Page 38 of Cole (Dirty Misfits MC 4)
“What’s up, beautiful?”
“Do you have to go so fast?”
She gave me a little giggle that was probably meant to settle me down a bit, but I knew she was scared. I felt it in the way she clung to me and in the way her voice wavered. I looked for any exit I could take as the van quickly crept up behind us. I chewed on my lower lip, looking for a way out of this bullshit before the beautiful left-hand exit came into view.
I ended up cutting across four lanes of traffic to take the left-lane exit, and Molly practically shrieked in my ear as I did so.
Thankfully, however, I lost the damn tail after that.
“Well, that was some ride,” she said breathlessly.
I took one last look around me before I turned into her apartment complex and made my way to her building. I felt confident that I had shaken the tail, but that still didn’t protect Molly. If those Black Magic Fuckers had already done enough digging into my life to find her in it, then there was only one thing I could do to really protect her.
God, forgive me for this, because she never will.
Like I said, things never panned out the way we wished they would.
Eighteen
Molly
“Molly, I feel like we should—”
I slid off the back of his bike and held up my hand. “Don’t.”
Something had changed, and I felt it the instant Cole got onto the highway. I wasn’t sure what in the world had happened or why his demeanor has shifted on me so quickly, but the tone of his voice coupled with those words only spelled “trouble” as far as I was concerned.
“Let’s talk about this first before you do anything hasty,” I said.
Cole sighed. “Look, it’s nothing personal. But we’ve had a good time and that’s really all this was.”
I blinked. “So, that’s really what you’re going to stick with.”
He shook his head. “I’m not following.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Cole, I might not know you very well, but I know enough about you to know that something’s happened. We were good on our first date, we were good all day, and now you don’t want anything to do with me?”
“Like I said,” he said with a shrug, “it’s nothing personal.”
“I’d ask if this was about the sex, but we had sex. And I know you enjoyed it. I’ve got the crusties to prove it. So, is this about the fact that I won’t call off work again?”
He sighed. “No.”
“Is this about the fact that I haven’t asked you to stay over with me since I don’t want to stay at your place?”
His head fell back. “Ugh, I hate it when women do this.”
“Do what?” I asked as my voice started to raise. “Fight for you because you might mean something to them?”
He clicked his tongue as his eyes came back to mine. “That’s why I’m ending this.”
I blinked. “What?”
“You’re way more invested in this than I am. I’m not looking for love. I’m just looking for a bit of fun to get me to the next woman.”
I scoffed. “The next what!?”
His eyes danced between mine. “Surely, you understand.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Yeah, I understand. I understand just fine.”
I turned on my feet and stormed off to the stairs before I paused.
“I know that I was only a good lay to you,” I said over my shoulder.
Cole cleared his throat. “Molly, come on.”
I whipped around. “No, you come on. This is bullshit, and you know it. I know you had a good time with me. I know we’re both more attached than we should be. So, I don't know what the fuck’s going on with you, but if I get back up to my apartment and you haven’t followed me inside so we can talk? You can lose my number and my address. Got it?”
And when he held his hands up in mock surrender, I couldn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth.
“Sounds like a dream to me.”
It was as if I were staring at another human being altogether. This clearly wasn’t my Cole, right? This wasn’t the Cole I’d been on a date with yesterday. This wasn’t the same man that I had given my body to with courage and strength. This wasn’t the man that made me feel confident and important.
This was someone completely different.
“Whatever. Have a nice life,” I murmured.
I stormed upstairs and slammed the door closed behind me, not even bothering to see if he had followed me up. I knew he wouldn’t. I knew he wouldn’t follow me in an attempt to grovel. Yet, when I heard his bike speeding off, I raced to my balcony door and threw it open.
“Cole! Come on!” I exclaimed.
I threw all of my dignity at his feet, and yet he rushed off in a blaze of glory like I meant nothing. Like I was nothing.
