fast, too fast, as it only gave her a minute to stare at his ass bent over the carseat.
“Yeah, all good. Just typical teenager stuff.” She may not have started the day as a good actress, but she’d be an Oscar nominee by sundown.
Or maybe not.
Thunder frowned. “Let me know if you need me to talk to him about anything. I was a teenage boy once.” Then he winked and flashed her the grin that made her knees jelly. Why did he have to be so nice at the same time he rejected her? Not one reference to their night together. Not a single comment about it happening again, or grabbing a cup of coffee, maybe dinner.
Those are dates. You don’t have time for a date. This is for the best.
“All set there, princess,” he said to Emmie before pulling his head out of the car. “I’m rolling out too. Gotta get ready for work.” Another wink and a wave and Thunder took off, jogging toward his bike.
If this was all for the best, why the hell did the thought of him taking his clothes off for other women make her feel so shitty?
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
THUNDER WATCHED MAKENNA’S old car rattle down the road before turning back toward the house. After taking two steps, he drew up short at the sight of Mama V strolling toward him. “Cassie,” he said. His brain screamed at him to run, but it was as though his boots had cemented to the ground.
“Take a walk with me?”
Instantly, his entire body broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn’t been alone with her since Viper’s death. Couldn’t be alone with her. What if she asked questions? What if she found his actions lacking? What if she thought he should have let Jeremy escape and stayed with Viper?
“Thunder?”
“W-what?” A metallic taste filled his mouth.
She offered him an understanding smile. “Would you like to take a walk with me?”
She’d posed it as an offer, but Thunder wasn’t stupid enough to think it wasn’t a command. “Sure.” He held his elbow out to her.
She giggled like a schoolgirl as she threaded her arm through his. “Thank you, sir.”
“Of course.”
They walked about thirty feet down the road in silence. Each step filled him with more dread.
Finally, she spoke. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
He could deny it, but they’d both see his lie for what it was. The coward’s way out. Much as it wrecked him, she deserved this conversation. She deserved to ask him any questions she had about that day. It was her husband’s life for fuck’s sake, and in dodging her, he’d been selfish too long. “I have.” He stopped walking and faced her. “Cassie, I’m so sorry. Ask me anything about that day. I’ll be completely honest, and I’ll accept however you feel about me afterward.”
Her forehead scrunched as she frowned, and then as though the light went on, she tilted her head and sighed. “Thunder,” she admonished.
Christ, he was going to throw up.
She reached up to cup his face between her hands. He had no choice but to look down into her thin face and slightly sad eyes. The hair she’d lost was slowly growing back. Now she had a silvery mop cropped close to her head.
“Oh, my sweet boy,” she said in the loving, maternal way that had earned her the nickname Mama V. “Have you been avoiding me because you think I have a problem with how you handled yourself that day?”
He tried to look away, but she held his face firm, forcing eye contact. “I’m not sure I did the right thing.” Goddammit, his eyes began to water. “Maybe I should have grabbed the bomb on my way out. Or I shouldn’t have chased down Jeremy. Or—”
“Shh!” She said with a strength he hadn’t realized she still possessed. “Enough of that nonsense. Do you hear me?”
Despite being near fucking crying and all torn up inside, he chuckled. While Cassie dished out motherly love like no other, the woman could scold with the best of them as well. “I hear you.”
“You helped your club that day, Thunder. Maybe even saved your club. If Jeremy had escaped, who knows how much more harm he would have done to Jazz or the rest of your brothers? If Viper was standing here right now, he’d smack you upside the head for questioning your actions that day, and you know it.” She dropped her hand and whacked him on the arm for emphasis.
Her words were a balm to his