I think it's definitely time to tell the truth.
Well, not this exact moment, but … yeah.
Chapter 35
HARLEY
"Well, definitely the weirdest friendly house-call I've ever made," Bella says, freaking amused as she shuts off the silver bullet.
I glare over at Dale, who is looking anywhere but at me. He has some explaining to do.
I lay on my stomach, covered by a thin blanket.
"Don't tell anyone about this," Dale says on a sigh, still not looking at us.
"Um … I was with Ethan when you called. And Wren. You know how Wren is. I sort of rushed out, but they heard the gist of things."
I'm going to kill Dale.
Now I understand why these people make so many threats toward each other. They're insane!
"That's a silver bullet," I growl, pointing to the little object that just wreaked havoc on my poor ass.
Bella tosses it into the trashcan, along with her gloves. She just spent ten minutes getting too acquainted with my ass. The only thing keeping me from dying from that is how very professional she was during the process.
"Be glad Allie had a ton of things at her house. With Rye and Brin, she keeps things on hand in case someone gets hurt."
She may need to patch Dale up soon.
"A silver bullet," I repeat to Dale.
"Alrighty then. I think I'm just going to go. Don't worry. That part of the body heals fairly quickly. You'll be fine in a day or two. Take some over-the-counter pain meds for any discomfort."
As soon as she walks out, I glare at Dale.
"Explain yourself."
That harsh breath and those pitiful eyes tell me I'm not going to like what I hear.
Chapter 36
DALE
"So you and your cousins cooked up this kinky sex room thing to shock me and send me running before I could do my original revenge plan?" Harley asks.
I offer an obligatory nod, even though the question is most likely rhetorical.
"And you carried through with it because it turned you on?" she asks.
Again I nod, even though it's still not a question that needs answering.
I've told her everything. Literally, everything.
"Because you like it kinky?" she asks, but continues before I can nod this time. "And because you liked me and didn't want me running," she adds, this time not asking.
I sigh as I meet her eyes, but she looks away. Not a good sign.
"I'm not even sure what to say about something like this," she finally admits.
"Say you don't hate me?" I supply pathetically.
Fully dressed now, she gets off the bed, walking a little funny, and heads out of the bedroom. I put my head in my hands, waiting to hear the slam of the door.
When I never hear the slam, I get up, walking out warily. Is this the part where I need a cup? I feel more like I need a suit of armor.
Harley walks back toward me, and I watch her as she hands me her phone. I don't even know what to say, or what to do.
She leans over, and I watch as she clicks on a pink app.
"Kinky Show and Tell," she says, as though she's explaining. "It's in testing mode now, but it'll be available soon. I started designing this app shortly after learning you had that room. It's basically an informative list, and you can take a picture of something and this app will eventually identify it. Still working out that kink-ignore the pun. In the future, just use the app. I'll download this to your phone later."
"What? Why?"
She huffs out a frustrated breath as I arch an eyebrow.
"Because this can never happen again. Do you have any idea how awkward seeing Bella from now on will be?" she asks incredulously.
"You're not leaving me?"
She looks confused as she stares up at me. "Why would I leave you?"
My entire body relaxes. I didn't even realize how tense I was until this very second.
I start to kiss her, but she shoves me back, glaring at me. "I didn't say I wasn't pissed," she goes on.
Right. "Understandable," I say, cocking my head as a smile slowly starts to form on my lips.
"Don't smile at me like that," she says, pointing a finger at me. "I mean it. I'm mad, and you're not getting off the hook that easily."
My smile only grows as I step closer.
"I mean it, Dale," she says, though her resolve sounds fragile.
"I'll make it up to you," I promise, pinning her up against the wall even as she glares daggers at me. It's when her lips twitch that I know I'm getting closer to softening her up.
"Stop making smile," she says, angry even as her grin spreads.
"Make me," I whisper before I kiss her.
