I didn’t trust him to not discard me later, though.
He’d said it himself! All the other girls that had come before me were just ways to pass the time. What if we got to the end of things, and he decided I was just another way to pass the time? The thought hurt. It hurt so much it brought tears to my eyes. I sniffled and wiped them against my pillow, feeling more stupid than ever before.
“Why are you already crying, you weak little idiot?” I murmured to myself.
I didn’t want him to cast me off to the side. I didn’t want to be just another number to him. I wanted to be part of his life. I wanted to be at his side after it was all said and done. That meant I’d have to be part of his life somehow.
And that meant understanding more about this crew of his.
I rolled onto my back again and blinked. As my tears dried up, I drew in a deep breath. That settled it. The next time I saw him, I’d get to know more about him. About his life. About his past. About his childhood, and the guys he rode with. Even if that meant talking about his cousin, Benji. I grimaced at the thought. I didn’t want to talk about that jerk. But if it got me closer to Max, I’d talk about anything.
Especially if it got me closer to him.
I wanted to be his. I wanted to be Max’s woman. The girl at his side and on the back of his bike. The idea made me smile
. My head rushed as the room tilted over onto itself. Yes. That was it. I’d talk with him about becoming his, just like he’d said I would be. I wanted a definition around that. I wanted to know what that meant to him. Because if it meant what I wanted it to?
Then I was all his.
“Hey there, roomie!”
Hannah waltzed into the dorm room and I drew in a short breath. “Heya.”
Hannah stood beside me. “Nice to see you resting for once. Wanna go for coffee? My treat.”
I turned toward her. “Can you give me ten minutes to change?”
“You mean you aren’t going dressed as you are?”
I thought about the clothes under the bed. “Nope. I want to show you something new I bought.”
“Wait, you went shopping without me? Ah! Dani! I’m so hurt. Why would you do such a thing?”
I threw the covers off me. “Trust me, you’re going to like this outfit. A lot.”
“Then thrill me with it, sunshine.”
As I pulled the outfit from underneath my bed, I already heard Hannah gasping, clapping her hands, and cheering me on as I jumped into the skin-tight jeans. I knew I’d be asked a lot of questions, but I didn’t care. I wanted to talk to Hannah about this. I wanted to tell her what was going on.
I just didn’t want to dump it all on her at once.
32
Max
I sat on the rolling seat and cranked the wrench against my bike. It was making a funny sound, and I had been trying to chase that shit down all fucking morning. Every time the engine revved, it sounded like a fucking tin can was rattling around somewhere. It pissed me off.
“Come on,” I grunted.
I finally got the nut off and tossed it into a rusted tin can. Taking a motorcycle apart was always fun. If it was for restoration purposes. Doing it to actually chase down an issue was bullshit. It felt more like work than anything else. Still, I busted a damn sweat sitting there, pulling off metal side panels and setting them down on towels so the concrete slab of the double garage I’d laid last year wouldn't scuff up the newest paint job.
“Having troubles?”
I paused as my father’s voice rang in my ears. I slowly slid my eyes over toward the door of the garage and pivoted my entire chair to face him. I saw him standing by a completely blacked-out car. Very much his style. He leaned against the door in a suit that matched the car: all black except for the blood red pocket square against his chest.
When two burly men got out of the back seat, I stood up.
“Father.”