The last thing I’d expected on my way to work was to see my long-lost ex from my high school days walking into the joint.

Well, maybe second-to-last.

The last would have been him laying on my couch, in my shithole apartment, and me cleaning up his wounds like a combat medic.

The large, dopey jackass on Mark’s crew had woken up from the floor while Grizz’s guard was down. With a solid blow to the head, he’d knocked my surprise champion out like a light.

I returned the favor with the pot, but the damage was already done. Grizz got lucky on the way down – the scratches and cuts could have been worse.

He took little nap on the floor of the diner, waking up just in time to help with the police report. When he insisted on no hospitals, no rides, I’d reluctantly let him follow me back to my place on his motorcycle. I’d kept one eye on the rearview mirror just waiting for him to collapse and lay the bike out, but he held it together until he made it to the couch.

And that meant I had nothing left to worry about except my job…

Screw the job.

I had the cook on my side as a witness, even if the stuck-up bitch of a coworker wasn’t going to have my back. Plus, there was that cheapo security camera…

If Clyde was going to give me shit over taking the night off, with all the insanity I’d been through, then he could kiss my ass.

Grizz hazily murmured as I did my best to clean his wounds. I knew better than to try and insist on a hospital unless things started looking really bad, so I dug out whatever first aid I had in the bathroom.

He was going to have a nasty gash on that hand when the sun rose, but it didn’t seem to bother him too much.

“This is going to hurt,” I winced, dabbing antiseptic onto a cotton ball as I prepared to clean up his face. My gaze averted to the half-empty glass of whiskey on the coffee table. “I don’t have anything else to numb the pain.”

“That’s fine,” he muttered, his words bleeding together. “Been through a lot worse than this.”

“Don’t doubt it,” I shook my head.

It was true. When we were teenagers, he was already a broad, bulky guy. The coaches made it clear that he was first pick for the football team, but he never showed any interest.

That physique had clearly stuck with him since those days, and it had only toughened with the military… and whatever else he’d been doing since then.

Having pulled Grizz out of his leather jacket and stained tee, I could now see how this chest was thickly carved, built upon a staggering six-pack of washboard abs.

I swore that my long-lost Roman god of an ex-boyfriend was a medical mystery with the sheer lack of fat on his body.

“Like what you see?” He murmured cockily, his knees spread wide and his head partially to the side against the wall.

As much as I hated to admit it…

I did.

I really, really did.

From this position, it wouldn’t be much to slip between his shins, tug his jeans down, and service that stiff cock of his on my quivering knees.

Just like old times…

“Don’t be an asshole,” I warned him.

No. I can’t let him do that to me again.

“I was never an asshole,” he sighed.

“That’s true. Well, up until the part where you abandoned me,” I reminded my ex-boyfriend sharply.

I expected him to contest the point. Expected him to explain something – anything that could dull the pain from that promise unfulfilled.

To my deep disappointment, Grizz failed me again. He closed his mouth, without so much as a sigh.

Yeah, I bitterly told myself.

That’s exactly what I fucking thought.

“I’m guessing that you and that guy have some history,” Grizz groaned as I began dressing his wounds.

“Something like that.”

“Care to fill in the gap?”

I paused in mid-stroke, intentionally holding the cotton ball against his face while I thought on the answer. Although that probably burned like a real bitch, he didn’t complain even a peep.

“He’s my ex. Well, my latest ex.”

“I… see.”

“The latest in a long string of fuck-ups,” I continued, finally pulling the cotton ball away. The area looked a little red. “I guess I have a thing for big burly asshole bikers… Sound familiar?”

Grizz’s eyes shifted. “Rings a bell.”

“Yeah,” I nodded, my tone dripping with resentment. “I thought that it might.”

I turned away, trying to hide the stinging sensation that was growing in my eyes. I couldn’t let Grizz see me cry.

“What happened, Grizz?” I finally asked. “Why didn’t you come back?”

The wounded, fatigued biker turned his face away, his emotions a mask to me. His face was always a goddamn mask, even when we were younger.

“I deserve answers,” I insisted painfully.

