I think I would rather just be free.
CHAPTER 6
ACE
Quincy shouldn’t be going anywhere with me. Not when you look at us on the surface. I might be young and pretty, but I know how people view the cut on my back and the business we’re in. Assumptions are made about me every day.
But that was true long before I found a home with the Steel Sinners. I have a feeling she understands when it comes to being judged.
There’s something in her eyes that calls to me. Her brown depths have a yearning hope swimming there and I want to fan it into something bigger, something that catches. Something she can trust and believe in again.
Fuck, I’m already addicted to the way she looks at me.
There’s a certain shyness there, which is completely unexpected, but it’s the uncertainty which makes me want to show her what possibility means again. She looks almost lost and I’m not sure what to do with that yet.
I’ll figure it the fuck out though; that I can guarantee.
Even though I can feel Donald watching every step as I lead Quincy out the door, I don’t stop. He’s not going to like it, but can’t do a damn thing to stop us.
My club would annihilate him and wouldn’t think twice about it. When I stop in front of my bike, Quincy’s body tenses under my touch. Her eyes go wide and round as she looks at my bike. When her eyes dart up to meet mine, I can’t help but smirk.
“You had to know there was a bike involved, Hollywood,” I tease her.
Her mouth opens for a long moment before she snaps it closed and swallows hard. “Yeah,” she croaks before her voice stabilizes, her words strengthening, “I guess I didn’t really think about it fully.”
I pull an extra helmet out of my saddlebags, because I made sure I was fucking prepared for this night, and slip it over her head. She blinks up at me as I snap it into place and slide my fingers under her chin.
The way she shivers at my touch has my cock kicking behind the fly of my jeans. He’s desperate to be buried inside of her.
But I know I need to take this slow. Well, maybe not slow, but I need to allow her a moment to breathe. Then I can claim her and never let her go.
“How old are you?” She blurts, and a horrified look overtakes her face seconds later.
But the question is already out there. It hangs between us, unwilling to be ignored and too adorable to be forgotten.
The lighting is fucking awful, but I can still see the way her cheeks pink slightly. Just enough.
Fuck. I want to make her blush every day for the rest of our lives.
“I’m 22.” I stand up straight and cross my arms across my chest as I stare down at her. The way she shifts her weight from one foot to the other tells me everything I need to know.
There’s something about making my woman squirm that I like. I like it a hell of a lot.
“You’re 22?” She looks up at me like I just switched over into talking Italian or some shit. Seeing her processing information she was not at all prepared for, and asked for anyway, is sexy as fuck.
“Yup,” I pop the p and straddle my bike before holding out a hand to help her climb on behind me.
“I’m too old for you,” the words tumble out of her mouth.
My head tips back and I bark out a laugh. She freezes and her thighs squeeze together.
“There is no way in the fucking world that you’re too old for me.” I wrap my arm around her waist and haul her closer. “I don’t know what the hell you do to me, Hollywood, but my time in the foster system taught me to listen to my gut. It’s why I learned how to play cards. Why I got on a bike. How I found my home with the Steel Sinners.”
“What is your gut saying?” Her words wobble slightly, but she manages to get them out.
I swallow hard, a lump forming in my throat I don’t understand. Memories of the way Cowboy fell hard for Brielle hit me. I watched it happen and was baffled by the whole thing. But I would buy a million dance studios for this woman. And I’m aware how fucking unhinged it sounds.
“You’re mine, Quincy Wells. I’m going to prove it to you. I’ll give you a reason to throw away all the things that don’t bring your life joy or purpose before wrapping you up in the kind of love you’ll never want to walk away from.”