“No, we’re not crazy. It’s the rest of the world that needs to get with the program. You shouldn’t have to consider anyone else’s opinion but your own when it comes to buildin’ your pack.”
“Thank you,” she says, and I shake my head.
“You don’t need to thank me. That’s just common fuckin’ respect.”
“You don’t think I’m stupid for wanting to stay with the MC?”
“No, it’s all you know. Why wouldn’t that be what you want?” When I look back at her, her big brown eyes are glassy, and I wonder if the night is catching up to her. “Baby, I didn’t mean to upset you,” I try to soothe.
She shakes her head. “You didn’t.” She makes an adorable, irritated growling noise. “My hormones are all over the place. I wasn’t sad, I just… finally felt understood,” she mumbles.
“I’d like to understand you a bit more,” I coax quietly like some asshole is hiding behind a tree watching me be vulnerable or some shit.
“I’d like that too,” she agrees, but it’s then that her stomach rumbles, making her cheeks heat.
“They didn’t even fuckin’ feed you on the date?” I ask, and she shakes her head. “You got anything against Ramen?”
A wide smile takes over her face as she shakes her head. I stand up first and hold out a hand to her to help her up. She pushes her dress down and slides on her sandals as we pad our way to the lake house.
I don’t come here often, but I do come here enough to keep it stocked up with non-perishables. This place is my Hail Mary if shit ever hits the fan. Her hand is warm and pliant in my own, and I’m hit with an overwhelming feeling of rightness.
We’ve only had short-lived moments on the compound that always seem to get interrupted. This is the first time I’m alone with her where we don’t have to look over our shoulders and can actually be ourselves. It’s just the truth slapping me harder in the face. We’re supposed to be together.
I enter the code to the door, not caring if Lily is paying attention or not. I do my best to keep the place clean and updated, but it’s clearly not lived in. I flick on lights as we walk through the house. Lily takes in all the family photos and old portraits of landscapes my granddad loved.
Once we’re in the kitchen, I open the pantry and rub the back of my neck. “I don’t have much,” I warn her. She just politely smiles and walks in beside me, grabbing multiple things and bringing them to the cooktop. “I didn’t mean for you to make us somethin’,” I mutter.
“It’s fine.”
“I can take you somewhere to eat,” I offer.
“I want to stay here for as long as we can get away with it,” she says with a smirk.
I wanna fuckin’ lock her in here and keep her prisoner, but I know that won’t do shit for either of us.
The noodles she makes aren’t anything to write home about, but it’s also the best meal I’ve ever had.
We eat and we just talk. It’s so confusing how simple this connection is, yet everything around us seems so fuckin’ complicated.
“How are the new guys working out?” she asks.
“Haven’t got to know all of em’. Tate, Cash, Doc, and Atlas seem cool enough,” I tell her.
“What about Sasquatch?” she jokes, and I shake my head, wondering how in the fuck he earned that road name. I mean, he’s a big dude, but it’s not like he’s a hairy freak or anything.
“Jury is still out on that one. How have things been at home with the Prez?” I ask her.
I know that he loves Lily. He loves her mother more than anything. But the dates he’s setting her up on are shit, she needs a real man—men. I can honestly understand him wanting her out of the club. She’s sweet and perfect, and I know my dirty hands are going to soil her up. On the other hand, she wants me too, and I’m gonna give her everything she wants. But the blatant disregard of her free will? Yeah, that shit ain’t sittin’ right at all. I hadn’t thought about him treating the club the same, but ever since Tate asked me to join him, I’ve been doing a hell of a lot of thinking about how much of a dictatorship this club has become.
“Fine, I guess. Kurt doesn’t seem stressed or anything. Well, at least, not with the club.”
“You need to tell him those assholes put their hands on you,” I urge her.
“I can’t,” she whines.
“Does this have to do with what you didn’t want them to tell Prez?” She nods, and I click my tongue. I don’t like secrets between us, yet I hold so fuckin’ many. If this is something sheneeds for her own peace, I’ll leave it… for now. “Just tell me you’re not in any danger, and I’ll drop it.”
She licks her lips, and she looks me in the eye fiercely, letting me know that she’s being nothin’ but honest. “I’m not in any danger.”
