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CHAPTER1
HONOR
Two Months Ago. . .
My life has never been what you can call an easy one. It’s been more of a struggle than I’d like to let onto. Sometimes I like to pretend that it’s been all sunshine and roses rather than the truth of it . . . a complete shitshow. Well, most of it, anyway.
Growing up, my brother, Gunner, and I lost our parents and were thrown into the system. We weren’t always in the same home, and that truly sucked because that meant I was without the only family I had left. We ended up growing distant, no matter how hard we tried to stay close.
Even now, we’re social, we talk, but that bond that once was between us isn’t there. He’s got his life, and I’ve got mine. Granted, he does his best to keep us somewhat close, but in my opinion, it’s strained.
Shoot, I think I’m closer to my friends sometimes than I am Gunner. I know for a fact, I’m closer to Glacier than I am my own brother. During my time in one of the long-lasting foster homes, I met Glacier, back then he wasn’t Glacier to me. His name’s Asa, and he was my foster brother and also my best friend at the time. We clicked almost instantly, and then after about a year at of us living under the same roof, we found out by chance that we shared another connection.
We did this with Mr. Johnson, who was all about people knowing where they came from and knowing our ancestry. Mr. Johnson did the DNA thing with us and come to find out we were related. He did more digging and found Glacier/Asa is my cousin on my mother’s side. I didn’t even know my mom had a family. According to what I remember, she ran away from them a long time ago and never looked back. Only by the fate of things did we learn this, and I couldn’t have been happier.
So, I was able to say I wasn’t alone with only one brother, I had a cousin who was more like a brother than my own. But that’s not to discredit Gunner. He’s amazing and tried his hardest. Even now he still tries, though things have been hell on him lately with everything going on at the clubhouse and in his personal life. Between the love of his life coming back and finding out Delilah is his daughter, I guess you can say he’s been on a roller coaster.
Thanks to my work schedule and everything else I’ve had going on lately, I haven’t had much time to spend with him. I’m a nurse at the hospital and work in the ER. I love the chaos of it and thrive on it all. That’s not to say I don’t wish it were easier some days.
Like today of all days.
I’ve seen it all. From men coming in with poison ivy on their junk, to women being abused, all the way to gunshot wounds and stabbings. The ones I hate most are when the children are brought it. It breaks my heart, and I wish I could do more for them.
Today, though, well, it’s been one for the books. I not only had a few typical patients who came in for random aches and pains, some even broken, but what gets me upset is that I had to deal with a family that came in altogether. The wife looked beaten but claimed she fell down a set of stairs. I fought hard not to roll my eyes when she said this, her husband standing over her. But it was the daughter that gutted me, she had a broken arm and cried about it being an accident.
The cops were called, and the father was taken away in cuffs while the woman pleaded for them not to take him. I don’t understand women sometimes. Why would you defend a man who would do something so vile to you or your child?
Now, here I am after dealing with that situation, assisting Dr. Tatem in stitching up a stab wound. But that’s not what is getting to me. It’s the who.
Savage.
He’s one of my brother’s club brothers and he’s the very man I’ve had a crush on since I first met him. He’s got that dark and broody thing going for him and it doesn’t hurt that he’s hotandI mean hot,hot. He has those penetrating dark eyes that seem to look through you and know what you’re thinking. They also seem to hold a lot of secrets. Though I doubt he’ll ever let onto any of them.
“You’re very lucky, Mr. Winters,” Dr. Tatem says, watching where she’s stitching up a scary-looking wound.
At the sound of her calling Savage Mr. Winters, I want to cringe. According to his records, I know his name is Orion Winters and I find it sexy, but no one calls him that. I’ve only ever heard him called Savage.
“Name’s Savage, darlin’. I don’t go by anything else.” Savage grins wickedly, arms braced behind his back, looking as if this was just another day for him.
Dr. Tatem looks up and smiles at Savage. “Well, Savage, you got lucky. Whoever got you didn’t hit anything vital, and you’ll be back to new in no time.”
The way the other woman looks at Savage has bile rising in the back of my throat. It’s hard to be around this and know that I’m pretty sure when they’re done here, they’ll be finding somewhere to get it on.
That’s another thing about Savage. He’s a horndog who taps anything and everything. Well, except for me. He’s always kind of looked past me as if I were a nobody . . . totally invisible. But I know I’m not some plain Jane, I’ve seen myself in the mirror and know what I look like.
So, to him and all the others in my brother’s club, I’m just a member’s sister, and with those guys, that puts me off-limits.
This totally sucks.
It also affects my dating life . . . big time. There’s been plenty of times I’ve tried to go out with a guy and either my brother or someone in the club stumbles up and breaks up my date. Mainly by threatening said date with body part removal. After the last time, I just stopped and gave up on the idea of finding a guy. At least for the time being. Not many people are willing to stand up for me and say, ‘Hey, Honor’s my woman and I’m not afraid of you’. I mean, is it that hard for a guy to do instead of running the other way?
I do my best to block out the flirting between the two of them and when Dr. Tatem is done stitching Savage up, I finish what I have to for him and get the hell out of there. The sooner I can get him discharged, the sooner I can stop thinking about him. Him and the idea that he might end up in some janitor’s closest with one of the doctors I have to work with. This is something I definitely don’t need.
It doesn’t take me long to get everything in order and when I walk back in the room, I groan at what I walk in on. Great, the two of them don’t even wait. Talk about unprofessionalism at its finest.
The sight of them hurts in a way that it shouldn’t, and I should know better than to let it get to me. But he’s Savage, the guy I’ve crushed on for what feels like ever. And again, he’s shoving yet another of his conquests in my face.
I clear my throat to interrupt them and simply hand the paperwork over to Dr. Tatem who doesn’t even have the courtesy to look embarrassed at being caught making out with a patient. “I’ll just let you handle his discharge papers.” With that I meet Savage’s gaze for a brief second before walking back out of there. I do this while trying my best to ignore the hurt in my heart. It’s not like I’m anything to him. It’s just a crush. One that I need to get over.
