by Kayley Shaye
“Sage!” I heard my name being called. It didn’t register to me that it was my mom until she called out a few more times.
“Damn, I’ve got to go.” I looked at the window and realized there was no way to get back up there.
Jesse spun me around and pushed his lips to mine like he was a dying man and I was his cure. He picked me up suddenly, and I scrambled for the ledge of the window, thankfully getting a good grasp on it with his help. I slid through and landed quietly on my feet. “Thanks,” I whispered down to him.
“Don’t mention it,” Jesse replied. “Call me sometime.”
“I will.” I smiled, pulling the window back down. I rushed over to the door and swung it open, finding my mother standing on the other side. “What?”
“I woke up and wanted to know if you were home. I see you are . . . What were you doing?” she asked curiously.
“I was in the bathroom, Mom. Everyone has to piss once in a while.”
“Language!” he yelled.
“Go back to sleep, Mom!” I groaned, shutting the door. I threw myself back on my bed, still weak at my knees because of what that stupid man did to me. I didn’t even want to think about what else he could do to me because it would drive me absolutely crazy.
I had gotten so lost in his eyes, muscles, and every other fabulous detail that I forgot to ask him how many of his men were killed and what we were going to do about the situation. However, he did tell me to call him, so I guess I’d get the chance.
***
I dragged myself down the stairs into the kitchen the next morning. I was still half asleep.
“Come and eat, sweetie,” Mom said, stuffing some pancakes in her mouth. Her blonde hair was put up into a bun.
“I’m not really hungry, Mom. I think I’m just going to leave,” I replied. It was 7:30 AM already.
“No! You haven’t been here but one night this week. You’re going to sit down and eat breakfast with your family, right now!” she demanded.
I shot her a glare but moved to grab a plate and shoveled a few pancakes on it. I walked back over to the table and plopped myself in the chair. I did not even bother to use whatever manners I had. I reached across the table for the syrup, poured some on top, and leaned back in my chair. I was somewhat irritated that she interrupted Jesse and I, especially when things were starting to get good.
“What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you ever home anymore?” Dad asked.
“You know why. The club comes first.” I took a bite of my food.
“The club is more important than your family? Tattooed, filthy, dangerous criminals are more important than us?” Mom asked.
“Don’t even go there,” I shouted, shoving my plate back. “Those guys are my family. At least, they support me with everything that I do!” I stood up abruptly. “They’ve always been there for me.”
“How can you say that? We raised you! You’ve known those people for what, two years? You’re our daughter,” Dad said. “We didn’t raise you to go off with some no good, sorry excuse for human beings.”
“Well, you didn’t do a very good job of it then, did you?” I asked, taking a step away from the table. “And I’m not better than any of them, so stop acting like they are pieces of crap. They’re far from it, actually.”
“Watch your mouth,” Mom broke in.
“No. I’m eighteen. I’ll do what I want. Oh, and now that I have your attention, I’m going to be moving into the clubhouse soon. I was going to ask your permission, but I don’t see the point now.”
“You’re not moving into that hellhole. I won’t allow it!” Dad stood up, pointing a finger at me.
“I’ve come to realize that it isn’t your decision. As I already pointed out, I’m eighteen. I’m an adult, and I’ll make my own decisions. If I want to go live with those ‘tattooed, filthy, dangerous criminals,’ then I’m damn well going to do it!” I fumed.
I stepped towards the door, watching the stunned faces of my parents. “And you know what? It’s a shame you can’t have a little faith in your only child and trust the decisions she makes.”
It wasn’t that I hated my parents, I didn’t. I hated how they had always treated me. They had always looked at me like the black sheep. They didn’t like my tattoos, my piercings, nothing. They had always wanted a perfect daughter, and I couldn’t be that for them.
I slammed the door so hard the door rattled. I didn’t care at that point. All I knew was that I had to get the hell out of there before they tried to stop me.
***
“So, I’ve been thinking . . .” I started. I heard a few grunts and chuckled to myself.
“What is it now?” Ryder asked.
“We need to go back and get Ashton and Cassie’s bodies. We don’t need to leave them behind,” I said, “plus, the extra bikes could go to good use.”
“I agree. I just don’t know how good of an idea that is,” Damien spoke. He always was the first to speak up.
“Why? The Rebels won’t be around there. They probably figure we won’t step foot back on that property anyways,” I argued.
“That’s true, guess we should give it a shot. We never leave people behind. At least, not like that,” Ryder said.
“Good. It’s settled. We’ll go back, get them, and bury them around here somewhere.”
Chapter Eleven
“Would you all shut the hell up?” Ryder demanded.
You could probably guess where we were—the warehouse. Obviously, we weren’t going to stroll up to it. There could be people inside, for all we know. So, we did what we do best; we drew our guns and snuck up to the back door. Now, we just needed everyone to shut up, so we could tell whether anyone was there.
I waved my hands around to silence them and leaned on the door. Damien and Ryder were on either side of me with guns pointed at the door. You couldn’t ever be too careful even if I were almost positive the Rebels were nowhere to be found.
