Savage Collision: A Hawke Family Novel (Hawke Family #1)(51)

“For now, but I’m sweaty and disgusting and you are here to work out.” I grin at her and she does the same, stepping back from me. She knows I know she’s full of shit about her reason for being here. She came to see me, whether she wants to admit it or not, and that is the biggest fucking ego boost she’s ever given me. “Give me twenty minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”

“That will be a pretty short workout.”

“Better make it count, then,” I call over my shoulder as I pass her on my way through the door.

The moment I enter the locker room, they descend on me.

“What the fuck, Savage? How come you never mentioned her?”

They all watch me expectantly. I realize I have no answer to their questions.

Why didn’t I tell any of my friends about Dani?

Other than Gabe and my family, I haven’t spoken to anyone about her and that suddenly seems very odd. I’m sure it’s a product of the lingering fear that she’ll change her mind and run. It’s a lot easier to deal with something like that happening when no one knows about her in the first place.

After Becca ended our engagement and I returned home, the friends who checked in with me always wanted to talk about it, anything to avoid talking about the accident or my injury. How discussing my torpedoed engagement was any better is beyond me, but it was painfully obvious the only way to avoid discussing it was to avoid talking to anyone who knew about it. So my old friends fell pretty much to the wayside and I concentrated on what I could control—my work, the business.

Now, the thought of going through that again, of having to explain to my friends why my relationship failed, seems too painful to comprehend.

“Because it’s still pretty new, guys. We’ve only been together a couple weeks.”

“Yeah, but, dude, she’s fucking gorgeous!”

No shit.

She’s fucking gorgeous, funny, sexy as hell, and willing, and yet, I can’t get it together enough to actually have sex with her. I should just turn in my man card and be done with it.

“She is amazing. Hopefully it will work out.” I don’t know how else to respond to them. These guys get it. They know the kind of problems paralysis can cause and I’m sure at least half of them aren’t even able to get it up, so I should feel lucky.

But, instead, I feel like an asshole.

I have a sort-of working cock and can’t use it. I need a long, cold shower to get my head together before I see Dani again. If I go home with her like this, it will surely be a repeat performance.

Her showing up here was a huge step forward. I can’t risk anything setting us back.





My stomach churns and bile rises in my throat as we pull into the driveway of Savage’s mother’s house.

Sunday dinner with the Hawkes…somehow it didn’t seem so intimidating when he asked me to come a few nights ago, but now, staring at the place he grew up, every potential disaster waiting for me inside is running through my head at Olympic sprinter speeds. Even after being together for months, I don’t feel ready to meet the Hawkes.

Savage squeezes my hand from next to me in the back seat.

“You okay? Why do you look like you’re about to be sick?”

“Probably because I might blow chunks right here in the back of Gabe’s car.”

Gabe shifts the car into park and looks at me over his shoulder with a frown. “You better be joking. There will be no chunk blowing in the Mercedes, please.”

Savage chuckles and kisses the back of my hand. “She’s fine. She’s just nervous, although I have no idea why.”

“Seriously? No idea? You think meeting the Hawke women isn’t just a little bit intimidating?”

Gabe laughs and opens his door. “Well, she’s got you there. I’m just glad I’m here for the show.” He climbs out, leaving Savage and me alone in the car, and me feeling even worse than I did ten seconds ago.

“Why does he have to be such a prick?”

Laughter fills the car and Savage reaches out to pull my head over to him. He kisses my forehead and then my lips. “Relax. It will be fine. Just remember, Skye will bait you. Don’t take it and you’ll be fine.”

I take a deep breath and nod before I pull away and open my door to climb out. By the time I make it around to the other side of the car, Gabe already has Savage’s chair out and Savage has just settled into it.

A bang draws my attention to the front of the house and a woman I can only assume is Mrs. Hawke is practically running down the front walk toward Gabe. He meets her halfway and she throws herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face against his chest.

“About goddamn time. Have you been avoiding me, boy?”

She pulls back and looks at Gabe, who offers her a smirk before kissing her gently on the cheek.

“Of course not, Ma, I’ve just been busy the last month.”

Ma? I look to Savage and he shrugs his shoulders before closing the car door. “He was here all the time growing up. She’s really the only mother he’s ever had.”

My heart aches a little picturing a little blond boy with no mom, but seeing Mrs. Hawke and Gabe together now, there’s no doubt he received whatever he needed here, if not at home.

Savage and I make our way up the walkway as Gabe extricates himself from Mrs. Hawke’s stranglehold.