by Sam Crescent
“I don’t know,” Chloe said. “When he first started to hang out with me, I thought he was faking it, you know. Trying to trick me or something. Now, I don’t know.”
“You still think he’s trying to trick you after everything?”
“No, no, of course not. I do believe he cares, a lot. I just don’t know if this is something he cares about long-term.” She shrugged. “I don’t know what to do.”
“What does it feel like when you’re with him?”
“Like we’re the only two people in the world and for the first time in my life, I don’t have to care what anyone else thinks or feels about me. It feels real to me. Last night was the best night of my life, and I don’t know if I can walk away from that. Do you think I could be … falling for him?”
“I think that’s something only you can know.”
“I don’t know if I can handle this. What if it’s not long-term? What if he likes the club women more?”
Lily reached out, taking her hand. “Not all men need more than one woman to satisfy them. Some need just one.”
Chloe stared down at her mother’s wedding ring finger. “Dad never got you a diamond engagement ring.”
Lily pulled her hand away, and Chloe watched as she teased the ring across her finger. “Eagle was here last night.”
She was surprised. Unless it was serious club business or he had to go out of town for whatever reason, Eagle was always home.
“And?”
“He proposed.”
“He did?”
“Yeah, and I said yes. He told me he’d been in love with me for a while, and well, I feel differently when I’m around him.”
“You don’t think it’s too soon, after Dad?” Chloe asked.
“I said to Eagle I haven’t been a divorced woman for long and I loved Kurt so deeply.”
“He still wanted to marry you?”
“He said that he’d seen my marriage decline and knew it was going to end. No way could a woman take that kind of pain and betrayal. He’s willing to wait for as long as I am to make sure my feelings are in the same place,” she said. “How can you not love a man with patience, Chloe? This shouldn’t be about me. This is all about you.”
“No. No. This is about you,” Chloe said. The less they talked about her and Alfie the better. “This is a huge step. Do you love Eagle?”
“I think I do. I … he’s … different.”
“Different?”
“From your father. I really shouldn’t be talking to you about this. I loved your father.”
“Mom, you don’t have to justify my feelings when it comes to Dad. You know that. He broke your heart more than once, and I had to see how upset he made you. I’ve never seen you smile as much as you do when you’re with Eagle. He makes you happy, doesn’t he?”
“He does, but … he’s a biker. He’s got huge responsibilities, and I don’t know if I want to be part of that, and it sounds so selfish to me.”
“No, of course it doesn’t. You’re not a selfish person at all.” She hugged her mom. “You have a right to be happy.”
“I do?” Lily asked.
Chloe laughed. “Do you think you don’t have any right to be happy?”
“Your father.”
“Mom, don’t try and do this because you think you owe him or me, or anyone else. If Eagle makes you happy, then trust in your feelings. I’ve seen the way he is around you, and I think it’s amazing how sweet he is.”
Lily smiled. “He does make me feel … alive. Is that weird? He even took me on his bike the other day, and I’ve never felt such a rush before in my life.”
“Then don’t worry about it, or me, or anything else. Be happy. I know I am.”
“And what does this mean for you and leaving?”
“It means … I don’t know what it means. Part of me thinks I should just carry on. What if it doesn’t last the rest of the year and I change my plans?”
“And what is the other part of you saying? I know my daughter, and she will always have two sides of herself competing in this race.”
She sighed. “She’s wondering if she should stay and give this a try. I’m so confused.”
“Honey, you don’t have to make any decisions right away.”
“I don’t?”
“No, do what you have to do. Let this run its course. You know you want to.” Lily took her hand. “We’re just a couple of silly women overthinking every single aspect of our lives, and we should just enjoy what we’ve got.”
“You’re right. I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, sweetie.”
****
Later that night Alfie climbed through Chloe’s bedroom window. His father was downstairs with Lily and he couldn’t exactly sneak into the house, so he had no choice but to come to his girl through her bedroom window.
“I don’t know how they do it in the movies to make it look so effortless.”
“You know they’re not really climbing up a building. It’s all green rooms, props, ladders.”
“It would have been easier with a ladder.” He grabbed her hips and pulled her closer. “I missed you.”
“You’ve been busy, so how is that possible?”
“Simple, I thought of you every single second today and wondered how you were.” He pulled away from her to get a good look at her. “Are you okay? Are you sore? How are you feeling?”
“A lot of questions.”
“You skipped out on me and you think I wouldn’t have any questions.”
“I didn’t want to skip out. I woke up, realized what we did, and had a little panic attack.” She stepped away from him, sitting on the edge of her bed. She wore a pair of red shorts and a white T-shirt. He took a seat beside her, taking hold of her hand so she didn’t have a single excuse to pull away from him.
“Do you regret us being together?” he asked.
“No. I don’t regret that. I told you I was ready, and I wouldn’t lie to you.” She lifted up his hand and kissed his knuckles. “Last night was so magical and fantastic, and I woke up this morning and I freaked. I didn’t even mean to freak. I know it sounds crazy, but I honestly just had to get out of there. I thought you’d regret it or something.”
