“Sounds like you had an adventure,” he said, not wanting to come at her with both barrels blazing with his concern.
“Boys told you, huh?” she asked.
Slider nodded, even as Ben tugged at the edge of his cut. “Dad, can we go in?”
“Go ahead, buddy. We’ll be right behind you,” he said, and then they were alone in the parking lot. Which was to say, they weren’t really alone—not with a few of his brothers standing twenty feet away and race-goers making their way inside. Music and announcements blared through the concourse, the atmosphere festive and frenetic. Slider wanted to pretend none of it existed and pull Cora to him for a kiss.
Or something more.
“Hi,” he said, staring at her mouth.
She grinned, her cheeks turning a pretty pink. “Hi.”
He licked his lips. “I want to kiss you right now.”
Her gaze flickered around them, a sure sign of uncertainty even though her expression read as all kinds of interested. Thank fuck they were in this madness together. And how crazy was it that he was in a position to have a thought like that? “Aren’t we on a PDA moratorium until you let the boys in on what’s happening?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. Remind me what asshole came up with that idea again?”
Her smile lit him up inside. “Well, you know,” she said, her taunting tone going right to his cock. “PDA is only a problem if you get caught . . .”
He stepped closer. “Is that right?”
Nodding, she gave him a brazen, challenging look that made him want to bend her over the hood of the nearest car.
“Best be careful what you wish for, Cora Campbell. Because I just might give it to you.”
She hugged herself and chuckled. “Now you’re just being cruel, Slider. Because that’s the most enticing thing I’ve heard all day.”
Grinning, they walked in side by side when what he really wanted was to take her hand. He wanted everyone to know that she was with him now. And he sure as shit wanted to dissuade the motherfuckers whose gazes lingered too long on her body from holding out the slightest hope that they had a chance.
Because they didn’t. Not if he had something to say about it.
For fuck’s sake.
It was on the tip of Slider’s tongue to pull Cora aside and interrogate her for all the details of what she’d seen earlier. To ask to see the pictures the boys said she took. Or maybe even to find Caine and pester him to see if he’d had a chance to dig into this dogfighting bullshit yet. But Slider didn’t want to ruin her fun over something that shouldn’t pose them any problem tonight, at least. Especially if he stayed by her side.
Which he intended to do.
It ended up being the best night out Slider had had in a long damn time. A woman he cared for—and who cared for him—at his side. His boys having fun. His brothers all around and the roar of the race in his ears. He ate bad food and survived the torture of Cora licking her way through a strawberry ice cream cone—barely—and laughed more times than he could count. Cora seemed curious about the rules of racing, racing strategies, and the cars themselves, and Slider was only too happy to tell her everything she wanted to know because cars had been his passion even before he’d fallen in love with his first Harley and learned about this club that was . . . Jesus . . . that was more of a family than anything he’d ever had . . .
How had he ever forgotten that? How had he let himself become so lost? He might be able to blame a lot of things on Kim, but that part of it was his to own, wasn’t it? He’d let go of things he hadn’t had to lose, and in the process, he’d defined his world so narrowly that there’d been almost nothing left.
He saw that now. Saw how he’d spiraled. And saw the truth of the Raven Riders—they were his family. They’d always been his family. As surely as if they were blood.
The realization was a total fucking eye-opener. And it made him feel like he’d found something for which he’d been looking for a long damn time.
The only thing that sucked was how hard it was to keep his hands off Cora. Now that he’d acknowledged his feelings—and admitted them to her—he was done playing it cool, playing it safe, playing it like the world didn’t matter.
After being disengaged for so long, he didn’t want to waste even one more second letting everything pass him by. He’d wasted too many precious seconds already. Having watched his kids’ mother die so young, he had no illusions that time was on his side—on anyone’s side. And he wanted to truly live again before fate made him say his last good-bye.