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CHAPTER THIRTY

COLLINS

W ell, the end of that shift was fucking weird.

One minute, I was servicing the air filter, rushing so I didn’t overrun into my lunch break, and the next, a sour-faced—albeit that part wasn’t weird—Cameron was standing next to the bike in his overalls, telling me to clock out for the day and take tomorrow off too.

I wasn’t about to argue, especially since I knew Sawyer was sitting in the reception area, waiting for me.

Except he isn’t here.

And feeling some kind of way over the prospect that he stood me up, I reach into my jacket pocket, ready to text Sawyer, when his red F-150 pulls up outside the front entrance.

As I pull the door open and approach his truck, I can’t decide which emotion is stronger—excitement at the mystery date he’s taking me on or relief as I realize he turned up after all.

“Hey, Baby Girl,” he immediately greets me as I open the passenger door. He stretches across the center section and plants a kiss on my cheek. “I missed you.”

I clip myself in and turn to him, waving a nonchalant hand in front of me. “Eh, I would say the same, but I was too busy seeing the other man in my life.”

Sawyer pulls off his aviators, playfully smirking. “By ‘other man,’ are you referring to a twelve-year-old showing up at your apartment, unannounced?”

I think back to the time Sawyer did exactly that, trying to convince me to go out with him. “Hmm,” I muse, reaching across and tapping him on the shoulder. “Like father, like son, I guess.”

Sawyer presses his lips together. “Thank you for taking him out for pizza and ice cream, he hasn’t stopped going on about it.” He pauses and twirls his sunglasses around, thinking. “I also appreciate the way you handled the ride he took over to your place. You were right to remind him of the dangers and you dealt with it way better than I would’ve done.”

I offer a tight smile. “He wasn’t annoyed that I told you then?”

Sawyer shakes his head on a low chuckle. “No. I don’t think it’s possible for you to annoy him, that’s my specialty.”

Uncertain if his next action is driven by the conversation we just had or my hot-as-fuck leather pants I know he loves, but when Sawyer takes my chin between his fingers and pulls my mouth to his, I conclude the source behind his motivation to kiss me really doesn’t matter.

He feels incredible.

I dissolve beneath him, a tiny whimper escaping me when his tongue teases the seam between my lips.

“Open for me, Collins,” Sawyer quietly requests. “Let me taste what I desperately missed these past seven days.”

The moment I do, he takes the kiss deeper, snaking a hand under my ass.

I press my palm against his chest, all too aware of the last time we got into it around people. “Listen, I’m down for more later, but not right in front of the garage. Cameron could see.”

A heady rumble reverberates in his chest, his tongue licking into my mouth, fingertips sinking into my pants. “I don’t think you need to worry about that asshole anymore.”

Using the hand still planted on his chest, I push back slightly, eyes narrowed in question. “Give me the specifics, Bryce.”

He chuckles, going in for another kiss.

I push back further, waggling a finger at him. Okay, I’m flirting, but still partially serious. “Uh-uh, not until you tell me exactly what you mean by that.”

He lifts his shoulders and chuckles again, knowing full well I’m getting a taste of my own shrugging medicine. “I meant nothing by it. He just knows where the boundaries are.”

I decide to test out a theory, wondering if my sudden afternoon and day off have anything to do with the man sitting next to me, still trying to steal kisses. “We’d better hurry up and head to wherever you’re taking me. I don’t want to be late in getting back for my asshole boss.”

He pauses with his lips over mine, the feel and scent of his breath making me tingle in the familiar way only he can evoke. “You and I both know the only place you’re going to be for the next thirty-six hours is my bed.”

The tingles intensify, tightening my core.

“Won’t Ezra be home tonight?”

He tips his head from side to side, thinking it over, though clearly not seeing me staying as a problem. “He will.”

I draw my bottom lip between my teeth. “Is this where we talk?”

Moving away from me and shifting into gear, Sawyer doesn’t say anything as he pulls out of the parking lot and heads down the street, taking a couple of lefts until we reach a quiet suburban area.

He kills the engine and leans across the center section, unclipping my belt and hauling me onto his lap. I squeal as he does it with ease, scooting his seat back to give me space.

He drops his eyes from mine, taking in the leather pants I quickly changed into before leaving work. “You wore these deliberately, didn’t you? To ensnare me in your Collins Mackenzie web.”

When he palms the nape of my neck, pulling my forehead down to meet his, I know I’m ready to go further. The truth is, I don’t know if I’ll make a good girlfriend. All I’m sure of is, I don’t want to let Sawyer or Ezra down.

But I’m starting to believe I won’t.

“Was I successful?” I whisper. “Are you tangled up in me?”

