AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I screwed up my nose but allowed him to pull me toward the door. “Come on, he’s obviously here for a reason.”
The last time I’d seen Huntsman, he walked out, and I’d basically become resigned to the fact he didn’t want anything to do with me.
Did it hurt?Yeah. More than I expected it to, given that I’d only just met him, and he’d held his cards close to his chest the entire time.
Just before we reached the exit, Ham pulled me to a stop and turned me to face him. “You go, I’ll hang out here. We can do something when you get back. Like go and torment Connecticut at work or something.”
“Ham, what’s going on?” I demanded, seeing Huntsman through the glass, standing next to a big-ass truck that could rival Optimus’ beast. “Where’s his Harley?”
Ham grabbed my cheeks and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips. It was quick but hard, and I instantly wanted more, but he drew back. “Can you just trust me on this, please, fury fists?”
Of course.
I would trust him with anything.
So, I took a deep breath and turned around walking out through the double doors. I looked over my shoulder, but Ham was already gone, determined to let me deal with this on my own—at least, right at this moment. I knew he’d already done something.
Tucking my hands into the front pocket of my jeans, I slipped out into the cooling night air. It wasn’t exactly cold, but it had an edge to it, especially in the wind.
October was one of those months that seemed kind of confused. You had to prepare for five different weather situations just to step outside. And with Halloween only a couple days away, you really had to consider what your costume was going to be. Anything too revealing and you could fucking freeze—which was going to be the case for almost every girl in my dorm who’d chosen your typically sluttyinsert occupation or animalhere.
“Hey…” That was the only word I could manage as I came to a stop a few feet away from him.
“You eaten?”
I almost smiled.
He wasn’t good at this. But that wasn’t the point. I was just hoping he might be willing to learn.
“No, but I know this awesome pizza place in town?”
He nodded and pulled the passenger door open. “Let’s go, I’m starved.”
We sat at a table and ordered our food. Two pizzas, meat, extra barbecue sauce, no weird shit—his words not mine.
“What are you doing back here?” I finally asked, ready to hear what he had to say. I wanted to have him in my life, but I wasn’t going to be the only one fighting for that. I needed to know he was going to fight for me too.
“Your man, he wasn’t gonna let this shit go easily.”
I leaned back in my chair. “So, he did say something.” I sighed. “Look, I want you to be here because you want to be here. Not because Hamlet made you feel guilty about shit. I don’t want that, Dad.”
He shook his head, his hand reaching up to scratch at his beard. “Couldn’t be further from the fucking truth. Thought you would have figured out by now, ain’t a person out there who could make me do anything I didn’t want to do.”
That was true. I couldn’t imagine any person ever quilting Huntsman into anything, but I was still confused.
“Nothing’s changed, you know. The club back home, it’s still a part of me. It’s a part of Ham. I’m his Old Lady.”
He pursed his lips. There it was. Huntsman had done a lot to change the rules within his club over the years, fighting for something better for the future of his men and their families. But he was still stuck in his ways with some traditions—one being the fact that his daughter having loyalties to another club made him feel like he wasn’t a strong enough president.
“In our world, it’s all about respect. If you’d been around growing up, your man would need to prove to me he could look after you. That he could take care of you when I passed over that responsibility. I don’t know him. I don’t know whether he’s worthy of that or not.” He looked tired like this had been something which had played on his mind for a long time.
How much did he fight all this new stuff, these new additions to his family?
Or did he just let the card fall wherever they would fall?
“I can appreciate and respect a man who will look me in the eye and tell me that nothing I say will change how much he loves you.”
I started to smile, thinking about the lengths Ham would go to—including walking into my father’s club, knowing how dangerous he was—because he loved me and because he had my back.
