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GRACIE

T here’s no way he means it the way I want him to. While I’ll never discredit Talon’s compliment as anything but, he’s just saying it because he doesn’t approve of the man I’m going out with tonight. Right?

Sure, I’d have to be blind, deaf, and dumb to miss the way he looks at me.

How his eyes travel the length of my body when I wear something a little too skimpy.

Subtle changes in the tone of his voice when I parade myself around one of our apartments in short shorts and a tank top that hardly covers my tits.

But he’s never shown interest in that way, much to my chagrin.

I’ve always chalked it up to him being a man and me being a woman. No matter where the friendship flag stands, we can still appreciate one another as the attractive people we are.

I rest a hand on Talon’s chest and feel the slow, rhythmic thump of his heart. He’s barely moved since I sat next to him, and if he weren’t talking, I might’ve believed he fell asleep.

“It’s not that big a deal, you know? And it’s not going to change anything. We’ll still hang out all the time.” I shouldn’t feel ashamed for going on a date.

I’ve waited for Talon to make a move for years. If he has any hidden feelings inside, he’s damn good at keeping them locked away, but if I’m being honest with myself, I know why nothing has come of us.

We’ve been together forever. We met in our first year of high school, and barely left each other’s sides since. But the hardest, or maybe it’s the easiest part about it, is that I’ve wanted to be with him since our first interaction.

He was smaller then. Half the height he stands now, with twigs on his arms instead of the massive tree trunks he sports now. A rake-thin sapling with a nervous smile and an offhand compliment about the novel I was reading.

“I know.” He shrugs, adjusting himself up my headboard.

“Then why do you look so upset, sourpuss?” My attempt at lightening the mood makes him wince.

“I’m not.” His raspy voice gives me all I need to know the real answer hidden beneath his lie. “Well, not with you going on a date.” A quick attempt to recover that makes his heart thump a little faster against my fingers. “It’s the guy you’re going out with. You know he’s no good for Boulder.”

Once upon a time, a change like this would’ve been exactly what Talon yearned for. But his view of our little university town changed when he joined the Knight Riders. I’m not sure if it’s for the better or worse, but his fiery passion to keep Boulder safe is damn sexy.

“Make hay while the sun shines.” I slide my hand back slowly, enjoying the feeling of his firm chest against my fingertips. “That’s what Momma always said.”

“Momma’s a wise woman.” He’s met her a thousand times over, so he knows how far her wisdom extends. “Anyway, let’s not dwell on me. Of course, I’ll drive you there. Bring you home when you’re done, too, if you’d like?”

I must be all kinds of screwed up to be upset by him wanting to do what I asked.

I had no ulterior motives in asking him for a ride or telling him I’m going on a date, but some part of me deeply wanted him to object and fight for me to stay here with him instead.

It could’ve been the catalyst that made us take the step away from friends to something more, but maybe that’s just me being delusional.

Seeing something where there’s nothing because it’s what I want to happen.

For all I know, his reaction really is set in the fact that Ezra Green isn’t a good person and has nothing to do with me seeing someone.

Getting up from the bed, I keep my hand on Talon’s chest as long as I can before it becomes too hard to explain why I’m still touching him.

He opens his mouth to say something, but shuts it just as fast with a humph and a sigh.

The short walk down the set of first-floor stairs to the main lobby is taken in harrowing silence.

Only the sounds of his footsteps and the occasional grumble from Talon, no doubt wanting to say whatever made him react this way in the first place.

I just wish he’d actually say it. Come out with whatever’s running through his mind so we can get past this.

But all the way down, right until we’re standing next to his bike, Talon doesn’t speak.

He doesn’t even look at me with those dreamy hazel eyes.

He simply stares ahead, with a stern gaze that would make the devil quiver in his boots.

A chilly wind blows through the night as we stand in front of his motorcycle. I knew I should’ve brought a coat, but in a rush to get away from the awkwardness, I barely remembered to grab my cellphone off the kitchen counter as we walked by.

But here it is. His last chance to speak up and tell me to stop. The only question is, will he take it?

And my heart shatters into tiny little pieces as he opens his mouth and asks, “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” I answer, masking my frustration with a fake smile.

“Then let’s get to it.”

We blast through the night on Talon’s motorcycle at speeds I haven’t seen him ride in years. We whizz by buildings, cars, and people who turn their heads to look at the man flying like a bat out of hell. A ride that should have taken twenty minutes completed in half the time.

Talon pulls his bike into the closest parking spot he can find to the Casa Bella’s entrance.

He gets off first and extends a hand to help me up like a true gentleman.

All smiles now, the ride must have shed his gloomy disposition, and while I’m glad he isn’t moping anymore, I still think I preferred his lack of acceptance to this.

It was the closest we ever came to me fulfilling my teenage dreams of holding his hand and sharing my first kiss with him. I’ve kissed a few others since, but something tells me they’ll never hold a candle against Talon.

“Thanks for the ride,” I say, as my eyes turn down to our hands that refuse to break even though I’m on my feet.

“Anytime, sunshine.” Talon brushes his thumb over my fingertips and finally releases. “Gonna need a ride home tonight?”

“If you’re up to it.” I slip the hand still burning from his touch into my purse and pull out a travel makeup kit.

“For you, I’d kill the bull.” Talon smiles, but his brow quickly furrows, and he shakes his head viciously. “Not literally, I mean, it’s like moving mountains. I’d never hurt a bull.”

I burst out into a laughing fit, my cheeks starting to ache from the intense smile his fumbling causes.

“I know what you meant.” Because he’s said it before, usually accompanied by a terrible Spanish accent.

“Oh God, my hair’s a mess,” I grumble, scanning myself in the small round mirror attached to my travel kit.

“You think?” Talon raises a brow, but his features remain solid as stone. “If you’re asking me, I’d say you’ve never looked better.”

My cheeks instantly flush red, and my fears from earlier drift away in a wave of giddiness.

So, he did mean it the way I wanted him to?

He’s not looking for a girl like me to spoil, no.

Talon wants me. Compliments have come in the past, but never like this.

So direct and honest, with a smile that could melt even the coldest hearts.

Gah, why couldn’t he have done this sooner? If nothing else, I feel obligated to go in there and meet the man I promised a night out with.

“Stop, you’re gonna make me blush,” I say when my spinning mind starts to slow.

“Too late, buttercup. Those cheeks aren’t getting any rosier from anything I’d say.” He pauses, stares at my cheeks that feel like two ovens, and chuckles. “Never mind. You’ve gone from rose pink to ruby red, and I didn’t even do nothing.”

“Stop.” I fake a slap against his chest, and he recoils from me as though it actually hurt.

“But go on, enjoy yourself. I’ll stay close by and just a phone call away.”

A phone call away?

Well, in the state he’s leaving me—swooning heart and soaked panties—that call might come a lot sooner than he’s expecting it.