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Sour Cherry(6)

By:Nichole Severn


Truth was, I’d been looking for a way out for a while. Practically since my initiation. The drugs and guns were getting too much, but I couldn't just disappear. The Outriggers held chapters in every state. I wouldn’t make it five feet across the border with that many eyes out looking for me. Nobody likes a deserter.

I waited another few minutes before jogging across the street. If I were him, I’d already know who headed for my door and run out the back, but I hoped Cooper’s ability to pleasure a woman was his only talent. I knocked softly, searching the street for signs of spies. My paranoia level had reached an all-time high, but the Outriggers had never been a club to just let a member just walk away.

The door opened.

My eyes connected with Cooper’s and his narrowed.

“So that’s what they’re so mad about.”

“What?”

“Your club is looking for you. Something about you not showing up to take your punishment. Some job gone wrong.” A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth and I had to grind my teeth together in order to control myself.

“Can I come in?” I asked through gritted teeth. I didn’t have the patience to explain what’d happened and wanted to get off the street.

He blocked the doorway more fully, pushing forward. Cooper looked out into the street, showing off the dark stubble forming at his jawline. “No.”

I can’t believe this. “Why not?” Millions of answers to that question fluttered across my mind and I supported over half of them. However, I was desperate. I’d do anything I had to in order to get inside and he knew it.

“For one, you deserted your club. Your president even asked for our help in finding you and I agreed.”

A jolt of anxiety shot straight into my chest. Shit. I opened my mouth, but he cut me off before I could speak.

“And two, I don’t like you.”

The rumble of a Harley echoed down the street. Double shit.

I glanced over my shoulder. There was no way they could find me this fast unless... panic clawed its way up my throat, tainting every word as I turned on him. “You called them?”

“What was I supposed to do?” Cooper asked.

My vision blurred. Always happened when I couldn’t keep control of my emotions. A mixture of fury and sorrow crushed my windpipe. If I didn’t get myself under control, bad things would happen. For one, I’d faint. Always came with the heart defect. “How—”

Everything went black.

****

The smell of bleach assaulted my nose. I jerked awake, but wished I hadn’t.

Cooper stared down at me, concern written all over his expression. “Are you awake this time?”

I ignored his question, my spidey-senses freaking out. I sat upright in the bed and tried not to shiver when he pressed his hand against my shoulder. My eyes locked on his. The last thing I remembered was the Harley screaming down the street and this sure as hell didn’t look like Cooper’s apartment. I had first-hand knowledge. “Where am I?”

He sat back in his chair, hands stretched behind his head. “Safe house.”

I diverted my gaze from the tight T-shirt stretched across his muscular chest to study the red brick walls. Every corner of the room dripped with dried tar, but it didn’t explain the bleach. The floor sported a wet spot. “Did you just clean up a crime scene?” I rubbed my eyes of sleep. “The bleach is giving me a headache.”

“You threw up on my floor.”

Oh, God. My face grew hot. “I’m sorry. It happens when—”

“Doesn’t matter.” Cooper stood. He turned his back on me and walked across the room to the dresser shoved in the corner. He riffled through the drawers as he spoke. “You’ll have to ditch your clothes. Your club knows what you were wearing when you disappeared. I have a couple sets of sweats you can borrow until I have time to get you something else. Until then, there’s hair dye in the bathroom and food in the fridge. Don’t leave.”

“Where are you going?” I pushed out of the bed, accepting the clothing he offered on unsteady feet. The sweatpants and T-shirt were male. His. And smelled like him. It took everything I had not to bury my nose in them. Every second of our night together replayed through my head in an instant.

The bed. The couch. The kitchen table. All had played a key role in our short acquaintance.

Mmm.

Scented with a mixture of cinnamon and man, Cooper waved a hand in front of my face, intensifying my urge to tackle him all over again. I wouldn’t even need a couple drinks in me this time. “You didn’t hear me, did you?”

“Huh?” I snapped my mouth shut, coming back to reality. Yeah, definitely top two, maybe even number one in the lineup.