Moving to the bathroom, I blink into the bright light and trash the condom.
Does she mean it? Or is that like telling someone you love them while having sex? I’m almost afraid to ask.
Fuck it. It doesn’t matter. I know she’s it for me.
Trix
Curled up in Mason’s thick down comforter, surrounded by his scent, and with a delicious ache between my legs, I’m grinning like an idiot.
I really, really like this guy. More than I should, but I don’t care.
A tiny voice in my head reminds me that I’m getting sidetracked. I’m not supposed to be dating or having mind-blowing sex with handsome fighters. I’m supposed to be searching for Lana’s killer.
After her body was discovered, the crime scene investigators swept the entire area for clues, but there were none. No fingerprints or DNA on her body or clothes. The only tire tracks were from her car. Best evidence they had to go on was an eyewitness who said they saw Lana’s car pull over to help a motorcyclist. And a card found at the scene.
One card was buried beneath rotting leaves and Lana’s blood.
A VIP card to Zeus’s.
Every decision I’ve made in these last four years has been because of those two things: bikers and Zeus’s.
Every decision, except the one I’m currently basking in the glow of.
Dating and sleeping with Mason is the first thing I’ve wanted to do for me. It’s a little reminder that, under all this revenge and anger, I’m still a person with a beating heart and desires of her own.
And as much as I’d love to set her free, I’d never forgive myself for giving up on Lana.
“Don’t think so hard. It’ll give you a headache.” Mason stalks toward me from the bathroom, and my mind short-circuits as I take in his masculine naked body.
Wide shoulders, bulky arms, and a narrow waist flow into powerful hips. He’s a Michelangelo sculpture. A flash of ink catches my eye. I caught a glimpse of it earlier, but in the heat of it all didn’t think to study it.
On his hip, riding just below where the waistline of his pants would fall, is a tattoo of a wave. Its base is low, touching the outside of his upper thigh, and it curves up to just over his hipbone.
He catches me staring and groans. “Don’t ask.”
“How can I not?” I crawl from my comforter cocoon and meet him at the edge of the bed. “Turn.”
He rolls his eyes, but shifts to the side so I can study it further. On closer inspection, it’s more than a wave. There’s the letter “B,” and the fingers of the wave crashing over it make the number three. “B3.”
“Yeah.” He gathers my body to his and slips us both beneath the covers. “It’s stupid. We were kids at the time and thought it was so badass. I’ve been meaning to get it covered.”
“What is it?”
“The Bone Breaker Brotherhood.”
“Bone Breaker? As in Bone Breaker Alley?”
“Same one. We claimed that break a long time ago. Kept the local surfers protected from the tourists that would come and disrespect them.”
“Howlies?”
He chuckles and kisses the top of my head. “Yeah, howlies.”
“Do all the guys have the same tattoo?”
“Yeah, but most of them have it on a more visible part of their body. I knew I wanted to go to college and wrestle, so I made sure I could keep mine covered. Not a lot of hiding places under a wrestling singlet.”
“Mmm.” I run my hand over his hip. “I like the location. It’s sexy.”
“Fuck it, then. It stays.”
We laugh, and I fight to keep my eyes open. I have no idea what time it is, but this night has exhausted me as much as the stress has probably aged me.
“Trix, baby?”
My eyelids flutter open. “Hmm?”
“I want to take you out of Vegas, just for a couple days.”
“What?” A yawn rips from my throat. “Why?”
“After what happened tonight, it feels like we can’t go anywhere without someone giving us shit.”
“Who says we have to go anywhere? I’m happy right here.”
His fingers draw lazy patterns on my back. “I am too, and we’ll do that as well. Starting this weekend.”
Disappointment settles in my gut. “I can’t this weekend. I’m going home for a few days.”
“Oh yeah?”
“It’s my dad’s birthday, and I try not to miss it.”
“That’s perfect. I need to take care of some shit with my brother. Let’s head up together.”
I tilt my head back, resting my chin on his chest. “Are you serious? You’d do that?”
“Of course. You can do your dad’s birthday, and then we’ll have a couple extra days to hang out. We can go to Cowell.”
“That would be great, except my dad is . . . Well, he’s a pastor, so you can’t stay with me.”
He laughs hard, his body shaking with the force of it. “No shit, Beatriks. I’ll stay with my mom.”
“Okay, but I already got my plane ticket.”
“It’s cool. You give me your flight info, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Wow, we went from first-time sex to meeting my parents.”