Time Will Tell

by Chantal Fernando

  I laugh at that. “Sounds like an interesting man.”

  “You have no idea. Men like them, Sin and Arrow, fuck, wouldn’t want to mess with them. Glad they’re on our side.”

  I didn’t want to get into his biker politics, but I find myself asking, “Why, are they higher up than you?”

  Zach shakes his head. “They’re just from a different chapter. Where you live, actually. I’ll have to introduce you one day. I forget you don’t know everyone.”

  “Sounds good. You know you look like you’ve been to hell and back,” I tell him, amused by his appearance.

  “How was your night?” he asks, studying me. “How’s my girl?”

  His girl?

  I think not.

  Not anymore, at least.

  “Went out for dinner, a bike ride, and watched some movies,” I say, sitting next to him.

  He sits up straighter. “Trillian let you take her on your bike?”

  I nod, not telling him about how she got on the night of the club. “Yeah, and she fuckin’ loves it.”

  “Fuck off,” he breathes. “She wasn’t scared? I’ve been trying to get her on my bike for years. And just like that, she lets you? She and I are going to have words.”

  My eyes narrow on him. “You fuckin’ won’t be having words with her about it.”

  His eyes widen, and then he smiles. A slow-spreading smile that makes me nervous. “You like her.”

  I glance away and sigh. “I do. Fuck, she’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman and never found. But it’s more than that—I can’t even explain it. I just want to protect her.”

  And fuck her like crazy, but that’s another story.

  Zach laughs. “Fuck, only Trillian could tame someone like you.”

  “Me? Tamed? Not fuckin’ likely,” I deny. We’ve only just met. It isn’t possible. “And ‘someone like me?’” I ask, even though I know what he means.

  I love women.

  And I’ve loved them ever since I turned fifteen.

  A lot.

  But this thing with Trillian is different. I don’t just want sex from her. I want her. I want everything—things that have never crossed my mind before.

  “You know what I mean, Xander. I’m not saying I’m any better. I just don’t want to see Trill hurt. You’re one of my best friends, but Trill is, too, and Trill needs me, so you better know that I’ll be there for her no matter what.”

  I’m not mad that he’s essentially saying he’ll choose Trill over me if I fuck up. I’m glad, because Trillian deserves someone to be there for her. “I got you.”

  “Good,” he replies. “She needs a good man. She deserves one.”

  “I know. We’re going to be seeing each other while I’m here,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I like being with her.”

  “She’s sweet as fuck, isn’t she,” Zach murmurs. “Kindest heart I’ve ever known.”

  I stand. “I told her I’d make her breakfast.”

  Zach stares at me a second then starts laughing. When he starts making whipping sounds, I decide to get out of there. I head to the store to grab a few things, unsure what Trillian has. Now back at her house, I knock on the door, my hands full of groceries.

  Chapter Nine

  Trillian

  After spending the night in his arms, I wake up alone. I don’t know how I feel about that. However, about an hour later, Xander is back at my front door, his arms full of groceries. Wide-eyed, I let him in and sit on the kitchen counter top as he makes an omelette with a side of bacon.

  I’ve never had a man besides my dad cook for me before. It’s definitely something I could get used to.

  *****

  “Zach messaged and wants to go for a ride tonight. Do you want to come?” Xander asks as he unscrews the lid on his water bottle. It’s a warm day today, so we decided to go to the beach. We’re both sitting on our towels on the sand after just having come out of the water. Xander is bare-chested, rivulets of water dripping down his smooth, tanned chest. My mouth is dry.

  “Trill?”

  Oh, right, he asked me a question. His body is making me stupid. “Are you sure you don’t want to spend some alone time with Zach?”

  “I’ll be with Zach all day tomorrow while you’re at uni,” he replies, tilting his head back and drinking. I watch his throat work as he swallows, and I suddenly feel the need to fan myself. I glance around and see that I’m not the only woman to notice the fine specimen sitting next to me. In fact, any female within the ages of fifteen to sixty on the beach seems to be watching him. I glance at Xander, who is now looking at me, either oblivious to all the attention or used to it.

