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I shrugged, not wanting to talk about it anymore. “Because of Nolo.” I guess, in a roundabout way, that was the reason.
“Are you fucking sure about that?” Gio asked incredulously.
“Sure about what?” Nolo said, suddenly appearing at my side, and I wondered briefly if I was going deaf, because I didn’t hear him approaching, either.
“Nothing,” I said gruffly. “Everything all right?”
“No,” Nolo said as he sat on my other side. “Peyton said she wasn’t in the mood to talk and told me to go away.”
His expression darkened when neither of us responded. “Tell me what’s going on. You both know, but no one will tell me anything.”
“Because it’s not for you to worry about,” Gio said. “If she wanted you to know, she would tell you.”
“Bullshit,” Nolo growled.
“Did it ever occur to you that she’s not telling you because she doesn’t want you to do some dumb shit that will get you, or her, hurt?”
“I wouldn’t.”
Gio shook his head. “You’re out of your depth, kid. I love you, but you don’t know fuck about what she’s dealing with right now, and even if you did, you couldn’t help her.”
Nolo’s shoulders stiffened, and he sent me a quick, angry glance. “Not like Dad can, huh?”
I pressed my lips together, feeling a cold dread in my stomach. But I did nothing but glare at my beer.
“Come on,” Gio finally said, after a long, tense moment. “Let’s grab some grub. Rocky is paying.”
But Nolo just grabbed his things and stood abruptly. “No, I think I’ll head back home.” He sent me another quick, heated look that I was too cowardly to return, and left.
And I couldn’t help but feel like I was failing everyone.
Chapter 22
Peyton
“Hey, girly, what’s up? I thought maybe you forgot about me again.” Lisa laughed lightly but the thread of worry in her voice was unmistakable, even through the phone.
“I didn’t forget, but I didn’t have my phone for a while,” I told her, and explained about the other messages that I received. “I’m sorry to make you worry,” I sniffled. “I feel like all I do anymore is apologize to you.”
“Don’t apologize for apologizing, I just want to know my bestie is safe.”
“I am,” I assured her. “I’m at…well, I’m at a biker clubhouse now.”
“You what, now?”
I cringed, and then steeled myself and told her the whole story of where I’ve been, and more specifically, who I’ve been with and what I’ve been doing with him. At first, I didn’t tell her anything at all for her safety, but I’ve been away longer than I thought I would, and now that I was in the clubhouse and was basically never alone, I felt more comfortable letting others know where I was.
So I told her everything, my attraction to Nolan’s dad, the fact that we’ve been fucking, and I let loose all the emotions I had been trying to clutch against my heart regarding how much more I wished I could get from this man, despite the fact that he didn’t want the same as me.
And then I told her how Rocky and I finally had a final blow out, of sorts, and how that led me here to the clubhouse.
“You sure you don’t want to stay with me?” she finally said, sounding as emotional as me from my story. “We can drink away our woes every night and braid each other’s hair and shit, I’ll look after you, I promise. And you’ll have more space from Rocky, which it sounds like you need.”
“Of course I want to stay with you, but I refuse to put you in danger,” I sighed. “Now that I’m here, I’m not sure it’s the right place to be. There are people here, women and an adorable little boy who could find themselves trapped in the middle of this shit, and I absolutely hate it.” More tears threatened to fall, but I refused to let them because I was a stubborn bitch.
“If Rocky thinks you’re safe there, I’d trust him. Even if he’s not for you, he knows what he’s doing.”
“I am,” I sighed. “Even though it kills me and my heart is breaking, I trust him. But now on top of everything, I have a bug I can’t seem to shake. All I do is sleep and puke and it fucking sucks, Lisa.”
