I shook him off. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said. “Don’t call the cops.”
“What? Why not? That guy assaulted you!”
“It’s under control,” I said. “Thanks for stepping in.”
He tried to get me to stay, but I just waved off his help and wandered, a little bit dazed, back toward where my bike was parked. No way I could ride it, though, not after getting my bell rung like that. With a sigh, I opened my phone to call Blade to let him know what had happened—and to get a ride back to Elkin Lake.
17
Dante
I parked my bike outside the Hell’s Ankhor clubhouse like usual. But for the first time since I’d started the training and lessons with the Hell’s Ankhor guys, Heath wasn’t on the porch waiting for me.
My heart sank, and I couldn’t ignore my own disappointment. Did he regret what happened? Had I pushed him too far, too fast with the blowjob, even though he’d said he’d wanted it, than he was ready for?
It hadn’t seemed that way. I’d intended to just give him a handjob, quick and easy—nothing too intimate, this was just supposed to be a little action between friends—but once I’d felt the velvet hardness of his slim cock against my palm, I hadn’t been able to resist. My mouth had started watering.
And he’d been so good. I’d had to bite back most of the praise I’d wanted to rattle off endlessly—didn’t want to weird him out. But he’d been so beautifully responsive, doing just what I asked without question. Even seeming to revel in it. And it was all clearly so unfamiliar to him.
I’d been glad that I’d decided to keep the distance of friendship between us—as it was, opening him up to this new experience had been beyond sexy, incredibly intense. And I knew that if I didn’t keep that distance between us emotionally, romantically, I’d fall deeper than I could climb back up from when it ended.
What I needed to do was stop getting roped in by cute, young, inexperienced guys, and find a sub who knew what he was doing. A sub who wouldn’t drop me as soon as he realized he wanted a younger, hotter, rougher Dom. A sub who wasn’t a key part in keeping Liberty Crew on the map, and in the good graces of the club that held our territory.
But… I liked Heath. Really liked him. And I wanted this friendship to work, not just for my sanity but for the sake of our clubs. The last thing the Liberty Crew needed was for me to have a messy breakup with a Hell’s Ankhor guy. So even though I didn’t necessarily want to keep things casual, I knew it would be better that way. Except… if he wasn’t out here waiting for me, maybe Heath didn’t actually agree?
I sighed and tossed my keys up in the air, and then caught them idly. I guessed I’d be knocking on the door this time, waiting to be invited in like a regular visitor.
Before I could even approach the porch, though, Jazz and Tex exploded out of the front door like the place was on fire behind them.
“Hey!” Jazz barked with a blaze of anger in his eyes that made me take a step back. “Fucking explain yourself!”
What the hell? I’d been ready for things to be awkward between Heath and me, but I wasn’t prepared for this.
“Excuse me?” I said, a little venomously. What did they think had happened? “Could he not come out and talk to me himself? Heath can fight his own fucking battles.”
“The fuck you say?” Tex stormed off the porch and twisted his hand in the front of my shirt. “You knew about this?”
“About what?” This wasn’t any of their fucking business. I shoved Tex off me, and that only made him angrier. For a second I was sure he was about to take swing at me, and only Jazz’s hand on his shoulder kept him from doing so.
Behind him, Blade, Gunnar, and Siren stepped onto the porch, all looking tense and ready to intervene.
“I think Heath handled himself just fucking fine,” Jazz said. “It’s your asshole ex-members that are the problem.”
I stopped. Ex-members? “Wait. What are you talking about?”
“What are we talking about?” Tex spat. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m not talking about anything!” I threw my hands up. “What the fuck do you mean my ex-members? They showed up?”
“Did you not know about this?” Gunnar asked from the porch, with