Page 34 of Ridin' Free

“I got you, sparky. You’re safe.”

“I’d like to sit up,” I sniffled.

He immediately grazed his hands over my backside, reaching between my thighs in order to spread my legs open on either side of his. He then sat up, taking me with him. In an attempt to gather myself, I quickly reached up and wiped at my cheeks. Twister took me by surprise when he cupped a hand around theback of my head, holding me still as he reached for the hem of his shirt and used it to dry my upper lip.

My eyes shot up to meet his, and for a moment, we stared at each other. The way he looked at me—it made me feel things I knew I shouldn’t. One confession, and he thought he knew me, but he didn’t. Not even close.

I shifted, hoping to move out of his lap, but he locked his arms around me, keeping me there.

My eyes meeting his once more, I murmured, “You can let me go now.”

“Phoenix, I’ve got your snot on my shirt. You’re not goin’ anywhere. Tell me what I need to know.”

“Look, I appreciate what you’re tryin’ to do here, but I won’t ask?—”

“Baby, I’m the one who’s askin’—and I’ll tell you right now, I don’t have anywhere to be. We could play this game all night, or you could just tell me what I need to know.”

This time, as we stared at one another, I saw something else. There was something about him I recognized. I already knew he was the relentless type, but there was a stubbornness about him I knew all too well.

It lived in me, too.

Though, that wasn’t the only reason why I gave in.

Even the thought of being in the same room with Tommy again made my stomach pitch and roll. After more than a decade, he was rounder in the face and softer around the middle, but that made him even more repulsive, not less. Unfortunately, age had been otherwise kind to the perv.

It was obvious, by the way he spoke to me, his small prick was still fueling his god complex.

And yet, I hadn’t outed him.

I couldn’t do it. Not in the bar. Not in my safe place.

I wasn’t fucking prepared.

Now, I knew it was reckless—but I wanted to give it to Twister. I wanted to be free of it.

More than that, he was asking for it.

“They lost their house,” I began to explain. “I don’t know how deep their money problems go, but it must be bad for them to show up here. Georgia only calls when she wants something. Until this afternoon, I hadn’t seen them in fifteen years. Needless to say, we’re not close.”

“This was a hell of a lot more than a phone call.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been ignoring her for more than a week. Guess she got tired of that.”

“Georgia. Not mom.”

He phrased it as a statement, not a question. Even still, I nodded in the affirmative.

“And him? You don’t look related.”

“We’re not. Georgia had me at sixteen. Whoever knocked her up didn’t stick around long enough for me to remember what he looked like. She married Tommy when I was six.”

I watched as he let this information sink in.

Tommy had known me since I was a child.

Sick son-of-a-bitch.

“I take it you want them gone.”