Chapter Ten

Drake

“So, my sister comes home soon, huh?” Danny said, tipping his beer bottle back. “Crazy to think it’s been a year.”

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. What seemed like no time to him, felt like forever to me. And I didn’t even know what she’d be coming home to. Me? I wasn’t sure she’d even want to. I’d put my heart on lockdown the past few months. I’d been a miserable fuck to everyone around me and didn’t give a shit.

When she didn’t respond to the final email I sent, I assumed she was on board with my plan. No contact. Not one motherfucking word for almost three months. I assumed she was fine because if she wasn’t, I sure as shit would have heard about it from her brother, but she’d taken me at my word and checked out of my life and I had no one to blame but myself.

“You okay?’ Danny asked.

“Fine.” Such a mundane word to describe the shit storm my life had become. I couldn’t sleep, ate garbage, barely slept, drank too much, relied on other mechanics to keep my shop running, and could barely summon the energy to shave a couple of times a month.

“You sure about that? You don’t seem fine, man.”

If we hadn’t been in a public place, I probably would have throttled him. My best friend. The guy who’d been like a brother to me. I would have choked him. Because I had so much rage inside of me and I didn’t know what to do with it.

“I’m fine,” I repeated, spitting the words out. “Now can we talk about something other than your sister?”

“Where do things stand with you two? You haven’t mentioned her name in months.”

I slammed my fist down on the table, drawing a glare from the bartender and owner. “Are you deaf? I said I don’t want to talk about her!”

“How long you think you can go on like this? Being a dick to everyone just ‘cause—”

“If you don’t like the way I’m acting, get the hell out of here.” I tipped my beer back, draining half the bottle. Six more might help me forget. Ten more might help me sleep tonight. “I never asked you to stay.”

“If I don’t look out for you, who the hell will? You’ve driven away everyone else who gives a shit about you.”

“Do I look like I care?” I rubbed at my beard. It was getting itchy and starting to piss me off. “Everyone can fuck off for all I care.”

“Is this what you want her to come back to?” Danny asked, gesturing to my greasy jeans and T-shirt. “You don’t give a shit about yourself. So why would she give a shit about you?”

“I never asked her to care!” But I wanted her to. I wanted her to love me enough to stay… and she couldn’t.

“She loves you, man. And if you treat her like this when she gets back, you’re going to lose her. Is that what you want?”

“I’ve already lost her twice. I’m getting used to it.” I beckoned to the waitress, demanding another round. She’d hit on me earlier. I hadn’t been drunk enough then, but after a few more, I might be able to pretend…

“You’ve come this far, waited this long,” Danny said, nodding his thanks to the waitress when she set two more beers down on the table. “You’re really going to let her go now?”

“She’s gone, man. Long gone.” I grabbed the waitress’s wrist and she squealed as I pulled her down on my lap. “But me? I’ve still got a lot of living left to do. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”

Danny stood, tossing a few bills on the table. “Yeah, that’s right. Live it up, asshole. But make sure you stay the fuck away from my sister.”

***

My heart stopped beating when she walked into my shop. Every eye in the place was on her. With good reason. She was wearing CFM pumps, skin-tight black jeans with tears revealing her tanned thighs, a long, tight black tank and a cropped black leather jacket. Her blond hair was wild and free, framing her small face like a halo, and her makeup was flawless.

Fuck. Me.

I wanted to beat the shit out of every asshole in the place, because each and every one of them was eye-fucking her, and all of the jealousy and possessiveness I’d buried deep came back with a vengeance.

“What’re you doing here?” My voice was gruff, and I hated the flash of hurt I saw in those baby blue eyes.

“I came to talk to you. Do you have a minute?”

I was willing to give her a lifetime but she only wanted a minute. Figures.

“My office.” I gestured for her to walk ahead of me so I could shoot warning glares at every one on my payroll. Customers too, if they couldn’t take a hint.

She turned on me as soon as I slammed the door.

“You’re an asshole!”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

I walked around the desk, carefully skirting her. I was dying to sink my hands into that crazy mass of hair and have my way with her mouth, but she was clearly pissed and so was I. This wasn’t going to be some sweet romantic reunion. No, it seemed there’d be blood spilled. Mine. And broken hearts. Ours. If she still cared at all.

“My brother tells me you’ve been passing your time with the new waitress at Toby’s.” She fisted her hands on the desk and leaned over, flashing those perfect tits.

“What’s it to you if I have?”

