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His head jolted up and the raw emotion in his eyes felt like a kick to my stomach.
“That night we…” I faltered and cleared my throat. “That night we spent together. The cops took you away in the morning. Arrested you for some…” I shook my head as if I could dislodge the memory and finally be free of its burden. “Somebrawlyou got into at a biker bar the day before.”
“It was just a stupid fight,” Joel replied.
“You were staring down the barrel ofsix months or morein jail for it,” I shot back. “That’s more than just a stupid fight. And now you’re wrapped up inthis.”
Joel remained silent and still as a stone, letting me fling my hot words at him.
“Leave Cam alone,” I said, my voice hoarse. “I can’t have her around you. Even when she reaches out, don’t engage with her.”
It would destroy Cam. But this was for her own good. I had to keep her safe. Even if she hated me for it.
Chapter Five
Red
I can’t make this mistake again.
Abby’s words echoed in my head long after she’d fled deeper into the hospital. She thought our night together had been wrong—a mistake she regretted and never wanted to repeat. I closed my eyes, the sting of that realization weighing heavy in my gut.
Behind me, Brewer put a hand on my shoulder.
“Go find some coffee, Red,” he said with quiet authority. “Tank and I will stay in the waiting room for news of Diablo.”
I nodded and forced myself to put one foot in front of the other, making my way down the hallway in search of the cafeteria. I don’t know how long I wandered before I stumbled on a pair of lonely vending machines—one for snacks, the other for coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.
I stopped in front of it, letting the weak, artificial glow of the display wash over me.
Leave Cam alone.
Dragging a hand through my hair, I let out a long breath of frustration. That was the second chance I’d been hoping for. The second chance I thought I would never have. There were so many things I’d wanted to say to Abby at that moment. Instead, it went sideways and I blew it.
I had completely forgotten about that fight and the ensuing arrest. I’d met Brewer the previous night, shared a few drinks, and some trucker decided to push him around. When a few of the trucker’s buddies jumped in, Brewer was outnumbered, 6 to 1.
Without hesitation, I jumped in to lend a hand.
I spent two nights in jail because of it, until Brewer posted bail and got me out. After that fight, he started tossing around the idea of starting a motorcycle club of his own. We were both in our early 20s, shoved to the outskirts of society, finding camaraderie through our bikes, the open road, and the life of outlaws, misfits, and rebels who didn’t have a home anywhere else.
Two years later, the Alpha Riders MC was born. We’d been brothers ever since.
It was bittersweet to realize that fight had brought me to my club—the only family I’d ever known—and driven away the woman I loved, along with my unborn child, all at the same time.
“Staring at it won’t get you anywhere.”
I turned toward the voice to see Cam standing in the corridor to my right. She wore those same black battered sneakers with the shoelaces coming undone. Abby had told me to stay away but Cam’s rainbow-colored dinosaur shirt had me speaking before I realized what I was saying.
“Not quite Metallica, is it?”
Cam shrugged, sliding her hands into the back pockets of her jeans.
“Don’t start thinking I wore that to impress you because I knew you were this badass biker my mom swooned over years ago. It was my lucky shirt.”
A jolt of sympathy darted through my chest. Cam had pulled out all the stops to find me and now I had to take a step back, cut contact, and never speak to her again as Abby had instructed. Looking at Cam now, that was going to be the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life.
“I’m volunteering in the pediatrics ward for a few weeks,” Cam continued. “The kids always love it when I wear a dinosaur shirt. The shy ones like to count them. It gets them talking.”
This girl is amazing,I thought. Spending time around kids, seeking ways to put them at ease and make them comfortable proved she was naturally kind. Cam jerked a thumb at the vending machine.
