by Simone Elise
I walked around the clubhouse as she banged and punched my back.
"PUT ME DOWN!"
Again I ignored her.
I opened up the back entrance to the back half of the clubhouse and went up the stairs. Chloe was in no fit state to be making decisions and if my dumb brother was the one helping make those decisions, they would both end up in some sort of trouble I would have to solve.
"I MEAN IT, CHASE!"
I unlocked my bedroom door, walked to the bed, and gently put her down.
"Sleep it off, Chloe."
"NO! I'M NOT DRUNK. YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"
"Night, Chloe."
I closed the door and locked it with the key. She automatically started banging on it, yelling I couldn't lock her in there but I had, and I wasn't going to unlock it. Not until she was sober and back in the right frame of mind to make decisions.
I took a calming breath in while listening to her threatening me. She would wear out and fall asleep although her knuckles might be red by the end of it from banging on the door.
I did the right thing and, in the morning when she wasn't waking up in a stranger’s bed, she will be thanking me.
Chapter 21
Chloe’s Point of View
I was stupid, completely and utterly stupid. I was a smart girl and I knew better but did that stop me? No. Did I have some self-control? No. Instead, I got dressed up and drunk for a man that treated me like a child.
It wasn't Chase's fault. He was used to putting people in their places. He was used to being in control. He was a father figure to his siblings and leader to the club. When people were out of line, he put them back in their place.
So when I was acting out, it would have been his automatic response to put me back in my place. How did he do that?
He locked me up in a room.
I shouldn't be so upset about it, but I was. I was upset at myself. Hadn't I known that men couldn't be trusted? Did I not run away from being trapped? Now here I was putting myself out there to only get rejected.
I had given Chase the perfect opportunity to take things further with me. Hell, I wore the dress, didn't I?
But instead of feeding my guilty pleasures, he locks me in a room. Worse part? He never came back.
I waited… and waited.
Then fell asleep, waking up alone. He never came back and why should he? I'm not his sister, I'm not a member of his club, and I certainly wasn't his girlfriend.
Chase was a leader and I was a follower. I needed to put my walls back up. I needed to retreat while I still had some self-respect.
I showered, washed the mountain of makeup off, and put on clothes that left A LOT to the imagination.
I was on my laptop searching for jobs when I heard the door being unlocked. Immediately I panicked. What the hell was I going to say to him? Who the hell was I to question his sex life? How could I show my face?
I realized I didn't have a choice when the door swung open and he walked in.
My eyes darted off him and back to the laptop. Maybe if I just ignored him, he would go away. Why was he here anyway?
"Morning, Chloe."
His voice was rough, yet smooth and inviting. Only Chase could pull off both. I took a calming breath in and kept my eyes on the laptop as I scrolled up and down for no reason.
"Morning."
And what a morning it had been. I had a headache and I was hung over. I had had a mental breakdown. I had never hated myself so much in one moment as I did right now.
"You feeling better?"
I nodded my head. Walls. I had to keep walls up. I couldn't let them down again. I had made my major fuck up. He hadn't taken the opportunity, and now I was paying for it. I was NOT being that girl. The one that waited for the man. That changed for the man. I wasn't her. It wasn't happening.
Last night was a one off.
"Not very talkative?"
Just his voice did it for me. If I could have him whispering sweet nothings in my ear, I would. He had one sexy voice. I shrugged my shoulders. As far as I was concerned, I had turned into a mute when it came to him. I said stupid and did stupid around him.
"Hungry?"
I was. Very.
I shrugged my shoulders again.
He groaned. "Come on, Chloe. You must be hungry."
He was used to dealing with teenagers, so him offering food as a peace offering was him being nice. I knew that, but still I remained silent. Maybe I should add become anorexic to my list.
I remained silent.
"See you've changed."
I noticed Chase cross his arms out of the corner of my eye.
"Must have got cold in that dress."
I pulled the blankets up around me and kept looking at the laptop.
"Fine. You won't come to the food. I'll bring the food to you." He uncrossed his arms and pulled out what I was assuming was his phone. "Archie, can you bring up a plate of food for Chloe? She is refusing to get out of bed."
I heard his tone. I knew he thought I was being silly, stubborn and stupid. All things I was when I was around him.
"Okay, breakfast is coming to you. Now do you want to speak to me?"
I had nothing to say.
"At least say a word or look at me?"
His voice was coming across more frustrated. His sexy allure disappeared, and his true feelings coming across.
I dragged my eyes off the laptop and looked at him, and boy did I look. That tight top, that vest, and those muscles. Kill me now. This was torture. Just looking at him made me go all jelly-like. Like there wasn't much I wouldn't do if I could feel him touch me. I knew what it was like to have those hands on my body, and I was wanting it, badly.
"That's a start." He smiled at me. So warm, welcoming and trustworthy. So not fair. "Now, wanna forget about last night?"
I chewed my bottom lip. Nope. I wasn't taking the easy way out. I had my big girl panties on.
"I got drunk. Big deal." I finally broke my silence. "Not like I did anything I regret."
"Thanks to me," he put in.
