“Five or so,” I reply, looking down into my glass. I would have loved a hot breakfast, but instead I usually made myself cereal, sometimes without the milk if we didn’t have any.
“I’m sorry, Con.”
“Don’t be sorry. I think it’s so wonderful what you are doing for the kids who were like me, or have it even worse than I did.”
“I hope I’m making a difference,” Cara replies, nudging Clover gently. “And Clover donated money to help make it happen. So don’t act like this was all me, Clo.”
“It was all you. I just helped you fund it.”
They both share a moment with each other, eyes connected. I know the two of them don’t mean to make me feel like the third wheel, but I kind of do. To be fair, everyone probably feels that way when they are with these two. Even their partners.
We all have dinner, and Decker’s carbonara surprises us all. Sapphire seeks me out again, sitting next to me and chatting away, telling little stories.
And then I head back home.
All alone.
Chapter Six
Rhett
“How’s Clover?” I ask Sin as he grabs a beer out of the fridge and sits down next to me at the table.
Sin studies me and then just laughs. The asshole. “She’s still pissed. What did you think would happen? You know that she likes to hold on to a grudge. You cheated on Cara, broke up your little best friend trio and showed her that some men ain’t shit. Men she thought were good men.”
“I’m still a good man,” I grumble, scrubbing my hand down my jaw. “But I’m not fucking perfect. What do you think I should do?”
“I think that your apology has to be as big as your fuckup,” he says, slapping me on the shoulder. “So you better make it a good one.”
Cara forgave me faster than Clover did, and she’s the one who thinks I cheated on her.
Typical fucking Clover.
“She really showed who her favorite best friend was, didn’t she?” I mutter, just as Rake steps into the clubhouse kitchen and eyes Sin and me sitting around having a drink. “So much for loving us all the same.”
I sound like a kid, I know, but I’ve been friends with these girls since I was a damn kid, so it’s easy to go back there.
“Girls still not talking to you?” Rake asks, sitting down and joining us for a beer. I know he was disappointed in the fact that I hurt his daughter, but apparently Cara is so happy and well loved now that everyone can see that this all happened for a reason. Except Clover.
And yeah, that hurts like a kick straight to my nuts, because now it’s making me question everything. Was I loving Cara wrong the entire time we were together?
Maybe I’m broken. Maybe I’m meant to be the single man-whore for the rest of my time. I mean, it doesn’t sound so bad. I could focus on the club and dedicate my life to the Wind Dragons without anyone holding me back, which I guess was the original plan.
I’d say without having any weaknesses, but together or not, Cara will always be a weakness of mine. And Clover. Those two need me and I’d be there in a second.
I’d shoot first and ask questions later.
I’d start a war for either of them.
“They are, but it’s just not the same. I don’t know if it ever will be, to be honest,” I admit.
Rake flips the bottle cap off his beer and takes a swig. “You going to give up that easily?”
I mean, my ego is hurt.
My heart, also hurt.
My dick—that one feels great, but then makes me feel guilty, so also not my friend right now.
And then the fact that I’ve lied to not only Cara by letting her think I betrayed her, but my whole family too, doesn’t sit right with me either. More guilt.
What have I got left?
The Wind Dragons.
They better fucking be worth it.
When I take over as president there will be some changes, and I hope I’m not met with any resistance. Arrow has been running the show here for a long time, and when I take over, being much younger and inexperienced, I know that some of the members are going to test me along the way to see if I’m strong enough to lead them. They need to trust me and my judgment or they won’t want me leading the MC.
And I need to be ready for that. A club is only as strong as its president.
“No, but I think I’m going to give them a little more time before I show up with a boom box outside their windows.”
The men laugh. “Now that, I’d like to see,” Sin mutters.
“Bet he gets shot,” Rake adds, his cheerful tone making me wonder if he’d low-key like that to happen.
Arrow steps into the kitchen, his eyes going straight to me. “We have some business, if you guys are done fucking around.”
He steps back out, and just like that we all stand in unison and follow our president.
* * *
I make the two-hour drive and deliver the package as Arrow requested, which was the business in question. After that, I head out to get some food. Finding myself in my regular watering hole, I’ve sat down and ordered something to eat and a beer when I notice a familiar face sitting alone at the bar.
I walk over to her, her vanilla scent hitting me before she even notices me. “Hello.”
“Hey.” She smiles, glancing up in surprise. Most people seem to rave on about blue or light-colored eyes, but when those brown eyes look at me, I suddenly feel weak in the knees. Nothing is as beautiful. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“We must be creatures of habit.” I grin, sitting down next to her.
She smirks back, resting her chin on her palm, her dark hair a curtain around her pretty face. She looks fucking cute, wearing a denim dress and red lipstick.
“You here alone?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she replies. “I am now. My friend Jamie left, so I was just about to get out of here.”
“And now that I’m here?”
“And now...” She bites her bottom lip seductively. “I’m still about to go home.”
I laugh out loud. She has fire, and I like that. “Ahh, come on now. Have a drink. Or some of my chicken wings when they arrive.”
She pauses and tilts her head to the side. “I suppose I could stay for a chicken wing. And for some company. Going home to an empty house every night is getting a little old. It’s so...quiet.”
I scan her eyes, surprised by her vulnerability. “I know what you mean. I try to stay home, but it never happens. I always need the distraction.” I’ve never admitted that out loud to anyone.