A group of brave riders rode up the street, a fine mist of rain spraying up from the tires of their big bikes. Wolf watched as Crystal hugged herself, her hands rubbing up and down her bare arms, exposed by the tank top she wore.
“You cold?”
“No, I’m fine,” she said over her shoulder.
“Crystal, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re acting like you don’t know me. Like we’re strangers.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Wolf blew out a breath. Women always denied when something was wrong, and it was always up to the man to play twenty questions trying to figure it out. They always thought you were supposed to know what it was. And perhaps he did, at least this time.
“Last night you said we needed to talk.”
She nodded.
“I put you off. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. But, damn girl, I get around you and the last thing I want to do is talk.”
She remained quiet, her back stiff. If he wanted to get anywhere, he was going to have to do better than that.
“Can we talk now? Please?”
She shrugged.
Well at least she wasn’t walking away. The wooden boardwalk shook as four pairs of booted feet stomped out the door. Wolf twisted to look behind him. His brothers were moving toward their bikes. Apparently the tattoo was finished, and they were ready to roll. Four pairs of eyes glanced in his direction.
“You comin’?” Crash asked.
Wolf lifted his chin. “You go on. I’ll be a while.”
Crash nodded.
The rain had slacked off to a light drizzle. Wolf waited while four Harleys roared to life and pulled out. When they were gone, he turned back to Crystal.
“Go ahead. Talk,” she bit out, her back still to him.
Okay. Guess he was going first. And it appeared what he had to say to her, he’d be saying to her back. He blew out a breath. Maybe that was for the best, because he was about to bring up the other women in his past, and he had a feeling she wasn’t gonna like it.
“I’ve been with a lot of women, Crystal.” He watched her arms tighten around her.
“That’s nothing new, Wolf.”
“Let me finish.”
“Fine.”
“You never asked me for anything, Crystal. Not a damn thing. Those other women, all they did was want shit. Expensive shit. Shit I sometimes could give them, more often not. But they never had a fucking problem asking. Always wanting shit. Always expecting shit.” And then his voice softened. “But, you. You never did. Not once.”
“No, I didn’t.” She shrugged. “Maybe I should have.”
She still just stood there, cold as ice, and it was beginning to piss him off. He felt the distance between them growing, and he didn’t like it, so he moved in close, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest. Time to cut through all the bullshit. Time to man up and get real. He asked softly, “What do you want?”
Silence.
And then she responded quietly. “You know what I want. You. All I ever wanted was to be with you. And to know you loved me. I never needed all that other stuff. Material stuff. Or even promises. I never needed any of it. I just needed you.”