“If I don’t go now, I know I won’t be able to,” he murmured as his gaze met mine. He stepped closer, but I backed away not wanting his comfort when he was in the process of crushing me. He let his arms drop in defeat and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “This is just something I have to do,” he explained, his deep voice laced with regret.
Anger flared along with the hurt and I crossed my arms protectively over my chest.
“Clearly,” I nodded coolly. Obviously, there wasn’t anything more to say. I certainly wasn’t going to plead with him to stay. I had more pride than that.
He opened the front door to the night beyond and gave me one last look as he grabbed his bag and walked out the door and out of my life.
******
The cavernous garage was quiet as usual, as I used my key and slid open the large metal door. It had become a nightly routine for me. After weeks of sleepless nights and torturing myself about what I could have done differently, the only place I could seem to rest was one of the places I’d felt closest to Sal.
Life and its irony continued to kick me in the ass.
The smell of gasoline immediately filled my nose with its reassuring scent.
Sal’s Charger sat covered and abandoned off to the side, along with Hank’s old Chevy truck they’d been in the middle of refinishing.
He’d taken the bike. I was surprised at how much I missed riding.
The first time Sal had brought me to the club’s personal auto shop I’d been bored to tears watching as he tinkered with his bike. But I’d quickly learned this was a special place for my man. This had been Sal’s sanctuary, the one thing he shared readily and openly with me. I’d felt so close to him inside these walls. I still did.
Sal wasn’t a big talker but he was a good listener. We’d had our own form of communication while he worked and I watched.
And watching him bent over a hood wasn’t half-bad either. The man had an amazing ass.
I dropped my purse and hopped up on the workbench laying my head on my arms and breathing deeply.
Tears threatened then as they so often did here. “You asshole,” I whispered, feeling my usual mix of anger and despair about Sal.
My lids grew heavy and I sighed in relief when sleep finally overtook me.
“Kat,” a deep voice woke me from an uncomfortable sleep.
“Is she sleeping in there again?” I heard another male voice ask incredulously.
“Not anymore,” I muttered, sitting up stiffly and wiping my eyes.
Axel and Xander looked at me with a mixture of concern and bafflement when I stood up. It wasn’t the first time I’d been caught here and it wouldn’t be the last.
“You need a ride home?” Axel asked, his grey eyes assessing me carefully.
“Nope, I’m good.” I waved him off with a forced grin.
“If you say so,” he muttered skeptically.
“It’s his loss you know,” Xander’s deep voice rumbled.
“Yeah,” I murmured with a headshake and a wave over my shoulder.
Whether or not that was true, Sal had still left me. He’d walked out of my life with a remoteness which still haunted me. I felt like I’d never get over it, over him. But I was a fighter, I’d come back from worse. At least that’s what I told myself every morning when I didn’t want to leave my bed.
All that was left to do was to pick up the pieces and try to move on.
Chapter 1
Present Day
Ahorn blared loudly behind me as I cut over into the right-hand lane.