Page 32 of Max

I leaned in and whispered in her ear, “A teammate of mine. You’ll meet her.”

She tried to hide it behind a fake cough. She had a satisfied little smile on her face.

“I just needed to put that past to rest,” Stone tried to feed me some bullshit excuse.

“Sorry to scratch at the old wound, brother. But she was at peace from the moment you were kneeling at that sidewalk, it’s just you who needs to accept that fact. Forgive yourself and be who you really are, man,” I urged. “And as much as it’s ridiculous for a former SWAT, you are a biker. A member of a club that doesn’t walk on a sunny side, holding hands, singing the If You’re Happy and you know it song.”

“I’m not!” He snapped, sounding almost repulsed by the idea.

“So, what you’re saying is, you gave up the VP patch?” I asked.

Skylar was swaying, her eyes glued to my chest. I looked down, trying to see what had her so transfixed, but I only saw the tattoo there. The angel wings. The one I had in memory was of my Dad.

“Don’t,” Stone demanded.

I went back to the conversation but kept an eye on her.

“Or better yet, you gave up your cut and blacked out the half of your thigh?”

He didn’t say anything. The silence was answering for him.

“That’s what I thought,” I sighed.

Skylar peek at me shyly from beneath her lashes. What was that about? I got my answer when she reached out with a tentative hand and traced a feather with her fingertip. The whole time, her eyes bounced from my face to my chest.

“Fuck,” I bit off.

My eyes crossed with the feel of her hot skin on me.

“What?” Noah asked alerted.

“Nothing,” I cleared my throat.

I took Skylar's hand and pressed it against my chest. She wiggled her fingers, so I dragged my hand, holding hers along one wing then down underneath it until we reached the words there. I watched with vivid fascination as a flush crept over her chest, up her shoulder and neck all the way to her cheeks. I needed to end this call. And do it fast.

Almost as he heard me, Noah said, “I’m sorry, Max.”

Nothing to be sorry for, brother,” I assured him.

Out of everyone, he was the one who needed to hear that the most.

“Call the kid. I need some time, and when I have everything in order, I’ll haul my ass to Denver.”

“Appreciated,” I muttered.

I stopped watching Skylar as she studied the lettering and the details of my ink like it was the high art and looked over her head.

“Stone,” I called.

“I’m here.”

“It was an honor,” the words scratched my throat.

“To my soul,” He rasped back.

After he said it, I got nothing. He hung up the phone. Fucker. I turned, tossed the phone on the counter, and took Skylar entirely into my arms. She looked up at me with an intense look in her eyes.

“Is there any coffee left for me?” I grinned at her.