She kisses me back, angrily. I just get turned on when she bites my lip and shoves at me before jerking me closer by my shirt and digging her nails into my shoulder.
"I bet angry sex is epic," I murmur against her lips, smiling as she groans.
Carefully, I lead her back to the room as our tongues battle for dominance. Harley Hayden is my drug.
I'm an addict.
And every time she surprises me, I get a little more obsessed.
Chapter 37
DALE
Rain and Harley laugh with Tria as Maverick takes the microphone during the middle of karaoke night. But Bella is the one who starts cursing when the song starts up.
Holla Back Girl blares, and Maverick starts singing the entire damn song. Only Maverick Sterling can sing a Gwen Stefani song and have women gathering around like groupies near the stage.
No, he's not that good of a singer either.
Harley is oblivious as to as to why Bella is clutching her glass of water in a death grip when Ethan joins Maverick on stage, singing along with him and grinning at his girlfriend.
"This shit is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S," the singing duo shout while pointing at Bella.
Wren doubles over, laughter bursting forth, and Bella throws a wadded up napkin at him. It glances off the side of his face, but he just keeps laughing. Even Jax-who actually came out with us tonight-is laughing as he tosses his arm around Bo's shoulders.
Harley just looks confused, but doesn't ask questions as she nestles into me. Maverick does a hip thrust at the end, and Ethan stalks back to the table, gripping Bella's ponytail and kissing her hard, swallowing down all the threats she was about to emptily spew.
"What just happened?" Harley asks.
"I'll tell you later," I murmur against her ear. "Just know that Bella has been embarrassed as badly as you have been in the past?"
"Oh?" Harley asks, her voice barely carrying to my ears over the music. "So she had something worse happen than having someone pull a silver bullet out of her ass when her fake Dom boyfriend mistook it for a butt plug?"
A half laugh, half groan escapes me, and I shake my head. "Okay, maybe you still have dibs on the trophy, but she's a close second," I assure her.
She rolls her eyes and mutters something, but she can't help but smile a little.
Tria slides out and goes to get in line for karaoke with Rain, while everyone else talks idly amongst themselves. Maverick is still laughing when he joins us. Ethan is keeping Bella's mouth too busy to threaten him, so he just chuckles next to me.
"Harley, what will you sing for us tonight?" Maverick asks her.
"Not a singer," she says quickly, sipping her drink.
"Everyone has to sing on karaoke night," he tells her, narrowing his eyes in mock reprimand.
"Can you make me sing?" she muses, smirking when he frowns. "Because peer pressure really doesn't work to well with me."
"I can annoy the hell out of you until you cave," he says with a careless shrug.
"My tolerance level is extremely high, because I have this incredibly awesome ability to tune out the world and doodle when I'm bored."
She flashes a grin at him that has his lips thinning before he looks at me. I nod, letting him know she's telling the truth. I've practically had to shake her to get her attention before when she was doodling something on a random napkin.
"It's official. You're on my list," Maverick warns her.
Harley mocks a shudder before smiling and drinking more of her martini again. She's slowly melded into the group, finding her footing, and fitting in better than I think she wanted to.
It's cute seeing her so resistant to being friends with everyone. It's even cuter to see she actually likes the people around us and is annoyed with that fact. It was her idea to join them tonight when Rain called her and invited us.
Rain seems to defer all questions regarding us to Harley lately.
But as Rain and Tria sing along-off beat and out of key-with the music, all I can think about is getting us out of here. I start kissing Harley's neck to give her the same thoughts, and she leans into me, tilting her head, offering me better access that I fully take advantage of.
Two nights ago, I thought I was going to lose her because of a stupid lie. Then she surprised me by taking it in stride and fucking me like she was furious-because she was furious. But that part isn't important.
What's important is that I'm forgiven, and I don't want to spend time with my cousins when I could be alone with my girl.
"Let's get out of here," I murmur against her ear, smiling when a tremble slithers through her body noticeably.