“No,” she spat, throwing her hands in the air. “You don’t ask for anything!”

  “Not sure what the problem is.”

  “Everyone else is all, he’s so dreamy and go get him, tiger!”

  “Take it up with them,” I said with a laugh. Honestly, it was kind of flattering. “You asked for space and I gave it.”

  “I know,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “Charlie,” I said, smiling at her frustration. “You wanna hang out, I’m down. You wanna crawl in bed with me, I’m down. You want a relationship, hell, I’d be down with that too. What do you want?”

  “I want to have sex with you,” she muttered. “Pretty much all the time.”

  I laughed. I couldn’t help it. She said it so reluctantly. Like she was embarrassed or something. I’d never seen her embarrassed before.

  “Cool,” I said, reaching out to run my fingers through her hair. “Should we leave now, or—?”

  “I can’t leave my own party,” she said with a short laugh.

  “Tonight then.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Start drinkin’ soda, and then yeah.”

  “You’re saying I can’t drink at my own graduation party?”

  “Drink all you want,” I replied. “I’m sayin’ if you want me to fuck you tonight, you’ll be sober when I take you home.”

  “You’re a real bummer, you know that?”

  “Not into sloppy drunk sex,” I replied easily.

  “Who said I’m sloppy when I drink?”

  “I bet you’re a hell of a good time when you drink,” I countered. “But I don’t fuck anyone who’s not sober.”

  “Hmmm,” she said, her hands on her hips. “Seems like there’s a story there.”

  “No story,” I replied. “Got more respect for my partners than doing shit to them when they might not be fully aware of what’s happenin.’ Simple as that.”

  “Wait, you’re saying we’ll never ever have drunk sex?” she asked curiously.

  I thought about it for a moment. “You and I are together a while, really together, and you want to party and fuck me afterward—maybe.”

  “So, like at our engagement party,” she said dryly.

  “Yeah,” I said with a chuckle. “That sounds good.”

  “I should be thankful you’re such a gentleman,” Charlie said as we started walking toward the clubhouse. “But it’s a little irritating.”

  “It’ll grow on ya,” I promised.

  We made our way back inside and hung out with Kara and Draco for a while, but eventually we got separated. I didn’t mind. I liked hanging out at the clubhouse. The party was relaxed and everyone was having a good time, and it was interesting to see the different dynamics between the people. Everyone deferred to Poet and Dragon, which made sense since they were the retired VP and president. Most people deferred to Grease, too, since he was the current VP—but a few of the guys didn’t, including Charlie’s dad… and her mom for that matter. Farrah was a wild card. She wasn’t mean to anyone, and she was pretty much the life of the party, but she also didn’t take any shit. You knew just by the way she held herself that there wasn’t anyone in the world that she answered to. Casper seemed to like her that way, though.

  I understood the feeling. Watching Charlie go head-to-head in arguments didn’t bother me either, it just made me kind of proud. I watched her from across the room as she seemed to be lecturing her sister’s husband Leo, her hands flying around as she tried to make her point. Leo didn’t show any emotion, but as soon as Charlie stopped speaking he gave a little nod and said something back to her, making her laugh. She replied, and I could tell by the look on her face that it was something sarcastic. Leo laughed loud enough that even I could hear him over the thirty other conversations in the room.

  “She gives him so much shit,” Charlie’s sister Lily said as she came up beside me. “But he loves it. It gives him a reason to argue.”

  “She gives everyone shit,” I replied, glancing down at the pretty brunette.

  Lily didn’t look anything like her sisters. While Charlie and Cecilia had both inherited their mom’s blond hair and fairer skin, Lily looked more like their dad with dark brown hair and olive complexion. If you didn’t know they were sisters, you’d never guess it… until they smiled. All of them had the exact same smile.

  “She gets that from our mom,” Lily said with a snicker. “They’re always willing and ready for an argument. I’m more like my dad—we like to wait and let the other person prove they’re an idiot without our help.”

  I laughed.

