Page 72 of Feint

He was in his room, sitting on the couch by the looks of it. He still hadn’t showered, but he seemed relaxed.

I moved the covers off of my face and gave him a shy smile. “Hey. Sorry I probably look like a zombie right now.”

“Nah, I know you’re tired, but you still look sexy as hell. Wish I were there to help you pass out.”

He smirked at me, and I blushed.

“I wish you were, too, but you had to take care of stuff, so I guess we’ll just have to make up for it next time you come down. Which… are you going to be able to come down soon? Oh! And is your leg okay?”

Mom had told me before she left that she didn’t think it was a good idea that I go back to his clubhouse. Not until things settled down. And I had agreed with her. Now, I needed to let Kordell know. But it was a more in-person kind of conversation to have.

“It’s fine, and you can count on that.” His voice dropped in a super-sexy kind of way. “I’m going to fuck you soooo good the next time I see you. You gonna be my good littleputaaafor me and take it however I want to give it to you?”

I giggled and tucked my head under the covers before peeking, then nodding.

“That’s good. All right. You need to go get some sleep now. I need to take care of a couple more things here before I’ll be doing the same. Night, mama.”

Kordell smiled, and I blew a kiss at him. We said one more good night before he hung up the call.

That made me feel better. This day hadn’t been as sad as I’d thought it would be, not having him here. But as I fell asleep, the thoughts of a certain biker boy holding me weren’t the only arms that passed through my mind.

The conversation I’d had with Mom about AJ let in unresolved questions I’d had from the months he first left. And now, I really wanted answers. Some closure.

But I wasn’t sure I would ever have the chance to get them.

CHAPTER 29

ROSALIE

The days followingmy homecoming were not what I’d expected. That first night, I had slept soundly, and while my wrists and ankles hurt from the bruises that were now turning an ugly shade of purple, they didn’t bother me much. It wasn’t until the second night that things really started to go downhill. I woke up multiple times each night from nightmares. Nightmares of strange men chasing me, grabbing me, and shoving me around while laughing. Tearing my clothes off, touching my naked body, I would wake up crying before the nightmare went further.

They were the worst nights I had ever had in my life.

The days hadn’t been much better. Dad didn’t want me back at work yet and told me to just take the time off to get better. To enjoy being lazy and relax. I didn’t want to tell him that relaxing was the last thing I was doing. When I was awake, I was either texting Kordell or I kept replaying the conversation Mom and I had about AJ.

At first, the longer I had thought about it, the angrier I had felt about the fact that my parents did that behind my back. Then, I felt betrayed by AJ that he had taken them up on their offer instead of telling me. Quickly, the hurt that thought caused turned to anger at AJ for taking the money, the so-called job, andleaving me. Then, I was confused because I really wasn’t angry at him or my parents. I was angry at myself that I hadn't tried to find him when he left. I’d just accepted what other people decided for me.

On day three, I was so worn out, I opened my texts to AJ and typed a new one.

Rosalie

Mom told me about the real reason you left. I wish you had just told me you were afraid of me getting hurt. We could have figured it out together instead of you and my parents deciding my life for me. I wish we could sit down and talk again. I really wish you hadn’t blocked me and we could actually talk about this. I… I miss you so much some days.

I wished I could say sending that suddenly helped me feel a thousand times better, but it didn’t. I lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling fan gently rotating, closing my eyes. I felt the light breeze send little tingles up my arms and legs, the soothing sound of it rotating giving me something else to focus on for a few minutes.

Maybe I was overthinking everything because I was so sleep-deprived. Maybe all I needed was to see Kordell, to hug him and touch him. To feel that he was okay and I was okay and then everything would be all good again.

But what sucked was that Kordell still didn’t know when he would be able to come down. Every time I asked him, all I got was, “Hopefully soon,” as my answer. Nothing concrete yet.

But Kordell did come down. It was a week after my first night home when I heard the familiar roar of his bike pulling into my driveway as I was making a decision on what I wanted for dinner. My energy picked up, and I excitedly ran over to thedoor, slipped on my slides, and flung it open. This was it, time to move forward. I took a few deep breaths to calm down before stepping onto the walkway.

Kordell turned his head toward me and smiled. “Well, there’s my sexy little mama. Miss me?”

He smiled and opened his arms as he walked over to me. He had a little limp, and just as I was about to ask him about it, he pulled me in for a soft kiss. His fingers trailed down from the middle of my back, caressing my ass as he tugged me into his body.

He pulled away with a smirk. “Damn, missed those kisses.”

I forced a smile and ran my fingers up his chest before wrapping them around his neck. “Then, why don’t we do another?” I whispered next to his lips.