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“I planned it before we got together,” he said as if that explained why he hadn’t told me about it. Why he hid it. “You know I bought that Winchester.”
“Yes, I know you bought a two-thousand-dollar gun while I’m worried about paying bills.”
“It wasn’t nearly that much. And you don’t need to worry,” Hallow tried. “You don’t need to be singing at the clubhouse, either.”
“I thought you were in Arkansas, and I couldn’t contact you. That I would get you killed or something. And what do you expect me to do while you’re hunting pigs?”
“We did have shit to do on the way, in Arkansas. I never said I was going solely on a run. I simply told you I was running with Thorn and Creek. I figured you realized.”
“Next thing I know you’ll tell me you were with other women in Texas. Like I was supposed to figure that too.”
The biker’s face dropped for a moment.
Fuck. “Spill it.”
“Okay, Eve. It was no big deal. I wasn’t with anyone. I didn’t touch a woman, but we went to a massage parlor, and I had a happy ending. But only a hand job, I swear.”
With that, Hallow and I had our first real fight that seemed to drag on for weeks. But our lives went on. We made up slowly. Hallow ran with his club, while I performed at Royal Road, for Kingpin. And yes, I planned a wedding. All the while, even though he had hurt me, I felt guilty. Like I was tricking Hallow into a life with me. Defective me. But I was also so angry at him that he hadn’t been there for me. That while I was alone, suffering, he was having a happy ending. Getting jerked off by a stranger. There was no way I could open up to him and tell him the truth.
Then all of a sudden, Kingpin met someone. We stopped practicing for a long while. I seemed to be flying solo, able to perform without him. Something I always wanted. Hallow and I saw each other when we could. Eventually, I was able to have sex with him, but it wasn’t as regular as he wanted it. I chalked it up to wedding nerves. With such a big secret, and resentment, I found it hard to be intimate with my fiancé. I knew I needed to tell him the truth. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it and fight again.
I lied by omission.
That's why I couldn't live with it. That's why I got cold feet about our wedding.
That's why I called my brother Hob the day before the wedding.
“I can’t go through with it,” I said to my younger brother. We hadn’t talked often but the bond was there. I felt I could confide in him. “I wish I wasn’t in this mess. I feel like I can’t back out even if I wanted to.”
“Come back to Arkansas. I’ll protect you,” he promised.
I had no idea that he was running with the Asphalt Gods MC. Last thing I knew, Hob was in college.
Then I heard the news that night.
Keeping traditions, Hallow and I weren’t to see one another the night before the wedding. He was busy having a bachelor party outside of Royal Road that I didn’t want to think about. I didn’t even know where he was or what he was doing. Or who? I cursed those sorts of thoughts.
The ol’ ladies at the Eagles’ Nest put together a party for me, complete with strippers who I definitely did not want to touch. Though nice to look at, I’d not known where these handsome, muscly men had been. I was just happy not to be on Broadway in Nashville with a million other brides to be. The other ladies had a blast as they gave me a biker version of a bachelorette party. It was raunchy as hell with dick shaped everything and really cheered me up.
I began rethinking running as the party progressed. The more I drank, the more confused I became. Especially when the women initiated me into their ol’ ladies’ club. When they first mentioned it, I thought they were going to beat me in. But no, I got to take a swing at all of them, one by one. If I landed a punch, I would be higher than that ol’ lady I hit. If I hit one of them, she could try to hit me back.
Needless to say, I missed all my punches. I didn’t want to mess up my face for my wedding. Which I felt was the point. Afterall, any of them could kick my ass. I was the low woman on the totem pole, and I knew it. Even so, I had a good time and felt more than included in the group. When the party ended, I rode back to Royal Road on the back of Connie’s motorcycle. Off to spend the night in a separate room from Hallow.
That’s when Opry let me know since he ran the business side of Royal Road.
I was staying over the clubhouse. He knocked on my door. “Slight change of plans tomorrow. Don’t come out until the music starts a second time.”
“Why on earth?” I asked, although I meant to run off.
“Since we already have the clubhouse set up, and everyone’s going to be here, Kingpin’s fixin to use the space. Before your wedding. Don’t worry, after that, it’s all about you and Hallow.”
Thinking Opry was talking about some sort of club meeting, I asked about the music, genuinely curious. “What? Is Prez fixing to walk down the aisle?”
With a befuddled expression, Opry tilted his cowboy hat. “No, but I reckon, Sky’s going to.”
Lordalmighty.
“Kingpin’s marrying a girl he’s been with a little over a month, and it’s got to be on my wedding day? The day I’ve been planning nearly eight months?”
