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There was a flutter of something in my chest as I watched him leave. His broad shoulders, the bristles on his face, and the way he held himself were all things that had changed over the past year.
Ham wasn’t a boy anymore.
Nope.
All man.
More of the brothers began to file outside and onto the patio where there was a gentle breeze and a warm sun, each of them with a drink in their hands. Obviously, they were done for the day and ready to relax.
With Ham gone and my mom on her way ready to start something, I decided it was a good time to make a quick escape. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to walk toward my uncle who was now talking with Optimus. They both turned as I stopped sharply beside them.
“Mom’s coming to pick me up. Someone saw me on the back of Ham’s bike, and she’s pissed. I’ll go wait for her out the front, k?” I rattled off quickly before making a quick exit. Well, what I thought would be a quick exit. I should have known better by now.
I tried to slip through the open doors, but someone else was faster hooking their finger in the rear belt loop of my jeans and dragging me backward. The first face I saw was Optimus—the club president—with an amused smirk as he took a sip of his beer.
Then Uncle Leo grabbed my shoulders and turned my body to face him. He stepped back and folded his arms across his chest waiting for an explanation.
I screwed up my nose. “I had a bad day, okay?” I started, instantly knowing he wasn’t buying it.
“Am I missing something?” he demanded. “Throwing punches and getting on the back of motorcycles… not just any, but one of my brothers? Anything else you’d like to tell me? Like maybe when this brain transplant happened?”
“Oh, dear,” a very pregnant Hadley murmured as she waddled outside with Macy hooked on her back. She placed my cousin on the ground and patted her on the back. “Go play, baby.”
That kid didn’t need to be told twice. She was gone like a flash with one of the prospects instantly jogging after her. Most of them were good like that—they immediately stepped in when they knew the brothers or their old ladies were busy.
Uncle Leo instantly reached for her and pulled her to his side helping to support her aching body. “Hadley, please tell him this is no big deal. I just want to go before Mom comes in and makes some big scene,” I tried to explain. “I thought you were proud of me? Nick has been making my life hell for almost a year.”
“Of course, I’m fucking proud of you,” he responded. “But your mother… if you can’t keep your shit together, she’s gonna stop you from coming round here. Just when we finally had some kind of understanding.”
My heart sunk. The clubhouse had become like a second home, and Uncle Leo had always been there for me. But recently he’d truly taken up that father figure position in my life, and I didn’t want him to get in trouble because of me. “I’ll tell her you didn’t know.”
Hadley opened her mouth to speak, but Uncle Leo cut her off. “It doesn’t matter because I’m responsible for you when you’re here. I’m responsible for you being around the boys, and I promised her there would be no riding on the back of motorcycles.”
“But we’ve—”
“Yes,wehave but only around these streets that I know like the fucking back of my hand, and because I know your Mom can be a little overprotective,” he explained, the sharp tone to his voice cooling a little bit. “It’s not that I don’t trust Ham with your life… he wouldn’t be my brother if I didn’t. But that doesn’t change the fact that when it comes to the club and people in it, I’m responsible, and either you or he should have damn well spoken to me first.”
Up until that last part, I was certainly feeling like crap about what I’d done, never meaning to risk being able to see my uncle. But then he went and pushed that button.
I threw my hands in the air rolling my eyes. “You’re acting just like her.” I swallowed the hard lump in my throat which was threatening to form into tears. “Why do I have to check in with everyone first? When do I get to start making choices about my own life?” I asked sharply, drawing a lot more attention than I intended.
“When you’re old enough to understand how your actions reflect on you and the people around you,” Uncle Leo snapped, the anger in his tone making me take a step back.
My mouth fell open. Uncle Leo had never been anything but supportive, encouraging me to come out of my shell and stand my ground. It’s why he’d allowed Hadley to teach me how to shoot, and how he was continually telling me I didn’t have to stand and take Nick’s bullshit when I made him promise he wouldn’t take things into his own hands.
Now he was suddenly concerned with how I was going to make him look?
“I’m sorry that my happiness made you look bad,” I threw back, my words dripping in sarcasm.
“Meyah, we don’t want there to be a reason you can’t come here anymore,” Hadley tried, but I shook my head ignoring the pained look on Uncle Leo’s face.
“I’m eighteen. When do I get to decide what’s right for me and what’s wrong?” I declared, not caring anymore who was watching or listening. I knew I was being a little dramatic, but I just couldn’t find it in me to care. I wanted to make a point. I wanted them to hear me. “Ham asked me to go for a ride with him, and I said yes, and for the first time in a long time, I had fun—”
“Meyah.”
My words were instantly lost. My mom had already lectured me on things to do with Ham. Just having him around at the house yesterday, even after the day I’d had, was enough to twist her panties epically. I gritted my teeth trying to stop the tears that burned as I turned to see my mom standing at the edge of the patio. She’d come around the side of the clubhouse instead of through the front door.
“Get in the car,” she snapped. Her eyes were dark and cloudy like I’d never seen them before like there was a storm swirling inside. Even yesterday morning in the Principal’s office, she was upset, but nothing like this.
