The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate Chapter 59

My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might explode. Every logical thought in my brain was telling me to run, to get out of there before I did something that would mess up everything between us again.

But my feet refused to move again. Instead of backing away like any sane person would do, I just stood there watching him walk toward me like I was under some kind of spell.

The space between us felt electric with all the feelings we weren't supposed to have for each other, feelings I wasn't supposed to have towards him because I was the only one with this insane feelings.

I could smell his body wash and shampoo, could see tiny drops of water still rolling down his chest, could feel warmth coming off his skin even though he was still a few feet away from me.

"Tristan," I whispered, though I wasn't sure if I was trying to warn him or beg him to come closer.

He stopped just near enough that I could feel his breath on my cheek, close enough that I could see those little golden spots in his eyes that I'd never noticed before. When he looked down at my mouth, my lips opened all by themselves.

"Tell me to stop," he said quietly, his voice all rough and deep in a way that made my knees feel like jelly.

But I couldn't say the words. They were right there in my throat, but they wouldn't come out. Because deep down, I didn't want him to stop. I wanted him to kiss me, to hold me, to make me forget all the reasons this was such a bad idea.

"Tell me you really think of me as just your brother," he said, leaning so close that his lips were almost touching mine. "Tell me last night didn't mean anything to you at all."

I tried to open my mouth and lie again, to say those awful words that had made me feel my heart was ripping apart during breakfast. But when I looked into his eyes and saw what looked like pain mixed with hope and want, I just couldn't do it anymore.

"I can't," I barely managed to say.

"Can't what?"

"Can't tell you that. Because it's not true."

Something changed in his face - relief and hunger and determination all mixed together in a way that made my stomach do flips.

"Then stop lying to both of us," he said, and then his mouth was on mine. My mouth opened expecting his but nothing came.

"Ath," I heard someone say, which snapped me right out of my thoughts.

I looked up, completely confused, to see Tristan standing there with his body lotion in his hands. He was squeezing some onto his palm and rubbing it on his chest, looking at me with this smirk that told me he knew exactly what I'd been thinking about.

Wait. Tristan had never tried to kiss me at all. He'd just been getting his lotion from the dresser. Everything that had just played out in my head was completely made up. A daydream. A fantasy.

My face got so hot I thought I might catch fire from embarrassment.

"I need to get dressed, or do you want to watch me do that too?" he asked, raising one eyebrow with that same smirk that made him look like he was barely holding back laughter.

"No! No, absolutely not. I'll just wait for you outside..." I started backing toward the door, trying to clear my throat and find my normal voice again.

"Out...side," I said, pointing at the door and nodding like an idiot. It took me way too long to actually locate the door handle because I was so flustered.

Tristan just stood there staring at me like I was the funniest thing he'd seen all week.

I practically ran to the living room, smacking myself on the forehead the whole way.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

What was wrong with me? Maybe I needed to see a doctor because clearly something was not right with my brain.

Normal people didn't have detailed romantic fantasies about people who were standing three feet away from them.

I started hitting my arm over and over while pacing around the living room in circles.

My hand froze in mid-air when I turned around and saw Tristan's gray eyes watching me with pure amusement written all over his face.

"Um..." I scratched my head and tried to act normal. "I'll take the car while you take your bike," I said, then walked away as fast as I could without actually running.

..........

Tristan pulled into Orion's driveway right after I turned off my engine. I knew he must have been driving really slowly to keep pace with me, which was actually pretty thoughtful.

The second I got out of the car, I headed straight for the house. I needed to focus on something else, anything else, besides how embarrassing I'd been back at Tristan's room.

"Where's my little princess?" Lily came running out on her tiny legs, moving as fast as she could toward me.

I scooped her up and covered her face with kisses, which made her giggle in that way that always melted my heart. "Where's your baby brother?"

"He's with daddy playing house," she said, squirming happily in my arms.

"What of your mom?"

"She's in the kitchen preparing lunch" she said showing her incomplete tooth.

"Do you want to play something with me?" I asked, smiling at her excitement.

"Yes, yes!" she shouted, clapping her hands together.

"Let's play with Uncle Tristan too. Uncle Tristan can be my daddy and you can be my mommy!"

I stumbled a little when she said that. Of course a four-year-old would come up with the one game that would make everything even more awkward than it already was.

"Uncle T, will you play with Aunt Athena and me?" Lily called out, looking over at Tristan with those big hopeful eyes that nobody could say no to.

I expected him to make some excuse, to say he was too busy or too tired for pretend games. But instead, he walked right over to where I was standing and stopped in front of me, not even trying to take Lily from my arms.

"Yes, of course. I'd be honored to be your daddy and Athena's husband," he said, looking straight at me when he said the word 'husband.'

I sucked in a sharp breath. Was he serious right now?

"Are you two actually getting married?"

I heard Orion's voice from behind us, which made me jump about a foot in the air. I spun around to look at him, probably with panic written all over my face.

How was he going to react if he figured out what had happened between Tristan and me last night? Would he be angry? Disappointed? Would he feel like we'd both betrayed his trust?

I looked over at Tristan to see if he was worried too, but he looked completely relaxed. He was actually smiling as he walked over to shake Orion's hand like nothing unusual was happening at all.

"That wouldn't be such a bad idea, what do you think?" Tristan said in a joking tone that made my eyes go wide.

Tristan never joked around like this. He was usually so serious about everything, especially when it came to family stuff.

"In your dreams, buddy. Never going to happen. Go find someone your own type," Orion said, laughing as he gripped Tristan's hand in one of those complicated handshakes guys do.

I raised my eyebrows as I watched them. What did Orion mean by Tristan finding 'his type?' What type was that supposed to be?

Orion caught my eye and his grin got even bigger. He motioned for me to come over, so I walked toward him with Lily still in my arms.

He wrapped both of us in a hug, which felt warm and safe and familiar. "How are you doing, sis?" he asked, but his eyes were studying my face really carefully, like he was looking for clues about something.

"I'm good," I replied, trying to smile normally.

"How was your night? Hope you slept okay after everything that happened."

My eyes automatically shifted to Tristan, who was watching me like he was waiting to hear exactly what I was going to say. The way he was looking at me made my stomach tie itself in knots.

"My night was..." I swallowed hard, trying to think of how to answer without lying but also without giving anything away. "It was fine. Just like any other night."

"Huuuhhggg. Hhuugg"

We both turned to see Tristan having a coughing fit, like he'd just choked on something. His face was red and he was hitting his chest with his fist.

"You okay there, man?" Orion asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah, just..." Tristan coughed a few more times. "Something went down wrong."