She slapped my face so hard and fast, I didn’t even see it coming. “What’s it to me?” Tears pooled in her eyes. “You said you loved me! You said you’d wait for me! That you wanted to marry me! Was that all a lie?”

Damn. Her tears would melt the ice around any man’s heart. And as angry as I was… with her, and myself, I couldn’t let her think I’d done something I hadn’t. “I haven’t been with anyone since you left, Kendra. Not so much as a fucking kiss.”

She leaned back, crossing her arms under her breasts. “What about what happened last week? Danny said she’d been coming on to you all night and by the time he left, you’d hauled her into your lap and there was no doubt in his mind where she’d ended up that night. In. Your. Bed. Or were you in hers?”

“Neither.” Not that she hadn’t offered. Several times. “Nothing happened. I may be a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them. I knew if I did something like that, you’d be done with me. And I wouldn’t risk that for anything.” Damn. I swore I wouldn’t put it all on the line again, not ‘til I knew how she felt, but just looking at her made something shift inside of me.

She was back. I could breathe again. She may not be happy with me right now. Hell, she was looking at me like she had one thing on her mind: castration. But she was here. In my shop. Back in my life. And she’d cared enough to slap me when she thought I’d messed around on her. That had to mean something.

“Why did you send me that email?” She curled her small hands into fists at her sides. “Don’t you know those emails were a lifeline for me?” Sniffles. “It was horrible there, Drake. So much poverty and despair. So much heartbreak, over all the kids I’d learned to love but would never see again.”

I swallowed, trying to keep my own feelings in check. I thought I had a right to be angry and frustrated. But I was an idiot. She was the one with a right to those feelings, not me. I’d abandoned her when I swore I never would, just ‘cause I was a pussy who couldn’t handle being apart from my girl, while she did something that showed more courage than I’d ever known anyone to possess.

“I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sure she’d be willing to hear my apology, but I had to try. “I knew it was going to be hard, but I had no idea how hard. I… ached for you, baby.” There were no other words to describe it. It was a physical pain that dogged me every day.

“You don’t think I felt the same way?” she asked, walking around the desk until we were on the same side. She used her foot to push my chair back, giving her enough room to slide between my chair and the desk. “You don’t think that it killed me every day we were apart?”

“I didn’t know how to handle it.” I scraped my hands over my face. “So I shut down, I guess. I just checked out. On everything.”

Her gaze raked over me and I knew she was taking it all in. The longer hair, the beard, the grease-stained clothes that told her I’d been spending more time under hoods than behind my desk. “I’m a bit of a mess, huh?” And she looked like a freakin’ model.

“A sexy mess,” she said, her lips twitching.

“Come here.”

I held my hand out, needing to touch her. I’d been dying to ever since she walked through the door, but I wasn’t sure I had the right. Her smile told me I did. That I hadn’t messed up as bad as I thought I had. Thank fuck.

She slipped her leather jacket off, letting it fall on the desk before she straddled me, slipping her legs through the arms of the chair. We were locked together, neither one of us able to get up even if we wanted to. And I sure as hell didn’t want to.

I grabbed the back of her head and buried my face in her hair, breathing deeply, taking it in. She was here. Back in my arms where she belonged. “Tell me you’re here to stay this time.”

“I’m here to stay.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

I pulled back, wrapping my hands around her head before I thrust my tongue inside her mouth. There was nothing easy or gentle about it. It was hard and desperate. A year of kisses that I’d craved, wrapped up in this single one. She tugged my hair. I tugged hers. Our tongues danced and she grinded on me. Hard.

“Baby,” I panted, resting my forehead against hers. “You keep doing that and I’m going to lose it.”

She tugged on my beard, making me grin.

“You hate it, don’t you?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said, pretending to consider it. “I’m reserving judgement… until I feel it brushing my thighs.”

I growled as I wrapped my arms around her waist. “We gotta get out of here.”

“Where are we going?”

“Home.”

“Home?”

“Our home.” I was so done letting this woman get away from me. From now on, we were sharing a house. A bed. A life. “You got a problem with that?”

A slow smile spread across her face. “No problem at all.” She wrapped her hands around my face and looked into my eyes. “I’m done exploring, Drake. If this past year taught me anything, it’s that everything I need is right here.”

“Marry me.” I didn’t have a ring or some romantic proposal. I just knew this girl was my forever and I needed to hear her say I was hers.

She kissed me, her eyes locking with mine. “Hmmm. What took you so damn long to ask?”

Do You Want to Read More About the Sexy Exes?

Bring It On is coming soon!