I’ve got to go. I might not get a chance to write for a while but we can talk. You know I’m always here.
Love you,
Tabby
Chapter Two
Sixteen years old
“Please, Anthony. Please, please, please,” Tabitha said, begging. She normally didn’t beg, but right now, she didn’t see any other choice. She would’ve asked her twin, Miles, but he could be a royal pain in the ass with his completely unnecessary demands, and he never kept his mouth shut either.
“I’m not helping you. You get caught, I’m the one who gets screwed.”
“We won’t get caught.”
“Why can’t you just see him tomorrow when everyone can watch you?”
Tabitha rolled her eyes. “Seriously, you’re going to play that card?”
“No. I’m not doing it.”
He continued to eat his Chinese food, and it just pissed her off. “I’ll talk to Daisy,” she said.
This made him pause, but he didn’t say anything. He truly believed his feelings for Daisy were a secret. She knew exactly what to do to make him comply. Daisy had become her playing card with Anthony when she wanted something.
“No one has asked her out for the Halloween party, and I can probably make sure she goes, and you know, dances with you?”
Anthony glared at her. “I can see Daisy any time.”
“Sure, sure, but you’re on friend terms. What if I, you know, gave her a little encouragement to see you as something more?”
“You’re going to use your friend to go see the Chaos asshole?”
She glared at him. “I’ll tell her that you’re an asshole who is totally screwing three girls in high school, and probably has a sexual disease. You won’t even get to hold her hand!”
Anthony continued to frown at her. “You know I hate you?”
“You don’t, but come on, help me out.”
“Fine! I’ll cover for you, but I better get a dance and a fucking smile.”
She leaned over, kissed his cheek, and smiled. “You will.”
Tabitha didn’t know what was going on between Anthony and Daisy, but either way, she was willing to help both of them out if it meant she got a few minutes alone with Simon. Sneaking out of the house was easy. She pulled her jacket around her, leaving The Skulls’ compound and making her way toward the old park.
It wasn’t safe anymore, and there was some kind of argument over the land being bought up, with houses built on it. She didn’t know what else was going on with that, and she didn’t really care.
Chaos Bleeds were in town, but they weren’t staying at the clubhouse, at least not Simon. She figured it had something to do with her being sixteen and him pretty much seventeen and knowing all about sex. Simon had been the first one to find out about a blowjob, not that they’d done anything. Their parents didn’t have to worry. Simon was the perfect gentleman with her. Either way, it didn’t matter. Simon had texted her that he’d be waiting for her.
Ever since she’d grown boobs and started to ask sexual questions, Tiny, her dad, had become overprotective. She knew about sex and guys. Most of her life had been spent at the club, and even though they tried to stay on their best behavior, it didn’t always work out. People talked and most of the time kids got forgotten about, which meant they opened their mouths frequently.
As she entered the park, it was too dark, and there wasn’t much light. She couldn’t make anything out.
Someone placed their hands over her eyes, and she smelled him before hearing him. “I didn’t think you’d come.”
“I had to blackmail Anthony.”
Simon chuckled. He stood so close, she felt every inch of him pressed against her back. Even with his hands covering her eyes, she closed hers, basking in his closeness. They rarely wrote to each other now since she was given a phone. They didn’t text, but they called all the time.
“What did you have to blackmail him with?”
“Daisy.”
“Good.” Simon released her, spinning her around, and she finally got to see him.
Cupping his face, she stared at him for a few moments, just taking him all in, before she went onto her toes to kiss him. He was way too tall for her. One of his hands gripped the back of her head, holding her close. He was getting bigger by the second. Tall, muscular, he owned the place. Gone was the puny little boy who’d tried to pick on her so many years ago. Not that it had lasted all that long.
“I’ll have to be careful around you. You seem to have a way of getting what you want.”
“I’ve learned from the master.” She thought about her sister Tate who was much older than her. Tate had given her a few pointers on how to get what she wanted. Tabitha was happy to do most things so long as it didn’t hurt anyone in the process. She couldn’t stand the guilt. “I’ve missed this. I’ve missed you.”
“Your dad would rather have me locked in cuffs than get close to you.” He pushed some of her hair back, and she smiled. “Not that I blame him. You’re so fucking beautiful. I never want to give you back. I bet all the guys are falling all over themselves to get with you.”
“Stop. I’ve told you. No guy is going to take your place. I don’t know if these moments are perfection or torture.” She gripped his leather jacket, the Chaos Bleeds symbol on the back marking him as the property of the Chaos Bleeds leader. She remembered when Devil gave it to him.
He’d posed for her during one of their video chats.
Simon tilted her head back, and she smiled up at him. “They’re perfection, Tabby. You can never reach that without a little bit of torture thrown in.”
She giggled. “Are you trying to sound all philosophical?”
“Do you know what that word means?”
They were both laughing. “Do you?”
“I know that I will suffer everything to be with you, Tabby. The true torture would be never having these moments, knowing what could have been.”
Just like that, he stole her heart once again.
He’d done so a long time ago.
There was no one else, just her Simon, like she was his Tabby.
She pressed her head against his chest. “I know you can’t stay too long.”
Simon sighed. “Dad has already told me we’re heading out tomorrow. I’ve still got school come Monday, and all of their shit has been handled.”
“I wish you could move here.” She would love to have him here every single day.
“Do you think you could convince your dad to move to Piston County instead?” he asked.
“Not a chance,” Tabitha said, pouting. “It’s bad enough when it’s vacation time. I think the only reason he goes out is because of Mom. She needs the time and there’s that whole age-gap thing.” She shrugged. “I hate this.”
“Sit with me awhile. Let’s not think about tomorrow.” He took her hand and they found a tree to lean up against. He sat down, drawing her between his legs.
Their moments were becoming less frequent. Lash, The Skulls’ leader and current prez, tended to handle things a lot differently than her father had.
In the past twenty years, The Skulls had gone through so many changes. She’d only been around for sixteen years of them. Sometimes, she still had nightmares of some of the scarier moments. In recent years, they were legal. Doing everything by the book. The danger was still there, but it was limited. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been called in for lockdown.