  “She’s crazy loyal though,” Lily said, taking a sip of her drink. “We’re all kind of protective of her, because she never gives up on someone once they’ve got her trust, you know?”

  “I can see that,” I replied. It didn’t take a genius to know where the conversation was headed.

  “From what Draco says, you’re the same way.”

  I just looked at her.

  “That you’re loyal.”

  I wasn’t sure how to reply. Yeah, I was loyal to Draco. The guy had saved my ass more times than I wanted to remember when we were locked up. Having a friend his size on the outside was a bonus, having a friend his size on the inside saved your fucking life. He’d argue that we both looked out for each other, and that was true. But I knew that the scale wasn’t balanced. How could it be? He’d been the kid of an Aces MC member and built like a tank, I’d been a nobody who was so pretty, people sometimes did a double take when they saw me.

  It wasn’t vanity that made me aware of how I looked—it was survival. I’d learned young that the way you looked, even if it was pretty—especially if it was pretty—made people treat you differently and sometimes that wasn’t a good thing. Sometimes it was very bad.

  “He’s a good friend,” I replied finally.

  “He says the same about you,” Lily said, smiling at me. That’s when I realized their smiles weren’t exactly the same. Lily had a dimple and it was fucking adorable.

  “Lily,” Rose called as she walked toward us. “The boys think they can beat us at beer pong.”

  “Who gave our boys beer?” Lily asked in surprise. “They’re not old enough for fucking beer.”

  “They’re going to play with soda,” Rose replied, waving away Lily’s concern. “Come on, they’ve already pulled the table outside.”

  “How the hell do they know how to play beer pong?” Lily asked stubbornly.

  “Who cares,” Rose replied easily. “I’m going to make them drink until they puke.”

  “I’ll see you later, Bishop,” Lily said to me, with a sigh. “I’ve gotta go collect my mother-of-the-year trophy.”

  Not long after that, I found myself standing next to Charlie as we watched Rose and Lily annihilate their sons at beer pong. Almost everyone at the party was crowded around the table, watching as Kara’s little brother Jamison turned paler and paler as he downed his cups of soda.

  “Call uncle,” Rose said, laughing at the look on his face.

  “Never,” Jamison croaked.

  “Jamo’s gonna puke, Grey,” Lily said sympathetically. “Want to call it?”

  “Hell no. He’ll rally,” Grey said, not looking any better than his teammate. “We could still beat you.”

  “Poor deluded boy,” Charlie said under her breath, leaning against me. “He’s up against over thirty years of friendship. They’ll never win.”

  “It’s kinda cool how you guys have these built-in friendships,” I said, putting my arm around her shoulders.

  “So many cousins,” Charlie said, taking a sip from her glass. She looked up at me. “It’s water.”

  “Stickin’ to water, huh?” I asked with a smile.

  “So you’ll stick it to me later,” she replied, smiling back.

  Luckily, my laugh was lost in the chatter of the crowd around us.

  “If someone pukes, we’re callin’ it,” Kara’s dad Mack announced.

  “You coddle him,” Rose accused jokingly, looking across the table at her man. “He threw down the gauntlet, baby.”

  “And you picked that shit right up,” Mack said, grinning.

  “You didn’t expect anything less.” She blew him a kiss.

  The game continued, and thankfully no one threw up, but Lily and Rose won so easily that the boys accused them of cheating. After that, the crowd started thinning out.

  I stood with Charlie, Draco, and Kara out front as everyone stopped to congratulate Charlie on her graduation and say their goodbyes. Every single adult, old and young, handed her something as they left. Some were clearly greeting cards and others just plain white envelopes, but every time she got one, Charlie’s eyes widened in surprise.

  When mostly everyone had left, we headed toward my truck.

  “Holy shit,” Charlie said, stopping in the middle of the forecourt.

  “What?” Kara asked, spinning toward her.

  “Money.”

  “What?”

  “They’re full of fucking cash,” Charlie choked out. Her eyes were wide with shock.