"Yeah. Thanks for that. Being locked in a room is always such a treat." I narrowed my eyes at him. He didn't know that I used to get locked up. He didn't know that some of the worst experiences in my life happened when I was locked up.
It was when I first self-harmed.
It happened after I was beaten.
But who was he to know? He was just some stranger that I had somehow got attached to. Well, not anymore. My walls were up and I wasn't falling for his sexy bad boy image again.
"I just didn't want you to do something you would regret." He looked at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world to know. As if me out of control was worse than a hurricane. Like I was going to take advantage of someone.
"Well, I didn't so you can leave the door unlocked now." I took my eyes off him and went back to the laptop.
"Chloe."
"Don't Chloe me!"
"I was looking out for you."
"I'm not a child!"
"You were going to do something stupid."
I scoffed. "I already did something stupid!" I pushed the laptop off me, threw the blankets back, and stormed over to him. "I did something stupid when I got dressed up for YOU! I did something stupid when I found out YOU were having sex with other women. I was being stupid trying to get YOUR attention!"
The lid was off. I had exploded.
I expected him to say something smart back or to calm me down; to deal with me as if I was a child. I didn't expect what he did do.
His hands wrapped around my back and he pulled me in too quickly for me to react, and the next thing I knew, he kissed me.
Chapter 22
Chloe's Point of View
It was soft and sweet. His hands ran down my back, stopping on the bottom of my spine curving me into him. My mind went to dust and my thoughts were all focused on one thing - his lips on mine, and just
when I was about to deepen the kiss and wrap my arms around his neck, he pulled away.
His emerald eyes centered me, and the way he looked at me caused my every doubt about him to run away, but, at the same time, I knew my walls had to stay up.
"You can't just kiss me like that," I finally stuttered out and took a step back.
"Like what?" His emerald eyes had me stunned. My mind was still filled with thoughts of where that kiss could lead. I had never wanted anyone as much as I wanted Chase. At the same time, I knew he was the wrong man to be wanting.
"Like I'm yours to kiss." I finally got out and crossed my arms. "You and I have both made it clear we are a bad match for each other. You don't want me cause I'm young and I can't have you so kissing me like that is just not okay."
When it felt every bit of okay. More than okay. It was like it was meant to be. I wanted him to kiss me … everywhere.
His emerald eyes were covered in immediate anger, and then he was the one withdrawing from the situation. I didn't need to put walls up because he put his up.
"Is this about Oliver?" He forced the words out like they disgusted him; like something rotten was in his mouth.
"What?" I frowned, completely confused. How did this have ANYTHING to do with Oliver?
"You like him." For the first time ever, I saw a new side of Chase. It was hard, powerful and controlling. I didn't know if it was jealousy, but the way he looked at me made me want to be anywhere but in his line of sight.
"So what if I do. It has nothing to do with you." I kept my words firm and my walls up. This time Chase wasn’t getting under my skin.
He shook his head with a disgusted look on his face and pointed a finger at me. "You are NOT dating one of my brothers."
"So you tell me what I can and can't do now?"
"So you do like him?" He was challenging me. How could we go from sharing one blissful kiss to the next fighting like cats and dogs? I knew why; because we weren't meant to get on, even if we had chemistry.
I squared my shoulders and stared him right up in the eyes. "Yes, I do." The look on Chase's face forced me to add, "As a friend."
He blew out a long breath and shook his head at me. "You're trouble."
"No, Chase. You're the one who is trouble which is why right now; I'm going to do the only sensible thing." I pushed past him. "And leave."
Suddenly, breakfast didn't sound like the worst idea on the planet.
***
I was learning that when it came to fun, Archie was the guy to have it with. The things he got up to would have his mother whacking his behind. He was one of the middle brothers. I wasn't sure on the age of all of them yet. All I knew was Chase was the eldest, so that would put Archie in his twenties.
Then there was Declan. He was the serious brother. While I was sure he had humor in him, I just hadn't seen it yet.
I was in the middle of them because they made room for me at the breakfast table. I had never seen so many men eat all at the one time. The McKenzie brothers had broken off from the group and had their own table.
Dan was stuffing his face while going through his Facebook feed.
Oliver was taunting Marc with 'the last piece of bacon', while Archie and Declan argued around me about something to do with their bikes? I wasn't on the same page as them.
I was stabbing my eggs, thinking I need the protein, when Chase appeared.
"I am telling you that's the problem with the bike," Declan argued with Archie. "The accelerator is fine."
"I'm telling YOU that your dodgy work has fucked my bike." Archie reached around me and whacked his brother. "And you'll be fixing it."
"Fix it yourself," Declan scoffed.
It was as if my stupid body was tuned into Chase. As soon as he appeared, my skin prickled. My hearing was tuned to him. Even my eyes were naturally drawn to him, which was why I was focusing so much on my plate.
"Oh! Declan, look who just walked in." Oliver slapped the middle of the table, getting his brother’s attention, as well as everyone else in the room.
Smooth, Oliver, smooth. I rolled my eyes but then scanned the room, seeing the one person I had pledged to hate for the rest of my life. Michelle.
