Reaper's Fall

PAINTER

Well, at least Taz enjoyed himself.

Fucker.

I followed Mel toward her bedroom after our bathroom clusterfuck, her all wrapped up in a towel and me buck naked, clothing in hand. Despite the whole shower-collapsing-on-our-heads-while-the-water-tortured-us episode, I was still horny as hell and ready to go at it again.

So much for keeping things in the friend zone.

This might be a problem, because I had the feeling that Mel wasn’t the friends-with-benefits type and I wasn’t exactly the king of loving relationships . . . yet the thought of walking out of here and setting her free wasn’t working for me. We probably needed to have a serious talk to resolve these issues, but I’d gotten a message an hour ago from Gage, saying he needed me up in Hallies Falls by the early afternoon. That left me about twenty, thirty minutes max before I had to kiss Mel good-bye with no idea when I’d be back.

So we had to talk fast.

Of course, I could just fuck her again instead.

Might be my last chance.

I processed all of this as we stepped up into her room. It felt like another world in here, our own place where reality couldn’t touch us and things were perfect.

“Hey,” she said, turning to me and smiling, playing with the edges of her towel where she’d tucked it in across her breasts. “So, we have to leave for the carnival in about forty-five minutes. Got any ideas how we might pass the time until then?”

So much for getting laid again, because I was about to piss her off even more than I’d realized. I’d forgotten that I’d promised to help her, although I’d remembered to stop off and get more face paint, thank fuck. I’d burned through an entire carnival’s worth last night.

I sighed. Time to grab sack and do the talk.

“My plans have changed,” I said, feeling like an asshole. This wasn’t a new sensation for me, but the guilt that came with it was. Not that I ever went out of my way to be a dick—it just came naturally, you know? Melanie frowned, tightening her towel.

Definitely not getting laid. Fucking Gage.

“What’s up?” she asked carefully. “I mean, I know you didn’t make any promises about us, but I kind of thought—”

“No, this is about the club,” I said. “You know how I’ve been traveling for the club? They just called and said I need to head back out. Like, I need to leave in half an hour, and I gotta go pack a bag and shit. So I can’t do the carnival with you.”

Mel cocked her head at me.

“Are you blowing me off?” she asked, her voice very serious. “Because I’d really prefer it if you had the decency to do it directly, rather than leading me on.”

“No, I’m not blowing you off,” I said, wishing I had words to explain how I felt about all this. “Look, I’m a jackass. I get that. But I really have to go and I’m not even sure how long I’ll be gone. I promise I’ll stay in touch and text as much as I can. I’m hoping you’ll wait to make any judgments about us and what happened until I get back. I know that Jess is probably just waiting to fill your head with shit about me, and I’m sure a lot of it will be true. But this is between you and me, nobody else.”

She nodded slowly.

“I can do that,” she said.

The relief I felt was enough to scare me—I’d never cared about anyone like this. Hell, what I’d felt for Em was nothing. Why had I been so obsessed with her?

“I wasn’t in love with Em,” I blurted out.

“What?”

Smooth, asshole. Real smooth. But I was all in now, so might as well run with it.

“They probably told you I’m an asshole who led Em on for a long time. I did that, and then I lost her. But you should know that I wasn’t in love with her. I think I just liked the idea of marrying into the club. Pic’s been like a dad to me—guess I just wanted it to be official.”

“Okay . . .” she said slowly, obviously confused. Christ, I was botching the hell out of this.

“Look, I know I don’t have any right to ask this, but I want you to stay away from other guys while I’m gone.”

I saw a flash of something cross her face—satisfaction? Hard to tell. “And if I do? What about you?”

“Me?”

Mel rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “Will you be dating anyone else?”

“I don’t date,” I said. From the look on her face, I wasn’t helping my cause. “But I won’t fuck anyone, if that’s what you’re asking.”

I thought about Marsh’s sister and our plan. Could I keep that promise? Did it even count, if I did it for the club?

“Okay,” Mel said after a long pause, giving me a shy smile. I fell into her eyes for a moment, and then I was stepping forward and pulling her in for a kiss. Her arms wrapped around my neck as I pushed her down onto the futon. This was more awkward than you’d think, because she was wearing one of those big bath sheets wrapped around her at least three times. I kept trying to reach under it but I couldn’t get through the damned layers—fuckin’ thing was better than a chastity belt.

“This is like trying to bang a burrito,” I said finally, frustrated. Mel burst out laughing, which didn’t help because now she was wiggling around and I couldn’t even find the edge of the damned thing.

“Let me up,” she gasped. “It’ll never work.”

She was right. I let her go, lying back on the bed to watch as she stood. She turned away, peeking over her shoulder at me, which was simultaneously adorable and sexy as hell, a combination that usually doesn’t go together. I mean, I think bunny rabbits are cute, but I don’t want to fuck one. What the hell’s wrong with you? Mellie’s stripping down and you’re thinking about rabbits!