Read DAMON: A Bad Boy MC Romance Novel for Free Online Page B

his brother’s. His hair was black, too, and cut short on his head. He had the same beard, scruffy and dark as midnight, around his lips.
    Dark, she thought, his whole being matching his appearance, the word seeming so appropriate. She parked, wondering if he could see her through the windshield, if he would recognize her. She was irrationally afraid that he might not.
    He straightened up as she got out of the car, his eyebrows lowering as the surprise seemed to fade.
    “Tricia,” he said, voice cutting through the air between them, low and gruff and smoky. “Hey.”
    “Hey,” she answered.
    “I heard you were back,” he said, moving around to the side of the car. They took each other in, not speaking for a long moment as their awkward greeting settled into a more comfortable space – it settled into that space almost too quickly.
    “Is anyone around?” Tricia asked, gesturing to the trailer. “Kennick or Kim or anyone?”
    “No,” Damon said after a moment. “No, everyone’s out.”
    Tricia suddenly felt very stupid. She blushed and laughed, looking down at the ground and putting her palm to her forehead, shaking her head at her own dumb question.
    “I knew that,” she said. “I just saw them all. I don’t know why I asked. I didn’t…”
    She forcibly relaxed her shoulders.
    “I didn’t come here to see anyone but you,” she admitted, looking up.
    “Okay,” Damon said, putting her at ease with a slight smile. “Any particular reason?”
    “Well…I mean…you shot a man for me, do I need any more reason to want to see you?” Tricia asked, knowing that she was jumping right into the heavy stuff – and not really caring. He could handle it. She knew that, somehow. She had a feeling he’d handled much worse.
    “That’s a good point,” he said, nodding, that smile lingering on his lips. “Well, I’m glad to see you.”
    She felt warm from his words, even though they were impersonal, polite. They felt intimate.
    “Are you going somewhere?” She gestured again to the trunk, which contained a suitcase. Damon followed her glance, stiffened slightly.
    “Yeah,” he said, looking back at her. “I have some business in Miami.”
    “Oh.”
    When he offered no more explanation, Tricia looked for something else to say. She’d come here for a reason, but that reason suddenly seemed very vague. All she knew was that he looked good. And he felt nice to be around. He seemed like a lighthouse, when the whole rest of the world was an ocean. Her experiences had tarnished her ability to trust; both others and herself. But something about Damon…
    “How long have you been back in town?” he asked, filling the silence between them, much to Tricia’s gratitude.
    “Just two days,” she said, nodding for no reason. “I’ve been crashing on Ricky’s sofa.”
    “Ah,” Damon said. “I knew there was a reason Cristov came home last night.”
    “Yeah,” Tricia said with a smile. “I guess Ricky doesn’t want to keep me up all night. Can’t say I’m not grateful. But I don’t think Cristov’s too happy about it.”
    “He understands,” Damon said. “And if he didn’t, I expect Ricky would remind him pretty quick who’s more expendable in her life.”
    Tricia felt like Damon was joking, but it fell flat on her ears. She wasn’t the girl that Ricky grew up with and loved. She wasn’t sure she could still claim that place in her best friend’s life. Things had changed while she was gone…
    “So how is it being back home?” Damon asked, leaning against the car with his arms crossed. Tricia glanced away for a moment, thinking about the best way to respond. The question wasn’t loaded, but her answer might be – if she told the truth. When she looked back at him, she had that uncanny feeling that out of everyone, he was the one person who might understand the truth.
    “It doesn’t really feel like anything,” she said. “I mean – it doesn’t feel much like home. Or maybe it feels