I looked at Declan. "Please tell me you have some taste?"
He rolled his eyes at me. "Don't you start."
"Maybe she needs somewhere to sit." Oliver's eyebrows shot up and just as he went to stand and wave her over, Declan reached across the table and pulled him down.
"Are you insane?" Declan yelled/whispered across at him.
"You were when you…"
"Would you ease back on the details?" Dan cut him off, much to Oliver's dislike. He loved the details and making people feel uncomfortable, which was what he was doing right now. "You really like sharing other people's misfortunes."
"Talking about sharing." Oliver's eyes lit up and landed on Chase. "How was it? You two compared notes?"
I couldn't help it. My eyes sprang up and landed on Chase. Could he see it? Could he see how it hurt me? How uncomfortable it made me feel? How it cut off my breathing? He said nothing happened, yet Oliver was telling a different story. I was waiting for him to dismiss it but when he just glared at Oliver and didn't, my eyes flashed back to my half-eaten breakfast.
So much for nothing happening.
I was still deciding on whether my life had got better since meeting Chase or worse. The more I thought about it, the more the answer became clearer. My life was better for meeting him. He had taken me in and he had gone to great lengths to protect me from everything, even myself.
"That's it, I'm done." Dan pushed his plate away. "Gym for me."
My ears pricked up. "Gym?"
His eyebrows arched as he nodded his head, looking at me like I was an alien. "We always go to the gym after breakfast."
"Can I come?" Exercise had been one of my outlets. I was good at it and was a cross country runner. It was one of the things my parents actually approved of.
"Sure." He got up. "Want me to wait for you? This lot will still be eating for another hour."
"Will not," Oliver scoffed.
"I just have to change." I was up and felt Chase's eyes on me. I could hear him mentally telling me not to go; not to be alone with one or any of his brothers. Isn't that what he was afraid of, me being with any of his brothers?
"I'll come with you," Dan offered, and I smiled. We hadn't spent much time together so we didn't really know each other, but I was starting to see that was really bad on my part because clearly he was a nice guy.
"Thank you." We walked out of the dining room and every step I took with Dan was one farther away from Chase; and he was hating me for it.
Chase's Point of View
I wasn't known for my control. When I wanted something, I got it. It never got to the point where I needed something. My control was wearing thin when it came to Chloe. Being the head of a family meant I was always in control. Being the head of a club meant I was always in control. But when it came to Chloe…I was nowhere near in control.
Dan was right; we always went to the gym after breakfast. Normally, we went in a group. Normally, we would all push each other to the breaking point. Normally, I didn't care that my brothers weren't wearing tops and normally, there wasn't a girl in the same gym as us. Each club had its own gym, so our morning workouts were always on the cards and never was a female seen in it.
Chloe was wearing shorts and a sports bra. Running. Full on running. Like I had never seen type of running. Even I didn't run that fast and as I watched her closer, I would say she was an elegant runner.
The boys were lifting weights apart from Oliver, who was trying hard to run on the treadmill next to Chloe.
I was sitting on one of the weight benches, smoking. As much as I needed the workout, I couldn't get my head off Chloe. The way she kissed, with so much passion. It was killing me. Knowing what I wanted and how good it tasted but couldn't have.
&n
bsp; It came down to it. It wasn't safe having a girlfriend in this type of life.
They could be used against you. It gave you a weakness, and a weakness was the last thing I needed. After all, I already had seven of them, with my brothers and sisters.
Oliver was tapping Chloe on the shoulder. She removed the earbuds from her ear.
"Wanna have a push up challenge?" Oliver grinned.
I could see her expression in the mirror. "But there wouldn't be much of a challenge?" There was a hidden smile on her face, as if she knew something he didn't.
"Come on, Ace."
I didn't like they had nicknames for each other. I guess it was to be expected that she would bond with him. He was the closest to her in age. Hell, they WERE the SAME age. Unlike me. The one full with responsibilities. The thirty-year-old.
"Fine, McKenzie." Chloe hit the stop button. There were beads of sweat dripping down her forehead, and she got a towel and wiped her face down. "What does the winner get?" She got off the machine.
My eyes were glued on her. Did she know how damn attractive she looked right now? Did she know I couldn't take my eyes off her?
Oliver's eyes flickered over to me. What was he doing?
"How about the other to do whatever they want to?" Oliver evilly smirked at her.
"How about twenty bucks," I shouted from across the room and got up.
For the first time in hours, Chloe actually looked at me. No emotion. No affection.
As if she could look through me.
"Twenty bucks sound good," she said, and the boys had picked up on the competition.
Dan cleared a spot in the weights section, and I watched as the most perfect-looking body lowered to the ground.
Oliver challenging someone wasn't new. What was new was he was challenging a girl in a competition he could clearly win.
"So, first to a hundred?" Chloe said.
"Yeah, but no girly push ups."
"I wasn't going to do girly push ups." Chloe rolled her eyes.
"I'm counting Chloe," Declan stated.
"Well, who is going to count me?" Oliver looked at them. Everyone in this room wanted to watch her move up and down and I wanted to punch every one of my brothers in this moment for it.