The Switch, Debra Kayn [best books for 20 year olds .txt] 📗

games and had no time to decipher Trip's mysterious attitude.

"What's your problem?" She let her hands fall to her sides as she stepped away from him. "Are you hiding our friendship?"

"I'm not hiding anything."

"You obviously had a problem with me this evening at The Shack. Now you broke into my house, again, knowing the kids are gone on a camping sleepover."

"I had stuff to do this week and couldn't see you." He stepped over and leaned his hip against the counter. "You weren't at the get-together, so I came here to see you."

She studied him. If those were excuses, he came up with them fast.

"Earlier, I'd planned to give you the bike, but I didn't like how you were laughing and smiling at Franco," he said.

Her spine stiffened, and she crossed her arms over the towel covering her. "Are you trying to tell me I can't talk with Franco?"

"You can talk to anyone you damn well want to." He crossed his ankles as if he had all night to spend with her. "But I was pissed at myself for leaving you alone all week and wanted your laugh and smile directed at me."

Her toes curled. "You were jealous."

He continued to gaze at her without denying it. She stepped closer, wrapped her fingers around his thumb, and led him into the living room. Pushing him down on the couch, she crawled onto his lap and sat sideways.

She clasped his hand. "We need to talk."

If her damp towel bothered him, he gave her no indication of moving. She sat on him, mainly to keep him in one place long enough for her to get things off her chest.

The conversation with J.J. at the store weighed heavily on her mind. She wasn't that kind of woman who would try and pin down a man.

"I'm not like other women." She sighed, giving him an apologetic smile. "I'm a single mom who is trying to give my sons the best life possible on my own. Sometimes I fail, sometimes I succeed, but in the end, we're all together. I'm not looking to change my life."

"Who asked you to change?"

"Every man I've ever dated." She glanced at him before staring at the patch on his leather vest. "I got pregnant in high school. Had a baby when I was sixteen years old. Married Zach and Kenny's dad between my junior and senior year. We were young and struggled for every dime we earned to survive as a family. When Kenny was one year old and Zach was two years old, Ben died in a car accident. I was eighteen years old, raising two babies on my own. I swore from that day forward, I would provide and make up for what they'd lost. That includes ever having a man in my life that would take my time away from raising them."

She couldn't read Trip's face to know if he understood what she was saying. He listened without any judgment.

"If you're staying away from me or worried that we're getting too close, don't be." She paused. "I enjoy being with you. My kids love having you around, obviously. But I'm not asking you to spend every minute with me or to tie you down. I'm only trying to get my boys situated in Avery Falls and graduate high school."

Several heavy seconds beat between them. For a moment, she thought she'd gone too far. Maybe she was a fling to him, and spilling her guts gave him the idea she was trying to tie him down in some kind of reverse psychology way. But she was honest.

"I would never get between you and your kids," he said.

She was going about this wrong. Trip never beat around the bush. Though he was quiet, he never gave her a line of crap.

"What I'm trying to say is I enjoy having a sex life with you, but I don't expect you here every night, and I don't want you to think I'm keeping you from living your life." She'd gone too far. "But I don't want to share you."

"I'm not sharing you."

"Trip." She exhaled in exhaustion. "I don't want to be your Tuesday and Friday if Sally down the road is going to be your Wednesday and Barbara in town is your Monday."

The corner of his mouth twitched. She smacked him in the chest. He'd let her dig herself into a hole, overexplaining what was on her mind.

"Idiot," she mumbled.

He wrapped his arms around her. "I got a lot of shit going on, and there are going to be days when I can't see you. Not because I don't want to be with you. But I belong to Avery Falls Motorcycle Club. This town takes most of my attention."

"You're not seeing anyone else?" She smiled, feeling good.

He shook his head. "I don't want anyone else."

"Me, neither. I like what we have together." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

She believed him. After being at his house, she couldn't help but see how important his role in the motorcycle club was to the town's development. What he and the others had done to Avery Falls since she was a child was impressive. She couldn't help but think Grandpa Gene would be happy with the changes.

"I'm glad we talked." She snuggled against him. "I'm also glad you came over and explained. I was bummed earlier. Oh..." She lifted her head. "What's with the bike?"

"It's for you."

"No, I can't take it."

"Why?"

"That e-bike cost over three thousand dollars." She stroked his face. "It's too much."

"Take it."

"Thank you, but no." She held his face. "The thought was sweet, but I can't."

He captured her hands, holding them in his big ones. "Is it too much that I want to see you smile? That I want to hear you laugh? That I want to give you something I know you want? I'd pay a hell of a lot more to get that."

Oh, Lord. She melted.

"You get a bike, but I get you. Don't take that