“Okay,” she whispered. “But—”
“No,” I said. “That’s all there is. We’ll have shit come up, fight, whatever. But you’re mine now. I won’t be sharing you, I won’t be leaving you, and I sure as f**k won’t let the Reapers take you away from me.”
“I hear what you’re saying,” she said slowly. “But I think I should make something clear, too.”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t share, either. I know guys in clubs who have two or three old ladies. Or they have a citizen wife and a club girlfriend. You should be aware that this is an exclusive relationship, and that’s nonnegotiable.”
I shrugged.
“Okay,” I said, reaching for the door. “Let’s get food.”
She grabbed my arm.
“No, I’m serious,” she said. “You can’t just blow this off.”
“Baby, I’m not blowing it off,” I said, smiling. I kind of liked jealous Em. “But seriously—I don’t give a shit about anyone else anyway. We’re fine.”
She rolled her eyes.
“You’re a little too good at this,” she said. “Got all the right answers.”
“It’s hard to be perfect, but I have lots of practice.”
She hit my arm and laughed. Then her face sobered.
“I have another serious question for you,” she said. “I don’t want the right answer, though. I want the truth, even if it hurts.”
Shit. That didn’t sound good.
“Do you love me?”
I studied her, considering my answer.
“No,” I said finally. Her face fell, but I pushed forward. “My life has been pretty f**ked up, Em. I’m not even sure I believe in love. But here’s what I can tell you—I’ve never given a shit about any woman except you and Kelsey. That’s it. Hell, I don’t even remember their names half the time, and until I saw you I never even saw a problem with that.”
She blinked rapidly. Christ, telling the truth sucked. But she asked for it and I’d already done enough lying.
“I remember the first time I laid eyes on you,” I said. “It was at that little mini mall across from Costco, back in Coeur d’Alene. You’d just gotten your toes painted at the Vietnamese pedicure place. You had those funny, girly things between your toes and you fell off the damned sidewalk because instead of watching where you walked, you were looking at your phone.”
“That never happened. I’ve never fallen down after a pedicure—I’d remember. That would totally ruin the nails.”
“Well, you missed the curb but still managed to catch yourself,” I told her, smiling at the memory. “Your phone fell down and broke, I think. I remember you looked up, right at me in my truck, and started laughing at yourself. Then you waved at me, grabbed the phone, and got in your car.”
She frowned.
“I actually remember that,” she murmured thoughtfully. “That was you?”
“Yup, that was me.”
“That’s . . . creepy. And weird, because why didn’t I recognize you when we met again?”
“I had a full beard, my hair was shorter, and I was wearing sunglasses,” I said. “Not only that, the window was tinted. I guess my point is this—I’ve spent days f**king women whose names I couldn’t remember if my life depended on it. But you? I remember everything about the first time I saw you, even though we didn’t even talk to each other. That’s when it started, whatever this is between us. ‘Love’ is a word that doesn’t mean a damned thing to me. ‘Em,’ though? That’s a word that means everything. I’d die for you, babe. Kill for you, too. I stood up to my club for you and I don’t regret any of it, not for a minute. So, you wanted to know how I feel? I don’t even have a word for what I feel, sweetheart. I just know it’s really f**kin’ good.”
Em sniffed, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around me. She squeezed me tight, then pulled back and took my face in both of her hands, studying me intently.
“I love you, Liam.”
I closed my eyes, savoring the sound of the words. Then I said the only thing I could think of, even though I knew it was f**king pathetic.
“Thanks.”
Her face fell, although she caught it, smiling at me a little too brightly.
Telling the truth sucks ass.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
FIVE DAYS LATER
EM
On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I walked into the upstairs bathroom to find black beard hairs all over the sink. Ugh. Boy cooties.
“I really need to get an apartment,” I muttered.
“No shit.”
I jumped as Skid spoke behind me. I swung around to face him, glaring. God, the man was like a f**king cat—always sneaking up and freaking me out. I think he got off on it.
I’d been staying with Hunter since he’d liberated me from Cookie’s house, which started out fun. I’d gone back a few times, of course, and still kept most of my stuff there. I couldn’t live at her place long term, though, not if I wanted to have Hunter sleeping with me. Cookie didn’t want me bringing guys home, and the last thing we needed was another confrontation between Deke and my boyfriend. Somewhere Hunter could stay over had become a very high priority.
God, this house was a cesspit.
I’d made excuses for the guys at first. It’s hard to keep up with housework, especially if you’re not used to it. Clutch still couldn’t get around very easily, and they had so much to worry about with all the drama.