“Baby Girl,” he breathes out, pressing his head against mine, almost like he’s trying to merge our minds so I can understand how much he’s feeling, “you know I’ve been enraptured since the day I set eyes on you at Lloyd’s. Your web is one I never want to break free from. If you’ll let me stay.”

This time, I’m the one stealing the kisses, bringing my hands to either side of his face. Sawyer’s scruff feels delicious beneath my palms—a sensory bliss I want between my legs as soon as possible.

“I don’t want you to break free,” I say, voice a little shaky.

I melt further into his body when he releases a long sigh of relief at the words I know he’s been desperate to hear for weeks, months, perhaps over a year.

“And what about you, Collins? Can I be sure you won’t escape from me, from Ezra?”

This feels like one of the biggest conversations we’ve had and definitely the most loaded question he’s asked me to date. I’ve never made my need to travel and move around a secret. It’s always been a part of who I was and something that made me happy. Staying in one city or even country for a prolonged period of time has a way of making my skin prickle with unease.

But when he just asked me the question, I felt no discomfort at all. The thought of staying in Brooklyn is as easy as sitting opposite Ezra while we devour ice cream and talk motorcycles. It’s as easy as lying in bed with his dad before morning skate and my shift at work.

Truthfully, it’s always been easy.

I twist my hands into his black henley, and Sawyer rests his finger under my chin.

“Look at me, Collins.”

I do as he asks, his handsome face beginning to blur in front of me.

Inhaling a deep breath into my lungs, I know I’ll never forget this moment. “I want to give us a go, and I don’t want to escape. I like it here, with you and Ezra, just as we are in Brooklyn.”

* * *

Sawyer’s been driving for the past ten minutes with one hand on the steering wheel, the other in mine. The instant I told him I wanted to give us a shot, he hasn’t let go of me. And his smile hasn’t left his face either.

I look down at our connection, our hands resting in my lap. “You know if you let go of me, I won’t magically disappear.”

He squeezes my hand harder. “I know. I’m just making up for all the times I wanted to do this, but didn’t get the chance.” He pulls up at a Stop sign and turns to face me, eyes crinkling in the corners and beyond the edges of his aviators. “Because you were determined to make me wait and work for it.”

I move toward him, my lips finding the shell of his ear. “You know what they say— good things come to those who wait . And if you’re really lucky, I’ll let you put it in my ass later.”

I throb at my own filthy mouth.

Sawyer flicks on his blinker, ready to turn right. “Am I right in thinking that would be a first for you? Someone taking your ass?”

“You’d be correct. It’s always been a hard line for me. Don’t ask why since I love to be tied up and played with in every way possible.”

Sawyer releases a pained noise, and my eyes drop to his tenting pants.

He follows my line of sight as we start moving again, and he heads down a street in an unfamiliar part of town.

“Listen, a hard-on isn’t exactly inappropriate for where we’re going, but it will be painful while I wait to get my chance with you later.”

I’m about to ask where the hell we’re headed, visuals of a couple’s strip joint quickly taking shape, when Sawyer answers my question, pulling into a parking lot for a building named Lustful Luxuries.

“Is this where we’re eating lunch?” I muse, one hand on the passenger door handle. I know exactly what this place is despite not ever visiting, and my heart rate picks up at the prospect of toy shopping with Sawyer.

“I mean …” He pulls off his shades and sets them on the dash in front of him. Eyes sparkling, they drop down the length of my body, unadulterated hunger behind them. “I guess this place is loosely connected to eating.”

My lips are trembling. I’m not sure who breaks first, but we both fall into fits of laughter. I’m so hysterical that I don’t clock when he stops laughing, now sitting in silence and watching me, head pushed back into the rest. I only notice when Sawyer’s hand wraps around the back of my head, pulling me into him.

He can’t keep his hands off me, and I’m freaking here for it.

“Tell me something, Baby Girl,” he murmurs against my mouth. “Is it okay for me to call you my girlfriend now?”

That word.

The label I’ve spent so long recoiling at falls over my skin like a shot of sunshine on a freezing cold day.

“I guess that’s what I am, right?” I reply, still so close to him that I can taste his delicious breath. I want to taste so much more of him.

“Collins, you’re so much more to me than just a single word, but, yeah, I want to be sure when I’m asked about us that you’re cool with me claiming you. When I think of you as my girl, I want to know you are actually mine to keep.”

“You can claim me in any way you want,” I tease, so much meaning to my statement.

Keeping his lips against mine, Sawyer reaches behind him and releases his driver’s door, ready to get out and head inside the store. “You can’t say things like that to me when I’m about to drop a ton of money so I can have you in every way I want.”

I palm his dick, and he groans, the guttural noise dampening my panties.

“Baby, you should know by now that I say and do exactly what I want. And I think our first purchase should be our own pair of handcuffs.”