  “Did you expect checks?” Kara joked. “Half of them don’t have fucking bank accounts.”

  “Damn government,” Draco mimicked.

  “I didn’t know they were giving me money,” Charlie said in disbelief.

  “Graduation gifts,” Kara said with a shrug.

  “You gonna stand out here and count it?” Draco joked. “Or can we go home?”

  “I think I need a safe,” Charlie said, walking toward us as she glanced between us and the envelopes. “This is a lot of fucking money.”

  “You should probably send out thank you cards,” Kara said as she reached us. “That would be the nice thing to do.”

  “Of course you’re thinking about thank you cards when I’m holding this much cash,” Charlie joked, shaking her head.

  As we reached the truck, I realized something.

  “There’s only three seats,” I said dumbly, pausing with my hand on the door. “Fuck.”

  “You’re just realizing this now?” Charlie asked.

  “We can double up!” Kara said, smiling happily.

  She’d said it so easily, like it was no big deal. But for me—it was. I was on parole. I couldn’t be driving around with too many people in my truck. It wasn’t legal and there wasn’t any way to hide it.

  “I brought my car,” Charlie said to me quietly. When I looked at her, she winked. “And I’m sober as a judge. I can drive home.”

  “I’m riding with Charlie!” Kara announced.

  “Looks like it’s just you and me,” Draco said as the girls walked toward Charlie’s car. “And I don’t care how nicely you ask, I’m not riding bitch.”

  We were quiet as we followed the girls home. Draco and I could spend hours talking about anything and everything, but we were just as easy sitting in silence—which I appreciated. After spending the day surrounded by people and thirty different conversations happening at once, I was thankful for the quiet. I was also anxious as fuck to get home. I hadn’t touched Charlie in so long, I was dying to get my hands on her.

  “You and Charles seem to be gettin’ along again,” Draco said nonchalantly, taking me by surprise.

  “We weren’t ever not gettin’ along,” I replied, glancing at him.

  “I don’t know man,” he said, chuckling a little. “The two of you have been tiptoein’ around the house for the last month.”

  “She’s been busy,” I said flatly. “Hell, so have I. Casper and Farrah want their house done yesterday.”

  “Whatever you say,” Draco replied as we parked along the sidewalk in front of the house.

  “It’s all good, man,” I assured him as we got out and started toward the house.

  “That was a fun party,” Kara said, stumbling out of Charlie’s car. “We should do that again.”

  “We can party whenever you want,” Draco told her, grinning as she leaned heavily against him. “Unless it’s a school night.”

  “When did you get to be such a stick-in-the-mud?” Kara teased.

  She howled with laughter as Draco threw her over his shoulder and carried her toward the front door.

  “You know,” Charlie said to me as she rounded the car. “Drunk people aren’t as fun when you’re sober.”

  “Truth,” I replied, waiting for her to reach me before I started walking to the house.

  “I can see why you’d want a sober person in your bed,” she said grinning. “Kara’s bound to pass out as soon as her head hits the mattress.”

  “Yeah,” I said, following her inside. “That would put a damper on my plans.”

  “Ooh,” she replied, looking over her shoulder at me. “You have plans?”

  “At least a hundred,” I said, making her smile. “Maybe a thousand.”

  “You think we’ll get to all of them tonight?”

  I looked down at her leg. She’d stopped favoring it, but I knew it must still be sore. By the time she woke up in the morning, I had a feeling her entire thigh would be black and blue bruises. “I think we’ll make it through about half,” I replied jokingly. “If you’re still up for it.”

  “Definitely,” she said, hurrying up the stairs.

  I closed the door behind me and flipped the lock before following her. About halfway up the stairs, I glanced up to see Charlie mooning me from the top of them, her dress pulled up around her waist.

  “Get a move on,” she ordered, shaking her ass from side to side.

  I went to my room first, but she wasn’t there, so I continued down the hallway. Her dress was in a pile in the doorway of her room, and as I stepped inside I saw her standing next to the bed, stripped down to nothing but her G-string and the bandages covering her leg.

