Page 39 of Ruck Me Harder

“Well, I’m leaving for a road trip, so you just have to deal with Cari tonight,” Al says. “You might want to warn her to clear out and give you some space.”

“I’m not going to bring her back here.”

My brother raises his eyebrows. “You’re not?”

“Not for a first date, at least,” I amend. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Also, I’m fairly sure Vivienne lives alone. Best case scenario, we can go to her place… but I’m not banking on anything happening. I like her too much to jeopardize what we could have. I’m interested in more than sex with her. That means not rushing into things.

Al shrugs and rolls his eyes, putting his attention back to his phone.

“What about you?” I force myself to ask. “Seeing anyone?”

My brother’s eyes widen. “Since when do you care?”

“I don’t. I’m making conversation.” My chin lifts. “Forget it.”

To my surprise, he grins. “I’m not seeing anyone. All of my teammates are settling down and I… I want what they have, you know? I want my forever person.”

“You’re still young. You have time.”

Al shrugs. “I don’t think age factors into it. I’m ready for something serious.” He pauses. “It turns out when you go into it with the intention of serious, it kind of scares women off. Like I’m putting them on a penalty kill when we’re down by two in the last five minutes of the third.”

“Pressure cooker.” I nod, turning off the burner and scooping eggs onto two plates already loaded with black beans, sliced avocado, and tortillas. The pico de gallo I made earlier is already on the table. “I can see how that might be too intense for a first date.”

He nods. “I don’t want to fuck around anymore. I want a relationship that actually means something.”

“I get that.”

“You do?” He laughs. “Mr. Grumpy McGrumperson wants an actual relationship?”

Shrugging, I let myself admit the truth. “With her, I think I do.”

Al whistles. “Shit. You like her.”

“I really do.”

He claps me on the shoulder. “When do we get to meet her?”

I ignore the fact that he’s already met her. “How about after we have our first few dates?”

“Yeah, it might be too soon.” Al laughs. “I’m happy for you, Tone. Really.”

Buoyant, I carry that with me all day at training and throughout my shift at the shelter. Brody is amused, Coach less so, but when I stick my vault again and again and again, he certainly can’t complain. Well, not any more than usual. Coach wouldn’t be Coach if he didn’t complain.

Vivienne lives in a squat, three-story brownstone in Weymouth, not far from where the Revolution play in Quincy. She’s waiting on the sidewalk when I pull up on my motorcycle. A smile stretches from ear to ear.

“Hey.” I greet her with a smile of my own. Swinging my leg over the side of the bike, I approach her and give her a soft kiss on the cheek. “You look great.”

She’s wearing tight, dark jeans, a blood-red sweater, and a black bomber jacket. Her dark brown hair is loose around her shoulders with a subtle wave that I’m sure probably took forever to achieve. Although her makeup is light and natural, her dark red lipstick does dangerous things to my heart rate.

Then again, being around her in general makes my heart pound like crazy.

“Thanks. You clean up pretty good yourself.”

I can’t deny her words make me feel good. I’ve shaved and taken care styling my hair, although it probably got messed up by my helmet, and I was deliberate picking out my clothes. Cari says women go wild for a guy in a Henley. I want to look good for her. I want her to be confident to show up on my arm.

Grabbing the spare helmet from the storage compartment on my bike, I hand it over, and as she tugs it over her head, my cock twitches at the sight of her in my gear.