Kid’s eyes widened as he realized exactly what I was saying.
I’m sure Garrett had no idea either that these dirty fucking bikers that he looked down on like the scum of the earth had the smarts, the money, and the contacts to rival the fucking FBI.
But he was soon going to learn that I could play games too.
AVERY
Stepping out of the bathroom, I had to pause, my eyes drifting to the bed.
The sheet sat low across his hips.
His hair tossed in all directions.
A perfectly toned and sexy as sin torso temping me for just a second.
The one thing stopping me from attacking him? The tiny baby tucked protectively into the crook of his arm.
I’d left the two of them there thirty minutes ago with a fresh bottle for Gage while I got ready for school. It was now half empty and being loosely held in Shotgun’s limp hand, the leftover contents spilling onto the sheets. I’d change them later. For now, seeing them sleep bought a smile to my tired face. The both of us were feeling like hell warmed up this morning, Gage letting us know he was not a happy camper right now by waking us up every hour last night. The poor little thing was completely unsettled. I still wasn’t sure why, but hopefully, a trip to the pediatrician this afternoon would help us understand.
For now, though, I had a class to go to, and the longer I stood there staring, the more my heart wanted to say fuck school, just so I could be with my boys.
My boys.
My stomach twisted, but at the same time, my heart didn’t sink.
It skipped.
An excited skip.
The two things together stealing my breath.
Things were changing. I could feel them. Every day Shotgun was constantly proving me wrong. Showing me the kind of man he was, making me fall further and further until I needed to just close my eyes and let it take me, because eventually, hitting the bottom was either going to be the best feeling ever or it was going to hurt so damn bad.
But I couldn’t risk one without the other.
I took a deep breath, dragging myself slowly toward the door and sneaking out with a barely audible click.
Class, come home, get ready for my shift at Empire.
Adrian is having Gage until my shift is done at midnight.
Shotgun is there until closing.
Each thing shot through my head. A mental list being ticked off as I made my way down the hall.
“Hey.” I paused, just before the staircase, looking to my left. Slate leaned against his doorframe, shirtless, jeans sitting low and unzipped on his hips.
My nose crinkled. “Let Holly know I’m leaving now if she wants a ride.” The comment wasn’t meant to come out as sharp as it did. Holly was a big girl, if she wanted to mess around with club members, she could do what she wanted. I wasn’t her keeper, and I needed to stop trying to be.
“She already left,” he replied with a gentle laugh, shaking his head.
I could tell he was holding back. There was something else.
“Just say it, Slate.”
“Your girl, she’s in deep.” The laughter in his eyes dropped away, and he rolled his shoulders back.
It sent a tingle through me, though I tried to shake it off. “What do you mean?”
“I know addicts, Avery.”
I couldn’t stop my head from shaking back and forth. She wasn’t an addict. She was a girl who spent too much time drinking, and the drinking put her in bad places which stopped her from making smart decisions. The drugs. They were forced on her.
Slate reached deep into his back pocket and pulled out a tiny canister. Shaking it, making it rattle. “You think I’m crazy? Look what I found in her pocket.”
“What are they?” I rasped.
“Does it fucking matter?”
No.
It didn’t.
My hands were shaking, tears burning my eyes. “I’m gonna be late for class,” I whispered.
“I’m only telling you because my brother loves you. And I don’t want to see her hurt you, but if you keep letting her have these chances, she’s going to keep taking them until something fucking breaks. You know what happened to Shotgun, what hell he went through, what he had to do,” Slate whispered, his eyes moving to Shotgun’s closed bedroom door. “You need to be careful and don’t put him in that fucking position where he has to once again make a choice to protect the people he cares about.”
That was the twist.
The knife in my heart and the sharp jerk as Slate tested just how much I gave a shit about his best friend.
“You need to stay the hell away from her,” he continued when I didn’t reply.
I couldn’t.
I didn’t know what the hell to say, whether I should be protesting or whether I’d had enough of protesting for her.
“If Shotgun doesn’t do it, I will. Because it’s my job to have his back. Not yours.”
Did I love him enough to stand up to a friend, who I felt this strange loyalty to, or was I about to put him in a situation where I was wrong? And where he might just have to hurt someone to protect the other people who loved him.
“I hear you,” I answered, my voice cracking. I scurried for the stairs, and my hand traced the banister as I walked backward, Slate watching me the entire time. His voice echoed after me as I jogged down the stairs.
My cheeks were hot.
Fury and embarrassment filling them with fire.
The drive to school was slow, a million thoughts attacking my brain. But one that I kept coming back to.
How long was I going to keep allowing my fears to impact the people around me?
First with Shotgun. Seeing the way he looked at me and the way I hurt him when I pushed him away.
Now with the club. So scared to give up on my best friend and losing her too that I allowed her to walk in there and do that. Carrying drugs. Inside a clubhouse where the president was dead against them. Around people that I had this strong loyalty to protect.
My class passed in a blur.
It was the same one that Holly and I shared, so every time the door opened or something moved behind me, my entire body tightened, the hairs on my arms standing on end. I simply wanted to get through this and get back to the clubhouse because I just wasn’t sure I was ready to deal with anything else.
“Avery!”
I’d almost made it back to my car.
“Hey, sorry I bailed early this morning,” she explained happily as she jogged over. “Some of the girls demanded bonding time, so we went fo—”
“Stop!”
Her brow pulled together for a brief second before she let out a sigh. “I’m sorry I slept with Slate. It just happened. You know my attraction to his type, and he’s a major flir—”
“That’s not it… and you know it.”
Her usual casual attitude came to an earth-shattering halt, her eyes growing wide like a deer stuck in headlights.
“You gave him dru—”
“He took them from my pocket! I would never offer them to a club member. Do you think I’m that stupid?” she protested loudly before suddenly realizing there were people walking around us, dipping and dodging on their way home from class. Holly stepped in closer, lowering her voice, “He said if I tried to offer them to anyone at the club, that he’d end me. You know me, I wouldn’t—”
I cut in, and I wasn’t so cautious with my tone. The only thing keeping me at a slightly normal level, the fact that my angry breathing was drying out my throat and making it horse. “It doesn’t fucking matter if you would or not. It’s the fact that you are.”