“Huh?”
“What do you want from all this?”
I looked over at him. “I’m not following.”
He shrugged. “Then maybe that’s the problem. If you’re working toward a goal, but don’t know what that goal is, ofcourse you’re going to fuck it up. You’re upset that she’s mad. Why?”
“Because I don’t want her to be fucking mad, Cap.”
“But why? Why don’t you want her upset?”
“Because she doesn’t deserve to be upset. She deserves better than this.”
He nodded slowly. “So give her better.”
I threw my hands up into the air. “Oh, thanks. I’ll make sure to get right on that.”
He walked around in front of my bike, straddling the front wheel. “And usually, giving a woman better starts with a hell of a lot of honesty.”
I held my hand out to the clubhouse. “I already told her about the cameras, Cap. Why I did it. How I did it.”
He just snickered and shook his head before turning back toward the clubhouse. “If you leave, take a buddy.”
“Wait, Cap!”
“I’m serious! Buddy system!”
“Wait a second! I thought we were talking!”
I scoffed as I watched him make his way back into the clubhouse. The front door whipped open, and there was that little redhead of his, greeting him with a kiss. My heart clenched and I turned away. I’d never be able to do that with someone. Not without them recoiling in horror.
I slid my hand under my mask and massaged the tight scar tissue that lined my mouth and lower jaw.
I watched the sun rise as I sat on my bike. My home, illuminated by a sun that felt tainted somehow. This place had always felt like home at least. Even with the home I grew up in, Redd Valley always claimed me as its own. But right at that moment? The place didn’t deserve brightness. Not with everything going on inside of it. And I sure as fuck didn’t deserve Jasmine.
I wanted to deserve her.
The problem was, I didn’t.
And I wasn’t sure I ever would.
“Seriously,” she said from behind me, and I felt my shoulders tense before I even turned around. “You always sit out here brooding like this?”
I glanced over my shoulder, ready for another round.
But when she stepped in front of my bike, she was smiling.
Not wide.
Not mocking.
Just… soft.
The sunrise hit her from behind, outlining her in light, and something in my chest pulled tight in a way I didn’t like examining too closely.
“For what it’s worth,” I said, forcing my voice steady, “I’m sorry for how all this turned out.”
She folded her arms loosely across her chest. “I know.”
