“Are you regretting taking the gavel yet?”
With all the shit going on and dad’s amused sarcasm, I tell him, “I have no regrets.” While I’m here, I add, “What would your call have been dealing with Lily?”
“Bringing another club to our door? A club we’ve already got heat with. Fuck, I’d have put a bullet in her head by now.”
Having him on the same level as me, brings relief.
“Before you ask, Slade knows you won’t fuck around, but he still doesn’t know how you tick. You’re not me and brothers are finally getting it.”
“This shit with the Hogs, I dunno, it’s like I can already see it’s not gonna go away and with Lily being Hopper’s old lady, shit’s about to get messy.”
“Are you spit balling, or do you want some advice?”
“Spit balling. I appreciate the advice when given but I don’t need it today.”
Holly and Nora come walking around the house and while I love laying eyes on my woman, her friend… not so much.
“What’s going on there?” Dad asks jerking his chin in Nora’s direction before they disappear into my house.
“Her mother died. She’s back for the funeral.”
“So they’ll be leaving within a few days.”
I nod. “I’ve got Mason watching her until she leaves.”
“So that’s one thing off your mind. You can trust Mase. Focus on Hopper, he’ll make moves you won’t see coming.”
It’s not what I wanted to hear but I needed to. Now it’s time to cast my reputation far and wide and no one will see me coming if I choose to go for them.
Chapter Thirteen
Shane
The cheap sheets scratch against me but Lily’s smooth, warm skin distracts me. She rolls off of me and onto her side, giving me full view of her slender back. A small tattoo of a butterfly dances on her shoulder blade as she moves. It’s old ink, having spread with age and the red wings are faded. I should get up and leave but she begins to sob. I curl up behind her and hold her tightly until her sobs fade to hiccups and then to nothing. I almost believe she’s fallen asleep until she asks, “Have you ever messed up so bad you couldn’t come back from it?”
“No, but I’ve still got time.” My joke to lighten the tension in the room fails to land.
“There’s no coming back this time,” she cries. “I’ve always acted like I was alone, but I’ve been so wrong. I’ve lost everything when I always thought I had nothing.”
Her pain somehow seeps into me, and I can’t bear it. I roll on top of her, making sure I have her full attention.
“There is nothing you can’t come back from. Figure out what you really want and focus on that.”
“No one will believe me.”
“My mom used to say that proving people wrong was the best type of satisfaction you could feel.”
She turns her head but instead of letting her wallow in her pity party for one, I kiss a trail along her neck and across her shoulder. “Keep trying. That’s the thing about life, you never know what’s coming next.”
“Why do you care?”
“I have no fuckin’ idea, but I do. If you want, I’ll help you in any way I can.”
She looks up at me. “All I need from you tonight is to fuck me then leave.”
“Keeping talking like that and I might start thinking you’re perfect.”
I regret the words as soon as I’ve said them, but she doesn’t react apart from to wrap her slender fingers around my dick. She works me good until I’m fully erect and back in action. I know I’m nothing but a distraction for her. Our bodies meld together, and I slam into her hard. If she needs a distraction, I’ll give her what she wants. My thrusts grow fiercer. She cries out, louder and louder, and when she climaxes, I blow. Pulling out of her, I fall beside her, panting.
