Free Aussie: A Bad Boy Second Chance Romance by Kate Dawes, Ava Catori Page B

other girls. I just need to know what you thought about me.”
    “Sometimes when you were in my room and we were watching movies, I wanted to lock the door and take all your clothes off and fuck you on my bed.”
    Dawn flushed. Her cheeks were plastered in a soft pink hue.
    “Or,” I said, “sometimes I wanted to pull you into the bathroom with me and do it in the shower.”
    She looked into my eyes and smiled. “I had no idea. I mean, you never seemed to be interested in me that way. Not that I noticed, anyway.”
    I raised my eyebrows. “Lying came second nature to me after my parents died. I don’t know why, maybe to hide my true feelings.”
    I waited for her to tell me she had thought about us back then, but instead she said, “Well, you did an excellent job hiding your interest. All those girls you brought into your room? Nice touch.”
    “Jealous?”
    She squeezed my nipple. “No.”
    “I think yes,” I said with a grin, challenging her.
    She squeezed harder without saying anything.
    I kept my expression blank. “Squeeze all you want. Maybe I like that.”
    I started to reach for her nipple, and she let go, backing away, wrapping herself in the sheet. Almost squealing. Laughing. Rolling away from me as I tried to unwrap her.
    So this is what it might have been like…
    “Why do you have a lion tattoo?” she asked, her fingers tracing the outline of the ink on my left pec.
    “When I was in rehab, this therapist said to think about something that makes me feel confident and strong. Sort of like an anchor to hold onto. So when I’m faced with temptation, I could focus on it. So, when my addiction was calling to me, I could think of my anchor to help get me through the moment of weakness.”
    She watched me intently as I spoke.
    I continued the story. “As a kid, I loved lions. I was fascinated with them and would watch documentaries, read books about them, had stuffed lions and plastic figures. Only, when I moved into your home, I didn’t have most of my things with me. I never really tried to replace them, just left them behind I guess with everything else. So, when the shrink said to pick something, a lion came to mind. Then when I got out of rehab, I got the tattoo. I wasn’t sure where I was going to get it put at first. I thought about maybe a massive one on my back, or one that wrapped around my arm, but I finally decided to put it over my heart.”
    “That’s nice. I like that you chose your heart,” she said, her eyes a little watery.

Chapter 14 – Dawn
     
    With work keeping me busy, I didn’t get to see much of Luke. One of the assistant managers was out sick, which meant double-shifts for me both Saturday and Sunday.
    I couldn’t stop thinking about him or what happened. I mean, wow. The sex. Oh, my God, the sex. I kept thinking about the past, but then most of my thoughts steered toward Friday night. Did I mention the sex?
    When I got home Sunday night, Mom had made dinner. Sunday nights were a traditional family dinner for us. There used to be four of us sitting at the table, now there were only three. The empty chair across from me used to be occupied by Luke, and all I could think about was what my parents would think if they knew he had been in the house just days earlier.
    I kept thinking they somehow knew he’d been there. I knew I was being overly paranoid, but something seemed off. They were acting differently. It was quiet, and both seemed concerned. Did they know?
    I asked about their trip and the response was short, clipped, obviously incomplete. Something must have happened on their trip. I finally asked. “What’s up with you guys?”
    Mom looked at Dad. I looked from her to Dad.
    “Nothing’s wrong,” he said.
    “I didn’t say wrong. I asked what’s going on. Something seems…I don’t know, off or different,” I pressed.
    “We’re just tired,” Mom answered for both of them.
    If it had anything to do with me, they would have said something. They’d