It was said harder than I expected from him.
“Dane,” I tried with his real name to show him how serious I was. “Your absence has been noticed.”
He sighed, nodding, as if he had secrets waiting to spill over. I didn’t like secrets in my club, and he knew it.
“I got caught up…it’s done now.”
“Okay brother,” I said. “I know how it is.”
“Only your problem is still here,” he shot back. “I like Ro, I do. She’s a great girl, but she should be at The Burrow with Trey, and you know it. We need you at one hundred percent, thinking like a Prez, not a pussy-whipped playboy with a trophy bouncing on his dick.”
My fist connected with his jaw so fast I couldn’t stop it. The pure rage that shot out of me when he spoke about her like she was a common club girl we use for relief had been the ultimate offense. He was my best friend, and I just cracked him like a two-dollar whore asking for more money.
Fuck.
He held his jaw and looked over at me, amusement in his eyes. Now, the fucker had jokes?
“Look, we’re encroaching on a fucking war with the Ironborne. She’s a liability and so are you if you can’t get your head straight. You know what ol’ Mama Hart used to say…if you love it, let it go. So if you want her safe, and away from danger, let her go…if it’s real, if it’s true, she’ll make her way back to you.”
He walked away, and I stood there, letting the cool air wrap around me like a vice. Looking up at the side of the clubhouse, my eyes travelled to her window. She was standing there,watching me, a sad expression on her face as she hugged her body to comfort herself.
That should be me doing that.
I turned my back on her, needing the headspace to think clearly. I hated him for it, but he was right. She was making me weak, and it was going to cost the club.
Burning the bridge between us was going to hurt more than I could imagine, but I doubted very much she would come back to me. She’d been abandoned by every male in her life. Ending things would mean she’d walk away for good.
And I didn’t know if I could do that.
Rowan
He punched Maverick and then he looked up to see me standing in the window. I knew it had been over me. Best guy friends don’t punch each other over something small. The way he’d pushed me away when he thought I’d lied told me I had crossed a line with him.
He’d opened up to me. He had told me things not even Trey knew about him. He felt betrayed by me, and truthfully, I hated myself for it. There had been no reason to withhold that information. I don’t even know why I had.
Maybe, I didn’t want him to judge me like everyone else would. I hadn’t even told Trey that part of my life. It had been before him. Once we started to date, everything changed for me. He had made it so I felt like I could be accepted, just by being me. But I should have known, even then, that things weren’t what they should be. Reaper had shown me how it should be. The undeniable chemistry, the way he would look at me like he wanted to devour me, the way his touch would hit every nerveending at the same time. Closing my eyes, I walked away from the window and sat on the edge of the bed. I wasn’t welcome here anymore.
I grabbed my luggage and started to pack my clothes, throwing them in, dirty among clean, as my vision blurred with a fresh wave of tears. The annoying thing, aside from the emotions free flowing, was the way my body ached from being so thoroughly fucked by him last night. My muscles were sore, and my pussy was still achy with every single move. I hated that I wouldn’t have it again, but it was better this way.
A clean break.
Before it got too messy, and broke me.
Aren’t you broken now?
Fuck that inner voice. Fuck her to hell. I zipped up my case and pulled it onto the ground, before I opened the door, swiping at the tears on my cheeks and heading down the stairs. As I entered the clubhouse, I took note of all the club girls hanging around, off the patched members. Even during the day, they were always up for a good time.
“Oh look, she’s got her marching orders already,” the cheap snivelly voice of Tori said, causing a gaggle of girls to chuckle. I spun around, annoyed that they were already back here after what they had done. Cherry moved to intercept, but I could already feel my heart being ripped apart in my chest. Tee moved forward, eager to lay into me.
“I guess she doesn’t know how to please a man, only a junior version who doesn't even want to touch her. Leaves her to be used by his daddy.”
Even though I knew the truth, it hurt to hear it from her. She could stay here, and I was no longer welcome. This place, everything about it, had become a second home, or an actual home that I enjoyed being in, and now it was stripped away.
Cherry stood beside me, shooing them away. She was about to speak when her eyes lifted to the door. I turned to see Reaper standing there, with Chaos. His eyes drifted to my luggage case, an unreadable expression on his face.
The tension in the room amplified, and it felt like it was only me and him. That is, until Tee called over to him, and told him she’d be more than happy to warm his bed tonight. He didn’t pay attention to her, but he didn’t tell her to fuck off either and that was the main thing.
My heart was hammering. I just needed him to say something and I would stay. I would earn his trust back, I would give it my all because I knew he was worth it. I knew we had something.
