“It was never really Curt, you know,” she said after a while, her voice quiet. I froze for a moment, but I didn’t want her to stop talking, so I ran my fingers down her back again. “It was,” she paused. “It was the fact that he seemed safe.” She shrugged and sighed. “He was easy to adore because I knew in the back of my mind that nothing would ever come of it. I liked the romance of it all, but not the reality.”

  “Oh, yeah?” I said, my voice hoarse. We’d never really talked about it before and I’d told myself it didn’t matter. I guess it did, though, because it was always going to be a part of our history and from the tone of Kara’s voice, she was holding onto some guilt about it.

  “You were such a manwhore,” she said with a huff. “I couldn’t think of you that way. I couldn’t let myself, not when you were with a different girl every week. That would’ve killed me.”

  “I was an idiot,” I muttered.

  “You were a teenage boy,” she said, kissing my chest. “You were fun and sweet and smokin’ hot, but I wasn’t ready for you. Not then.”

  “I always kind of wondered,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “You know, if after it all went down back then whether you were with me because you felt guilty or—” My words broke off with a yelp when she pinched my belly hard.

  “I wasn’t with you because I felt guilty,” she said incredulously. “Why would you even think that?”

  “Because you were moonin’ after Curt,” I said defensively. “And then that just kind of vanished and me and you started hangin’ out.”

  Kara sat up and for a second, I was distracted by the way her tits swayed.

  She snapped her fingers in front of my face to get my attention.

  “It was never guilt,” she said seriously. “But I can’t say that it didn’t change things.”

  I just looked at her.

  “It was so many things,” she said with a small smile. “It was the way you stood up for me and the way you were unapologetic about that.”

  I let out a huff of air.

  “It was the way you looked at me—”

  “I always looked at you.”

  “I finally saw you looking,” she said softly, running her fingers lightly down my cheek. “And it was the way you always made sure that I was okay. The way you reassured me even though I knew you were scared. You seemed to know me better than anyone else and I could be fully myself with you. Even when I was in a bad mood or upset. It wasn’t guilt, baby. Never that.” She leaned down and kissed me. “It was like after all the time we spent together, I looked at you and suddenly thought oh, there he is.”

  “I had that same moment,” I said, reaching up to push her hair back from her face. “Oh, there she is.”

  “You did?”

  “Yeah,” I whispered. “But I was fifteen years old and you were wearing a little purple bikini.”

  “I thought you were being serious,” she said with a laugh, her eyes lighting up.

  “I am serious,” I replied. “That bikini almost fuckin’ killed me.”

  Kara rolled her eyes as she sat back up. “I was never with you because I felt guilty, like you deserved to get your mack on because you’d beaten up my bully.”

  “Get my mack on?” I sputtered, trying not to laugh. Kara ignored me.

  “The guilt was there, it’s still there,” she said. “But I was with you then and I’m with you now for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with guilt. Like the way your ass looks in a pair of jeans. The way you laugh and it changes your entire face.” She threw up her hands in frustration. “The way you look like a damn romance hero all dark and broody but your great grandparents are the first people you search for when you show up at a barbeque and you genuinely like hanging out with them.”

  “They’re not gonna be here forever,” I said, a little defensively. “I wanna get my time in when I can.”

  “I know,” she said, her eyes soft on mine. “I love that about you.”

  “You’ve got nothin’ to feel guilty about,” I said, pulling her back down so she was snug against my side again. “Nothin’ that happened was your fault.”

  “That’s not exactly true,” she replied. “But let’s not argue about it tonight.”

  “Alright, sweetheart,” I said with a sigh. “But we’re gonna discuss it again until you stop carryin’ that shit.”

  We talked for hours, finally turning in the bed so she could pull the sheet over us. She fell asleep with her ass pressed tightly against my crotch, her hand holding mine against her chest.

