Page 19 of Phantom
“So, the feds are after you,” Tess said, drawing her own conclusion.
It was a split-second convergence from the plan, a sign that I should save at least some information for myself. “Yeah.” I pulled out my cell phone and held it up. “I’m sure they can track me, but I can’t get rid of my phone—”
“Because it’s the only way Caid can contact you.” She rubbed her face with her hands. “How’d you get burned? They didn’t really set your house on fire?”
I rattled through a thousand feasible explanations in a matter of seconds. “I crashed the getaway car. It went up in flames, and I just barely managed to climb out.”
“Shit. You’re on the run from the cops for robbing a bank, and now you’re in a motorcycle club that’s into more than one illegal money maker. I can see why you didn’t want to tell me.” She grabbed my hands in hers. “I’m glad you did, though. You don’t have to worry. Your secret’s safe, and my dad has a few buy-outs at the station, so if they come looking for a Knight, we should be okay.”
I did feel a little guilty. Tess had stuck her neck out for me in more ways than one, and I was still lying to her about the whole truth that had brought me back to Hoppa. Still, it wasn’t advisable for me to tell Tess that I used to run with the Unchained Dogs. Until I completely lost management of that situation, I needed to keep that single gem to myself.
“Thanks, Tess.”
She held up a finger. “One other thing.” I nodded to urge her on. “Is that why…” She held up air quotes. “CJ?”
I snickered. I might have expected that wouldn’t get too far either. “It’s kind of dumb, right? Itisjust my initials.”
She whacked my arm. “You honestly thought I was going to forget your whole name? I was crazy about you. I know your name.”
I smiled, remembering those days when I could steal away from home for a few hours and just enjoy being around Tess. “I was crazy about you, too.”
She leaned forward and set her hands on my face, and for the first time since I’d arrived, I wasn’t able to bring myself to hold back. Tess set her lips on mine, and I leaned into her and let it happen. It was sweet, even sweeter than I remembered. Just like the beautiful scene of Tess sitting calmly next to a breakfast cooked for me, her lips felt too good to be true.
I was glad when she didn’t elevate us but pulled away with a satisfied smile. “That wasn’t so difficult, was it?” I just chuckled because the truth was that it was incredibly difficult. Not to kiss her but to stop. Every time I allowed myself to take a taste of Tess, I was only going to want more. “So. You wanna know how I got Lockjaw?”
“What unlucky jerk woke up to find his dog missing?”
A sly smile curled up Tess’ cheeks. “The Unchained Dogs.”
My stomach emptied out. “What?”
She giggled. “I know. I’d heard through the grapevine that they had gotten a new pit bull puppy as their mascot, and my dad had just told me that he wasn’t gonna let me pledge for the Steel Knights. So, I woke up in the middle of the night, stole his prized old-school Harley, drove to Rumble, stole their dog, and left without them even knowing I’d been there.”
It was difficult to keep my poker face. I remembered the day vividly. Not just because it was a huge deal that the puppy had been taken, but because I was the one who picked out and was responsible for it.
Luther had randomly decided that the Unchained Dogs deserved a live mascot and sent me to pick up a purebred pit bull puppy that he’d paid nearly five grand for. Because no one wanted to take care of a new puppy and because I was still only a year old in the gang at that time, I was put in charge of taking care of the dog. I couldn’t bring him back to my apartment, so I had to leave him at the club overnight, and the next day when we got there, he was gone. Luther beat the shit out of me, and I had to give him half my dues for the next two years to pay him back.
“Wow,” Tess said. “Are you that impressed?”
“Yeah.” I looked over at Lockjaw standing near his bowl, hoping for whatever food Tess or I didn’t eat. “Crazy.” No wonder he was no nice to me when Tess swore he was usually only that loyal to her. I was his first caretaker. I believed I’d accounted for everything, but I had not accounted for a dog giving away my secrets.
“Okay, sorry. I came up with one more question,” Tess said, bringing my attention back to her.
“What’s that?”
She leaned forward and kissed me again. It took me so much by surprise that I didn’t even have a chance to put my defenses up. My hands were on her thighs before I could stop them. Tess was leaning into me, deciding her first successful kiss was more than enough evidence that I wanted more. She wasn’t wrong, as I lost control of myself and stood up, gripping Tess as I moved so that I could lift her up onto the island. My plate tipped, which Lockjaw was more than happy to clean up, and Tess’ legs wrapped around my waist and locked behind me.
I was falling fast and hard down a slippery slope, unsure of how I would break free when a knock at the door saved me.
Tess let out a growl that would rival Lockjaw. “Go away!”
“Is CJ awake yet? We’re losing daylight!” Nick called back.
Tess took a deep breath in and held it for a few seconds before letting it out. “I can’t murder my father, right?”
I snickered. “I wouldn’t.” I wanted to hug him. I could already sense that I was fast approaching the point of no return, and I might have completely lost control just now if he hadn’t turned up.
As difficult as it was, I unlaced my arms from Tess’ side, and she hopped off the island and walked over to the door. I bent down and took the already clean plate from Lockjaw, getting a lick on the cheek as I did. I was praying that my unintentional peace offering would be enough for him to not rat me out in his own unique dog way.
