Undercover at the MC (book 2) - Navy and West
Friendly grounds

POV: Navy

"So... Tacos or Pasta tonight?" Vanessa asks me as we put away the groceries in the kitchen and I shrug my shoulders.

"It's your call" I say as I put peppers in a container in the refrigerator.

"But... What are you looking forward to?" she asks and again I shrug my shoulders, to be honest I don't feel like doing anything at the moment.

"Pasta then..." she mumbles and I put the rest away and put the bags away. I walk out of the kitchen and stand next to Jackson who is typing something on his phone.

“Are you okay?” he asks without looking up from his phone and I hum in response. I look to the side and see West and Denzel walking in, they laugh at something Denzel says and I can see from the plastic on West's arm that he just got a new tattoo.

"Have you talked to him yet?" I hear Jackson say softly and I shake my head, my eyes still on West.

"You know everything is fine between him and the club, right? He has confessed everything and Hammer has forgiven him'' he says still softly and I sigh deeply.

Of course I know that, I can't think of anything else. I'm mainly afraid... Afraid that if I reach out my hand, he will run away again. And I don't think my heart can handle that again, and that's why I'm still distancing myself from him.

I'm not crazy, I see the looks he regularly throws my way. I see the looks of longing, the desire to talk everything out, to build a friendship again. And maybe it's time to bury the hatchet, it's already been 8 weeks.

"I have an appointment with Ink, then I'm going to the garage," Jackson mumbles with a slap on my shoulder and I nod.

"I'll see you there" I say as I give him a small smile and turn towards my room.

Am I doing that to avoid West until we can have lunch? Maybe...

Do I feel like a jerk for doing that? Sure...

I wish I could take a ride on my motorcycle, that's always a good medicine to clear my head. But unfortunately... It needs to be repaired at the moment, and it's so busy that I said mine could go last.

I pick up a book and start reading it, I read the sentences... But they don't really register. A knock on my door makes me frown, and just as I'm about to call out who's there, I hear him.

''Navy? Are you there?'' I hear West say through the door and my heartbeat skips a few times. There's another knock, but my brain doesn't move to answer yet. This is the first time in weeks that he has reached out and everything in me is screaming to open that door and pull him in. But my mind doesn't agree with that yet and is not ready for a confrontation and perhaps another disappointment.

I hear a deep sigh and footsteps walking away, I exhale deeply and I didn't even realize I was holding it. Fuck, I'm an asshole...

I'd rather run after him, but I want to replace a more suitable time to have a quiet chat. I fall back on my bed with an arm over my head, images of West's disappointed face in front of my door flash through my mind.

A moment later I wake up to the sound of my cell phone vibrating in bed, and when I unlock my phone I see several missed calls from Jackson. And when I look at the time I see why he has called me so often, it is already 8 o'clock in the evening!

Fuck!

Shit!

I sit up, put on an old shirt and go to the garage as quickly as possible. There's a good chance that Jackson and West are already gone, but at least I can work a few more hours to make up for it.

I call Jackson while I'm driving to the garage and as expected he's not very happy with me. But I am quickly forgiven when I tell him that I will work a few more hours tonight and that I will close for him tomorrow so that he can go home to Vanessa on time. The man is completely enchanted by her, so of course he takes all the time he can spend with her.

When I arrive at the garage I see some lights still on, I know Jackson is gone so it can only be West who is still there. I gather my balls and go to open the door, only to replace that it's locked.

That would mean West might not be there and Jackson forgot to turn off the lights... Which is not like Jackson.

I open the door and look around, the music is still on but there is no one in sight. I walk to the staff room to see if anyone is there, but that room is also empty. An unpleasant feeling comes over me, but I can't quite figure out why. Once I have looked at all the rooms and seen that nothing is missing, I let go of the strange feeling and get to work.

After 10 minutes I hear the crackling sound of an engine that clearly comes to a stop in front of the garage, there is some rumbling and the garage hatch slowly opens.

To my surprise, West's body comes into view, and from the looks of it, he didn't expect me to be here. We look at each other for a bit with wide eyes and surprised faces until I clear my throat and nod my head.

"Hi" I mumble and he smiles a bit sheepishly as he rubs the back of his neck.

"She's done" he mumbles and I frown in confusion.

"Who?" I ask as I walk towards him, but when I look past him I understand what he means.

The motorcycle he arrived on is mine! I look at him with wide eyes and walk to my beauty, it shines beautifully again and the flashy new exhaust that I wanted to put on it is on it.

"I've been working on her the last few evenings, I hope you're okay with that," West says softly as he comes to stand next to me while I'm still looking at the bike in amazement.

"Who says it's a 'she'?" I say calmly and I hear West chuckle.

"Because most men see their motorcycle as a 'she'... But I should have known you would be different," he says grinning and I shrug my shoulders calmly.

"Women don't do it for me..." I mutter softly and I feel a warm hand touch mine.

I don't dare move, this might be the moment we've both been looking forward to... Or dreading.

But when I feel West's hand slip into mine and squeeze tightly, I let go of a long breath. I close my eyes and absorb the feeling this action gives me as we stand quietly next to each other.

''Thanks... For the motorcycle'' I mumble as I open my eyes and turn slightly to look at him.

"I'm sorry..." he says with a pained expression and I shake my head.

"It's okay" I mumble and now it's his time to shake his head, he takes my other hand and looks at our hands.

''No, you must understand me correctly. I'm sorry... About everything... From Jimmy, the snitching, the insecurity between us... It's killing me! I don't know if you can ever bring out feelings for me again, but I want you to know that I'm going to fight for you! Over the past few weeks I have let you go, I have given you time to process everything as you did with me. But I want to continue... I want you!'' he looks at me with big, honest and scared eyes and I feel my eyes stinging.

I sigh shakily and look up to hold back the tears, West squeezes my hands and I feel all the stress of the past run out of me. I pull my hands from his and for a moment I see the uncertainty about my action come into his eyes.

I wrap my arms around him and hold him tightly against me, and it doesn't take long for him to do the same. We stand quietly against each other for a long time and don't say anything, we are just enjoying each other and letting go of the stress.

"Go on a date with me" I say and I feel the vibration of his laugh against my chest.

"With pleasure," he says, chuckling as we let go of each other and look at each other.

"Can I kiss you?" he whispers as a hand goes to my neck, but I take his hand and shake my head.

"No, not before the first date" I say with a wink... and, a lot of pain in my heart.

But first I want to see how he feels about going on a date with me, perhaps being seen in public with another man. Somehow I still have trouble with trust, and I'm still quite afraid that he won't want me after all.

"Too bad... You don't know what you're missing," he says with a wink and I laugh out loud.

"Believe me, I know," I laugh as I walk in and continue working. I hear West fiddling around with my bike but I pay no attention to it.

"I'm going home, it's been a long day," I hear him say a little later and I nod with a smile.

"Thank you... For my bike, that means a lot to me," I say and my heart jumps a bit from the smile that appears on his face.

"Thanks... For the second chance" he winks and I shake my head laughing.

I can't wait for our date....