  I was awake for a while though, sifting through everything I’d learned that night. The things I’d never be able to fix for her and the things I could. I’d been serious when I told her that I was never going back to prison, but something had to be done about that cop. I was going to have to take it to the club.

  I fell asleep just before Kara’s alarm went off.

  “Shit,” she said, sitting straight up in bed. “I have work!”

  “Fuck,” I said as she threw off the sheet and got to her feet.

  She looked at the clock. “No time to shower,” she said, rushing to her dresser.

  I laughed as she paused with a drawer open then turned, moved a step in one direction and then the other. “Clothes are in my bag.”

  “Living room,” I said, crossing my arms behind my head so I could watch her.

  “Right,” she said. She hurried out of view and was back seconds later. She tossed the backpack that had caused so many problems into the closet from across the room, and set her bag of clothes on the bed. “We’ll burn that later,” she said, gesturing with one hand.

  It took her about thirty seconds to get dressed and then she was rushing out of the room. When she came back in her hair was pulled into a ponytail with little hairs hanging down around her ears and neck because they’d already escaped the hair tie.

  “You can go back to sleep,” she said around the toothbrush in her mouth. “I should be done around eleven.”

  “I got work, too,” I reminded her.

  “Right,” she said, leaving the room again. When she came back, the toothbrush was gone and she went straight to the closet, kicking the backpack further inside as she pulled a hoodie off the hanger.

  “You always like this in the morning?” I asked, chuckling as she got her head stuck in the sweatshirt.

  “Only at four am,” she said in frustration as she finally got the sweatshirt on.

  “Good to know.”

  “I gotta go,” she said, coming over to lean down and kiss me. It took everything I had not to pull her back into bed.

  “Love you,” she called over her shoulder as she left. Like she hadn’t even thought about it. Like she’d been doing it every day for years.

  I sat up and pulled on my jeans as she moved around the living room and caught her just as she was about to go out the front door.

  “Love you, too,” I said.

  Kara paused, her hand on the doorknob, and shot me a smile over her shoulder.

  She didn’t notice that I followed her outside and watched as she got to her Jeep safely. I didn’t go back inside until she’d pulled out of the parking lot.

  Since there was no way I was going to be able to sleep again, I finished getting dressed and let myself out of the apartment. I figured I might as well get changed and go into work early. It’s not like anyone would care if I started earlier and quit earlier—as long as I was getting shit done, I could make whatever hours I wanted.

  I was quiet as I let myself into my place, but I couldn’t help the startled bark of laughter that left my mouth when I found Charlie and Bishop curled up together on the couch—thankfully, fully clothed.

  “What?” Bishop said, waking instantly. He nearly squashed Charlie as he jerked, his eyes searching for the threat.

  “Just me, man,” I said softly.

  “Fuck,” he said, relaxing back down against the cushions.

  “That gets better,” I told him, remembering the first months on the outside. It took a while to get used to waking up without the fear.

  “Good to know,” he said.

  “You look cozy,” I joked.

  “You care—”

  “Nope,” I said, cutting him off. “She’s an adult.”

  “Alright,” he said, curling his arm tighter around Charlie’s shoulders. “Quiet then,” he ordered, glancing at her. “Have a feelin’ this one wakes up swingin’, and I wanna stay where I’m at a while longer.”

  “Good luck,” I said with a grin as I headed to my room. “You’ll need it.”

  “I’m gettin’ that,” he said quietly, more to himself than me.

  The rest of the morning went pretty much like every other morning for the last eight months I’d been working at the garage. I did a tune-up on an older minivan and changed out the transmission on a Tacoma, which was a complete bitch, but by the time everyone else was breaking for lunch, I was done for the day.

  As I walked outside, wiping my hands with a rag, I ran into Grease.

  My hands shot up in the air, the rag still dangling from one of them.

  “You’re fine,” he grumbled. “You’re a fuckin’ idiot, but I’m not gonna hit you again.” He chuckled as he passed me. “You might wanna steer clear of Mack, though.”