“It’s clear,” I muttered and pushed the door open. I covered my nose as my eyes scanned the blood-stained tiles. I hadn’t actually gotten to see the mess because Jesse shoved me out the side door, and I was thankful for that.
Gulping, I dropped my hand and moved inside. I stepped over two dead men. The smell was horrible, but I guess that’s what would happen when dead bodies lay inside a building that was probably a hundred degrees. Florida never gave us a break.
“Here’s Cassie,” Liam said, grabbing both of her legs. I closed my eyes and turned away. Again, I was used to death, but that particular scene wasn’t something I’d ever unsee. I turned down an aisle and slowly walked down it until I reached the end and looked around the corner.
“Found Ashton!” I shouted behind me. He was laying in dried blood, his actually, and thankfully, he looked like he went peacefully. We all knew that wasn’t the case though.
The guys surrounded me, and we dragged both Cassie and Ashton out to one of the vans. We got their bikes and didn’t waste any time getting out of there. The place gave me the creeps and hopefully, I wasn’t the only one.
Now, it was time for our people to get a proper burial.
***
After burying Cassie and Ashton, I went out to run a few errands. I met up with my best friend, Avery, and then got back at the club. The whole reason I met with Avery was so I could maybe get some stuff off my mind, but it didn’t work. All the girl could talk about was her stupid boyfriend, but I guess it didn’t really matter. What was I supposed to say to her? Two people involved in the club died and I think I’m falling for the rival club’s leader? Haha! Nope, it didn’t work that way.
I stepped inside and tossed my packed bags to the wall.
“What are you doing?”
I looked up to see Ryder sitting on the couch by himself. Of course, a few people were passed out cold on the floor. They never knew when enough was enough. Typical.
“I’m moving in,” I said.
“What? Why? Something happened?” Ryder asked.
“I’m painfully aware.” He wrapped an arm around me.
“Anyway, they started talking trash about you all again, and I had enough. I already wanted to move in so I could be closer. Needless to say, I basically told them to screw off and snuck back in the house about an hour ago to get my stuff.”
“Damn, no you didn’t,” he dragged out.
“Yeah, yeah, I know I’m a horrible daughter. But it is what it is. They shouldn’t talk so badly about you guys. At least, now, I won’t be so stressed. I’ll go to school and come right back here.” I laid my head on his shoulder.
“Sounds like a plan to me. Better hope they don’t show up here looking for you though.”
“After the way I talked to them, trust me, they’d be stupid to show their faces around here,” I said in resignation. Yeah, I’d miss them, but I needed freedom. I needed to get away from the people who constantly put me down time and time again.
Ryder nodded, hugging me tighter to him. “Now you can cook for us.”
I fake gagged, shaking my head. “No can do. I don’t cook.”
“Everyone can cook.”
“Can you?” I challenged.
“I can make toast. That counts.” He smirked.
“No it doesn’t and you know it.” I playfully nudged him while that smirk stayed on his damn face.
“Whatever. You can learn. Don’t want us starving, do you?” Ryder asked.
I turned on the couch, smiling at him. “Let’s make a deal. I’ll give cooking a go if you will too, but we have to start with something easy.”
“Deal. You and I in the kitchen at eight. We’re making breakfast for everyone in the morning.”
“I have school, remember?” I asked, kicking off my shoes.
“Then, let’s make it seven. You’ll have plenty of time to get ready for school. How does that sound?” Ryder pulled back, looking me in the eye.
“Fine, but you know we’re going to make a fool of ourselves,” I started. “The president of the club making breakfast with Sage.”
“No shit. It’s going to be one hell of a scene, but if I want a home-cooked breakfast, I’m sure as hell going to get one.” Standing up, he smirked again. “My mom owns a bakery ten minutes from here. I guess I should’ve paid more attention to what she did in the kitchen.”
I laughed despite myself. “You’re a piece of work, you know that? I can’t even imagine you cooking.”
“Nothing I haven’t heard before,” he said. “And we’ll see tomorrow. As long as we don’t burn the clubhouse down, we’re good to go.”
“It’s game time, brother.”
***
You know how when you do something, it doesn’t feel wrong at the time but later on, you feel like a complete monster for doing it? Well, that’s how I was feeling right then.
I was kicking myself for talking to my parents the way I had. I never had been one to apologize to people unless I absolutely had to. It had always been awkward to tell someone that I was ‘sorry,’ and that’s all I wanted to do as I looked down at the ten missed calls from my parents.
I was shocked they were even trying to get in contact with me after the mess that went down.
I couldn’t bear to talk to them. Maybe it was for the sake of my pride or maybe I just felt too bad to hear their voices, so I decided to send a text to my mom instead.
“Look, I’m sorry for the way I treated you, guys. That wasn’t right of me. You didn’t deserve it, but I didn’t deserve all of the hate and disappointment you both showed towards me and the club. So, all I’m going to say is that I apologize and I hope we can move on from this. It doesn’t mean I’m coming back home though. I’m staying here with the guys. Just please know I’m safe and happy. Don’t worry about me,” I texted.
I reread it and hit send before falling back onto my pillow, thoughts consuming me.
Chapter Twelve
“How do you scrambled eggs?”
