“That’s not what he said to me.”
Grunt shook his head. I figured if I had to be around the club for the sake of this contract - that I couldn’t turn down - then Ineeded to get used to calling old friends by new names. His dark eyes tracked every move I made.
“You know as well as I do that Knuckles can be a hot head sometimes. Comes from spending too much time in his dad’s house at the wrong time of his life. Fact is, he never loved that bitch. He cared for her enough to stick to his vows until she fucked it up, but that was about it. Even then, it was a constant test of his will to stay married to the harpy.”
I giggled. “Sounds like someone doesn’t like her.”
“Can’t stand her,” he admitted freely.
“It’s weird because I thought her crush on you in high school was mutual.”
“It was because she had a banging body back then and there wasn’t a hint of innocence to her.” I wrinkled my nose in distaste at that. “Don’t judge, princess. You had a crush on the asshole who wouldn’t even acknowledge you at school.”
I laughed. “Touche.”
“About that,” he started to say and shook my head to indicate I didn’t want to hear it from him. He sighed and grabbed my hand. We were seated at the single table in the restaurant’s dining area. He was in Finch’s seat while I was in mine, though. It was easy enough for him to reach over and take my hand where it rested on top of the contract I had yet to sign.
“Hear me out, please.” When I gave a slight nod, he didn’t hesitate. “I don’t know what excuse my brother gave you for his behavior back then, but I think you deserve the truth, even if it means going behind his back and telling you shit that was entrusted to my ears only.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t betray your friend’s trust,” I said.
“Yeah, I’d normally go with that, but I think in this case, he’ll forgive me. You weren’t the only with a crush back when we were younger. Half the damn time, that fucker blew off ourplans at the last minute because he saw you light a fire in his grandparent’s backyard.”
“My backyard,” I corrected.
Grunt shook his head. “No, Cass. The fire pit was always on the Davis’s property.” He grinned as my jaw dropped.
“No! I was trespassing and using their fire pit that whole time and no one said a word to me?”
Grunt laughed. “Why would they? You weren’t hurting anything and no one else was using it.”
My face burned with embarrassment. “I can’t believe all this time… Oh no! It must have looked like I was stalking him then.”
“It didn’t. I promise. The first time it happened, James asked his grandpa if he wanted him to tell you that you couldn’t do that. Gramps said to leave you be that you had your reasons for wanting to be alone with a fire out there. He also mentioned that the property line was really close and you probably thought it belonged to your family. I think Tim knew you needed a place where you felt safe, even before they knew what a bitch your stepmom was to you.”
“How do you know about that?”
The look on his face had an “I told you so” quality to it before he answered. “My best friend in the world would ditch me to hang out with his grandparents. Do you know how fucked that was when we were teenagers?” Grunt chuckled. “I went there a few times. Showed up out of the blue just to see what was so special about Tim and Virginia that Knuckles couldn’t tear himself away. Only, when I got there, he wasn’t with his grandparents. He was out back at a fire, laughing with about something the girl next door said.”
I smiled and remembered those moments fondly. James might have tainted my memories when it finally hit me that he was hiding our friendship, but before that, those moments were special - sacred even. He was the one good thing in mylife at that time besides his grandparents. Simone wasn’t even a consideration. If she had ditched me as a friend it would have made me sad and curious about why, but it wouldn’t have broken my heart to lose her.
“He wouldn’t admit it back then, but when he got wasted after your father’s wake last year and Smooth and Grease brought him back to the clubhouse, the asshole couldn’t shut his trap about you. Before all the drinks, I set him straight on some doubts I’d had since we were in high school. The dynamic between you and Simone shifted a lot. It went from you trailing around after her and hanging on her every word, to a completely flipped script. Only, you weren’t speaking. Simone was still jabbering, but you weren’t tuned in anymore. You certainly weren’t following her around, she was shadowing you until you decided to hide out in the library where she didn’t want to go.”
“Best decision I ever made. That library gave me peace and the key to my future.”
“How so?”
“I found an old “Be all you can be” Army pamphlet in a box when I was helping get rid of stuff. It was a lifeline when I needed direction.”
“You were in the Army the whole time?”
“I left for basic training the week after we graduated.”
“You never even went to college?”
I shook my head. “I have a bachelor’s in business administration, but I earned it through distance learning with Purdue Global while I was enlisted. I never attended in person classes.”
“Well, we all knew she was lying, but damn, Cass. If anyone had ever bothered to check…” He seemed lost in thought for a bit. “I wonder why we took her word for so long. I even thought she was going to see you for a while.”
