The Biker's Fate Chapter 514

Tate

"Mom, I'm back!" I called, heading for the stairs. It was two hours since my run-in with cinnamon roll man and I had just started to calm down. I'd stopped off at the nail salon on the way home for some much-needed pampering, but I still just wanted to soak in a hot bath and wash Flash Wallace away.

"Honey, you have a guest," Mom called back.

"What?" I frowned, setting my bag on the bench by the door. "Who?"

Flash walked out of the kitchen with a grin. "Me."

Fuck.

"Doesn't Flash look great?" Mom crooned.

Jesus, great was an understatement. He looked positively edible. Just like he had in the store and just like fucking cinnamon rolls.

"Mm-hmm. Ah, sure," I stuttered out, staring at my feet. "Hi, Flash."

"Hey, Tater Tot," he said, all sexy and shit.

"Don't call me that," I hissed.

"Okay. Sorry."

I glanced at my mom, then back at Flash. "Ah, what's up?"

What's up? God, Tate, get it together.

"Heard you were home," he said, not mentioning the fact he'd just seen me at the store. "Wanted to be part of the welcoming committee."

"She's been home for almost two weeks," Mom pointed out. "I thought you knew."

"Nope," he retorted, raising an eyebrow pointedly. "Had no idea."

"The text must have gotten lost in the ether," I improvised.

"Yeah, that happens… in the ether," Flash mused.

"Well, I'll leave the two of you to get caught up," Mom said.

Flash crossed his arms and continued to stare at me. "Thanks, Mrs. Burke."

Mom walked away and I leaned against the sofa. "Well, I should get upstairs. I have stuff—"

"Bullshit," Flash hissed. "You're gonna stand here and tell me why you didn't tell me you were home, then I'm gonna take you out to dinner to celebrate."

"Listen here, dough boy." I narrowed my eyes at him. "That's not what's going to happen. You're going to walk your butt back out my front door and leave me alone."

"Tate, I haven't heard from you in years."

"That's not true," I argued.

"You text me on my birthday and at Christmas, but if I try to call you back, you send my call straight to voicemail."

"I have been in law school," I pointed out. "I've had to focus."

"Are you pissed at me? Holding a grudge about something?"

It wasn't just a grudge. He'd shattered my heart and I had vowed then and there to never let him do it again.

I took a deep breath, then lied my ass off. "No. There is no grudge, Flash. I'm just moving on with my life. I have things I want to accomplish and hangin' out with someone in a motorcycle gang isn't really conducive to my success."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he breathed out.

"No." I dropped my eyes to my feet again, knowing that was a really low blow. "I'm not kidding you."

He stepped closer to me. Crowding me. God, he smelled incredible. Leather and soap and all man. I stepped back but he followed me until my back hit the console by the sofa.

"Look at me, Tate."

I took a deep breath and met his eyes. "What?"

His eyes moved over my face. "Did something happen?"

I played dumb. "When?"

"Why won't you just fuckin' tell me what I did so we can move through this?" he asked. "You were my best friend, then all of a sudden—"

"Were."

"Excuse me?"

"We were best friends. We're not anymore, Flash. And I'm okay with that. I just need you to be as well."

"Well, that's never gonna fuckin' happen, Tate, so get that out of your head."

"I get to choose who my friends are, so you have no say over it."

He dragged his hands through his hair. "Just tell me what I did."

"No."

He smirked. "Okay, so I did do something."

Shit.

"It was nothing." I waved my hand dismissively. "It was high school. I'm over it."

"Clearly, you're not, or this asinine conversation wouldn't be happening."

"Flash are you staying for dinner?" Mom called from the kitchen, giving me a much-needed distraction. "Zach'll be home any minute."

"No, Mom, he's leaving now," I called back, then focused back on Flash. "You should go before my dad gets home."

"I'm not afraid of your dad, Tate."

"I never said you should be."

He sighed. "I'll let you run away for now, but you're on notice that I want my friend back, so we need to resolve this."

I shrugged. "There's nothing to resolve."

His hand reached out faster than I could dodge, and he gripped my chin gently. "I'm gonna figure this out, Tate. I'll fix whatever I broke."

"There's nothing to fix," I whispered.

And there wasn't. He'd broken me into more pieces than he'd ever be able to put back together, so we were done.

"We'll see," he said, ominously and walked out my front door.

Fuck me, now I wanted sex and a cinnamon roll.

"Mom, I'll be in my room," I said, not waiting for a response, as I ran up the stairs and closed myself into my bedroom.

Before I'd made it to my bed, my door opened and my sister, Hayden, walked in, locking the door behind her. "Was that Flash Wallace?" she whispered.

I nodded, unzipping my boots, and setting them in my closet.

"Did you tell him?"

"No," I growled. "And I'm not going to. Neither are you."

She raised her hands in surrender. "I know. Sisters before misters."

Hayden was three years older than me and the only person I told my secrets to. Well, she was now that Flash was out of my life. We'd always been close and if it hadn't been for her, I'm pretty sure I would have gone crazy.

"But maybe, you know, now that six years have gone by, you could perhaps forgive him and move on?" she hedged.

"I have forgiven him."

"I thought you said there was nothing for you to forgive?" my sister challenged.

I let out a frustrated squeak. "Fine, Hayden. You win. He broke my heart, but since he doesn't even know I'm in love… I mean, was in love with him, I can't very well blame him for something with which he had no knowledge."

"Okay, Tate Burke, Esquire, I believe the lady doth protest too much."

"It's irrational!" I complained. "He technically didn't do anything wrong, but I will never get that image out of my mind."

"Then just tell him what happened, honey. He'll probably fall at your feet and beg for forgiveness, and you'll start back up where you left off."

I shook my head. "It's too late. It's better this way. Clean break."

"Why is it a clean break? Don't you miss your friend?"

"Of course I miss my friend, but I'm also stupidly in love with him and seeing him brought all that back. He's someone I could never have, so it's better not to torture myself with starting back up where we left off. He's a biker now. He's probably fucking his way through life and I will never be able to compete."

"Okay, sissy, whatever. I just want to go on record… again… that I think you're making yet another mistake when it comes to Flash Wallace."

"Noted."

A knock at my door brought my mother with a grin. "Dinner's ready. Daddy's just washing up. Ronan's going to be here in about ten minutes."

"Where's Theo?" I asked.

"Game meeting."

Our younger brother, Theo, was a senior in high school and the total cock of the walk at Skyview High School. He was quarterback and dating a cheerleader. I forgot her name, mostly because, she was the fifth he'd 'dated' in the last two months.

Our oldest brother, Ronan, had moved out about five years ago, but wasn't far away. He was almost thirty and often showed up conveniently around dinner time.

"We'll be right down," Hayden said.

"Okay."

Mom left us and my sister pulled me in for a hug. "I got your back, even if you're being an idiot."

I snorted. "Thanks… I think."

We made our way downstairs and joined our parents for dinner.