“There’s no chance in hell of me ever regretting what you and I had last night. I know I’ve not always been a great guy to you, Chloe.”
“You don’t have to keep bringing it up.”
“I want to. I want you to know that I’m doing everything to prove to you I’m the man for you.”
She smiled. “Again, you really need to stop. It’s really not necessary. I know you’ve got a big heart, and you thought I was stuck up. I get it. I do. I trust you.”
Now he felt the guilt, the wave upon wave of it as if it was crushing him.
“You do, just like that, forgive me?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I? I mean, when you first started hanging around with me, yeah, I had my doubts. I’m sure any woman would have. Now though, after everything, I believe you. I trust you.”
Trust and loyalty, the two rules of the club.
He didn’t start out with good intentions, though, and she didn’t know that. After what he felt last night, claiming her virginity as his own, he couldn’t ever let her know the truth of what he’d really intended for her.
Ian and Riley, he’d already seen them, and they agreed.
Trust and loyalty came before everything else within the club. This was their chance to prove to each other they have their backs, and under no circumstances would that news ever come out. Not ever. Not even a slither.
“I’m glad you could trust me.” He stared down at their hands. “I won’t do anything to let you down.”
“Alfie, please stop. I meant it. I trust you.” She giggled. “I don’t know what this is. Are you feeling guilty because of … last night?”
“You did give me your virginity.”
“You haven’t slept with a virgin before?” Her cheeks were bright r
ed.
“No.”
“No?”
“You’re my first and last virgin.” He leaned in to take her lips, but she placed her hand on his lips, halting him. “What is it?”
“I planned to leave at the end of high school. There’s a culinary school in the city, Mom signed me up for it before we started this last year.”
“You told me.”
“I don’t know if I should go,” she said.
Now he pulled back and didn’t try to steal another kiss. “You don’t know if you should go? Because of me?”
She nodded. “I’m a little confused. I wasn’t going to talk about this.”
“You want this though, right? I can move to the city. Come with you. Or I’ll visit if you’re in one of those girly dorms and can’t have visitors. I could be your sexy ass biker boyfriend. You know, the kind that makes people squeal and go crazy. You will be the talk of the entire college.”
“It’s not a college per se. It’s a culinary school. I’m not going to a dorm. I’m going to be renting a small apartment. My mom and I already checked it over, and the school owns the building and we’ve reserved me a spot.”
Alfie held her hands. “Don’t stop your plans for me. We’ll make this work.”
“Long distance?”
“We’ve made it work after I’ve bullied you. I’d say we’d call it even.” He had to find any way to make this up to her, in his own mind. She would never know the truth, not while he was in charge, and it was the only way he could be.
“When did you get so perfect?” she asked.
“It would seem you really do bring out the best in people.”
This time, Chloe kissed him. “There is something I want to ask you.”
It took every single ounce of willpower not to freak out at that one tiny little question. He smiled, and pretended all was normal in the world and in his life. “You can ask me anything.”
“The time on the bench. Start of school. The banana peel thrown at me. You know, when my dad was supposed to pick me up?”
Oh, he knew all right. It was the time he started to put his whole plan in motion. “I remember.”
“You tackled me to the ground and held me down. I was just wondering how far you were willing to go before my mom showed up.”
He’d every intention of scaring her away. “I’m not a rapist, just so you know. Erm, I wanted to scare you. I had no intention of following through with what you thought I was going to do.”
“You weren’t?”
“No, so you shouldn’t worry. I won’t ever hurt you because now I know the truth, and I only regret what I made you feel.”
“I feel like I’ve walked into a strange alternate reality. You really thought that I thought I was better than you and the club?”
“Yes.”
She chuckled. “Wow. I never thought that, ever. I told you before I hated the way my dad always wanted your guys’ approval and to be a patched in member, but other than that, I didn’t care.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “Your dad finally proposed to my mother.”
“Good. She makes him so happy.”
“What will happen once my dad finds out?” She lifted her head.
“Have you seen him?”
Eagle put out a little search for Kurt within the club. If anyone saw him lurking around town, or near Lily, they had to contact him immediately. Other than the time near the diner, Alfie hadn’t seen him since.
“No, I haven’t. I wonder if he’s moved on, you know. Found a new place somewhere. Do you miss him?”
“Sometimes. When I was a kid, he did miss important stuff, but he’d come back with a toy or he’d take me out, and we’d laugh before it all happened again. It wasn’t an entirely bad experience growing up. I had my mom, and she had my dad. It’s only in the past few years has it gotten so bad.” She shrugged.
“Will you want to see him again?” Alfie asked.
“I don’t know. I’m still a little mad at him for what he did. I know that my mom found him cheating on her, but at the same time, they weren’t together. I don’t know. That’s a little grey area, seeing as they hadn’t divorced yet, and knowing my mom, she’d have wanted to make it work. Forget it, I just blah out of my mouth.”