  “Shit,” I muttered, looking around the forecourt. I’d been so in my head about everything that had happened the night before and watching Kara get ready for work that morning that I’d hadn’t even thought about how Mack had taken Kara on his bike the night before.

  No one knew that we’d fixed things. They’d all seen me reject her the day before and as far as they knew, that was where we still stood.

  I figured I’d better find him before he found me.

  Mack was at the bar talking to Will when I stepped inside the clubhouse. It was pretty quiet that time of day, but there were always at least a few people milling around. Grandma Brenna came out of the kitchen as I reached the end of the bar.

  “Hey, Grandson,” she said, smiling. “You looking for something to eat?”

  “That’s okay,” I said, holding back a grimace when Mack turned to face me. “Thanks, though.”

  She looked between me and Mack and nodded, walking right back into the kitchen as Will headed in the opposite direction.

  “You got balls, prospect,” Mack said, not bothering to get up from his stool. “Lookin’ for me?”

  “Yeah,” I said, moving forward even though I wasn’t sure it was the smartest choice.

  “Ya found me,” he said flatly.

  “I just wanted—” I started, stopping when he huffed.

  “You look about ready to shit yourself.”

  “I’m not,” I said, straightening my shoulders. “I just wanted to let you know that me and Kara are good.”

  “That right?” he asked, unimpressed.

  “We worked shit out last night,” I replied.

  “Musta been after I had her bawlin’ in my arms ’til she damn near hyperventilated,” he said, his eyes on me never wavering.

  I took that blow, barely flinching.

  “I screwed up,” I replied. “Fixed it.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah,” I gritted out, getting annoyed at his expression.

  “Thought you were it,” he said. “Trusted that.”

  “I am,” I replied.

  “You got no idea what it’s like to have a daughter,” he said, his hand on the bar curling into a fist. “Daughter like Kara is worse. Keeps shit close to the chest, doesn’t come to me for nothin’.”

  “I know,” I said. He ignored me.

  “So when she does come to me, I know it’s bad.”

  “I’m tellin’ you,” I replied. “I fixed it.”

  “Better hope to hell you did,” he said. “’Cause if I find her cryin’ like that again, you’re a dead man. Member or not, grandson of the president or not, they won’t find enough of ya to bury.”

  “Got it,” I replied.

  “Then we’re done here,” he said, turning back to face the bar.

  “That’s it?” I asked, a little surprised. I’d expected to be hit at least once. I was just hoping if I found him instead of him having to track me down, he’d go a bit easier on me.

  “You expectin’ me to welcome you into the family?” he asked, his back still to me. “Boy, get the fuck outta here.”

  I stood there for a second like a fucking moron and then turned on my heel just in time to see Kara come through the door. I forgot Mack even existed.

  “I was hoping to catch you before you left,” Kara said happily as she walked toward me.

  She must have gone home to shower after work because her hair was still damp and wavy around her face. She was in a sundress that I’d never seen before, but she was still wearing the same ratty ass sandals. God, she was fucking gorgeous.

  “Just got off,” I said as she got closer.

  “Good,” she replied. With a grin, she jogged the last couple of feet between us. I caught her around the waist as she gave a little hop, wrapping her arms around my neck. “You want to get out of here?”

  I barely kept my hands off her ass and I was a fucking saint for it, too, because she smelled incredible and I could tell she didn’t have a damn bra on.

  “Where you wanna go?” I asked, our faces close together.

  Kara’s nose wrinkled. “I need to find Charlie,” she said.

  “She was wrapped around Bishop on my couch this morning,” I replied.

  “Interesting development,” she said, raising her eyebrows.

  “No shit.”

  “Her car wasn’t there when I got home,” she said. “I’d usually check her parents’ house, but—” She shrugged.

  Charlie’s parents’ house was no longer there.

  “We’ll find her,” I said, leaning the last inch to give her a soft kiss.

  Tommy started whooping from the corner. Will was fucking applauding.

