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“And I can’t tell you because you aren’t his old lady,” he threw back. “He hasn’t claimed you. That’s how the club works, Meyah.”
I’d heard the stories of the girls when they were claimed. Things were different here. You didn’t just start a relationship with one of these men, and that was it. No, these guys took ownership, and they let everyone know their woman was taken. It was announced to the entire club with pride.
They didn’t mess around. When they knew they wanted something, they took it. Uncle Leo had only known Hadley for a couple of weeks when he claimed her as his, and I’d heard stories about Kit claiming Harmony the day after they’d met.
What did that mean for us?
It had been a couple of weeks since we’d started to get to know each other, and things had begun to heat up. But everyone knew the history we had. It wasn’t like it was a secret the way Ham and I had spent so long dancing around each other.
Was he still unsure about what he wanted?
“When will he be back?” I demanded, trying not to let myself get emotional about something so stupid. Like it wouldn’t have taken five minutes to stop at my house and let me know he had to go away for what? A few hours? A day?
“Meyah…”
“He promised he’d come with me to prom.”
“I don’t know. But I’m sure if Ham made that promise, he’ll be doing whatever humanly possible to get back before then,” Uncle Leo assured. “And to make up for it. How about we go and see your mom about rethinking the club escorting you there.”
The gesture warmed me, and I nodded, but honestly, all I wanted was Ham.
He was the one who was giving me the strength to stand up and go to the damn prom.
He was the one I wanted standing beside me giving me that little shove I’d no doubt need.
He was the one I wanted to end this year of hell with and replace it with dreams and ideas of the future.
And he’d just gone AWOL.
Feeling awkward and embarrassed, I sat up and grabbed my half-empty water bottle, shaking it in the air. “I’m going to go fill this up, it’s getting a bit warm.” I didn’t bother to stick around to see their confused faces. Hurriedly, I made my exit. I wanted to tell them I was coming, for once, and be the girl that everyone else envied rather than pitied.
How fucking pathetic.
But true.
I’d watched girls’ ogle Ham in the grocery store and stop on the side of the street as he drove by. I’d even seen his name scrawled in the margins of their books. He was the leather wearing, motorcycle riding, sexy as all sin bad boy that every girl’s daddy warned them about when they were little. He made them want to rebel, to take a short ride on the wild side which made him probably the most wanted man in town. Although, I think Skins and Levi could probably give him a run for his money.
The catch was, they would never see him as good enough to take home to their parents or to show off at family functions. They just wanted other girls to be jealous of what they had and wanted to have him for a moment in time just to say that they had.
And he was completely fucking oblivious to it all.
Because he wasn’t that guy for me.
He was more than a cheap fling.
Ham was the guy who made me feel stronger than I’d ever felt because he believed in me. He was the guy who wasn’t intimidated by the fact I knew how to shoot a gun, and instead found it sexy as hell and encouraged me to do better. He was the guy who wouldn’t let me fall unless he was there to catch me.
“You’re really bringing your run-down biker to the prom?” Just the sound of his voice was like a grater on my skin. It made me cringe and want to mentally punch myself in the face for ever thinking that silky tone was anything but slimy and disgusting. “I’m pretty sure greasy jeans and leather isn’t part of the dress code.”
Taking a deep breath, I turned around forcing myself to stand a little taller. Even if Nick was still taller than me, I refused to let him think he could stand over me and talk down to me in this bullshit manner. “Walk away, Nick,” I sniped, stepping to the right to try and get around him.
He moved blocking my path and closing in on me. I gripped the bottle of water in my hand that I’d just filled up, wondering how much damage it would do if I hit him around the head with it.
“That guy has wanted you since he first laid eyes on you,” Nick continued, menacingly. The tone of his voice was sharper, darker than his usual teasing tone, and the look in his eyes was one that I hadn’t seen before. Another step closer, and suddenly I felt like this wasn’t just Nick being an asshole anymore. “I bet it makes him furious that I got there before him, that I’ll always be your first. The first one to touch you, the first one to fuck you, the first—”
“Shut up!” I snapped, slightly horrified at just how far this had escalated.
Nick had always been crude and disgusting, but this was next level. This wasn’t joking anymore. I could tell by the way his eyes watched me like I was a piece of meat, and he was a hunter looking for his next kill.
