I took a deep breath, wondering the same thing. “Honestly, I don’t know. All I do know is I can’t stop thinking about him. When he kisses me, I melt. Like actually melt into him, like I was born to be in his arms.”
Frankie hummed to herself, almost like she was keeping something in. “I know what that feels like.”
“Chaos?”
She sighed. “I’m just good at finding emotionally unavailable guys, it seems.”
“Babe…”
“It’s okay. We’re only young, right?”
“Yeah, babe, we are. There’s still someone out there that can handle your crazy.”
She flipped me the bird, and I chuckled, but my heart bled for her. She was such a beautiful person, inside and out, and she struggled to find someone that would treat her like the queen she was. I didn’t think it would happen for me, and yet here I was, being treated like a queen.
“I gotta get out. I’m fucking exhausted.”
Frankie helped me, holding out a towel and making sure I didn’t collapse before I wrapped it around me.
“We will talk about what happened tomorrow,” she warned. “No excuses.”
I nodded and gave her a hug, before she left the bathroom, blowing me a kiss and disappearing. I’d been glad for her to come and sit with me, tending to my wounds, but I really couldn’t piece together the last twenty-four hours if I tried.
The one thing I was looking forward to was sleeping in Reaper’s big bed, where I knew no one could get to me.
Pulling on Reaper’s shirt, it hung just below my ass, but it smelled like him and that was enough for now. I picked up my dirty clothes and threw them in the hamper, before I moved back outside, down to his bedroom.
“Ah look the fat slut is back,” I heard Tee’s vicious words at the end of the hall. I stopped at Reaper’s double doors, turning around to face her. She was at the end of the hallway, her arms crossed over her chest, defensively, with a sneer on her face.
“I may be a slut, Tee, but I’m Reaper’s slut, which is something you’ll never be. I’m back right where I’m meant to be.”
I smiled at her, feeling the defeat, before I closed the double doors and headed to bed. Not even she was dumb enough to come marching in here to start shit with me. But I finally felt as if I had power over myself, over my bullies. Her words hadn’t hurt me like I thought they would.
Somehow, Reaper had made it seem like her hurtful words didn’t matter anymore, that I was better than all the bad shit. I was…powerful.
And I was powerful, because he wanted me. He didn’t want to change me, he just wanted me. He’d been hurt. I hadn't been completely honest with him. That was all. It was just a misunderstanding, and I’d almost lost him because of it.
He’d almost lost me because I’d been reckless.
I wiped at the tears falling down my cheeks. I needed underwear, but I knew I hadn’t kept anything here. Lookingthrough his top drawer, I found a pair of his jocks. They’d be loose, but they’d fit me. I pulled them on, laughing at how loose they were over my thighs. I didn’t think I’d ever say that about my thighs and underwear, but here we were.
Tying them at the side so they didn’t fall down, I went to close the drawer, only to find something sticking up at the corner. Pulling it out, I felt everything in me freeze. It was a photo of me.
A photo taken of me from the very first time I’d come to the clubhouse with Trey. I was smiling at the person talking to me, and the photographer had taken it from the side. I looked so happy.
Why did he have this?
Moving with it, over to the bed, I sat down, looking at how carefree I was. Nothing bothered me back then…before all the bad shit. Before Trey’s addictions, before I knew he didn’t like me sexually, before…my life was upended. I wanted to be that girl again.
I would be. If it was the last thing I did.
Somehow, I knew Reaper was the answer to that.
Reaper
Rowan was asleep in my bed, beautiful, gorgeous, peaceful. It was late, or rather early in the morning, and I’d been working her attackers over for hours with my boys. They were in no state to remain alive, and yet, I had left them alive.
For her.
