He takes a step forward, getting in my face. “You know I love you like a brother, but that is my actual fucking sister!”
Every time we’ve come to blows it’s been over her. He struggles to get anything else right but protecting her he does well.
“She shouldn’t be here!”
I don’t know where that even came from. Ever since I saw those keys, my skin has been on fire. I need her to go.
He stares me down. “Yeah, well she is.”
“She wasn’t supposed to come back.” My nostrils flare. “That’s how this works. She stays away, and we pretend none of that shit happened!”
I never explained myself to Shane. Didn’t need to. We just agreed that I wouldn’t ask about her and we’d all move on.
“Yeah, I know. But she got the house.” He runs a hand over his mouth, taking a deep breath and stepping back. “When it’s sold, she’ll be gone.”
“Make sure that she is.”
A car door slams, and the daughter of Satan charges straight toward us.
“Oh fuck,” I grumble, turning my back to her. “Here we go.”
“What the hell is wrong with you two? Huh?” Nik storms across the parking lot. “You just can’t leave her alone, can you?”
I like the girl, but she doesn’t hide her disdain for me. I hurt her best friend, and she’s spent the last six years making sure I know what she thinks of that. I’ve come close to catching a right hook from her a couple of times too.
“Yeah, save your breath. Big brother already gave me the lecture.”
She stops in front of us, smacking my arm before smacking Shane’s.
Pointing a finger at him, she shouts, “She trusted you to not mess this up, Shane. What the hell.”
“Hey!” I shout, stepping between the two of them. “This wasn’t his fault. I just had a feeling, okay?”
She rolls her eyes, crossing her arms.
I throw my hands up, walking backward toward the shop. “I’m just saying, he gives you plenty of reasons to be mad at him. Don’t blame him for my shit too.”
They’re right. I had no reason to go over there. I haven’t seen Ash in six years, and it was my choice to end things in the first place.
Her expression softens, and her shoulders relax. “I’m heading over there. I don’t want her to spend her first night here alone.”
“I’m gonna finish up here, then I’m right behind you.” Shane kisses her.
As she makes her way back to her car, Shane shoots me a look, mumbling, “Don’t fuck with her.”
He brushes past me.
Running a hand over my face, I exhale. My plate’s full enough without dredging up the past. I love my club, but some days it feels like it’s swallowing me whole.
JT quirks a brow.
“Don’t start,” I warn, on my way to my bike. “I’m going to Lily’s.”
My grandpa and his friends opened Ravens Ridge Auto when they were young because the only thing they loved more than fast cars and loud bikes was working on them. When money got tight, they started dealing in stolen cars and parts. It was simple enough, and no harm really came from it. Then someone got the brilliantidea to get in the drug game, and it all went to shit from there.
It’s overwhelming to say the least.
My mom’s the one who grounded my dad. He’d get sucked into the bullshit with the club, and she’d bring him back to earth. I don’t do relationships, but that’s what Lily does for me in a way. She can pull me out of my head and set me straight. She tells me what I need to hear—even when I don’t want to hear it.
