Page 64 of Acceptance
“I guess you can come in,” she says and sets the knife on the counter before shutting and locking the door.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he growls. “And without telling me?”
Rather than say anything, like the apology he expects, she looks past him at the wall. Not saying anything pisses him off even more.
“You were almost killed because you were here!” he shouts. “I’m taking you to the clubhouse where you’ll be safe.”
All she does is nod, and his anger fades slightly. He can’t quite figure out what’s going through her mind. He expected her to apologize or argue to tell him how pissed she was at him.
Undertaker guides her outside to his bike, and she doesn’t hold on to him as they drive the short way to the clubhouse. There’s a different air about her, and it shakes him to his core.
“Are you okay?” Shep asks Jamie the moment she walks inside ahead of Undertaker.
“I’m fine. They didn’t want me. They wanted Marnie. I just happened to be the one on the other side of the door.”
“We’re glad you’re safe,” Jennings says. “Probably best if you stay here for a while. I doubt that guy will be stupid enough to get anyone here.”
Placing a hand on the small of her back, he leads her to his apartment, and the moment the door shuts, his anger returns full force. “You know the rules!”
Jamie won’t meet his eyes. In fact, she doesn’t look at him at all. She focuses on the wall behind him instead and simply says, “The rules don’t apply to me anymore.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“The rules went out the window when you forgot all about me.”
The anger dissipates, and he steps back, staring at her. He couldn’t be more surprised if she’d reached out and struck him. He’d prefer it, actually, than this quiet, distant version of her standing in front of him. “What?”
“You’re no better than anyone else I’ve ever cared about.”
“Jamie, what are you talking about?”
“You just pushed me out of your mind when I wasn’t special anymore. I wasn’t worthwhile, just like everyone else sees me.”
Blinking, Undertaker tries to understand where exactly this is coming from. He’s in love with her, and he knows he’s been focused on finding Nina’s killer, but he didn’t just forget her.
“That’s not true.”
“When was the last time we actually spoke? Not just a one letter text message but actually talked?”
“I’ve been busy trying to find—”
“The person who killed the woman you love. Yeah, I know.”
He shakes his head and tries to keep his patience in check. “Jamie, what’s going on? I know I’ve been distracted with this. Okay, I’ve probably been too distracted, but this feels like it’s coming out of the blue.”
“I moved out a week ago. You either didn’t know because you still haven’t been home in weeks, or you just didn’t notice my stuff was gone. It actually wouldn’t surprise me if you noticed and just didn’t care.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Did you even notice I haven’t called or texted in a week? If you did, you didn’t get angry that I broke the rules. I broke all of the rules, actually, because you didn’t know where I was or who I was with. I stopped being something that mattered to you.”
His chest tightens at how he’s made her feel. Something he never intended to do. “You mean everything to me.”
Jamie still won’t meet his eyes, and he feels like a caged animal being hunted down by a much bigger predator. It’s foreign and uncomfortable for him.
“No, I don’t. Nina meant everything to you.”
“Baby doll—”
