King's Reign (Sydney Storm MC #6)(23)

I gripped his jacket harder and attempted to push those thoughts from my head. I mean, they were good thoughts, amazing thoughts, but right now was not the time for them.

He looked down at me, still holding me close. “You good?”

I nodded and let him go. Moving out of his embrace, I said, “Yeah, I just wasn’t watching where I was walking.” Heat stained my cheeks as I thought about what I had been watching.

Good God, why did he make me so flustered?

It wasn’t like I was a freaking virgin who’d never had sex before or who’d never seen an ass before. And yet, here I was, my cheeks turning red just thinking about having sex with the man.

I was sure he noticed, but full points to him, he didn’t mention it. Instead, he asked, “What do you want to drink?”

Happy for an excuse to concentrate on anything but him, I turned my attention to the menu board. “Ooh, I’ll have that chocolate milkshake with extra ice-cream and Oreos. And I’m gonna want extra chocolate syrup on top, too, please.”

His eyes flared with what looked like heat, but he didn’t say anything.

“What?” I asked. King was so damn guarded with his thoughts, and I wanted to know them all. I knew he’d never share everything, because that seemed like the man he was, but I was going to push to get to know what I could.

Bending his face to speak against my ear, he said, “I was just filing away that chocolate obsession for later use.”

My core clenched with need, and not just because of what he said. With King, it was so much more than that. It was the way his voice always seemed to have that growly tone, and how he exuded masculinity like no other man I knew, and how he just said what he wanted, regardless of how bossy or filthy it was.

King blazed with sex and a wild, untamed side I was helpless to say no to. It wasn’t just a glimmer or a flash here and there; he walked and talked it every second of the day. To me, it was magnetic and irresistible.

Being with him distracted me from Brynn. Every time he came near, my focus shifted, and for the time we were together, I was able to put the worry aside for a while. I couldn’t decide if I felt guilty about that or if I welcomed the distraction.

He ordered our drinks and guided me to a table in the back where we had some privacy. It was still early in the day, so there weren’t many people here yet.

Once we were sitting, he eyed me with that intense gaze of his. “How’s your sister today?”

Not wanting to have this conversation, I glanced down and fiddled with the salt and pepper shakers on the table.

King rested his arms on the table and leaned forward. “Lily.” He uttered just one word, but delivered it with his signature bossiness. I wondered if he ever stopped being bossy, but quickly dismissed that thought. King only knew one way in life.

Looking up, I found his eyes again. “The doctors are weaning her off the ventilator.” I wrapped my arms around my body, suddenly chilled. “That’s why Mum was so intent on calling the priest. She’s scared that won’t go to plan, but she fully believes God will make everything okay.” My tone made it clear where I stood on that, but he asked me anyway.

“You don’t?”

I swallowed my Catholic guilt. “No, I don’t. I stopped believing in God a long time ago.” I paused. “Well, that’s not true. I didn’t stop believing in God. I just don’t think he makes everything okay, and when people like my mum rely on him to do something he can’t do, I get a little cranky.” I cocked my head to the side. “Do you believe in God?”

He slowly shook his head. “Fuck no.”

I didn’t know what compelled me to ask, but the question popped out without thought. “Did you ever?”

He shifted, resting his back against the chair, contemplating that. “If I did, it would have been at an age I have no memories of.”

“That makes me sad.” Because it told me he hadn’t been told not to believe, but rather, someone had stolen that from him.

A dark look crossed his face. “Yeah,” he said gruffly.

I studied him silently for a few moments, curious as to the things he’d lived through, but not ready to quiz him on it yet. Finally, I said, “Thank you for today. I needed to get out of there, and it turns out I love being on the back of a bike. It was exactly what I needed.”

The waitress brought our drinks out, cutting into our conversation, but I did notice the hint of a smile on his lips at what I said.

After the waitress left us, I watched King sugar his black coffee. “You don’t drink milk?”

“Yeah, but not in my coffee.” At my questioning look, he added, “Skye had to give up dairy for a while when she was a kid, so I didn’t have it in the house. Got a taste for black coffee from that.”

“Skylar lived with you when she was growing up?”

He drank some of his coffee before answering my question. “Our foster mother died when she was eight. She came to live with me after that.”

This gave me an insight into their relationship that had been missing before. It was a piece of the puzzle that made up King. And goodness, it revealed so much about the man sitting across from me. “How old were you?” My guess was he couldn’t have been much past twenty, which if true, amazed me even further.

“Twenty-three.”