Page 42 of Taken With You

“But, yeah, I didn’t tell her where I came from or that I knew of her. So she didn’t know that I knew anything. She’s probably so fucking mad at me right now. She’ll never want to talk with me again.”

“And that’s why she ran.”

I looked at Brendon. “Yep. And I deserved that. I left the club because I had to. Because I didn’t want to be the person I’d become. When I came here, I thought I could stay for a while. And then Meadow showed up. It was like a part of my past came back, and I was trying to figure out what to do with it. I tried to stay away. But I didn’t. And now I don’t know what to do.”

“So you’re just leaving?” Dillon asked, and I looked up at him.

“I think I have to.”

“Will those guys come back?”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. Cliff doesn’t have as much hold anymore after what he did. He had his group, but he was never the one who made decisions before. I figured that most of the guys knew where I was anyway. Knew I was out. And while I’ll always be a traitor to them, they’re not going to come and do anything violent to me.”

“Didn’t look like that last night,” Aiden said.

“True. But that was only Cliff. Did you notice? Trace was the only one who said anything other than him. They just walked out. The bar should be safe. And I’ll be okay. I hope.” I wouldn’t know for sure until something happened or didn’t, but there was nothing I could do about that. I hadn’t broken the law since I got out, and I wasn’t going to do it again.

I wasn’t a good person, or at least I hadn’t been back then. And I had been trying to pay my penance ever since. Attempting to become a better man.

But I had still lied to Meadow.

“I don’t know what I can say to Meadow. She wanted to be away from that, too. And I’m a constant reminder of what she left behind.”

“You need to grovel,” Dillon said, and we all looked at him.

I shook my head. “I can apologize, but I still need to keep away. I’m not good for her.”

“Bullshit,” Aiden said.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“He’s right. Bullshit,” Cameron agreed. “You two are good for each other. You’re not as much of a fucking asshole as you used to be. You laugh more, and you actually join us sometimes. And you brought Meadow out of her shell. I see the way you two look at each other. You guys are happy.”

I just shook my head at Cameron.

“Maybe we were. But it was based on a lie.”

“Then fix it,” Dillon said.

“It’s not that easy, kid.”

“Nothing worth having is ever easy. All you guys taught me that. Hell, it’s a saying for a reason.”

“It might be a saying, but that doesn’t mean it’s a thing.”

“Oh, shut up.”

I stared at him.

“Find something worth fighting for. That’s the whole point of this life of ours. We all came from shit. All of us. And we pulled through. You did. No, you didn’t tell Meadow about your past. And that’s on you. So…fix it. Apologize. Grovel. Grovel hard. But fix it. You’re not going to know if she can forgive you unless you try. But if you walk away? You’ll likely hate yourself forever.”

I just looked at him along with the others, and then Brendon shook his head and started laughing. “How the hell did you get to be so wise?” Brendon asked.

“I don’t know. I listened to you guys, I guess. Sometimes you know what you’re doing.” The kid stuffed his hands into his pockets, and I rubbed my eyes.

“She’s not going to forgive me.”

“Like the kid said, you won’t know until you try,” Cameron whispered.