Page 21 of Empower

He looked up at me, clenched his jaw then shook his head, “Nah, Precious, plenty of men you can choose from. Boys closer to your own age.”

Whether it was because his words rubbed me the wrong way, or because he was the first person to ever defend me since my mom had passed away, I said softly, “I don’t trust any of them, Storm. I hardly know them. I would rather dance with someone I trust. So please, dance with me.”

He listened, intently, then I saw the indecision in his eyes, and when his mouth opened, I moved my hand, placed two fingers over his lips, and whispered, “Please, Storm. I’ve never danced with anyone. Let my first dance be with someone I know I can trust.”

He sighed, then looked at Raine, and then, I wanted to do a happy shimmy when he stood up.

And still, even though I was wearing three-inch heels, the top of my head barely reached his chin.

Jesus, what did they feed these boys, freaking miracle grow?

But everything in my head was swiped out when he placed his hand on the small of my back and led me to the dance floor.

I couldn’t have contained the smile on my face even if I had tried with all my might.

Just as he stopped, left his hand at the small of my back, and took my small hand into his large one, and I wrapped my hand around his bicep, the song changed over.

And the starting lyrics of ‘Lying here with you. Listening to the rain’ also happened as rain could be heard hitting the metal tin roof.

It was kismet.

He smirked, “Maybe you’re right, Precious.”

I winced, “I said it was kismet aloud, didn’t I?”

He nodded, “Yeah.”

We swayed side to side, moving around the small space, and when the second chorus started, I looked up into his eyes and asked, “So, care to tell me what asshole took your honey away?”

He lifted a brow, “Took my honey away? What the fuck, Lena?”

I giggled, “You’ve been acting like a bear. What’s wrong?”

I felt the barest twitch in his shoulder, “Just got something on my mind. No clue what to fucking do about it. And I sold my house. It was too fucking big for just me now that Tank married my daughter.”

“Well, the house thing that’s easier to tackle, are you okay with that?” I asked.

He nodded, “Yeah, a lot of shitty memories in that house. Happy to see it go to a family that’s growing.”

I smiled, nodded, then said, “I won’t ask about the other thing, because it’s probably club business. But I will say this. The man above knew what he was doing when he made you. You’re fierce, strong, protective, loyal, and so unbelievably smart. Whatever is on your mind, I know you will find a way to get to the end result that you want or that you need. I’ve only ever met two men that I can say have my complete trust, my dad, and you.” I finished that by squeezing his bicep.

His eyes bored down on mine, “Don’t ever fucking settle for less than you deserve, you hear me?”

I nodded, and that was when he brought my hand to his lips and placed a kiss on my knuckles. Would it be okay to never wash that hand again? Asking for a friend.

And then, just like that, he dropped my hand and strode out of the clubhouse without a backward glance.

My dad stepped to my side, leaned down and whispered, “When the Storm gets riled up, you’ll want to batten down the hatches, because nothing will ever be the same once the Storm has passed.”

It wasn’t until a year later that I finally found out why he had said that about Storm.

I had tried to ask Dad a few times, but I was always met with its his story to tell.

He also told me that only four people knew of his upbringing and if he wants you to ever know then he’ll tell you. He told me not to push Storm on it and to just keep being me.

So, I then kept being myself around Storm and trying to show him that he at least had a friend in me. That being the case in that year our friendship grew and grew and grew.

It grew so much that we talked daily. Whether it was a phone call at night, or random text messages during the day.