He sighed. I could see his ribcage shudder with the depth of that exhale.

“I know you do, Kate. And you’ll have them.” He turned back to face me, his glance holding back pain that went deeper than some facial cuts. “Give me time, and I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything.”

I brushed my hands off, standing up.

“I gave you a goddamn decade,” I reminded him callously. “And apparently that wasn’t fucking enough.”

“Sorry to have disappointed you,” Grizz groaned, trying to properly sit up. “I’ll just let myself out.”

“Don’t be an idiot.”

He paused, looking my way.

“You’re in no condition to go anywhere or do anything,” I snapped. “Just… sleep on the fucking couch. Get your rest. I’ll boot your ass in the morning.”

He thought on this and nodded.

“Thank you, Kate. I’ll make this worth your while. Just… please be patient with me. It’s been a rough couple of years.”

“Yeah,” I replied coolly, my icy glare fixed on his eyes. “No fucking kidding.”

Before leaving him alone for the night, I brought him a few extra blankets, which he accepted gratefully.

After that, I locked up the place, brushed my teeth, and finally climbed into bed after a long and unexpected night.

It was weird to have Grizz back in my life, even if just for a night. Some part of me felt like it could believe him when he looked at me with those sad, sorrowful eyes… especially when he said that I’d know the truth soon.

It’d better be fucking good, I groaned.

After all… he had derailed my entire life.

I wasn’t supposed to be some poor waitress in Louisiana of all fucking places, fighting for jobs at dumps like Waffle Shack.

I should have gone places.

Instead, I held out for Grizz.

And he’d broken all his promises.

He was only going to have been gone a couple of years, and then we’d pick up together and conquer the world.

But Grizz had never come back.

When I gave up on waiting, I got the hint and tried to make my way out to New York anyway. That’s about the time the economy stumbled and the jobs I’d been promised all but dried up.

It wasn’t long before I was forced to move somewhere that I could actually afford. I decided to chase a lead, pack up, and head down to New Orleans. It was an entry position with a large accounting firm. Not exactly my dream job, but at least it was something solid.

And that ended up being just another in a long line of mistakes.

The ‘big job’ offer came with a few undisclosed office duties. I wasn’t about to let the boss bend me over a goddamned desk. That meant I was out on my ass almost as soon as I’d arrived.

I used the last of my money to buy a bus ticket out of the city. Ended up two hours west of NOLA, scrambling for anything to get food in my stomach and a roof over my head.

Anything besides peeling off my clothes and grinding against half-drunk strangers with my tits out for the world, anyway…

No disrespect to those who can do it.

I just can’t.

I lay in bed for upwards of an hour, fighting an endless barrage of thoughts, half of them trudging up repressed memories of the past.

Usually, I slept pretty great.

But the second that lumbering asshole pushes back into my life…

Irritated, I climbed out of bed and slipped a tee back on. A moment later, I was wandering towards the kitchen for a glass of water when I walked past the couch…

And heard something.

I paused in mid-step, glancing over at my ex-boyfriend. He was out cold, but I could have sworn that he–

He muttered something again.

Wait… I wondered.

Carefully, I lowered my ear down near his face. Feeling his hot breaths waft against my cheek, I could catch a little of his natural musk.

It reminded me of days past.

I didn’t like it.

But then, just as I lifted my head away from him to return to my original mission, I heard that noise again. But this time, I was close enough to recognize it.

He was whispering my name in his sleep.

And, just to twist the knife another turn, my body betrayed me for a second goddamn time.

I wasn’t going to sleep for ages, and I was turned on like hell, so when I was locked back away in my room, I did what any self-respecting woman does when she’s home alone with a hunky, chiseled biker asleep on her couch.

“Goddamn you, Grizz Hawkins,” I firmly growled to myself in bed as I stroked my clit, squeezing my breast through my shirt. I was so fucking wet and ready for him, but there was no way I’d stoop down to fucking him again, not after what he did to me.

But those growls turned to moans.

Those moans turned to whimpers.

And soon, I wasn’t cursing that name, but begging it, pleading with it, coming harder than I’d done in years…