AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sasha paused and threw me a look over her shoulder.
“Yes, you are, honey. The sooner you accept that, the easier all of this will be.”
“Stone Riders don’t condone this. You’ll be going against the club,” Wes muttered in a deathly quiet tone.
With one last crinkle to her eyes and pop to her pink gum, Sasha smiled and said, “All my allegiance to this club was buried with Simon. The only other person on this planet that could summon any more from me is this girl right here.”
She slipped out, and Laura was on her heels. For some reason, I gave Wes one last look before following them.
As exhausted as I was, my mind still tumbled over the painful interaction with him. Why didn’t he want me here? Why on earth was I so delusional where he was concerned? It wasn’t as though he were harboring a secret crush on me all these years later, or wanted me back.
It’s been seven years, and it was fucking high time to get over my first love.
EIGHT
WES
AGE 15
My dadoften took my brothers and me out to the river to fish. We’d sit on the boardwalk with our lines dangling in the water while we relaxed in our camping chairs. This time of year, half the town was out there trying to catch something. I used to love it. I’d look forward to it all week, since my dad worked and the only free time he had was on the weekends. Now, all I could do was stare at my watch as the day waned and time ticked by.
“You’re not even trying, Wesley,” my dad chided as my shoulders slumped and my line followed suit.
“He’s distracted,” my brother joked, pulling on his rod to tighten his line.
My dad watched me carefully, chewing his spearmint gum, making his jawline look intense. He reminded me of Pete Carol when he did that. Dad watched us with the same intensity as when the head coach watched his team execute a play. A lot of unnerving silence. He even had slightly graying hair like the coach, plus a narrow face and slender nose.
“What has you distracted?”
I hoped with all my might my brother didn’t know. I had worked so hard to keep Callie a secret for this reason right here. I didn’t want anyone to ruin what we had, or to do anything to mess it up. As it was, she wasn’t something I had to explain or share with my brothers, and I’d do just about anything to keep it that way.
I said nothing right as Dustin said, “He’s distracted by that Stone girl, from down the road.”
My neck grew warm as I stared out over the water. My dad’s gaze was laser focused on me, and I knew I had to be careful with what I said next.
“The biker’s daughter?”
His tone was curt but curious, like he wasn’t sure that could be true and maybe he had it wrong.
I swallowed the thick lump lodging itself in my throat.
“We’re just friends.”
Dustin scoffed with his entire chest, making him look like an idiot. I glared a hole into the side of his stupid face.
“I can’t imagine being friends with that girl is prudent. She’s from a pretty rough family. I’d like you to steer clear of her.”
He said rough family, but all I heard wasrealfamily.
My parents shoved faith and family values down my throat so often I wanted to tear through them with my teeth just to get some air. Dad was strict, but he was also a hypocrite. He didn’t think we knew about the lipstick on his collar when he came home, or the fact that he smelled like a perfume brand that Mom didn’t own. He didn’t think we saw Mom’s jaw grow tight when she greeted him or how she swiped at her eyes when she wandered back toward the back of the house.
They had five children together, but he wasn’t faithful.
Regardless, if I spoke any of these thoughts out loud, it would be a big production of yelling, grabbing my collar, and shoving me into the basement to think about my mouth. I’d miss seeing Callie, and it wasn’t worth it.
I smashed my back molars together hard, feeling my jaw tighten, and tried to focus on the future, on the good things. I’d be turning sixteen in three months. Callie was sixteen in two.
For the past few summers, we had continued sharing the treehouse, but our legs were getting long for the space, and our innocent kisses started turning much less innocent. Two weeks ago, when the weather had shifted and school let out, Callie had snuck over like usual. But that shirt she wore that was too big for her wasn’t as big, and curiosity finally got the better of me.