He chuckled and held her close. “You can talk to me any time you want and blah out your feelings.”
“You can’t stay the night.”
“I know. My dad said he’d be home as well.”
“How has he been since he’s been dating my mom?” she asked.
“He’s been … like a real dad. How is that for weird?”
“Do you like it?”
“I’m not sure. He asked me three days ago if I had any homework.”
She giggled. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, I kind of freaked out. I asked him if he wasn’t feeling well. He said he was feeling fine, but you know what it’s like.”
“I think so.”
“Come on. I want to hold you while you go to sleep.”
“You think I can sleep through you climbing out of my window?”
“Yes, I’m hoping to do it, stealthily.”
She laughed again, and he loved the sound.
He pushed off his boots, making sure they didn’t make a sound. Leaning back on her bed, Chloe got under the covers and snuggled up against him.
“I think I could get used to this.”
He wrapped his arms around her, not wanting to let her go. She felt so amazing against him, and last night was the best night of his life. The sex, it hadn’t been the best because she’d hurt, and seeing those tears in her eyes as he’d filled her with his cock, he’d never felt so protective in his life.
These new emotions were all inspired because of his feelings for Chloe. He’d told Ian and Riley it wasn’t about revenge anymore or keeping up appearances for his dad. He did, in fact, have feelings for her, and he needed for them to keep his secret about the truth of what they had once planned.
They had both promised, and he would do whatever it took to keep Chloe.
He finally knew what it was like to have a woman worth keeping, and Chloe, she was worth every single second of it.
Chapter Ten
Two months later
Lily had already left with Eagle, and Chloe waited for Alfie to turn up. She opened her cell phone and didn’t see any other text from him.
The fair had come to town, and with it, everyone that she knew was heading toward the large field to do some dancing, partying, and to just have a good time. Every single year the fair came with rides and special booths to win prizes. It was a big deal in the Satan’s Croft tourist calendar, as it stayed for a couple of weeks, brought tourists, and it was a chance to put themselves out there on the map of places people wanted to visit.
It was also the one time the MC kind of stayed at home. The leather cuts were sometimes worn, but for the most part, they mingled with the town and just had fun. The fair was kind of like the only place they couldn’t bring a fight.
Alfie had asked for her to wait for him to enter as he wanted to take her on the back of his bike.
He’d gotten it last month, and since then, he’d been promising to take her for a ride, and tonight it would seem would be her night.
Most kids got a car; Alfie got a bike.
He’d told her he’d been promised the bike months ago, and Eagle had been waiting for the guy to finish it up, and Chloe could see why. It was a damn sexy machine, and the way Alfie stroked it as he showed the bike off, well, she’d been a little, tiny bit jealous.
Not anymore as he said he needed to break his bike in to make sure it was safe to take his most precious cargo, which would be her.
How could a girl not swoon over that?
She had, and now she was waiting.
She’d even worn jeans for the occasion.
The rumble of the bike made her smile, and she walked outside, being careful to close and lock the door behind her.
Alfie was at
the curb. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, and he turned off the bike and winked at her.
“Hello there, little lady, I hear you’re waiting for a ride?”
“That I am, sir. I’m a damsel in distress, and my boyfriend totally forgot about me.” She played along.
“Well, if I was your boyfriend, you’d never be forgotten.”
“Oh, promises.”
“Jump on, hot stuff,” he said.
She climbed on the back of the bike.
“Wait, you get to wear the helmet,” he said.
“You’re kidding me, right?”
“Nope. Dad’s rules. Take it up with him. When we’re a little older I’ll take you for a ride without a helmet, but until then, you’ve got to wear the helmet.”
“I hate this. A lot.” She put the helmet on. “Does it look okay?”
“You look sexy as fuck, and I just knew you would. Climb on, sexy lady.”
She laughed, but did as he asked. She didn’t have a clue where to put her hands.
“They, sexy, need to go around me.” He pulled her hands around his waist, and she rolled her eyes.
“Like this?” she asked.
“Yes, exactly like that. Now hold on tight.”
He started the bike, and she let out a little cry.
“Don’t you worry about a thing.”
He pulled away from the curb, and she burst out laughing as he started to ride. He couldn’t have been going faster than ten.
“You know, a baby could out-crawl us at this rate,” she said.
“I’m not having anything bad happen to you.”
Whenever he said sweet words like that, it always made her ache everywhere. He was always so sweet, attentive, affectionate, and he always surprised her, which she truly didn’t think was possible, but when it came to Alfie, he did, at everything.
Finally, he started to ride properly.
“We’ll make it before the fair packs up and moves onto the next town.”
“I know, but here I was thinking you’d like to spend the time at home, alone, you know, having sex.”
She held him a little tighter. “Another time.” She wanted to kiss him, but the helmet was in the way.