Page 36 of Rogue's Path

Cordelia’s face turns beet red. “Hey, wait.” She points towards the counter for people who don’t want to sit down for a while, which boggles my mind. “Aren’t those the bikers from last night?”

The cuts on their leather jackets certainly look the same. Is Rogue among the group? There’s the silver fox. He’s hard to miss—There’s Rogue. “Did they follow us here?”

“I don’t think so. I think they’re based somewhere around here. Club members come here all the time. The bar we went to last night is only about thirty minutes outside of town.”

Interesting. So, he isn’t here to play a game with me. “Talk me out of going over and doing something stupid.”

Her mouth drops open. “You wanna go kiss him?”

“Yeah, I do.” Why? Because I lost my mind. Or maybe because kissing a bad boy feels forbidden. The real reason is probably because that was the best kiss of my life.

Though alcohol was involved. Maybe it wasn’t as good as I thought. “Never mind. Crazy is fun!” I stand up and walk over.

The silver fox notices me first. He gives me a wink but stays silent.

Playing games with a biker…not smart.

But then again, no one ever said I was smart. I tap Rogue on the shoulder and wait for him to turn around. “It seems you were right.”

Rogue smiles into my eyes. “I’m always right.” His finger moves up to my cheek just above the bruise. “That looks like it hurts.”

I shrug. It’s not as bad as some other bruises I’ve gotten. Time to make my move and walk away. Instead of saying a word, I step forward and lean in slowly, giving him time to back away. He still smells like fresh air and pine. They’re becoming my favorite.

Even though I wanted to find out if his kisses were just that good, I chicken out and just touch my lips fast enough that his facial hair doesn’t have time to make me giggle. “See you later, Rogue.”

I pivot and walk off before he can say a word. Coward. When did I become such a coward? “Is he looking at me?” I ask as soon as I sit down, too afraid to find out that he was totally unaffected by my kiss.

“He’s staring alright. He hasn’t looked away. That was almost as crazy as jumping into a bar fight to save me.”

“You would have done the same.” Any one of us would.

“Not half as well. The idea of striking another person…I don’t know if I could have done it.” She shakes her head. “Ifmy family saw a bruise on my knuckles, they’d probably hire security for me.”

“You know that’s what they were doing last night.” They played all of us so well.

“Huh?”

“Mr. Tall, Dark, and Sexy owns a security company. His group, the bikers, and probably every ridiculously buff guy at each of the bars was in on it.”

“Oh. So we weren’t really as unsafe as it felt like we were?”

The bar fight, even with the bikers jumping in, was still sketchy. “Not really.”

“Well, that stinks. Maybe we should try it again without them.”

Cordelia is crazy!! We’re going to be such good friends.

“Don’t turn around now. He’s on the way to our table. They must have mobile ordered to get their food that fast.”

Here? That man isn’t leaving me my win. I should grumble but seeing him again sounds like fun.

Cordelia’s eyes get wide, and she swallows hard.

Definitely not the friend to bring to a poker game.

What is he going to say? I don’t have much patienc—Hard lips press into mine. I grab onto his head, so I don’t tip over.

His lips disappear, leaving me bereft.