Page 74 of The Bonds We Break

Clutch opens his mouth to speak, then closes it to laugh some more.

“What?” I insist.

“Fucking magic pussy,” he finally gets out. “That’s why your face suddenly got all constipated looking when I suggested cutting Rae free.”

Did it?“Fuck off.”

“You said she was a shit lay. Guessingthatwas a steaming pile of horse crap.” Clutch finally reins it in and wipes beneath his eyes with his napkin. “You got a boner for Saint’s sister.”

“Don’t make me hit you.” Although I can’t help but think about riding her bareback now that my test results show I’m clear.

“Ouch. It’s worse. You feel something for her.”

I drop my head into my hands. “Not going to happen.”

“Feels like it already happened. I don’t know Rae beyond your big reveal at the clubhouse, but she stayed strong. She didn’t crumble, even when you were the dick of all dicks. That day, I thought you threw us out so you could deal with her attitude, but now I see it was fucking verbal foreplay.”

“Oh, for the love of ...”

Clutch looks at me. “She held her own. Even against you.”

I shake my head, then realize I might as well fess up. “She kicked my ass for crossing her boundaries, deliberately hurting her, and then she negotiated the terms by which she’d agree to stay.”

I want to punch Clutch’s grinning face. “And you let her?”

“One day, you’ll argue with Rae Miller, and I can’t wait to watch her hand you your ass too.”

Clutch starts to laugh again, and this time I laugh with him.

“You need that,” Clutch says eventually. “A strong woman. One who will betheold lady of all the old ladies.”

“Rae would fucking hate that idea.” The thought sobers me. “She’s not going to stay. Her life is in Michigan. She doesn’t want to be here.”

“Then give her a reason, King. Show her there’s more to the two of you than the chaos you created.”

27

RAE

“You and King should come with us,” Rose says over the video call, and I wince. She’s busy applying winged eyeliner like a pro.

“Why should we come out on a date night with you and my brother?” I look at the blanket pulled over my feet, the book to my left, and the cup of coffee I just poured.

In the past week since he went on a ride with Clutch, King and I have danced around each other. There have been moments when this feels utterly normal. I’d work, he’d take care of club business. At night, we’d get out the brakes and accelerator list. Some things worked, some didn’t. My period interrupted play. King suggested he had no qualms about having sex still. I, on the other hand, retreated with chocolate, Tylenol, and a hot water bottle.

One evening, I think I may have snarled at him when he made a wisecrack.

The following morning, I woke up to an empty bed and cupcakes on the bedside table.

But to go out on a date with my kidnapper ...

“It’s not just me and Ryker. It’s Gwen and Clutch and Spark and Iris. We’re just gonna clean up and go out for dinner. Maybe get a few drinks after. Nothing too wild. It’ll be fun.”

“You know what’s worse than going out with you and my brother, Rose?”

She grins as she shakes her head. “No, tell me.”

“Going out with three loved-up couples.” Even as I say it, my heart squeezes a little. It’s been doing that a lot recently, when I think about King and I coming to an end. I have a life to get back to. A house. A garden that will need tending. There’s probably snow on my path I haven’t shoveled. Even as I wonder about my elderly neighbor, Loretta, I can imagine a life where she isn’t in it anymore ... but King ... “I’m not going to—”