“Wow,” she murmured softly, something deeper shifting beneath her quiet words. “How did you know what to make?”
I sat across from her and winked. “Research.”
Her smile turned brighter, and her eyes softened with affection. “You’re kind of amazing, you know that?”
“Just so long as we’re clear on that,” I teased.
Cecily rolled her eyes, but her smile didn’t dim as she ate. Watching her was distracting in the best way, my attention constantly snagging on the curve of her lips and the delicate line of her neck as she swallowed. My thoughts drifted dangerously to how she’d felt beneath me last night, the breathless sounds she’d made when she shattered for me. It took every ounce of restraint I had left not to drag her straight back to bed.
When she finished eating, I drove her back to her house so she could get changed for training. We didn’t talk much on the drive, but it wasn’t an empty silence. The air between us felt thick with what we were building, but also comfortable. I held her hand, our fingers laced together and resting on the center console.
Before she climbed out of the SUV, I tugged to turn her back toward me. “You have lessons tonight here at the facility?”
She cocked her head to the side and stared at me for a moment, then shook it slowly. “I’m not even going to ask how you know that.”
I grinned. “I’ll pick you up there when you're done. Pack a bag and bring it with you.”
Her lips parted slightly, her eyes widening as heat bloomed in her cheeks again, but she didn’t argue. Instead, she nodded once, a soft agreement that sent my pulse racing again.
I leaned in, capturing her mouth in a kiss that promised exactly what tonight would hold. It was deep and slow as I tasted her fully, savoring how she melted into me without hesitation. When I finally pulled back, her breathing was uneven, and her eyes were glazed.
She blinked, clearing away the fog of lust. Then she silently watched me as I exited the SUV and came around to open her door.
Once I helped her out, I gave her another lingering kiss, just one more reminder of who she belonged to. Then I waited for her to disappear inside before I finally drove away, the memory of her mouth on mine and the heated promise of tonight keeping me restless and impatient for the end of the day.
I drove straight to The Burnout—a bar co-owned by the club and another brother, Fury—to go over the books. I sank into the familiar rhythm of the numbers, the intricate details as natural to me as breathing.
Cecily had turned my world on its axis—not that I was complaining about that. But it felt good to be in my element again. Focused, efficient, and in control of every aspect of the club’s finances.
But even with the familiar routine, Cecily hovered at the edges of my thoughts. I’d catch myself replaying her voice, her scent, or the heat of her skin beneath my fingertips. Not really distracting me though, it was deeper than that. As if she’d slipped under my skin and become part of my foundation, woven so tightly into my consciousness that my mind had simply reshaped itself around her.
By the time I wrapped up with Fury, the late afternoon sun was dipping lower, and I was already impatient to have her back beside me. When I picked her up again after training and her final lessons, the tension in my chest eased instantly, her presence grounding me as we drove back to my place. I made her dinner, and we shared parts of our day as we ate.
But after we finished and she was helping me clean up, the air between us thickened again. My body ignited every time she brushed against me, her scent invading my lungs and making me hungrier than I’d been before dinner.
When I put the last dish in the dishwasher, there was no discussion of what came next. I scooped her into my arms and stalked to the bedroom.
Over the next few days,we settled into a rhythm so natural that it felt like we’d been doing it for years. I took her home every morning so she could change and get ready for training, then I’d head to work—The Burnout, The Pit, meetings with Jax, Fury, and Kane. Whatever the day demanded. Cecily trained, taught lessons, and chased the Olympic dream she’d built her entire life around. When she was done, I picked her up wherever she happened to be, and she always had her overnight bag because neither of us bothered pretending she wouldn’t be back at my place that night.
She’d left little traces of herself behind without realizing it. A hair tie on the bathroom counter, her toothbrush beside mine on the sink, and one of her sweaters folded over the arm of my couch. The scent of her drifted through rooms that had never smelled like anything so sweet before she walked into my life. It had already started to feel like it was her home as much as mine.
Not that I minded. I fucking loved it.
I hoped I’d be able to convince her to make the move official soon. But sometimes I caught the hesitation in her. How she’d pause before walking into the house, or the way her expression would turn distant after we’d spent hours tangled up in my sheets. Like reality would creep in and remind her this thing between us wasn’t supposed to happen. I wasn’t sure why she kept trying to treat this as temporary, but I didn’t call her out on it. Not yet.
However, every time she started drifting too far into her own head, I shut it down immediately. Always finding a way to remind her that she was exactly where she belonged. And no matter how hard she occasionally tried to pump the brakes, she always ended up right back in my bed by the end of the night.
12
TYRE
On the morning of the ghost race, I dropped Cecily off on my motorcycle. Her arms tightened around my waist when we stopped at the curb outside her parents’ place, and I let myself savor that contact for just a few seconds before reluctantly cutting the engine. The silence settled heavily around us, filled only with birds chirping somewhere nearby, the faint buzz of insects, and her soft breathing at my back.
“I have club business tonight,” I told her as she slid off the bike and tugged off her helmet, her hair tumbling down around her shoulders in a fiery wave. “I don’t know how late it’ll run, so don’t wait up for me.”
Her eyes flicked up to mine, and for just a fraction of a second, a small, subtle pout appeared on her lips. She tried to hide it, but disappointment flickered clearly in her eyes. It twisted something in my chest, satisfaction mingling with that unexpected ache. I liked seeing the evidence of how much she felt the same pull toward me, knowing that she was also reluctant to spend the night apart.
I didn’t tease her about her reaction, or bring it to her attention that I’ve even noticed. I didn’t want to leave her for theday on a sour note. “But I don’t have to leave until this evening, so I’ll pick you up like usual.”