Lip crosses his arms, and a smug look crosses his face.
“She is. Makes me wonder why she’s even fucking the likes of me.” My heart saddens with that statement; why would he say that?
“Looked to me like she had no problem with it.” Bobby smirks, and my cheeks turn red.
Lip punches Bobby in the arm, and Bobby scowls.
“I won’t cock-block ya any longer, brother, just wanted you to get this.” Bobby hands him some rolled-up paperwork.
“You didn’t.” Lip’s voice comes cocky and self-assured as he grabs the paperwork.
I gently close the door and sigh. He’s so arrogant, and such a smart ass. I can’t tell if I love that about him or absolutely hate it. He bought me a fucking car even though I’ve only known him for a few days. What the hell? Things are moving way too fast. He’s so persistent and comes on so strong at times. I roll my eyes, fighting with myself. But if he didn’t come on so strongly, would I have even given him the time of day?
The door opens and I shuffle forward to keep out of the way.
“Forgot the paperwork,” Lip informs, tossing it on the end table.
“Lip, about that. You don’t think this,” I gesture my hand between us, “is moving too quickly?” Lip bites at his lip ring, his brown eyes find mine, and his brows pull together.
“Maybe, but it makes sense to me. You’re sexy, you’re fun, and despite that spit-fire attitude you portray, when I look in your eyes, I can see you cracking under that hard shell. You’ve been strong for so long you just want to be weak for one goddamn moment. You crave human contact, but are too afraid to trust anyone enough to let them in. Well, you can trust me.” His eyes go hard and his body puffs out. I draw in a deep breath as my chest constricts with adoration. “You don’t have to be strong around me. You don’t have to look over your shoulder when I’m around.”
I blink rapidly, trying to keep from crying. He steps forward and grabs me by the back of the neck.
“You’re with the Devil’s Dust now, Cherry; we do things out of the social norm. We make our own rules, we run our own society. We live fast and ride hard. Think you can live like that?”
My eyes trail from his hard chest to his eyes. “I know nothing about your rules or society, Lip,” I answer honestly.
“It’s easy.” He shrugs. “Respect all members, including ol’ ladies. Have each other’s back no matter what. No lying, no stealing, and no cheating on one another. Live free, ride daily, fuck often.”
I smile; it sounds like a fucking dream. My head is buzzing with all this info. I close my eyes and breathe in deeply, trying to process it all.
“I’m starving. I’m going to whip us up something,” Lip states, obviously done with this conversation.
“I’m going to shower then.”
Later that night, Lip made some kind of amazing pasta. I don’t know what the hell was in it, but oh my God, it was good.
***
My eyes begin to get heavy with sleep as we watch TV, and I yawn loudly.
“I’m beat, let’s get some sleep,” Lip suggests.
“Sounds like a great idea,” I mutter, untangling myself from the couch. I zombie-walk toward my room, but when I’m a few feet from my door, Lip grabs my hand, tugging me toward his. Butterflies swarm my stomach as a smile creeps along my face. He tucks us into bed and pulls me into him. Man, falling asleep next to him every night sounds fucking amazing. Living his life sounds amazing. I frown, realizing I don’t know much about the club.
“Lip?” I whisper.
“Yeah?”
“What happens if someone doesn’t follow the rules of the club?”
“For you, not much. For me, it can be brutal. Could be anything from getting my ass kicked, to having Bull fire a round into my leg, or the worst: being out-banned.”
“What is-”
“Out-banned is me getting my colors stripped and thrown out of the club.” Lip’s face goes pale, and his eyes look grave. “If that ever happened, they might as well kill me. Devil’s Dust is all I know.” His tone is incredibly somber.