and cuts, and Andy’s blood soaked into my shirt.
It felt like yesterday that it happened and it was vivid in my memory. Mom and the Colonel’s grim faces staring down at me. Daniel sitting on the seat beside me shaking violently. Cameron, our other friend, was on the other side of Daniel and staring at the floor in shock. Morgan was still in the hospital. And Andy… he was dead. Gone. The cops had said he’d been thrown from the car because he didn’t have a seat belt on, and hearing them say that didn’t make it real, not until I’d heard Andy’s parents scream from another room.
I’d cried so hard I thought I was going to die, too.
Mom held me, kissing my cheek while she told me it would be okay, but she hadn’t known then. Hadn’t been aware I’d been drunk when I got behind the steering wheel of the car with Andy in the passenger side. Before we left the party, he’d reached out for me and touched my hand, his smile sexy and sweet rolled into one. That was the last nice thing I remember about him. After that, it was his bloody and broken body on the hill as I crawled toward him, asking him if he was okay. He never responded, not even when I wrapped my arms around his body and buried my face into his neck, calling out his name.
It was true. He was dead.
And now I was here, back in the small town that hated me, with Daniel’s death. Daniel had taken it as hard as I had. He’d convinced me to drive drunk, told me it was easier than calling our parents. He’d felt the same grief and guilt as me. Maybe that’s why he’d finally taken his life. He’d never escaped from Wittstock like I had.
The people around here hadn’t blamed him like they had me, though. I’d never told the cops about Daniel convincing me to drive drunk and neither had he. He lived in Wittstock as another survivor of the Tobias Langley accident that killed the town’s favorite son. The cops took pleasure in arresting me, though, and the judge wanted to make an example of me, which was how I’d ended up in prison. Getting out in six months was a leniency I hadn’t expected.
So, I cried. I cried because I hated that I was back here reliving the pain and grief I’d left behind eighteen years ago. Loki would finally see what a weak man I was and he’d run back to Pleasant Beach and never want anything to do with me again.
“I’m a coward,” I said, voice shaking. “A murderer.”
Loki held on to me tighter, pressing his mouth to my shoulder. “You are not a coward. I’ve seen a lot of those, and you’re not one of them. And we’re both murderers, but you don’t kill innocent people, Tobias. I know you.”
I shook my head, angrily wiping at the tears with the back of my hand. “No, you don’t. You don’t know a fucking thing about me.”
“I do,” Loki argued fiercely. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here.” He caressed my cheek, and I turned my head so I could slam my mouth against his. We kissed desperately, the salty tears slipping down my cheeks and catching on our lips, and Loki licked at them like a thirsty man. “Right here. When you’re ready to tell me what happened, I’ll listen, but I’m not going to believe a fucker like him.”
I laughed sadly and touched my forehead to his. “You’re stubborn.”
“And I’m yours. Remember that. The Tobias I know is strong, violent, possessive, loving, and messes with anyone who hurts someone he cares about.” He raised his chin and pursed his mouth, not backing down. “That kind of person is created out of agony. Whatever happened, Thor, it defined you and made you into the man I want more than anything in this world. You shouldn’t apologize for a mistake in your past.”
“That mistake killed my best friend,” I whispered. “Paralyzed another, and forced another to take his life eighteen years later.”
“Bullshit.” Loki’s whip-sharp comment startled me. “You are not responsible for another man taking his life. You haven’t been here for a long time. You don’t know what was happening with him. It could be about something else completely.” He shook his head and rose, curling his fingers into my arm and helping me to my feet. “Now, you’re going to walk around this town with your head held high. Not because you don’t want to look weak, but becausetheydon’t deserve to see your tears. I’m the only one allowed.” He cradled my face in his hands and licked at the remaining tears on my face. His hot tongue moved over my skin like a scalding fire. “If you ever need to cry, Tobias, if you ever need to rant or talk about something that hurts to think about, you come to me. The man I know has never been weak. You’re the most fucking powerful man I know.”
My dick twitched, blood rushing south. His passionate words shoved out the pain and replaced it with lust and need. The expression on his face begged me to own him, take him until he couldn’t remember his name. He’d flipped my switch quicker than it had ever been done before.
He smirked. “Want to go to the motel?”
“Yes,” I growled out, slamming my lips against his. I slid my hands to his ass and grabbed two handfuls, squeezing. The world around us ceased to exist. My guilt and grief hadn’t disappeared, but when I was around Loki like this, I could forget it, even if only for a little while.