  “Maybe you should put a shirt on,” I mock-whisper. “You’re creating a spectacle.”

  “What?” he asks, mouth twitching. “You should talk. Any male that walks this way zooms in on your tits and ass.”

  My mouth drops open. “That’s not true.”

  I’m wearing a one-piece swimsuit, but the sides are cut out, showing a little of my stomach. It doesn’t show much cleavage, but obviously, every flaw on my body can be seen. I walked out with a t-shirt over it, until we were about to get into the water and Xander asked me to raise my arms and he pulled it off. He assumed I wasn’t going to swim in a t-shirt and I didn’t correct him. He’d smiled at me then lowered his gaze, taking me in, before reaching his hand out and leading me to the water. He didn’t make a big deal out of anything or make me feel too awkward about him seeing me in something so revealing for the first time.

  “It is true,” he murmurs, “but I can’t say that I blame them.”

  “Smooth talker,” I mumble, causing him to chuckle.

  “Just the truth, babe,” he replies, leaning back on his elbows.

  “There you are,” comes a voice from behind me. April plops down next to me, sitting on the sand. She looks to Xander. “Hello, sexy stranger from the other night.”

  He nods, his eyes crinkling. “April.”

  I look at my best friend. “I thought you were going to be here an hour ago.”

  “And I thought you would have called me with juicy gossip about why you’re hanging out with him,” she says, wiggling her finely arched blonde eyebrows. “Are you finally getting some action?”

  I sigh heavily. I’m used to her lack of filter, but did she have to say that in front of Xander? Her eyes sparkle. Of course, she did. “Why are we friends again?”

  I glance at Xander to see him watching our banter with amusement.

  “Because you love me,” April replies in a singsong voice and then adjusts her ice blue bikini top. “Where are all the hot guys today? I swear, they’re all in hiding.”

  “They probably heard you were on the prowl,” I fire back, smirking.

  She rolls her eyes. “If they heard I was on the prowl, they’d be lining up.”

  Looking to Xander, she says, “So I heard you’re a friend of Zach’s. How long are you in town?”

  Xander glances at me before replying. “Not sure yet, maybe a week or so.”

  Before, he’d said a few days, so a week was an improvement.

  Staring into the water, I squint when I see a familiar mop of reddish-brown hair. “Is that Zach in the water?”

  Xander and April both look along my line of sight.

  Yes, it’s Zach. He’s chest deep in the ocean, his mouth all over some woman.

  “When did he even get here?” I ask, wondering why we’re only just seeing him.

  April sniffs. “Who knows with him? He’s an easy pussy magnet. If it’s easy, he’s there.”

  Something once happened between Zach and April, but neither of them will speak of it. Things were awkward for a while, but now they’re back to being friends. However, whenever April has to actually see him with another woman, this side of her comes out. I personally think they hooked up and Zach ran scared. It sounds like him. I don’t think he wants to be in a long-term relationship right no
w, or at least that’s what he’s said in the past. I’m curious, but I don’t want to pry. April will tell me if she wants me to know.

  Xander chuckles. “He’s single and likes to enjoy life.”

  April glares at him. “Of course, you’ll stand up for him.”

  I stand up and dust the sand off my ass. “Is it safe to go back into the water?”

  “What do you mean?” Xander asks, also standing up.

  I point to Zach, who I’m pretty sure is having sex in the ocean.

  In the open.

  In broad daylight.

  “Fucking hell, there could be kids around here,” April growls, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest. “Do you guys want to get something to eat?”

  My stomach chooses that moment to growl, as if it heard what April was saying and was answering for me.

  “We’ll take that as a yes,” Xander says, casually wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you fed.”

