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“Marcum—”
“I’m not that fucking old. I don’t need you helping me walk. Next thing I know you’ll be asking to wipe my ass.”
“Trust me, Marcum, man. That’s one thing I’ll never ask.”
“See that you don’t,” I mutter, my head feeling woozy.
I get in his truck, and he slams the door shut for me. Bastard probably thinks I’m too fucking old to shut it myself.
I need to hit him harder next time.15ToiI look out the window and see everyone leaving. My gaze zeros in on Ghost and Marcum. I watched them walk to the truck, I even watched Marcum stumble and then hit Ghost. He’s obviously drunk. Maybe he was drunk when he was here earlier. That would explain a lot. All I know is that now is the perfect time to leave. I may never get another chance like this.
The minute the taillights disappear, I move around the room packing my things. I don’t have much, so that definitely doesn’t take a long time. I’m about to go to the door when there’s a knock. My heart kicks in my chest and a cool flush of heat hits me. Panic—that’s what it is. I look at my bag as I hear another knock. I stuff it under my bed, pulling the comforter down so that it’s lopsided, but manages to hide the bag.
I open the door, not sure of what I will find. Marcum and Ghost are gone and that’s usually the only two I see. Besides, if it was either one of them they would have just walked in. I’m surprised when I see Desi there.
Hi.
I mouth the word, knowing I don’t need to speak it for her to understand. She’s in her pajamas and holding a worn teddy bear, but it’s the tears running down her face that melt my heart. I gather her up in my arms, kick the door shut and carry her to the bed.
“Harley hates me,” she sobs.
I swallow, because I know this will be painful, but some things are worth the pain. Desi already owns a piece of my heart. Hell, Harley does too—even if he despises me.
“He doesn’t hate you.”
My voice is rusty, but I know I can talk like this, and Desi needs my voice right now. I’ll pay for it tomorrow. The doctors have warned me not to strain my voice, but right now I feel I don’t have a choice. I’ve spent years trying to conserve what vocal use I have. I had dreamed of having surgery on my vocal chords. I need to face the truth, though. It’s been years since my injury and I’ve barely managed to save money, let alone enough for surgery.
I have to stop dreaming.
“He does. I told Dad on him and he got mad.”
“He’ll get over it, honey.”
“You don’t understand, Toi. I’ve never told on Harley before. Never!”
“Desi…”
“But he was being mean to you and I was afraid he would make you leave. I don’t want you to go, Toi.”
“Baby…”
“I love you, Toi,” she cries and if your heart could break in one moment that would do it. No one has ever told me they loved me before.
In a lot of ways, I wish it hadn’t been this little girl telling me now. I could ignore a lot of things, but I could never ignore Desi—or even Harley, for that matter. I hold her close whispering soft nonsense, trying to comfort her in ways I’ve always wanted someone to comfort me, but never had.
Slowly her sobs ease and she falls asleep in my arms. I should take her to her room, but I like the feel of her in my arms. I close my eyes.
How am I supposed to leave with Desi’s cries in my heart? Will she hate me if I leave? Will I be another person who hurts her like the long list of people in my life? Can I live with myself if I am?
Tonight I have no answers. Which means instead of escaping the club, I’m holding a little girl close and falling a little more in love with her.16Marcum“Maxwell! Get your sorry ass out here!” I yell, as I stumble my way to his house.
“Marcum, man, maybe you should go home and sleep this off,” Ghost says, following behind me like a damn dog. I hear Topper and Babs pull up on his bike, too. Motherfuckers. All of them. I’m surrounded by fucking assholes.
“Fuck off,” I growl at Ghost. “Maxwell damn it! Get out here!”
I stagger to the door and he still hasn’t got the nerve up to open it. He’s smarter than I give him credit for. He should be scared to tangle with his old man. I might have some mileage on me, but I won’t be fucked with.
Damn boy still isn’t here and I have to take a piss. I unzip my pants and take out my dick.
