After a few moments pass, he pulls away from the kiss and turns to walk away without another word. My whole body screams for me to run after him, but I can’t. I’m stuck in place, trying to figure out how I let him take control of me again.

Screw this. I’m letting him know that he doesn’t control me. He hasn’t in a long time. He has no say whether or not I go to his place and stay with him. He lost that say years ago.

Making sure that I’m covered, I rush out of the room and walk down the dark hallway. I stop when I get to the main room and look around in search of him. It doesn’t take long to point him out. With Hemy looking as sexy as he is tonight, it’s hard to miss him.

He’s standing next to a table with another guy. I recognize him from Jade’s party. He’s one of the three strippers that danced that night. I recognize the black hair and tattoos. Realizing that he must be here to watch one of the girls, my gut tells me to get Hemy out of here.

He might assume I'm giving into him, but I'm really just trying to preserve my secret a bit longer. He seems different, but I'm still scared.

Clearing my head and coming down from my temporary high, I walk over to the table, stopping in between him and the other guy. I place my hand on Hemy’s chest and can’t help the moan that slips out of my mouth. Just touching him has me all worked up.

“Wait for me outside. I’ll go grab my things and meet you by your truck.”

Biting his bottom lip, he grabs both of my hands and runs them up his chest, before pulling them up to wrap around his neck. He presses his body flush with mine and gives me a hooded look. “I don’t have my truck. We’ll take my motorcycle.”

I smile at the memory of when the bike was his. After a while, he gave up on it and got a new one. I couldn’t leave without it, because it brought back too many memories. I needed it as my safety net. I needed it to fall back on when I missed him too much, so after I packed my things and left that night, I sent my brother to pick up it up from storage. I made it mine with the memories of him.

“You mean my bike?” Smirking, I turn around in his arms and walk away, making him release me. If I know Hemy still, he’ll be outside as soon as I’m out of sight.

After quickly grabbing my things and changing, I make my way outside to see Hemy leaning against my bike. Seeing him standing in front of it causes my heart to clench in pain. It brings back too many memories of us as teens, me holding on tightly as he learned how to ride it. It didn’t take long and I always trusted him to keep me safe; a part of me still does.

He sees me approaching and walks over, placing the helmet on my head. “Give me the keys,” he orders.

I think about it for a second and almost consider making him ride on the back, but that would just look too weird to even enjoy. Hemy is definitely too dominant for that. Alpha male is what he’ll always be. Shit, it’s such a turn on.

I toss him the keys without a fight, pull my helmet on, and put my backpack on. My black boots dig into the gravel as I hop on the back and watch as Hemy jumps on the front.

I don’t know how much more of this I can take while guarding my heart.

I need to figure something out and fast . . .

Chapter Eleven

Hemy

The feel of her arms wrapped around my waist brings me back to the past. After I learned how to ride this motorcycle for the first time, she spent almost every day on the back of it, the two of us just riding to forget. Those are some of my happiest memories.

I can tell she’s thinking about it too, because she hasn’t said a word since we left the club, and not to mention that her arms are practically squeezing the life out of me. She always did that unintentionally in the past when she was deep in thought, and man does it feel good. This is exactly what I was hoping for. If I want another chance with her, then I’ll have to remind her of the good stuff.

Riding past my block, I make a turn down the street that leads to Mitch’s shop. Mitch’s family has owned Greenler’s Mechanics his whole life. Onyx and I spent a lot of time in it, playing and fooling around, when I was working on my motorcycle or showing off my mechanic skills to get her worked up. She always did have a thing for a dirty, hardworking man. I’m sure that hasn’t changed much. At least, I can only hope.

Onyx doesn’t bother looking up until we are already pulling up to the shop and parking. I can tell from her lack of smartass remarks. That, and I can feel her chin resting against my back. I don’t think it’s intentional, but I would dare say a word at the risk of her moving it. I feel her grip loosen as she lets out a little surprised breath. “Seriously, Hemy?” She releases my waist as I kill the engine. “Why would you bring me here? I thought we were going to your place.”

Not bothering to respond, I help her off the bike and watch as she walks up to the building and stands there in silence. She probably hasn’t even thought about this place in over four years. Bringing her here is sure to get the memories flowing in. It has to. I’m counting on it. Hell, I’m having a hard time just being here with her. I could do it alone over the years, but having her here makes my chest ache. It always will until she’s mine again.

Grinding my jaw and pushing back my emotions, I grab Onyx’s hand and pull her along with me as I walk around to the back and pull out my key. I’ve been meaning to work on my Harley for a while now, but I’ve been so damn busy working on other projects for Mitch that I haven’t been able to touch it. It’s about time I get my baby running good.

I push the door open and flip on the light. I feel Onyx’s hand squeeze mine, and then she lets go and steps inside. “I haven’t thought about this place in years, Hemy.” She looks around, her face void of emotions. “It looks exactly the same.” She cracks a smile. “As a matter of fact, I think you guys are still working on the same vehicles too.”

I let my own smile take over as I watch her laugh at her own joke. Damn, her laugh is just as beautiful as ever. I never could get enough of that sound.

I step up beside her and nudge her with my shoulder. She looks up at me. “I love that sound,” I say softly.

She looks around as if listening for something. “What sound?”

“When you laugh,” I say honestly. Her smile fades as I look down into her eyes and then walk away.

I keep on walking, making my way to the back where my motorcycle is parked. It doesn’t take but a few seconds before Onyx is standing right behind me. She’s so close that I can feel the warmth from her body. I can sense her eyes studying me as I stand here.