We drive for a good twenty minutes, before pulling down a dirt road that leads us to a big white house.

“Cole is an old friend of mine. He was Riley’s brother.”

I squeeze his thigh. “What happened to Riley?”

He parks the truck and looks over at me, while pulling the keys out of the ignition. “A motorcycle accident. Someone in a van ran the stop sign and hit him. He died on impact.”

“Oh my God.” I look at him, now worried for his safety. “I don’t know what I’d do if that ever happened–”

“Don’t worry,” he cuts me off. “That will be the last thing that takes me.”

He releases my hand and grips the door handle. “Come on.”

I jump out of the truck and meet up with Royal at the front. He grabs my hand and starts walking toward the barn.

“You out here, Cole?” He yells when we get closer to the front of the barn.

“Yeah, Man,” Cole yells in return. “This shit is pissing me off. Can’t get it to start for . . .”

His words trail off as he steps through the door to see Royal and me.

“Hi,” he says to me, looking a bit shocked. He wipes his hand off on a rag and reaches it out for me to grab. “I’m Cole.”

“This is my girlfriend, Avalon,” Royal says while squeezing the hand he’s been holding. “I thought you guys should meet.”

I look over at Royal, trying to contain my surprise at his word choice: girlfriend.

His girlfriend?!? Am I his fucking girlfriend? Oh God. Please say yes. I just need to hear it one more time.

I look at his lips, silently willing them to move again and repeat the word.

Royal must sense my hesitation, so he pulls me to him and presses his lips against mine. “Yes, you’re my fucking girl. I can’t share you with anyone and I don’t have any plans to. Got it?”

I swallow and turn around to grab Cole’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Cole. Sorry to hear about your brother.”

Cole gives me a weak smile. “Thanks. It’s good to meet you as well.” He looks me over, as if he still can’t believe that I’m standing here. “I never thought I’d see the day that this guy brought another girl here.”

Royal releases my hand and runs his hands through his hair. “Alright, Man. Let’s just get this shit looked at.”

Cole smiles at me. “Feel free to take a seat anywhere you want or walk around and hang out. It won’t take long. Royal is a fucking genius when it comes to getting motorcycles running.”

Royal plasters on a cocky smile while stripping out of his black flannel and bending down to work on the bike.

Finding an empty crate, I take a seat and watch Royal as he works.

I find it so damn sexy watching him get dirty from the motor and I can’t help but to beam as I watch him move and work so easily, as if it’s nothing to him.

Twenty minutes later, the motorcycle is running and Cole is slapping Royal on the back, thanking him.

“Holy fuck. Good shit.” Cole straddles the bike and revs the engine. “I’m going to take this shit for a test run,” he yells over the loud roar of the engine. “Be back.”

Royal backs up to let Cole drive past him and out the side door of the barn.

I smile at Royal as he cleans his hands off. “You did a great job.”

He tosses the rag aside. “My father used to work on bikes. He taught me everything he knew about them.”

“Well he did a damn good job,” I say.

“Thanks.” He smiles and nods his head for me to follow him.

We walk around to the back of the barn and stop when we reach an old tire swing. Holding it, he calls me over. “Come here.”

I laugh. “Alright. You going to push me on the swing?”

Yeah,” he responds. “Now get your beautiful ass on before I bite it.”

I pause to look back at him after getting one leg through it. “Is that supposed to scare me?” I stick my second leg through and grab onto the rope. “Because nothing in the bedroom can scare me after what you did to me in the middle of the night.” I smile from the memory of me waking up in the middle of the night to him finger fucking me. We didn’t sleep much after that.

“It got you turned on though, didn’t it,” he says while giving me a push. “And I can do a lot more fucking damage to your body than I did last night. Never doubt me.”

I laugh and grip onto the rope as Royal starts spinning the tire, winding the rope up.

“Woah! That’s tight enough.”

He stops spinning the tire to look me in the face and laugh at me. “Hold on, Babe.”

He releases the tire and it starts spinning so fast that I can barely hang on, yet I can’t stop laughing as I fight to keep my head up.

As it slows down, I catch glimpses of Royal watching me in satisfaction.

“Did you enjoy me screaming my head off?” I tease, when it stops.

He grabs the top of the rope and pulls me to him. “Oh . . . you were laughing your head off. You loved it.” Leaning in, he runs his tongue over my lips, before slipping it inside my mouth and swirling it around my tongue.

The indescribable feeling of my heart about to beat out of my chest takes over and I find myself gripping the rope even tighter, afraid that I’ll faint and fall off.

This man truly has no idea what he does to me. I don’t even know what he does, but I love it.

“Hey!” Cole runs out from the barn. “She runs like a beast. Damn, Man. I owe you.”

Royal grabs my hand and helps me out of the tire. “You want to meet me in the truck? I want to check on him before I leave.”

I nod my head. “Of course.” I smile over at Cole. “It was great meeting you.”

“Hey, you too.” He watches me as I walk away, before turning back to Royal.

I’m in the truck for about five minutes before Royal jumps into the driver’s side and instantly grabs for my hand, pulling it into his lap.

“Is everything okay with Cole then?”

“He’s good,” he responds. “He’s getting by.”

We’re halfway to my house when Royal’s phone starts ringing in his pocket. “Shit. Can you grab that for me?”

“Yeah, sure.” I dig into his pocket as he leans up for me to be able to get my hand inside.

I hit connect and hold it out to him.

“Take the call for me,” he says. “I’m not going to talk and drive when I have you in my truck.”

Feeling a bit awkward, I hold the phone to my ear. “Hello.”

“Hey,” Jax says into the phone. “Royal driving you?”

“Yeah,” I respond. “We just left Cole’s.”

“Good,” he says. “That’s real good. Hey. Tell Royal that his appointment is here and I have them set up in his chair already. Kay?”

“I’ll let him know, Jax.”

“Thanks, Babe.”

With that, he hangs up.

“Jax said your appointment is waiting on you.”

“Oh fuck!” He grips the steering wheel. “I forgot all about that shit.” He grabs his phone from my hand and tosses it in my seat. “You good for the day?”

I smile and nod my head as he grabs my hand. “Yeah, I’m good. I could use some rest before work. The stupid owner stops by every Thursday. She’s sort of a cunt sometimes.”

Royal looks over at me and smiles. “I love that dirty mouth.” He pulls up in front of my house and shifts the truck into park. “I’ll pick you up from work, alright? Don’t walk outside until you see me.”

I lean in and run my fingers over his face. He grabs my hand and his eyes meet mine. “I’ll wait for you,” I say. “Thanks for breakfast.”

He grabs my hand and kisses it. “Alright.”

I jump out of his truck and stand on the porch, watching as he drives away.

What am I going to do about this man? I’ve completely fallen for him . . .

Royal: How’s work, baby? You busy?

SMILING, I SET MY HALF eaten chicken sandwich down and respond to the message that Royal sent about twenty minutes ago.