She dropped my hand and stepped back, like she was afraid of me.
“What?”
“You’ve never talked to me like that before.” She moved farther away. “If you don’t want my help, I’ll leave you alone.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you.” I should’ve let her go, but suddenly I had a change of heart. Something in her ocean-blue eyes was taming my dickish attitude. “Please stay.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’d like to hear about you and me. Maybe you could fill me in on who I am around here.” Perhaps I could find out how much she knew about my childhood.
“Yeah, okay. I’d like to talk. Maybe it’ll help you remember me.” She sat at the foot of the bed, facing me, with her legs crossed in front of her. Damn, she was cute twirling a lock of her hair.
“Do I make you nervous?” I pulled the blanket over me and reclined against the pillows she had fluffed perfectly.
“A little, I guess.” Her eyes darted around the room.
My head finally felt clear enough to engage in conversation, ask questions, and care about my situation. “How close were you and me?” I pointed from me to her to draw her attention back. Strangely, I liked it when her eyes were on me.
She considered me for a long second. “You loved me, and I loved you…loveyou.”
The corner of my lip twitched as I fought to hold back a smile. Any guy would feel like a king with a woman as beautiful and caring as her by his side. “So then, we were serious?”
“I’d like to think we were.”
“How long were we together? I mean, we were a couple, right?” I remembered having a girlfriend in high school—Babs. She’d lived in the same trashy trailer park as me and had shitty parents too. It made sense for us to be together, but of course, a better guy came along, and she dumped me. She’d been the first of many girls who’d moved onto greener pastures during my teen years. Eventually, I vowed to never give my heart to anyone.
I watched Ava bite her tempting lip. What if she’d lied about us to make me think I treated her well? She could spin things any way she wanted with me in my condition, and I wouldn’t know what was right or wrong. Could a beauty like her be trusted?
“We’d just become a couple, but we’d been friends for over a year.”
“I don’t understand. You said I loved you, but we’d only just become a couple?” Yeah, it sounded like she was making stuff up as she went along.
She twisted a lock of hair around her finger in a hypnotic way, probably working out her story in her pretty head. There couldn’t be a relationship between us. I should’ve asked Boxer when he was here. If he was my best friend, he’d know if I had a woman in my life. Any one of those bikers would know. Or at least they should.
“We started out as friends, and over time we got closer.” She laughed a little. Her radiant smile and dazzling blue eyes stole my breath away. “We were both afraid to admit our feelings.” She shrugged, smiling wider. “A near-death experience brought out our true feelings.”
“What happened?” Her response was vague and unbelievable. Near-death experience? Yeah, right.
“Um, if no one has told you, maybe I shouldn’t either.”
“Great. Just what I need. A woman who keeps secrets. Just get out,” I hissed.
“I’m not keeping secrets. Storm should’ve told you what happened.”
“If you’re my woman, you shouldn’t hide anything from me!”
Ava reared back with fear in her eyes. “I am your woman.”
“Then prove it.” If I meant so damn much to her, the least she could do was be honest with me. Bab’s had lied all the fucking time and cheated on me. Ava needed to show me she could be trusted.
“Okay, okay. Just calm down.”
“I am calm. Now talk.”
She blew out a breath. “We were at the gym training when another MC opened fire on it. You could’ve died that day.” She swiped away a tear as it rolled down her face. “You could’ve died, Drew. I wasn’t about to hide my feelings for you anymore. Life is too short.”
“Shit, being in a biker club sounds dangerous.”