Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
“The bags on the backseat, are they for you?” Duke asked.
“Er, yeah. I’ll bring the empty bags back in the morning.”
“You’re staying out again?”
Matthew rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, I’m staying at Luna’s.”
“So, it has progressed?”
“Dad, come on, you know everything. You already know that I’m seeing Luna. Maybe the whole town will know by tomorrow. Shit!” He slammed his foot down and clenched his hands into fists.
Duke folded his arms, and Matthew took a deep breath.
“I might have told someone at the store that Luna was my girl.”
“And this is a problem?”
“I don’t— It’s complicated.”
“Then uncomplicate it for me, son.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“I beg to differ,” Duke said. “Nothing in life is complicated. Hard, yes, but not complicated.”
“Dad, we both know that is not true.”
“Let’s see if I can help.”
His dad was the last person he wanted to go to for relationship advice. He wasn’t close to anyone though. As a kid through high school, he’d bounced around from group to group. Some of the kids’ parents hadn’t liked that he was a biker kid, so that always put a challenge on friendships. Then, of course, he was a pig toward the end of high school. A bunch of girls would have gladly gone to bed with him but ignored him come the morning.
Apart from Luna.
He’d been the bastard to her. She had laughed and smiled with him, even with other people looking on. She never treated him like a disease or a ghost she couldn’t see.
“There was this girl at the store. I used to fool around with her. She was easy, and it wasn’t like she wasn’t up for it. She said some bad shit about Luna, and I lost it. I wasn’t exactly respectful to her.”
“But you stuck up for your girl?”
“Yeah,” Matthew said. “But I don’t know if Luna is my girl.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what we’re doing, or what any of this is. All I know is that I love her, so damn much. I know I fucked up, and I’m terrified of doing it again. I don’t want to hurt her.”
“Then plain and simply, don’t.”
He snorted.
“I’m being serious. You’re in control of who you are, not anyone else. You decided to do the messed-up shit as a teenager, son. It’s now on you. You’re either with Luna or you’re not. No one can make that decision for you, and no one can take it away either. It is all on you.”
Matthew nodded. His dad was right. He was the only person who could say for definite whether he was all in or not.
“I’m all in, Dad. I want her. I want her to be my old lady. My wife. I want it all with her.”
“Then make sure she knows that.”
“But what if, what if she doesn’t want it?” Matthew asked.
Duke put a hand on his shoulder. “Then you either make her fall in love with you or you’re going to have to love her enough to let her go.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“But a harsh reality for you. This choice is yours, and it’s also Luna’s.”
Just thinking of letting her go made his heart ache. There was no way he could let her go. The last few years had been a nightmare, nothing he wanted to go through again.
“Dad, do you think she’d be a good fit at the club?” he asked.
The guys had been lucky with their women. They were all part of the Trojans MC, committed to the club and to their men.
“You tell me,” Duke said.
He had no freaking idea.
Chapter Ten
Luna giggled as she looked across the bathtub at Matthew. “I cannot believe you talked me into this.”
“Come on, you’re having fun.”
She smiled. “Yeah, I know. A lot of fun.” They had a ton of bubbles in the bath. The scent of lavender was heavy in the air.
Matthew had promised her a delicious meal and a romantic evening, and so far, it had been even better than she imagined. He had cooked some chicken to perfection and served it with a delicious tomato-roasted pasta with lots of herbs. It was so good. For dessert, he had a tub of chocolate ice cream, which he kept on getting spoonfuls of and feeding her across the tub. Every now and then, some of the mixture would fall into the bathtub, and they’d scramble to clean up.
She leaned back and stared at him.
“I saw someone at the store today,” Matthew said.
“Ah, I see. I guess you went to a human store.” She felt so guilty for meeting up with Harris earlier. In her purse was the number, but she hadn’t called it yet as she was a little afraid of what it would all mean once she did. She hadn’t told Duke yet either. Going to see him would be hard to do without Matthew asking questions.