Page 32 of Savage Bond

“Oh, please. If you had proposed seconds after kissing her for the first time, she would’ve cried happy tears and said yes.” Roxy rolls her eyes at Storm.

“I would not!” Dixie scowls at her.

“Yes, you would. Just because you don’t want to admit it, doesn’t make it untrue.”

“Yeah? Well, you’ve been in love with Chopper your entire life but you won't admit it to anyone. You’d rather push him away than admit it.” Dixie stares at my girl, daring her to argue.

Roxy glances at me over her shoulder and her eyes soften. I want to kiss her again, but I'm not sure how that will help this situation right now.

“You’re right, Dix. I’ve been in love with Chopper for as long as I can remember. I pushed him away because I never thought I could have him. But now I do.”

She spins to face me and loops her arms around my neck. She’s staring at me and I can’t tell if she’s waiting for a reaction or what. I'm speechless though. I never expected Roxy to admit her feelings like this, especially in front of an audience.

“I love you, Chopper. I always have and I always will.”

“I love you too,” I murmur.

I glance around Roxy and meet Dixie’s wide gaze, then Storm’s smirking face.

“We don’t say a word of this to Porter. I kept your secret, now you have to keep ours.”

Chapter 20

Chopper

The past few weeks have been pure heaven. I spend all of my free time with Roxy and I love every second of it.

We try to spend as much time as we can outside of the club. The last thing we want is one of the members figuring out what’s going on between us and getting Porter involved.

Today, I drove us out to that overlook we went to the first night she stayed with me. We’re sitting beneath the same tree, relaxing and looking down at the town.

“When are we going to talk to your dad?” I ask softly.

“I don’t know,” she groans. “Do we have to?”

“Yes. I told you I don’t want to hide from him, Rox. You know he’ll handle this better if we man up and tell him.” I sweep her hair over her shoulder and nuzzle my face into the crook of her neck. I can’t get enough of her scent.

“I have a question for you…” She trails off, unsure of how to ask whatever is on her mind.

“Ok…” I’m watching her carefully, she won’t even look at me, but she knows I'm staring at her. I'm always staring at her.

“When we went to get our tattoos, River made a comment to me…” She sucks in a deep breath and tries to figure out how to continue.

“Did he hit on you? I’ll kill him! I’ll make it hurt and last for days. I’ll-” My mind spins with all of the things River could’ve done to her. I swear I’ll watch him take his last breath before he’ll come near her again.

“No! He didn’t hit on me. Jeez! Down, boy!” She spins around so she’s facing me and plays with my long beard. She always does this when she doesn’t want to look me in the eyes.

“What’s going on, babe?” I grip her chin between my thumb and forefinger. I lift until she’s forced to meet my gaze. Instantly, I want to kiss her because there are no walls between us. She’s letting me see the real her and no one else. I love every second of it.

“River said you were saving the left side of your chest for your future wife,” she rushes out the words in one long breath, then squeezes her eyes shut.

“That wasn’t a question,” I chuckle, hugging her close to me.

She buries her face in my leather jacket and slips her arms around my waist. She’s so scared of asking her question, which is dumb because I'm not afraid of answering it.

“What does that mean? Why did you get a lioness there?”

“It means I love you and I want to get married to you.”