  “Oh, shut up,” Kara yelled at them.

  “It’s just so sweet,” Tommy sang, clasping his hands under his chin. “It’s like watching a soap opera.”

  “Like you were any better,” Mack said, turning on his stool to face the rest of the room. “We watch your shit play out every damn time your woman is here.”

  “We’re passionate people,” Tommy said, dropping his hands.

  “You’re fuckin’ lunatics,” Mack shot back, making Will laugh.

  “Hey, Daddy,” Kara said, smiling at Mack, her feet still dangling half a foot off the floor as she clung to me.

  “Hey, princess,” he said, his lips twitching.

  “Everything’s better now,” she told him sheepishly.

  “That’s what I hear,” he replied. He looked the two of us up and down. “You look real pretty.”

  Kara’s smile widened even further and she leaned her head on my shoulder.

  “Gorgeous,” I whispered in her ear. “New dress?”

  “I was feeling festive,” she told the both of us.

  Mack chuckled. “Get the hell out of here,” he ordered. “I gotta get back to work.”

  We left right after he did and after driving around a little while, we found Charlie’s car outside of Lily’s house.

  “I’d tell you that I want to do this on my own,” Kara said, glancing at me as we walked toward the house, “but I’m too much of a coward.”

  “It’s gonna be fine,” I replied, reaching for her hand. “You guys always figure shit out.”

  Aunt Lily opened the door at Kara’s knock and without a word, took a step back to let us in.

  “Nephew,” she said to me.

  “Auntie.”

  “She’s in the kitchen, Kara,” she said, giving Kara’s arm a squeeze.

  Kara led us in that direction, and when she got to the kitchen, froze.

  She and Charlie stared at each other for so long, having a silent conversation, that even I started to get uncomfortable.

  “You two had sex,” Charlie finally said, standing up so fast that her chair tipped over backward.

  “You slept with Bishop!” Kara replied accusingly.

  “We were fully dressed.”

  “Likely story!”

  “Did you see his fucking cheekbones?” Charlie asked, throwing her hands in the air. “I deserve a fucking medal.”

  “Didn’t notice his cheekbones,” Kara confessed, letting go of my hand. “But I did notice the eyes.”

  “Blue as the fucking Caribbean,” Charlie said in disgust.

  “Long lashes.”

  “Why do guys get the good eyelashes?” Charlie spat in irritation.

  They were in each other’s arms in less than a second, their words too low for me to hear.

  “I knew it wouldn’t take long,” Lily said from behind my shoulder.

  “Shoulda seen them last night,” I said as we watched Charlie and Kara hold each other.

  “Friendship like that,” Lily said, “it’s like a marriage. You say the shittiest things and then you forgive.” She looked at me. “There’s no other choice.”

  “Good to know.”

  “I see you finally figured things out,” she said with a smile.

  I nodded. I’d figured out more than she could imagine.

  We stayed at Lily’s for a while, but eventually, I wanted Kara all to myself. We hadn’t had enough time that was just the two of us and I knew exactly where I wanted to go.

  “Draco,” Kara said softly as I parked outside the playground where we’d snuck off so many times as kids.

  “Feel like a swing?” I asked.

  She answered me by throwing open her door and climbing out of the truck.

  “It still looks the same,” she said, looking around as she stepped onto the bark chips. She pointed off to the left. “That spider web thing is new.”

  “Swings are still here,” I said.

  “My favorite,” she replied with a grin. She led me over to them and sat down.

  “You never knew this,” I said as I gripped the chains and pulled her backward until her feet were dangling in the air. I let her go and she swung forward. “But I liked pushin’ you on these things because the seat frames your ass perfectly.”

  “What?” she asked, looking at me over her shoulder as she swung back toward me.

  “Like a fuckin’ juicy peach,” I confirmed, laughing at her scandalized expression. I caught her by the seat and pressed my thumbs against the cheeks of her ass. “Yum.”