Ride Hard (Raven Riders #1)(45)

“I’m not f*cking around, Maverick. We’re not talking about this.” No sense in trying to deny it, because his cousin could get like a dog with a damn bone. Better just to cut the whole conversation off at the knees.

“Not going anywhere, D. For five years you’ve known about how I crashed and burned with Alexa. If you think I’m backing off of the first time you went and got the feels for a woman, you’re crazier than I thought you were.” Maverick’s expression said he was having way too much fun with this topic. The bastard.

“Any chance you could rub a few more brain cells together and remember what the hell we talked about in Church not a damn hour ago?” Dare asked.

For a moment, Maverick looked almost comically confused, and then his mouth dropped open. “Oh. Oh, shit, D.”

“Now, can we be done?”

All the humor bled out of Maverick’s expression. “Yeah, I’ll, uh”—he thumbed toward the door—“go check on Alexa and Bunny.”

“Good plan,” Dare said, feeling like an *.

Maverick left without saying anything else, leaving Dare sitting all alone in the quiet of his office. All alone. He hadn’t ever really had a steady relationship, not in all the years he’d lived in Frederick. Plenty of f*cks, and a few friends with benefits, but no one he ever wanted for longer, for keeps, for his. Still, he had women when he wanted them. He had his brothers. He had his grandfather and great-aunt. He’d been alone, but he hadn’t ever felt lonely.

Until now. And there was only one thing different about his life.

Haven.





CHAPTER 15


“I have something to tell you,” Cora said as she knocked on the door to Haven’s room and walked in.

“I probably know what it is,” Haven said from where she sat on the bed, back against the headboard. She was under the covers despite being fully dressed and it not even being dinnertime yet. Ever since her talk with Dare, she’d been mindlessly watching cooking shows, although she couldn’t actually have said what kind of food they’d been making. “Where were you?” She pulled her gaze from the TV.

“I was hanging with Jeb over in the chop shop watching him work on his bike. And then Phoenix came and found me,” Cora said, crawling onto the bed and getting in under the covers next to her.

Sitting shoulder to shoulder, Haven looked at her best friend. “So you know we’re going to be leaving soon? Getting new names and identities and being set up somewhere else?”

Cora nodded, but Haven couldn’t read any reaction in her expression. “Yeah. What do you think?” Cora asked.

“I mean, yeah. It’s great,” Haven said, nodding. And working really hard to be positive.

Frowning, Cora tilted her head. “Why don’t I believe you?”

“You should,” Haven said. “Starting a whole new life is exactly what we wanted.” It was. But a funny thing had happened. Haven felt like she’d already started living that new life. Right here. With the Ravens. That was probably stupid, considering that no one had ever once suggested this as anything more than a way station until they figured out what was next, but she couldn’t help how she felt.

“You do remember that I am your best and longest friend, right?” Cora arched an eyebrow.

“Uh, yeah, of course,” Haven said.

“Here, give me that.” Cora grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. She shifted to sit facing Haven. “So be honest with me. Because I can hear in your voice that you’re not thrilled. It’s Dare, isn’t it? What the heck happened to the two of you this afternoon anyway? He took off after you and Jeb like he was pissed or something.”

Haven liked how Cora didn’t even wait for the answer to her question. She knew Haven too well. “He stopped Jeb, said he needed me, and took me for a really awesome ride up to this beautiful lake . . .” She stopped there out of both embarrassment over the thought of describing what’d happened afterward and fear that trying to describe it would beckon the tears she’d been fighting since she left Dare’s office.

Cora squeezed her knee over the blanket. “And then?”

“And then, stuff happened,” she said in a quiet voice.

“Well, you know that isn’t gonna fly, my dear.” Cora scooted closer. “Spill.”

Heat crept into Haven’s cheeks as she searched for the words.

“Oh, good stuff,” Cora said, laughter in her voice.

“I splashed him,” Haven said, remembering the look of surprise he’d worn, and how he’d chased her. Caught her. “Next thing I knew, he tackled me onto the beach, and then . . . we were kissing and he was touching me with his hands and, uh, his mouth.” God, her cheeks were on actual fire. At least, that’s how they felt.

Cora gasped. “He went down on you? Aw, lucky you. Did you like it? Was he good?”

Haven opened her mouth to answer, and burst out crying. Yes, she liked it. Yes, it was good. And, yes, she wasn’t thrilled about leaving the Ravens because she didn’t want to leave Dare. And it felt like someone was ripping out her heart.

“Oh, sweetie,” Cora said, embracing her.

It took Haven the better part of a half hour to rein in her emotions and finish recounting her afternoon with Dare—right through the conversation in his office.