I turned around and stared at Ryder’s concerned face. I was still half-asleep too. I mean, it was seven in the morning. But still, his blunt words made me chuckle. “I don’t know.” I shrugged and pushed him out of the way, so I could reach the stove.
“This isn’t going to end well,” Ryder said, running his hand through his hair.
“Yeah, probably not.” I turned the stove on and placed a pan over the eye. Now, I just had to get the eggs and think back to all of the times I watched my mom cook, then maybe, I could figure this out. “Grab me the eggs, will ya?”
Ryder stepped over to the fridge and pulled out three dozen eggs. We had a lot of food to make for twenty people, and we were cutting it close already with such a low amount of food. Looks like I would have to go shopping again since, apparently, they’re all too good to pick up some groceries.
“Okay, so crack them in the pan . . . ,” I said, my voice obviously showing my uncertainty. It couldn’t be too hard to scramble some eggs, right? People do it every day. Well, I proved myself wrong five seconds later.
“Ryder! What hell are you doing?” I asked, looking over to see the egg and its shell in the pan.
“It broke into pieces! It isn’t my fault,” he reasoned out, trying to get the eggshell out of the pan. It didn’t help that he had big fingers.
“That’s why you’re supposed to be gentle.” I took an egg and cracked it into the pan without any issues, unlike him.
“That word doesn’t exist in my vocabulary,” Ryder replied, stepping back and letting me take over.
“There are a lot of words that don’t exist in your vocabulary.” He had it coming, what can I say?
Ryder gave me a glare, and I smiled sweetly at him before turning back to the eggs. “Why don’t you just make some toast? Think you can handle that without burning it?”
“I think I can,” Ryder replied sarcastically and walked over to the cabinet for the loaves of bread.
Silence fell over us as we both ‘cooked.’ A six-year-old could probably do better than us, but honestly, Ryder and I weren’t really cut out for cooking. Some people just don’t belong in the kitchen, and it was as simple as that. It was a shame too because most of the time we had to eat those nasty frozen meals or simply order out.
“Where’s my son?” I heard someone yell from the main room.
I turned to Ryder with confusion, but all I was met with was his panicked face. “What?”
“That’s my mom!” he whispered, his eyes darting to the kitchen door. He looked like a scared little kid.
“Uh oh, someone’s in trouble.” I smirked at him, grabbing his hand and dragging him along behind me against his will. If he wanted to, he could’ve easily gotten away, but I guess he wanted to get it over with quickly. He knew he was going to be embarrassed either way.
I stepped into the main room with Ryder right on my heels. I smiled at the full room. Boy, it was going to be good. Dragging Ryder right up to my side and not letting go of his hand, I waved to the middle-aged women. “Is this your son by any chance?”
“Thanks,” Ryder said with a sigh in my ear. I smiled sweetly at him again.
“Oh honey!” She rushed over to him, and I was quick to get out of the way.
“Hey, Mom,” Ryder said, much less excitedly I’d add.
She hugged him tight and then started pinching his cheeks much to his dismay. I doubled over laughing, and I could bet you good money he was glaring at me.
“Okay, okay, enough of that. I’m a grown man,” Ryder said in a low voice, though it wasn’t threatening.
“What crawled up your ass and died, boy?” she asked.
“This is too good,” Liam whispered from beside me. He was shirtless.
“Don’t I know it,” I said with a smirk. She had a mouth on her.
“Nothing, Mom. Just quit with the cheek pinching.” Ryder engulfed her i
n another hug and flipped everyone the bird while doing so.
“Fine, fine.” She smiled, but it quickly faltered. “What’s that smell?”
Mine and Ryder’s eyes locked immediately. “Shit!” I shouted louder than I meant to and dashed off to the kitchen.
“Ryder! Get your sorry ass in here!” I yelled.
The eggs were burning and the damn toaster was in flames! I turned off the stove and grabbed the pan, throwing it into the sink in my panic. I then fanned the smoke away with my arms while Ryder unplugged the toaster. I coughed and continued to flail my arms around like a chicken with no head.
Leaning back on the counter, Ryder glared at me and I glared right back at him. “Way to go.”
“It wasn’t my fault! You left the toast in the toaster!” I said.
“And you left the eggs in the pan,” he challenged.
“Kids, kids, calm down. It’s just some toast and eggs. It’s not like we expected anything more than a burnt breakfast,” Liam interrupted.
“You didn’t even know we planned this.” I crossed my arms.
“Yeah, I did. I overheard, and that’s why I tracked down this lovely lady and brought her here.” Liam threw his arm around Ryder’s mom. She looked flustered to say the least. “I knew you two dipshits couldn’t and wouldn’t manage to pull off a decent breakfast, so that’s why she’s here.”
“Thanks for the faith. Screw you, Liam.”
“You say that a lot,” Liam replied.
“She’s right. Screw you, Liam, for bringing my mom into this mess without letting me know!” came Ryder’s voice.
“Watch your mouth!” she replied, and if it had been any other time, I would’ve laughed at how fast he shut his mouth. It looked like his momma was the only one that he actually listened to. Save for me sometimes, and that was only if I got lucky.
“I’ll leave you three to it then.” Liam gave his cue to leave, and he turned away.