  April glances over at me and mouths the word ‘hot’. I shake my head at her and mouth ‘stop it’ back to her. She grins and quickly catches up to us, coming on the other side of me and threading her arm through mine.

  “So, Xander,” she starts, her tone casual, but I know her better. “What is it that you do for a living exactly?”

  And let the best friend interrogation begin.

  *****

  “Do you have any children?” she asks him, making me almost choke on my French fry.

  “No,” Xander replies patiently. “No kids.”

  “That you know of,” April says in a quieter voice.

  My eyes narrow on her. “April, seriously?”

  She shrugs and leans back against her chair. “Just making conversation. I have a shift at the bar tonight so I better get going. Are we still having lunch tomorrow after your class?”

  I nod. “We are. I’ll meet you there around one.”

  “Sounds good,” she says, standing. “Nice seeing you again, Xander.”

  “You too, April,” Xander says in a friendly tone.

  She leans down and kisses me on my cheek. “See you.”

  “Drive safely.”

  “I will,” she says, exiting the café.

  “She cares about you a lot,” Xander says, watching me with a warm look on his face. “Everyone who knows you does.”

  “I know,” I reply. “I’m lucky that way. Don’t have that many friends, but the ones I do have are amazing.”

  “You don’t have any other family around here?” he asks, pushing his fork around his plate.

  “My dad’s sister and my cousins live in Melbourne, and some of my mother’s family lives in Sydney, but I don’t talk to them,” I say. I don’t talk to anyone on my mum’s side, but I do talk to my aunty and cousins every month or so.

  “They didn’t want you to come and live with them?” he asks. “I’m not judging, just trying to understand.”

  “Understand what?” I ask, leaning my chin on the inside of my hand.

  “How they are okay with you being here by yourself. I know you have Zach, Grim, and April, but still, you were how old when your dad passed away?”

  “Twenty.”

  “Right, twenty. Still a baby.”

  “My aunty did want me to go there, but I said no. I wasn’t leaving my house. It’s the last thing of my dad’s that I have. I grew up here and have so many memories in that house,” I explain.

  He nods like he understands and I guess maybe he does.

  “You didn’t ask about my mum, so I’m assuming Zach said something to you,” I say, wringing my hands.

  He takes one of my hands in his and rubs his thumb on my knuckles. “He mentioned that she left and you haven’t seen her since.”

  I swallow hard and look down. “Haven’t seen or heard from her. I think being a wife and mother wasn’t the life she thought it was going to be. My dad was a trucker, so he would work away sometimes, and she was left in the house alone with me. My dad wasn’t rich and I don’t think she liked that either.”

  “It was her loss,” he says softly. “Look what you became without her. You’re smart, responsible, sweet. And beautiful.”

  My eyes lift to his. “You really think that, don’t you?”

  He grins. “I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if I didn’t.”

  “Oh, really,” I croon. “And where exactly would you be? In the ocean with Zach and another woman?”

  A strange look passes over his face. “What was that look?”

  “What look?”

  “I don’t know… you had an odd look on your face.”

  He leans forward and kisses my knuckles. “Just thinking. Do you want to get out of here?”

  I nod. “Yeah, I’m full. Oh, and I’m paying this time.”

  He laughs, rubbing his chest. “It’s cute that you think so.”

  I open my mouth and then close it. “I don’t think so. I know so. It’s about time you let me have my way, Xander Kane.”

  “I’ll always let you have your way, but not in this,” he says, standing up and reaching his hand out to me. “I have to say, you’re the first woman to complain so much about me paying for everything.”

  I grit my teeth. “A little advice? It’s not smart to bring up other women around the girl you’re…” I trail off. What the hell am I saying? We aren’t dating. Shit, this is awkward. I hope he doesn’t call me out on it, but he does.

  “The girl I’m what?” he asks, pulling me out of my chair and against his warm chest. He had put on a white cotton t-shirt with his board shorts.

  “Friends with,” I add, sounding like an idiot.

