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“Yeah, it really does and it’s not going back on.”
“What happened?”
I recounted the story of what I saw when I got to the grocery store. The whole club listened with rapt attention about how I caught my old man in a lip-locked clench with his supposed ex-girlfriend while I was wearing his property patch, growing his baby, and running an errand in support of his club. The same club his bitch wanted him to leave behind for her.
“So, you can keep this cut because I am no longer his old lady. It was all for show anyway, considering he never left his ex.” I thought about that a second and corrected myself. “I guess if he never left her she isn’t an ex, I’m just the other woman with a patch that I don’t want anymore.” I looked away from Ratchet, unable to see the sadness and pity staring back at me.
“That means when I have this baby, I’m free for anyone to claim. I won’t do it before because I know what respect looks like, even if it wasn’t shown to me. If none of you want to claim me, someone let Sparkles know I’ll take him up on his offer next time you hear from him.”
“What the fuck, Kim?” My brother called out, having only heard the last part of my announcement and not the story that went with it, since he had just arrived.
“Someone else can fill you in. I’m not in the fucking mood.” I turned to Ratchet then. “You might want to get that thing out of my sight before I accidentally disrespect the club by setting it on fire. The asshole can remove my name and add his real old lady to it instead.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Mack yelled as his temper flared. Ratchet patted him on the back, took my leather, and indicated for my brother to follow him to his office. That was good because if I had to recount the story one more fucking time, it would be too many and I would lose my shit and start sobbing in the middle of a Goddamn biker clubhouse stuffed full of bikers. Not a damn one of them would be able to handle the number of tears I had on deck and was trying desperately to contain.
Chapter 17
Tripp
I borrowed the club’s truck to go on the grocery run, since I didn’t own a cage. Whichever prospect used it last was going to hear about shit from me because the fucker left the damn thing near on empty. By the time I got it filled and checked the other fluids, just in case, it had taken me damn near thirty minutes to get to the store. Then, I sat in the parking lot for a few minutes going over the list and reorganizing everything in my head based on where it was located in the store.
I hated going by a list and then running all over the fucking store and back for everything because it wasn’t organized. I’d have to talk to Minx about how she put it all together, to make it easier on us if a brother was doing the run. Fuck the prospects. If they needed to run all over the store for hours on end while chasing down each item, that was on them. By the time I got out of my truck and had walked two cars down the lot, I heard a squeal of absolute fucking delight and then my name.
“Tripp?” June stood there next to a shiny, new, Mazda Miata. The thing looked like a toy compared to my size. When our eyes met, her knees buckled, and I ran over to catch her before she fell. My hands found her hips and I pushed forward to brace her back against the car. June’s arms immediately wrapped around my neck and the position it put us in was so familiar. It was like going back in time to when things were so different between us.
Her eyes were glassy as she whispered to me. “It’s really you.”
“Yeah, babe, it’s me.”
“I’ve missed you so much, Tripp. My heart aches and I cry myself to sleep every night.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” It was the truth. You don’t just stop loving someone after three years. No matter what ended things, that love is still there, lingering in the background. The minute she was in my arms again, it all came rushing back full force.
Then, June smiled at me and said, “I still love you.” She lifted up on her toes, using the arms that were wrapped around my neck as leverage as she drew closer with her lips puckered. Her eyelids drifted lazily down until they were shut with anticipation. Without any thought, other than how much I had missed her, I leaned in and kissed her lips.
I meant for it to just be a quick peck until she grabbed the back of my head and held me close while licking at the crease where my lips met. I opened for her on instinct and fell into a kiss that spoke of our shared past. It was the fleeting thought that it was supposed to remain in the past that made me pull back. I wasn’t supposed to be there with her. We were done.
She wanted me to choose her over the club, over my child, over everything and nothing had changed about that. We couldn’t go back. Besides, as I’d spent the past two months really getting to know Kim, it became obvious that we were a better fit. Even as friends, without the intimacy, Kim and I were on the same page about almost everything in life.
June smirked over my shoulder at something, and the way her eyes were narrowed reminded me of all those times she’d been a complete bitch to someone in high school, especially other girls who had taken a liking to me. I turned to see Kim standing there watching us, all the color drained from her face, and immediately pushed back from June and dislodged her hands from where they were locked around my neck in a vice-like hold.
Fuck.
None of this should have happened, and of course, the minute my brain blips out and gets lost in nostalgia, Kim had to be there to see it. Not that I wouldn’t have come clean and told her what happened. We were in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot for Christ’s sake. Anyone could have seen that shit. The most important someone in my life did.
“Kim!” Her name was like a plea on my lips, but I didn’t think she could hear that as she walked toward us with her head high and shoulders back. She’d thrown up walls so high, they might be impossible to scale again.
“Ratchet sent me with another list because company’s coming this weekend.” She shoved a wad of rolled up bills along with a piece of paper into my chest so hard, it was a wonder they didn’t leave an imprint there. I grabbed for it, not to take the money and list, but to make sure she didn’t walk away before I could explain.
Fuck, I didn’t even know how the hell I was supposed to explain what she saw. I was a worthless piece of shit for falling into my ex’s arms again, no matter how much nostalgia I felt. There was no way Kim would believe it all started with me trying to keep June from falling.
My attempt at grasping onto Kim’s hand was futile. She pulled away immediately with a look of complete disgust painted on her beautiful face. When she yanked away from me, the money fell since I’d been more worried about holding onto her than it. I had to lean down and grab it up because I hadn’t brought my card with me to pay for shit, and ratchet might have joked about making me a prospect again earlier, but if I failed to come home with the club’s grocery order, he just might do it for real.
When Kim walked away, panic set in. I snatched up the money and the list before they could blow away and then stood.
“Kim, wait!” I yelled, but she didn’t stop or turn. Then June’s gasp caught my attention, and I glanced back at her to see her eyes locked on Kim’s back. When I turned back around, I realized that she was wearing her cut with my property patch on it. Big as day, on the back of her leather, it said: “Property of Tripp”. Pride flicked through my mind for one brief second before worry quickly followed it.
“You made her your old lady?” June screamed at me, as if it was an accusation.
