“I was, ah, just helping Zoe tie up her bikini,” I lie. “And putting lotion on her back.”
Hell, it’s not even a good lie but it’s the best I could come up with.
My mom raises her eyebrows, like she’s about to call bullshit on me. Jesus Christ. Can’t the woman just keep what she saw to herself? Except, Martin probably heard us. He’s getting old but not deaf.
“We were having sex,” Zoe blurts out, like a traitor trying to throw me under the bus. “There’s no point lying about it, so can we please just not make a big deal about it?”
“It was a one-time thing,” I tell our parents, to try and salvage the situation before Martin has a heart attack and makes my mom a widow. “I don’t know what I was thinking. It was stupid, and it won’t happen again. Ever.”
“No, it definitely won’t happen again!” Zoe grits out when she spins around to face me. “God, Winston, you act like you’re such a big, bad biker when really, you’re just an enormous pussy!”
Her shoulder rams into mine as she squeezes past me to get back into her room where she slams the door like a sullen teenage girl…
It hits me I fucked up again and Zoe was right to call me a pussy. I said a bunch of shit I didn’t mean, just like I did before. But this time, I hurt Zoe to save my own ass because I don’t want my mom to hate me. But do I really want to wait another ten years to see Zoe again because of another one of my lies? Fuck no.
“She’s right, I am a pussy,” I tell our folks as I scrub my palms down my face. I open her bedroom door so she can hear me too before I go on. Seeing her sitting at the foot of the bed, hugging herself, with tears swimming in her big, green eyes makes me feel like the biggest fucking asshole. “I’m sorry you saw or heard us doing that in your house, but it wasn’t the first time and I hope it won’t be the last because, well, Zoe’s the only woman I’ve ever cared about. I love her and I want her. I don’t care if she’s my stepsister. Nothing, not even your disapproval will change how I feel about her.”
Instead of looking to see my mother’s reaction to my confession, I wait to see Zoe’s. She swipes the tears away from under each of her eyes and then comes over to grab the back of my neck to kiss me.
“Thank you,” she whispers against my lips.
Cupping the side of her face in my hand, I use my thumb to dry up the last of the dampness from her cheek. “It’s the truth and it’s what I should’ve said to you and to them ten years—” I don’t get to finish my sentence before a loud ringing phone interrupts me. My phone.
“Fuck,” I mutter, letting go of Zoe to pull out the device from my pocket. Seeing Roman’s name on the screen has me answering in a hurry. “We ready?”
“We’re ready,” Roman replies. “Everyone’s meeting here at seven tonight.”
“And the safe house?”
“I’ll text you the address. Don’t share it with a fucking soul,” he warns because it’s where his woman Charlotte and Tessa will be staying until this is all over.
“I won’t,” I agree as I glance at my mother and Martin, who are still motionless statues. “But, um, do you have room for two more?”
“Your parents?” Roman guesses.
“Yeah. They came home early.”
“Sure. It’s a three-bedroom house and I’m sure Charlotte and Tessa could share one.”
“Thanks,” I tell him. “I’ll get them settled and then head in.”
After I end the call, I say, “Sorry to cut this discussion short, but we have to go.”
“I know,” Zoe says with a frown. “Promise you’ll be careful, okay?”
“I will,” I assure her with another quick kiss. “Pack up what you need.” To Martin and my mom, I say, “Just bring your suitcases.”
“Why? Where are we going?” my mother asks.
“Some place safe for the night,” I explain. “I can’t tell you more than that, but it’s important. Please?”
“Fine,” she huffs. And I know that once she’s on board, Martin will be too.
“You three can all ride together and follow me on my bike.”
“Great,” Zoe grumbles before she goes back into her room. “Just great.”
Chapter Seventeen
Zoe
* * *
My emotions have been on a rollercoaster this afternoon.
First, I was riding high when Winston and I were together, then I was embarrassed we got caught screwing by our parents before I became angry at him for lying to them. But then finally, Winston confessed to them and told me how he really feels.
I just wish he didn’t have to leave tonight on some dangerous MC mission. What the hell am I supposed to do while in lockdown at some secret location with my parents after the things they witnessed earlier?
I quickly change out of my bathing suit and into a sleeveless cotton dress, then throw a change of clothes into my purse, along with my phone.
As soon as I climb into the backseat of my dad’s car, they don’t even wait until we’re out of the driveway before they start in.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” my dad asks.
“About what?” I say innocently before Winston cranks up his motorcycle with a welcome sound to interrupt the silence in the car.
“Zoe,” my father warns, eyeing me in the rearview. At least he’s making eye contact again.
“What do you want me to say? I think Winston explained it all very well.”
“So, you…feel the same way?” Debra questions me.
“Yes.”
“Well,” she says with a sigh. “This is all a lot to take in.”
“I wasn’t all that surprised,” my dad says as he puts the car in reverse and backs out of the driveway to follow Winston. “Although, knowing something and having to…hear it firsthand are two different things. Could you two do what you do someplace other than our house from now on?”
“Huh?” I ask in confusion. I expected my dad to be pissed off or disgusted. Well, I’m not sure what I expected honestly, but it wasn’t his embarrassed acceptance.
“It’s the type of thing that deserves some privacy,” he goes on to say. “For everyone’s sake.”
“So, you’re okay with this?” Deb asks him as we follow behind Winston, making each of his same turns.
“Your son loves my daughter. I figured as much after he was ready to throttle me years ago when I wouldn’t tell Zoe she couldn’t go to Paris. I’m sure Winston will look after her and take care of her. As a father, I don’t think I could find a better man for my girl.”
“Winston is a good man,” Deb agrees. “Do you think Zoe is why he’s never had a girlfriend or brought a woman home for us to meet?”
“Probably,” my father answers as the two continue to have a conversation without me. It’s incredibly surreal, not just because they know about us now, but because Winston admitted to me, and to them, that he cares about me and loves me. It’s what I would’ve given anything to hear ten years ago before I left.