Prologue
Sheridan
FINALS ARE HERE. I’m in my third year of college and this is the time of year I hate the most. All I do is study and go to class. There isn’t time for anything else and I can’t afford to get sick or have one of my migraines. Kind of like the migraine I’m starting to get right now as I sit in the diner with Aiden. Aiden is one of my classmates and we’ve been studying together all year long. We’ve kind of been tutoring one another because I’ve been stuck a few times in class and didn’t understand something we were learning and he’s been the same way at different times. Today we’ve been going through all of our notes, combing through the text book, and answering the questions on our study sheet for hours and it feels as if we haven’t accomplished a damn thing. At least that’s how I feel. I’ve never been great at math and that happens to be one of my first finals this year.
Aiden is busy writing away on his worksheet as I sit back in the booth we’ve occupied and take a look around the diner for the first time since we walked in here. The tables surrounding us are filled with teens having a snack before the game or practice and a few moms with their young children. Those aren’t the tables that have my attention as I continue to look around. The table in question is in the back corner of the diner. It’s almost tucked away from the rest of the place and larger than the rest of the tables in here. A group of men clad in leather vests occupies the table as they talk, eat, and ignore the world around them.My eyes are stuck on one man in question. Someone I’ve known for years and a person I don’t particularly want to see now. Axel Coleson. I haven’t seen him in years and I wish today wasn’t the day that changed.
Axel and I went to high school together. He was the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks so to speak. Every girl in school wanted to be his and all the guys wanted to be him. He didn’t ever give a shit about anything or anyone and rarely talked. It took a lot for a person to get him to open up and enter his world. I used to think I was lucky enough to be one of those people. Axel was the reason my best friend, Shelly, and I were bullied. Because we hung out at school, Jess bullied us and made our lives hell. All because she wanted Axel and he wouldn’t give her the time of day. He always stuck up for us when he was around and saw the bullies going after us, but he couldn’t be at my side constantly.
While everyone else in school and our town saw the bad boy who didn’t give a shit about anything, a persona he perfected at an early age, I saw the best parts of Axel. I was lucky enough to see how much he loved his family, how loyal he was to those he let in his world, and to the man he was becoming. Especially when he lost his older brother Marcus. The two were always close and Axel was one of the biggest supporters when Marcus announced his decision to go into the military instead of Prospecting for the Dirty Slayers MC. Part of Axel died the day he learned of his brother’s death. I watched him change after that and knew the only way I could be there for him was to remain one of his friends instead of telling him I wanted more with him.
Over the years of knowing Axel, I grew to love him. When I was seventeen and in my junior year of high school, I knew he owned my heart but refused to say anything to him. Shellywas the only one who knew about my feelings and she’s kept my secret all these years. I knew I couldn’t say anything to him because it would change our relationship and if things went bad between us, I’d lose one of the best people I knew. Losing Axel was a risk I wasn’t willing to take and it happened anyway. The day we graduated was the last time I saw Axel up close. He simply left my life without a backward glance as he got deeper into the Dirty Slayers MC and his Prospecting duties. I let him have his space with the hope he’d remain my friend.
Axel is laughing at something one of the guys with him is saying. He’s completely carefree and relaxed as the two men lean their heads close to one another. If I remember correctly, it’s Axel’s cousin. They call him Knuckles and he runs the local gym. I knew Axel found his cousin, but I wasn’t really part of his life when they met and started to get close. Seeing the two of them laughing together brings back memories of when Axel and I used to laugh like that with Shelly. It’s bittersweet to see him after so long because Axel is sexy as hell now and I find my mind wandering to what could have been between the two of us if I hadn’t been shy and kept my feelings to myself.
“Sheridan!” I hear Aiden call my name and I snap out of my thoughts to look at my study partner. Based on the annoyed look on his face, I know this isn’t the first time he’s called my name. “Are you feeling okay? I know you’ve been sick and have missed a few classes this past week.”
“I’m fine. Well, I’m doing better than I was. I still feel like crap, but I need to study for this final,” I answer him as I try to force everything Axel related from my head and focus back on the work in front of me.
“Do you wanna call it a day? We’ve been studying for hours and you’ve barely answered anything on the second study guide we got. Or are you having that much trouble with theproblems in this section?” Aiden questions me as I hear steps moving closer to our table and I already know it’s Axel.
“Long time no see, Little Fairy,” Axel says, his voice washing over me like the smoothest whiskey. I don’t remember his voice being as deep as it is now.
