Hard Bastard(7)

Pure desire.

I grinned at her and nodded. I stopped closed to her. “Long time no see.”

She blinked at me. “Wow. Hi, Gage.”

“Hi, Sadie.” I looked closely at her. She filled out in all the right places in the last ten years. She was a grown ass woman, not a teenage girl anymore, and she looked fucking gorgeous, even more beautiful than I remembered. I could feel my blood getting hot just standing close to her.

“How have you been?” she asked. She glanced back toward the table I had been sitting at and back at me. Her eyes roamed along my skin and I knew she was taking in my tattoos, my tight-fitting shirt, my dirty jeans.

“Been good. Almost as good as you look.”

“Thanks,” she said, blushing a little bit. She did that when she was nervous.

“Come have a drink with me.”

I shouldn’t have said that. Instantly I knew it was a mistake. I shouldn’t be seen with her, shouldn’t get her dragged into my life.

But I couldn’t fucking help myself.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I just got into town and I’m pretty exhausted.”

“One drink. Catch up with the lost love of your life.”

Her mouthed opened then shut. “You’re not the lost love of my life,” she said.

I laughed. “You sure? Seems like you came home just to find me.”

“That’s not true.”

“Sure it is. Why else come back to a shitty town like this? You came in here knowing I might be here. You wanted to find me.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s just the only place I know anymore.”

“One drink.” I stepped toward her. “We’re grownups now. At least you’ve certainly grown up.”

She sighed. “You have too. What, did you grow six inches?”

“Maybe.” I laughed. “Come on.”

I walked over to the bar and she followed, sitting down beside me.

I knew I should walk away. This was Sadie, my old girlfriend, and she looked better than I could have imagined. She was a good girl and shouldn’t get mixed up with a man like me.

But I wanted her, and when I wanted something, I fucking took it. That was all that mattered to me as she smiled and took the drink that I ordered for her.





Chapter 3





Sadie





Gage looked different. Of course he looked different, it had been ten years since I last saw him of course. Still, I couldn’t stop staring at him.

He was taller and more muscular, if that was even possible. He had added a bunch of tattoos to his arms, and he had a look in his eye that I didn’t remember. He seemed harder somehow, more dangerous, but he was still clearly the old Gage that I knew. Or at least that Gage was buried under there somewhere.

“So, what have you been doing these past ten years?” I asked him.

He shrugged, sipping his whisky. “I’m in collections.”

“Oh, that’s cool.”

“No, it’s not cool. What about you?”

I shrugged. “I went into law. You know, trying to make the family proud.”

He laughed. “I’m sure your mom was excited.”

I frowned and looked away. “She passed.”

He paused. “Shit, Sadie. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It happened a long time ago.”

“How’s the dad? He still fucking hate me?”

I laughed, looking back at him. “I’m sure he would if he saw you.”

“What’s there to hate about this?” He gave me a devilish smile, and we both knew what it meant.

“Nothing, of course.”

“Of course.” He finished his drink and motioned for another. “Remember that time he screamed at me when he caught me in your room?”

“I remember. You climbed up the drainpipe and snuck in my window.”

“One of my more daring escapades.”

“I thought he was going to have a heart attack.”

“If he had come in maybe ten minutes sooner, he might have.”

I blushed again, remembering that night. I remembered Gage’s body against mine, his cock buried deep between my legs. I remembered him turning me over and pushing my face into a pillow because I was moaning too loudly.

I crossed my legs, suddenly extremely aware of how wet I was getting.

“Yeah, well, fortunately for us he missed that part.”

“I almost feel bad for him.”

“Don’t. He’s doing just fine.”

“Good.” Gage laughed. “What are you doing back in town, anyway?”

“I moved back here, actually.”

He raised an eyebrow. “No shit?”

“No shit. I got a promotion at work, but that promotion came with a transfer.”