  He cups my face and lifts it up so I have no choice, but to look into his eyes. “Friends? I want to be much more than friends with you, Trillian.”

  “You do?” I ask, blinking.

  “You know I do,” he replies. “I’m just waiting until the right time.”

  “We don’t exactly have all the time in the world, you know,” I point out.

  He lowers his head and kisses my mouth gently, a barely there caress. “I know. But I fucked it up when I did what I did, and now I’m not going to be with you until I know you know you’re different. You’re nothing like any of the other women I’ve been with.”

  “There you go again, mentioning other women,” I mumble, pouting a little.

  He kisses my mouth again then pulls back. “I haven’t been a saint, Trill, you need to know that. I’m young, and yeah, I’ve had my share of women, but like I said, you’re different.”

  “Why?” I ask.

  His gaze lowers to my mouth. “Fuck if I know. I just want you more than I’ve ever wanted someone before. That’s all I know.”

  I squeeze my thighs together. Fuck, his speech is turning me on. Just what I need, considering he’s just talking about how he isn’t going to take me to bed until he decides the timing is right. I decide to be a little bold, pushing him as far as he’ll go. Standing on my tiptoes, I kiss his jaw, and then whisper into his ear, “What if I want you? We could go home right now, get into my bed, and stay there until tomorrow morning.”

  His eyes flash, and his hands tighten on my waist.

  “We’re going home,” he says. “Now.”

  He takes my hand and leads me out to his bike.

  I follow, anticipation spreading through my veins.

  I want him… and I’m going to get him.

  Chapter Ten

  Xander

  You can’t fuck her.

  You can’t fuck her.

  I repeat this over and over in my head as we ride home, but her sweet body pressed against my back isn’t helping. I want her, badly, but I know that if we sleep together, she’ll think she’s just like the girl from the other night.

  She isn’t.

  And it’s important for her to know that.

  I’m trying to be a gentleman, but she’s pushing me. I want nothing more than to lay her back on her bed and devour her with my
mouth before fucking her like she’s never been fucked before. I want to make her come over and over, scream my name, and hear her beg for more. I want to own her, possess her, and it scares me a little. I’ve never felt like this for any other woman, even Persephone, who at one point I thought maybe could have been something long term.

  Trillian runs her hands over my stomach, feeling my muscles and making my semi hard-on turn into a full-fledged one. She has a power over me that I normally wouldn’t like, because you can’t trust all women. Just like you can’t trust all men, I suppose. But with her, I know, I just know she’s good down to her bones. I can see it in her, in the way people around her treat her and in how she treats them. If I have to be owned by any woman, Trillian is a good choice. The best choice. In fact, I feel like I won the fuckin’ lottery.

  She leans even closer against my back, and for once, I wish I were off the bike so I could wrap my arms around her and bury my face in her neck. Kiss her from head to toe. I can’t lie to myself—I want a taste of her. Of her mouth, her pussy. I want to suck on those breasts of hers, squeeze the globes of her bare ass.

  In my head, I torture myself by planning out exactly what I want to do to her. The bike comes to a stop in her driveway, and I’m about to pull her off the bike and drag her inside like a caveman when I realise we’re not alone. I do a double take when I see who is standing, his arms crossed, watching me from Zach’s driveway.

  Dread hits my stomach.

  Something must be wrong. Why else would Ryan Knox be standing before me—in Channon?

  “Do you know that guy?” Trillian asks, her brows drawn together.

  “Yeah, I do,” I say. “Can you do me a favour and go inside? I’ll be there in a second.”

  “Is everything okay?” she asks, sounding worried.

  I lick my lips. “I don’t know. That’s Summer’s brother-in-law, and if he’s here, it must be something important.”

  “Okay,” she says. “I hope everything is okay.”

  I kiss her forehead before she walks to her front door, and I wait until she’s safely inside before I walk over to where Ryan is leaning against his car.