Chapter 10

"Your man will be here any minute," Viper muttered.

He'd said maybe a dozen words in the hours since Gideon had left, but I didn't take offense. I just assumed that he was the silent type, like so many of the bikers I'd met when I was growing up.

I heaved a deep sigh of relief at knowing he was okay. Him leaving his club brother behind to watch over me was unsettling. It made me worry that whatever he did was much more dangerous than the club business they'd handled yesterday. I wished he'd taken Viper with him to watch his back. "Thanks."

He gave me a chin lift in response, then lifted his bottle of beer to his lips.

Sliding off the stool I'd been sitting on, I waved off his concern when he moved to follow me. "Don't worry. I'm not going far. Just going to wait for Gideon near the front door."

"Good call." He set the bottle back down with a nod. "Storm's got something he's gonna want to share with you."

My brows went up at his reply…and not just because it was more words than I'd heard him string together before. I hadn't expected Gideon to tell me what he'd been doing since he had said it was club business. I had taken that explanation at face value without wondering much about where he had gone because I assumed I would never know. But now my curiosity got the better of me, and I twisted my hands together while I heard the unmistakable rumble of bikes pulling up in front of the clubhouse.

As soon as Gideon walked through the door, I threw myself in his arms. It was almost impossible to believe how much my life had changed in only a few short days. I wasn't sure when or if I would ever see him again, and now his club brother was calling him "my man."

"You're back," I whispered.

"Yup." He wrapped my hair around his fist and tugged my head back to claim my mouth in a deep kiss. "And I have some damn good news for you, baby."

"You do?" I asked.

Pulling his phone from the back pocket of his jeans, he tapped on the screen to pull up a story on the web browser. Then he tilted the screen toward me so I could read it. As I scanned the headline, my eyes went wide. "Holy crap! Bryan was arrested?"

"Damn fucking straight," Gideon confirmed. "And it couldn't have happened to a better guy."

Reading the story, I gasped. "For statutory rape and drugs?"

"Yup, and the drug charges are gonna be a felony since they got him on possession with the intent to distribute. He's going away for a long time."

The first charge was easy to believe after what he'd tried to pull with me, but he'd never struck me as a drug dealer. With the money his parents gave him, I couldn't understand why he would take a risk like that. "Wow."

"The bastard should've known better than to fuck with you."

There was a thread of satisfaction in his voice that made me wonder if he'd been behind Bryan's arrest, but I decided it was better not to ask after he'd called it club business.

Twining my arms around his neck, I went on my toes to brush a kiss against his cheek. "I'm safe now and never have to worry about him or his parents again."

"Now that they're taken care of, we can talk about what all we need to do for the move up to Old Bridge. I shoulda thought about bringing a prospect up to drive your truck back so you could ride on the back of my bike. Maybe Jagger will lend me a guy. He can rent a car or fly back down here."

"Whoa, hold up." I dropped my arms to press my palms against his broad chest. "I can't just move to Tennessee all of a sudden."

His fingers clenched my waist, his eyes narrowing as he stared down at me. "I get that this is moving quickly, but I waited two long years for you, baby. Not gonna have a long-distance relationship, and I can't stay with the Westland Riders MC. I have responsibilities to my own club, and you belong with me."

"I'm not arguing about any of that." I heaved a deep sigh. "I guess I was so wrapped up in finally getting everything that I dreamed of that I didn't stop to think about how the logistics would work."

"That's what you've got me around for," he boasted with a cocky grin. "You tell me what you need, and I make it happen."

His offer was sweet, but I didn't think my problem had an easy fix. "I still have one more semester to go before I graduate, and it starts next week. I can't just leave, not without transferring to another school, which would totally suck since I wouldn't know anyone there. Not that I have a ton of close friends here when I never felt comfortable inviting anyone to my home."

"I'm fucking sorry I didn't know how bad things had gotten for you." The regret was clear in his dark eyes as he added, "I had people watching over you, but it wasn't enough. I shoulda manned up and played a more active role in your life while I waited for when I could finally claim you. I hate that my inability to trust my self-control around you ended up with you being hurt."

"Stop," I whispered, pulling on his arm to lead him upstairs. Our conversation was getting heavier than I expected, and I didn't want to have it where someone could overhear. When we were behind the closed door, I gestured toward the chair and then climbed on his lap after he sat down. "As much as I wish we would've been able to spend time together over the past two years, I also kind of love that your feelings for me are so strong that you didn't think you could be around me without acting on them. It makes me feel…powerful."

"Because you are, baby." His palm stroked up and down my spine, sending goose bumps in its wake. "I hate to clue you in, but nobody in the world has the kind of influence over me that you do."

I'd kind of assumed that he acted differently with me than anyone else, but I loved how he straight up admitted it to me. Grinning at him, I murmured, "I promise to use my powers for good, if that makes you feel any better. And orgasms. Lots and lots of them."

"As many as you want," he vowed, his eyes getting darker with desire. "But first we gotta figure out what it's gonna take for you to come back to Tennessee with me because I'm not leaving Florida without you."

Wincing, I murmured, "I really don't want to be a high school dropout, but maybe I could get my GED or something?"

"Or I could pull some strings to get your school to agree for you to finish off your last few classes online instead of having to show up in class," he suggested.

My brows arched as I tilted my head to the side. "Is that even possible?"

"Sure as fuck is." He flashed me a cocky smirk that made my panties wet. "Never would've thought of it except I've heard stories about a couple of the guys in the Silver Saints MC managing to swing it when they fell for women who hadn't graduated yet. So I already put some feelers out."

"You did?" I gasped.

"Not sure why you're so surprised, baby. I knew that when I came for you, I was gonna take you back with me. Figured the school thing would need to be figured out and didn't want to leave it till the last minute."

Each time I got more proof of the thought he'd put into coming down here for me, it bolstered my confidence. "Then I guess I'll leave it in your more than capable hands."

"I got it covered, baby." He brushed his lips against mine. "Things are coming together with the school, so you don't need to worry about anything other than figuring out what you want to take with us."

I needed to do one other thing if I was going to move to Tennessee with Gideon. "I need to see my dad before we leave."