I make it outside, stand by Alexander’s bike, and drag air into my lungs. Almost two years and this isn’t how I imagined seeing Jacob again. He’s drunk, naked as the day he was born, and obviously has been in bed with two women…Two! At the same time! When Alexander told me he was going to stop by and check on Jacob, I couldn’t resist coming in. It was a bad move. Still, even knowing I shouldn’t go inside, I couldn’t stop myself. It had been so long since I had seen him. The temptation was just too much. So, I caved.
I don’t know what I expected, I really didn’t. It wasn’t pure hate. It really wasn’t, but sadly that was exactly what Jacob radiated when he looked at me. I think he might want to kill me. I laugh hysterically. He’d have to get in line, wouldn’t he?
The only reason I am in Kentucky is because someone killed my parents and is still after me. Dragon had ordered Alexander to come to Tennessee to get me after Jacob’s mom called him. The next day I was packed up and heading to Kentucky with a man who called himself Crusher. It took me half the trip to get Alexander’s real name out of him.
I have been here for four months now and for the most part I’ve loved it. The Savage MC has become my adopted family, with Dragon, Nicole and Alexander being some of the best friends I have ever had. That won’t last though. The minute I heard Jacob was getting out, I knew it would end.
Don’t get me wrong, I wanted him out. I really did. I just knew that once he was, I would have to leave. Jacob blames me for what happened to him and in a way he was right. It had been my stupidity to follow Jacob and his buddy to the club that night. I wanted to prove to him I was grown up. I wanted to show him that he needed to take me seriously, that I could be the woman for him. I was so stupid, so incredibly na?ve. The only thing I accomplished was proving myself to be horribly immature and to ruin three lives.
“You’re going to have to toughen up, Red, if Dance is the man you want to hang your hat on,” Bull offers.
I hear Bull’s voice and my body instantly stiffens. Bull makes me uncomfortable in ways I don’t totally understand. I turn and see him standing in the shadow of the old hotel. He’s leaning against the brick wall, wearing worn jeans, a faded red t-shirt and his Savage MC leather vest. He’s got a black skull cap on and it looks good on him. I’m not sure there’s much that could make him look bad though. The gold studs he wears in his ears sparkle as he walks to me.
“He’s not,” I say, as my eyes take him in. He stops in front of me and he overshadows everything, dominating. He’s wearing these dark sunglasses and the silly girl in me mourns over the fact I can’t see his eyes. Bull has the kind of eyes that sparkle with humor constantly, which is odd because he doesn’t talk that often.
“Bullshit. Lie to yourself if you want, Red, but not to me.”
“He’s not,” I insist. “Besides even if he was, Jacob hates me.”
“Funny thing about love and hate, they tend to get all mixed up.”
“If you had seen him a minute ago, you wouldn’t say that,” I explain, a little panicked at the way his eyes are pinned on me. I’m like a deer caught in the bright glare of headlights on a dark night. My heart even jumps in my chest.
“What’s your name anyway?” I ask knowing it’s pointless. Since I’ve been staying here, he has never given me his real name.
“Bull.”
“No, I mean like Jacob and Alex….”
“I’m not him, Red.”
“Him?”
“The one who folds to the promises on your lips. The name is Bull.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say honestly.
“I know; that’s what makes you so fucking tempting.”
“You’re a confusing man, Mr… Bull,” he busts out laughing and I’m drawn to the noise. It’s husky and dark and it sends tingles of awareness through my body, not quite like they used to be when Jacob was around, but honestly it is the first time I’ve felt anything close to it. Bull is dangerous. I’m drawn to him. If I hadn’t been in love with Jacob my entire life, he would have been really dangerous. Something makes me keep trying to get Bull to talk to me; maybe I just appreciate the fact that he was one of the first men to ever notice me as a woman. I wish Jacob would do that.
“Red, I’m kind of hoping Dance remains a fool just so I can sample what you got.”