“Sure.”
“How about I leave these with you, and you can give them to Nash later when he’s awake and after you eat as many as you want?” she suggests.
“Sounds good to me,” I easily agree when I take the plate from her. “I’m Lucy, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you! I’m Jetta. My boyfriend Devlin is one of Nash’s good friends in the MC.”
“Ah, so he’s one of the Dirty Aces?”
“He is,” she agrees with a growing smile. “And are you and Nash…” she trails off and waggles her eyebrows.
“No, we’re just neighbors. I’m not even sure if we’re friends,” I admit to her.
“Oh, well, Nash isn’t known for dating much because of his wife and all,” she tells me, watching my face closely, I assume to see if I know that about him.
“Ex-wife,” I correct her. “They’re officially divorced now.”
“Is that right? Good for him.”
“I don’t think it was his choice.”
“Oh. Well, either way it’s done. It’s time for Nash to finally move on. He’s a good guy. All of the Dirty Aces are. And I owe them more than I’ll ever be able to repay,” she says with a slight frown tugging down her lips.
I want to ask what she means by that but don’t want to pry.
As the two of us stand there awkwardly on the stairs, I try to think of something else to say.
“I love your hair,” I tell Jetta honestly, no longer wanting to pull it out now that I know she has a man.
“Thank you,” she says, running her fingers through it again.
“I’ve never been brave enough to try colors.”
“Let me know if you change your mind. I just started cosmetology school, but I’ve been coloring my own hair for years.”
“Really? That’s awesome!” I tell her.
“I’m free the rest of the day if you want to try something new.”
“Are you sure?” I ask. “I don’t think I’m ready for blues and purples yet, but I would love to go a little blonder maybe?”
“Absolutely!” Jetta replies. “If you want to put those brownies away, then we can head to my place. Actually, it’s Dev’s place, but I’ve been crashing with him after a fallout with my asshole brother.”
“Ugh. The only thing you can count on with family is drama,” I say with a roll of my eyes.
“Exactly,” she agrees with a smile. I know right then and there that I’ve finally made my first real friend in this new city.
Chapter Seven
Nash
* * *
“What the hell are you wearing?” Ellie asks as soon as I walk through our apartment door wearing a new denim cut. The leather ones are more badass, but we’re all too broke to afford them just yet.
“Malcolm, Lowell and I have decided to start a new MC – the Dirty Aces,” I say before I turn around and show her the back where there’s a huge patch with an Ace of Spades playing card and skull in the middle.
“You’re kidding, right?” she asks. “Is this some kind of joke?”
“No. We’re serious. All we need is two more members to make it official.”
“I can’t do this again, Nash! I can’t…I won’t worry myself sick about you getting killed because of a stupid MC! You were lucky you weren’t at the bar when it burnt down or I would be a widow right now!”
“This time will be different,” I assure her. “Malcolm will run things, and we’ll be more careful.”
“No,” she says with a shake of her head. “It won’t be any different! Just more of the same dangerous shit! Tell Malcolm and Lowell that you don’t want to be a part of it.”
Her sudden anger and outrage are not uncharacteristic of my gorgeous wife. But for the past few days, she’s barely spoken a word to me, and she sure as hell hasn’t let me touch her, telling me she doesn’t feel like it. The sudden yet continuously growing chasm that’s come between us apparently has us both on edge.
That’s why I take a calming breath before responding. “Ellie, you know I can’t abandon them now, not after everything that’s happened…”
“I gave up everything for you, my home, my friends and my family, my trust fund, and you won’t do this for me?” she asks.
“I didn’t ask you to give up anything!” I remind her. “That was your decision and your price to pay for being with me because nobody thought I was good enough for you. And you knew who I was when we met. I’m not going to change for anyone. Ever.”
“Not even me?”
“No,” I say even though the refusal burns my throat. “I love you, Ellie. You know I do. But demanding I walk away from the club…you’re asking too much of me. I need the MC.”
“I’m asking too much of you? God, what about what I need, Nash?”
“What do you need?” I question her.
“I need more...”
“More? What the hell is more? More money you mean?”
“More money for once would be a nice start.”
“What does that mean?” I stare at my wife of only two years, the woman I love more than anything in the world, and at the moment I don’t even recognize her. Lately, we argue about every little thing, and now she’s giving me hell about the MC and talking about needing more money?
“We could move back home to Charlotte. Maybe…maybe my parents would see how much I care about you, and Daddy could help you get a good job with his firm.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” The words come out louder and more brutal than I intended.
“I swear it’s like you enjoy being poor!” she exclaims. “Look around at our tiny ass apartment! We can barely pay for the things we need, like groceries and the rent each month. Who chooses to live like this?”
Money has always been a sore spot for me and my ego. I know the kind of rich family Ellie came from and what she gave up when she agreed to marry me. I gave her more than a year to come to her senses and walk away before I asked her to marry me because I hated that I couldn’t give her everything she needs and everything she deserves.
“Have you ever considered getting a job to help me out instead of putting all this shit on me?” I ask her.
“You want me to drop out of school and get a job?” she whispers quietly, her face paling as if I just asked her to become a prostitute.
“Yeah, you could get a job,” I agree through gritted teeth, hating the idea of not being able to make ends meet on my own but desperate for a temporary break from the burden on my shoulders. “For once, it would be nice if I wasn’t the only one having to constantly bust my ass to try and put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads!”
Ellie’s jaw drops. When she recovers, she asks, “Why didn’t you say something before now?”
“Because I know how much you want to finish your degree. I get it, Ellie. But for people like me, there are more important things than that fucking sheet of paper that takes four years and a shit ton of money to get.”