  “So, I thought this would be a lot sexier,” she said jokingly, gesturing to her lower half. “And then I looked down and well—”

  “Looks pretty fuckin’ sexy to me,” I replied, closing the door behind me.

  “I’d take off the bandages, but—”

  “Better to keep them on,” I said, cutting her off. “That way we’re more careful of ’em.”

  She looked down and her leg and picked at the piece of tape at the top of her thigh.

  “Leave it,” I ordered, leaning down to unlace my boots. “You know what wouldn’t be sexy? You start bleedin’ all over because your scratch opens back up while we’re busy.”

  “Blood bothers you, does it?” she asked insinuatingly.

  I laughed and pulled off my boots and socks. “You askin’ if I’m into blood play or are you askin’ if I care if a woman’s on her period?”

  “Uh, both?” she replied, grimacing.

  “Not into blood play—honestly don’t understand that shit—but to each their own,” I said as I continued stripping, dropping my clothes into a pile. “I don’t care if a woman’s on her period as long as she’s comfortable with it. If she’s self-conscious or whatever, it’s not fun for either of us, know what I’m sayin’?”

  “Perfectly,” She replied, licking her lips. “It’s never really bothered me if a woman’s on her period, but if it bothers her, it’s a no-go, obviously. But I know it’s different for everyone, I think guys are probably just generally more squeamish about it than women.”

  I paused with my thumbs in the waistband of my underwear.

  “Yeah, I’ve been with women,” she said, laughing at the look on my face. “I love women.”

  “I knew that,” I said, coming out of my stupor. “I’d somehow just forgotten for a second.”

  She stood there, staring at my face as I dropped my boxer briefs to the ground.

  “What?” I asked curiously. I was standing there naked and she hadn’t even glanced down my body—it was very un-Charlie.

  “I was waiting for you to say something about how hot it is that I’ve had sex with women,” she said dryly. “Or ask for a threesome.”

  “Oh.” I was a little dumbstruck. “Well, yeah I guess the idea is kind of hot—you with another woman,” I said finally. “But, no, I’m not lookin’ for a threesome. I wouldn’t want to see you with someone else.”

  “Really?” she asked dubiously.

  “I want you to myself,” I replied simply. “Call me selfish, but when you’re in bed with me I want your focus to be on me. Just like I’m not gonna be thinkin’ about anyone but you.”

  Chapter 11

  Charlie

  Be still my heart.

  I stood there looking at Bishop, the way his hair fell forward on his forehead, and the brackets around his mouth when he smiled, and the broad expanse of his shoulders and I was a goner. No one had ever looked at me the way he looked at me. No one had ever treated me the way he treated me.

  I’d been in other relationships. Good ones even. But not one person in my entire life had made the butterflies in my stomach go crazy the way Bishop did.

  I hadn’t really expected him to say something disgusting about the fact that I was bisexual, but I guess I was always prepared for a conversation to move in that direction. Women usually had strong feelings about it, either they didn’t understand my attraction to men or fully supported it, but they rarely asked for some novelty sexual experience. It was always the men who asked. Who insinuated and implied how much they’d like to see me with another woman or assumed that I would be interested in a threesome because I found women attractive. It didn’t matter if I was in a relationship with the man or I was just getting to know him—the conversation almost always veered in that direction.

  Bishop was the first to accept it without strings or jealousy. I wasn’t a novelty to him.

  “I’ve had threesomes,” I blurted out. I don’t know why I said it. Maybe to test him? To make sure he wasn’t too good to be true? To see if I could turn him off?

  “Cool,” he said, bracing his hands on his hips. “I haven’t.”

  “Just so you know,” I mumbled awkwardly.

  “Honey,” he said, his brows creased in confusion. “Are you askin’ for a threesome?”

  “No!”

  “Then I’m not sure where this conversation is goin’,” he said with a short laugh. “I’m more than happy—hell, grateful even—to have you in my bed. Don’t need anythin’ beyond you and me.”