Page 50 of Rags's Awakening
“Yeah,” Casey lied, taking a bite. “Just hot.”
But it wasn’t the heat.
It was him.
Even from across the grounds she could feel the pull—dangerous, stupid, magnetic. Every instinct told her to keep her distance. Every burned part of her warned her what men like him were capable of.
But her body didn’t seem to care.
Casey wasn’t the type to chase men. Watching her mother fall in and out of love had taught her exactly how that story ended: the waiting, the disappointment, the quiet ache of wanting someone who never stayed. She’d built armor early: distance, self-reliance, a vow not to let anyone close enough to hurt her.
And then she’d married an outlaw biker.
For a while she’d believed his soft lies wrapped in leather and swagger, believed the canyon rides and tangled nights meant forever. Until the lies piled up: the perfume that wasn’t hers, the late nights, the phone calls that ended the second she answered.
The day she found him in bed with another woman had burned a scar into her she couldn’t pretend wasn’t still there.
So seeing Rags now—feeling that familiar, dangerous pull—set every alarm in her body blaring. He looked like every red flag she’d sworn she’d learned from.
But there was something else too, something bruised and unspoken behind his eyes that tugged at her in ways she didn’t want to admit.
She told herself to stop looking.
But she didn’t.
“Why don’t you just go talk to him?” Zoe said, breaking into Casey’s thoughts.
“I have nothing to say.” Casey nodded toward the Black Hollow Moon booth. “Come on. I want to see if Raven’s helping Curtis.”
“Okay.” Zoe brushed powdered sugar from her lips. “You can pretend all you like, but I know you want to talk to him. I don’t get why you’re playing such a tug of war with yourself.”
“I know the type, that’s all,” Casey said.
Zoe blinked. “What does that mean? Did you used to date a biker?”
“Not just date.” Casey exhaled. “I married one.”
Zoe stopped dead. “You were married? To a biker?” Hurt flickered in her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to dig it all back up,” Casey murmured. “I’ve spent a lot of time and therapy trying to forget.”
“But you haven’t,” Zoe said softly. “You’re comparing—” she snapped her fingers and looked toward the bikes—“what’s his name?”
“Rags.” Her throat tightened around the word.
“That’s it. Rags. You’re comparing him to your ex. But they’re not the same person.”
Casey stared at the ground. “They’re all the same. Outlaw bikers? They all cheat.”
Zoe crossed her arms. “You know that for a fact? You don’t knowoneguy in a club who was loyal?”
Gunner’s face flashed through Casey’s mind. He was the Rebel Souls MC vice president—a man who was tough, fearless, and wild as sin. But he was also hopelessly devoted to his ol’ lady, Sadie, and their three kids. How had she forgotten him?
“Hello?” Zoe tapped her arm. “Are you listening?”
“I’m listening. And yeah… I know a few good ones. But—”
“There it is,” Zoe said. “So it’s not all of them.”