Axel doesn’t wait for me to say anything as he sits down in the booth next to me and I have to slide over to give him room and not be pressed up against his body. Being so close to Axel is dangerous for me. Especially when I take in the muscles he’s gained since high school, the stubble on his face as if he couldn’t bother shaving this morning, and the smell of him as it slowly wraps around me. His hair is longer than it was in school and I want to run my fingers through it to see if it’s still just as soft as it was back then. Instead, I clench my hands in my lap and try not to look at the man taking up the space next to me.
“Axel,” I finally manage to mutter, my voice a whisper as the pain of losing his friendship hits me once more.
I was devastated the day Axel stopped talking to me. The second he got his diploma and our graduation ceremony was over, he was surrounded by his family and the members of the Dirty Slayers MC. I couldn’t get close to him. He literally looked right through me as he took pictures with his parents and it was as if I never existed in his world. I lost one of my best friends that day and Shelly and I don’t understand what changed and why he chose to cut us out of his life completely and in an instant.
“Excuse me,” Aiden speaks up and I know he’s about to make a mistake. “Can’t you see my girl and I are busy here? I mean, the table full of books and papers would be my first clue that we’re busy, but that’s just me.”
Aiden can be a snob and he hates being interrupted for any reason. Axel just interrupted us and I know I might have tode-escalate this situation before Aiden gets hurt. Plus, I’m not Aiden’s girl. We’ve never been more than study partners and can hardly tolerate one another outside of working together. We’re both in the veterinary program at school so we share a lot of the same classes.
“Your girl?” Axel questions him, his eyes remaining locked on me instead of giving Aiden his attention. That’s only going to piss Aiden off more because he can’t stand when people don’t look at him when he’s talking to them. I learned that early on. “Nah. Little Fairy is my girl. I’ve known her so much longer than you and probably know her in ways you’ll never get the chance to discover.”
My mouth drops open with the blatant innuendo Axel just threw out there. It’s a complete lie. We kissed one time in school during a game of Truth or Dare. He was my first kiss and it was the best experience of my life.
Axel rests his arm along the back of the booth and pulls my body so I’m pressed right up against him. This is a dream come true, but I have no clue about the sudden change. Two years have passed with no word from him and now he’s staking some kind of claim on me. This makes absolutely no sense to me. I’m filled with confusion and a longing I thought I buried deep.
“Sheridan is not some kind of fairy and she’s not your girl,” Aiden growls in a way I’ve never heard from him. It’s almost got a possessive edge to it and I don’t understand why he’s acting this way.
“She’s been my Little Fairy for years, asshole. Let’s get out of here,” Axel suddenly says, turning to face me completely while ignoring Aiden. “It’s been too long and we need to catch up. This little bitch can wait for another day to make some kind of move with you.”
Without thought, I find myself starting to clean up my stuff on the table and shove it in my bag. Axel’s presence is so commanding it’s like I have no choice but to follow along with what he wants without hesitation or questioning if it’s something I really want to do. Part of me feels like this is about to change my entire life. One decision that means spending time with the one man I compare every other one to because he was the first guy I gave my heart to.
Once everything is packed up, Axel takes my bag from me as he slides out of the booth and holds out his hand for me. I take it and slide out of the seat while Aiden watches on with anger filling his face as he watches me leave him alone and follow Axel from the diner. I can feel several sets of eyes on me and I know they’re coming from the table Axel was sitting at. No one he’s sitting with knows me. If they were around when we were in school, I’m not sure they would remember me. It’s not like I stood out or anything. Not unless Jess and her merry band of skanks were bullying me. I didn’t go to parties or dances like everyone else. I rarely went to football games. When I was in high school, you were more likely to find me in the garage with my dad than anywhere else.
“Where are we going?” I ask Axel as he leads me from the diner without a word.
“I’m takin’ you home, Little Fairy. What the fuck are you doin’ with a douche like that guy?” he questions me, not pausing or looking at me as he leads me to his bike. A bike I haven’t been on in over two years.
Axel gave me my first ride on a motorcycle. I was seventeen and he had been riding for over a year. Marcus was home and wanted to go out on his bike. So, they made it a family trip. Instead of letting me go home like I planned on doing, Axel led me to his bike and told me I was going with them. Hisparents also went with us. I was the second person to ride on Axel’s bike with him, his mom being the first one. I fell in love the second we pulled out and I was never once scared of being with him on the bike. Axel had my complete trust as always and made sure I wasn’t hurt or scared the entire time.
“He’s someone I go to school with. We study together and he’s helped me when I need it,” I answer him, my voice wavering as nerves fill me because this version of Axel isn’t someone I know.
I’ve seen him take charge of a situation in the past, but something in the way he’s holding himself is different tonight. I’m not sure where this ride will lead us, but I’m here for it.
“Find a different study partner. Where’s Shelly? Study with her,” he states as if that’s the last he needs to say on the subject.
