Last Mile (Vicious Cycle #3) - Katie Ashley Page 0,74
many openly gay members do you have in the Raiders?” When I didn’t immediately respond, she huffed out a breath. “Exactly.”
Closing the gap between us, I put my hands on Sam’s shoulders. “You’re right that we don’t have a lot of openly gay guys, and it probably would have been hard on him to make it if he was out. But gay or straight, he was still someone I cared about—a lot.”
“He would’ve appreciated that.”
“As his friend, you just decided to go along with his lies?”
“I would call it self-preservation more than lying. And yeah, because I loved him, I wanted to do whatever I could to help him out. If it was pretending to be his girlfriend, then I was happy to do that.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “This is all so crazy, and it changes everything.”
“It does?”
“It sure as hell does. I’ve been beating myself up for months now because I thought I had been wanting a brother’s girlfriend when all along there was nothing romantic between you two.”
“It didn’t help that I was flirting with you.”
“I thought you were just teasing me—like you were the older woman playing at being a cougar, and I was your little cub.”
With a roll of her dark eyes, Samantha said, “You’ve really got to work on how you handle the age difference between us.” She jabbed her finger into my bare chest. “While a woman may be able to handle being a cougar, she is never going to enjoy hearing the words ‘older woman.’”
I winced. “Okay, okay. I’ll work on that.”
“You sure as hell better.”
After brushing a strand of long dark hair out of Samantha’s face, I said, “I promise I’ll make it up to you the next time we’re alone together.”
The frown on her face disappeared and was replaced with a smile. “I’ll make sure that you do.” She brought her lips to mine for a gentle kiss. When she pulled away, she stared intently at me. “Since you know the truth, are you willing to give us a chance?”
Now that I knew I hadn’t been dishonorable to Marley, there was not a single reason why I shouldn’t date Samantha. Pulling her flush against me, I smiled. “Hell yeah.”
“Good.” She jerked her chin at the ATV. “Are you ready to head back? I’m starving and in desperate need of a shower.”
“Yep. Just let me turn the generator off.” Once I completed that chore, I returned to find Samantha already seated on the back of the ATV. “Listen. I need to ask you something else.”
“Okay.”
“Is there anything else you need to tell me? Like you’re really a man or something?”
Samantha snorted. “I would think after last night you wouldn’t have any doubts about that one.”
I waggled my eyebrows at her. “I don’t. I just didn’t want there to be any more secrets between us.”
Her face fell slightly. “There’s not.”
“And the only thing Marley lied about to me was his sexuality, right?”
With a nod, Sam said, “The rest was all true . . . at least as far as I know.”
“I guess we’ll never know all of Marley’s secrets, huh?”
“Guess not.”
“Sometimes it’s okay to be a little mysterious,” I said, leaning over to kiss Samantha’s full lips. Just as I thrust my tongue into her mouth, her stomach growled loudly. I pulled away to grin at her. “Guess you weren’t kidding when you said you were hungry.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I need to remember to feed my woman if I’m going to keep her out all night working up an appetite.”
Samantha snorted contemptuously. “ ‘My woman’? You sound like a caveman.”
I slid onto the seat in front of her before throwing a look at her over my shoulder. “Just remember you are my woman.”
“Is that a fact, Caveman?” she asked teasingly.
“It sure as hell is.”
She brought her arms around my waist. “I guess there are worse things I could be than a caveman’s woman.”
“I want to hear you say that you’re my woman.”
“Honestly, Bishop.”
“Say it,” I instructed as I revved the ATV’s motor.
Samantha turned up her chin and stared at the sky. When she didn’t respond, I said, “I’ll stay right here until you say it—your growling stomach be damned.”
“I don’t take orders,” she said as she continued eyeing the clouds.
Whirling around, I grabbed her by the waist and dragged her around to sit on my lap.
“Bishop, what are you—”
I silenced her by crushing my mouth against hers. At the same time, I brought my hand between her legs. She gasped when