I thought that he promised not to be with anyone else, but I guess that was just a promise I made and a hope that I held for him. The reality of it is, he didn’t make any promises to me other than a promise to protect me.
Now, I have to trust Bones, trust his club and Ana. It’s too much. I should run. I should turn around and take off. That way I’m not a burden, that way nobody has to think about me, worry about me—help me.
“You okay, girl?”
The voice is deep, husky, raspy. Blinking, I tip my head back and look up into the green eyes of the man who was laughing just moments ago. I lick my lips, nodding my head once.
“I’m fine,” I whisper.
His lips twitch into a smile as he extends his hand down. Lifting mine, I slip my palm into his as he helps me stand to my feet. He’s almost as tall as Mountain, but not quite, almost as muscular, but again, not quite. Almost as handsome, but not quite.
“You livin’ out back with Ana?” he asks.
Nodding my head, I continue to look up into his gaze. His eyes never leave mine, he’s watching me, but there is something a little unnerving about his gaze. Maybe because I just don’t feel comfortable around men in general, but he reminds me of a predator searching for his prey.
I am not his prey. If he thinks he’s going to come over here and sweet talk me, I’m all sweet-talked out.
“I’m Leighton,” I murmur, taking a step back.
“Dutch,” he says, squeezing my hand before he releases it.
“I live out there, for now,” I say with a nod.
“For now?”
Licking my lips, I look down to my feet, then lift my gaze to meet his again. “Until it’s time for me to move on.”
“Heard you were Mountain’s girl, you think he’s just gonna let you move on when he gets back to town?”
I shrug a shoulder. “I don’t think he has a choice,” I say softly.
Dutch’s lips curve up into a shit-eating grin. His green eyes sparkle and he lets out a laugh. His entire body shakes he finds my words so damn funny. Narrowing my gaze on him, I take another step back.
“Babe, I’m sorry, but you don’t know him or any men like us, do you?”
I feel my face heat immediately. “Probably not,” I whisper. “The only men I’ve ever been around, they use you and kill you when they’ve destroyed your body and mind to a point of no return.”
Spinning around, I start to run away, but he doesn’t let me. He reaches out, wrapping his fingers around my bicep and hauls me backward. I feel his chest as he breathes against my back, his lips are against the side of my ear, but thankfully, they don’t touch me.
“I’m going to need more, babe. You just dropped a heavy load of shit in one little sentence.”
“No,” I whisper. “No.”
“Oh, you will, but I can wait.”
He releases me and this time, I sprint out of the clubhouse and straight for my new home. Locking myself in my new bedroom, my entire body shakes as I cry. I don’t know why I said what I did to a stranger. I shouldn’t have, but I’ve been thinking, and it just came out and now I feel absolutely sick about it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
LEIGHTON
Another week passes, then another, and finally one more. I roll to the side of my bed, groaning with nausea. Something is really wrong with me. It’s beyond anything that I have experienced before. I try to sit up, but another wave of nausea rolls through me.
“Shit,” Ana whispers.
Turning my head, I look at her, confusion no doubt apparent across my face. “What?”
She shakes her head, biting on the corner of her lip. “You’re pregnant, honey.”
“I’m not.” I laugh. “You have to have sex to be pregnant.”
She frowns, taking a step inside of my room, then another before she sits down on the edge of the bed next to me. “I don’t want to pry. You’ve been pretty quiet about your life before Bones brought you here, but I thought that you and Mountain…”
“Oh, God,” I groan, pushing straight up to sitting.
No.
No.
No.
“It’s not. It couldn’t be,” I ramble. Lifting my eyes to meet her, I shake my head. “It can’t be.”
“I’ll go get you a test.”
Without another word, she stands and turns away from me. I hear the front door close and I can’t stop myself, I can’t control my body. I stand and run toward the bathroom, heaving up everything and nothing all at the same time.
Closing my eyes, I sob with my arm across the back of the seat and my forehead resting against my forearm. Pregnant. I didn’t know, didn’t realize that it could be possible. He kept saying that I needed to go to the doctor and get everything taken care of. But I turned away from him, walked away from his life, and didn’t think twice about it.
I haven’t needed to worry about contraception. My father had me on the shot, something that I stopped doing when I ran away for five years. The few men I slept with in the beginning, they wore condoms. I haven’t had to worry about it, not ever.
Now I’m fucked.
“Shit, babe,” a husky voice rasps from behind me.
“Go away,” I cry out.
“No can do, babe.”
Before I realize what’s happening, he’s slowly picking me up off of the bathroom floor. He guides me over to the sink and I grab the toothbrush while gagging the entire time, I brush my teeth, rinsing my mouth and face with water as quickly as I can.
“You wanna talk to me?” Dutch asks.
Shaking my head, I slowly turn around, tipping my head back so that I can look into his green eyes. “Why are you nice to me? I’m not going to sleep with you, or date you, or anything.”
His lips twitch into a small smile. “While that is enticing as fuck, I’m not here for that.”
“Why are you here?”
He dips his chin, his eyes focused on mine while his lips stay turned up. “Think you’re a good kid who needs a couple of friends. You work hard, you stay to yourself, but I see the sadness deep inside of you. Maybe I just want to help you, Leighton.”
“What’s in it for you?”
Dutch shrugs a shoulder. “Just like making people smile, babe. Always have. Beautiful girls should never be sad, not fuckin’ ever. My pappy taught me that. He may have been a mean sonofabitch, but he taught me that, and I’ll forever be grateful to him for it.”
“Because you are deep down a guy who just wants to make people happy?”
He chuckles. “It got me laid a fuckton.”
I can’t help myself, I let out my own giggle and shake my head. “You’re crazy,” I whisper.
“Yeah, you have no idea,” he murmurs.
“I bet I could guess.”
“Probably.”
He leans down slightly, his eyes searching my own. My breath hitches when I realize that he’s going to try to kiss me. I don’t panic, not like I probably should, instead my heart starts to thump against my chest at the thought of his kiss, of any kiss really.
“Am I interrupting?” Ana asks.