“No.” He pushed abruptly to his feet and gathered the empty pizza box and their plates. “We should go.”

She carried their empty cups to the trash can, knowing she’d hit a nerve and wishing he’d open up to her. What had his relationship with his mother been like? They were obviously close, given how badly he wanted to see her again, but had he ever talked with her, or had he always kept to himself? Tracey didn’t know how old Diesel was, but her guess was early thirties. If his mother passed away thirteen years ago, he’d been alone for a very long time.

He remained quiet on the drive back to her place, jaw clenching, dark eyes sliding her way once or twice, which only made his jaw clench harder.

Izzy’s car was in the driveway when they arrived. Diesel came around to help Tracey out of the truck, and she shifted on the seat, facing him, and put her hands on his shoulders. She swore every bit of him flinched, even his eyes, but she was getting used to that. “I know you don’t want to talk about your mom, but everyone needs a friend they can trust. I may not be a Dark Knight, or a guy, or whatever defines trustworthy in that bullheaded mind of yours, but if you ever want to talk about her, I’m a really good listener.”

His expression didn’t change, but he adjusted his baseball cap, the way he had when they’d talked about his mother at the picnic table. Had his mother given him that hat? That would explain why he wore the ratty old thing all the time. She tucked that thought away to revisit later, just as she had the other tidbits she’d learned about the elusive biker, and quickly pushed to her feet on the running board to keep the moment from getting awkward.

She expected him to help her down, but he wrapped his thick arms around her and touched his forehead to her chest, stealing the oxygen from her lungs. The embrace lasted only a few seconds. She might have imagined it if he hadn’t left coolness in his wake as he pulled back and lifted her off the running board.

“Let’s get you inside,” he said gruffly, as if he hadn’t just shocked the living daylights out of her.