Page 4 of Ruined By King

Because I've thought about bending you over my bike so many times it's a problem. Because I want to know what sounds you make when you come, and I want to be the one dragging them out of you.

"Trouble," I say. "For both of us."

I take a half-step closer. Close enough to feel the heat of her body in the cool night air.

"You've been watching me too. Don't pretend you haven't."

Her chin lifts. Defiant. "You're imagining things."

"Am I?"

"Yes."

"So at Mesa, when you stared at me across the lot for a full thirty seconds before you looked away — that was my imagination?"

Something flickers in her expression. Surprise that I remembered. Maybe surprise that I noticed in the first place.

"Or at Tucson," I continue, "when you found a reason to walk past the Sons' camp three times in one night. Imagination?"

"I was⁠—"

"Or twenty minutes ago, when I felt your eyes on me from across the fire pit. When I looked up and you were already looking. Was I imagining that too?"

She doesn't answer. Her chest rises and falls a little faster.

"Demi." I say her name just to feel the shape of it in my mouth. Her breath catches. "Walk away if you want. I'm not going to chase you down. I'm not going to make a scene. But stop pretending this isn't happening."

"This can't happen." Her voice is barely above a whisper.

"I know."

"My father⁠—"

"Yeah."

"Your club⁠—"

"Demi." I hold her gaze. "I don't give a shit about the reasons."

The air between us feels charged, electric, like the sky before a storm breaks. She's close enough that I could reach out and touch her. I don't. Not yet. Not here. But God, I want to.

"This is crazy," she whispers.

"Yeah."

"We can't⁠—"

"I know."

She shakes her head slowly, but she doesn't move away. "You're going to be trouble, aren't you?"

"The worst kind."

Something shifts in her expression. The resistance doesn't disappear, but it cracks. Just a little. Just enough.

Then she steps back.

"Enjoy your tacos," she says softly. And she turns and walks away, disappearing into the crowd without looking back.