of my guys saw me and ragged on me for getting splashed on the road like a rookie.
Embarrassingly, though, I really didn’t want to change out of them.
Which was ridiculous. I was acting like a teenager. Worse than a teenager! Priest had only offered me a change of clothes because he was a good friend—not for any other reason. But even though I knew that, I couldn’t resist tugging the neckline of the t-shirt up to my nose and inhaling deeply.
His clothes just smelled so fucking good. Clean fabric, leather, and maybe, if I really focused, a hint of Priest’s warm, musky sweat. Turned out wearing his clothes turned me on a lot more than I was ready to admit.
“Enjoying that, huh?” Tru asked with laughter in his voice.
Only then did I realize I was standing at the foot of the stairs with my nose tucked into the neckline of the t-shirt. “What?” I huffed, trying to brush it off. “I’m just going upstairs to change.”
“You sure?” Tru teased. “Don’t wanna hang around wearing that shirt a little longer?”
My face flushed as Tru waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Tru was like a son to me, and I treasured our relationship, but he really could be a menace. He never hesitated to share what he really thought, and I knew from the wiggle of his eyebrows that I wasn’t going to get out of this conversation like nothing had happened. I wasn’t just the president to Tru and Dante, I was Dad, which meant they got special privileges to tease me relentlessly.
“Aw, come on, Dad, have a drink with us,” Dante said with a grin. He’d left a little before I had, and had beaten me home.
The Crew Motel was quiet tonight—the rest of the guys were either at Ballast, or at the Elkin Lake clubhouse, as far as I could tell. Better to get this conversation over with now, when I could sate Tru’s curiosity without any of the other members butting in and overhearing. With a resigned sigh, I turned around and joined them in the kitchen, where Dante was breaking out the good whiskey and pouring us each a small glass.
“So,” Tru said as he swirled the whiskey in the highball glass. He hopped up onto the counter gracefully, heels knocking against the cabinet doors. “Something going on with you and Priest?”
“Not a damn thing,” I said easily, and that was the truth. Even if there had been tension between us, nothing was happening, and nothing was going to happen. And I didn’t have any intention of letting my sons know about that strange moment.
“That’s a shame,” Tru said with a huff. “I think you two would be cute together.”
“Tru,” I said warningly. “Drop it.”
The last thing I needed was more encouragement for this fantasy. Because that’s all it was. Better to forget it had happened at all.
“It’s not really about Priest, even,” Dante said. “I mean—are you seeing anyone these days?”
“Of course not,” I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. “When would I have time to, with all the club business going on?”
“Maybe I had this dream of you sneaking off for dates or hookups,” Tru said dreamily. “Everyone needs to let off some steam every now and then.”
Okay, sure, maybe I’d had a hookup here or there, but that wasn’t something I was super proud of, especially at my age—and not something I was willing to share with Dante and Tru. I didn’t want them to dig into why I preferred hookups; it was my business, and I wasn’t ready to bare my heart like that. Fact was, I’d worked hard as hell to build a stable life for myself, and for Dante, after Melanie had left us. And now, that stability was the most important thing to me. I didn’t want to get wrapped up in a serious relationship only to have the rug pulled out from under me again. Hookups were all I needed, even if the club was moving away from the wild parties of our past.
“It’s not a priority right now,” I said. “It’s not like I’m missing anything from my life.” And that was true, even if sometimes it didn’t feel true.
Dante didn’t look convinced. “Come on. We all want you to be happy—to not be alone.”
“I’m not alone,” I said. “I’m less alone than ever, what with the size of the club now.”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it,” Dante said with a shake of his head.