Irish's Destiny

by Erin Osborne

  “I’m so proud of you Goose!” I tell him, wrapping my arms around him.

  Instead of wrapping his arms around me, Goose just stands there. I instantly let go and take a few steps back. For a minute I just stand there and try to figure out what’s going on with him. Goose is not one to push me away. He doesn’t ever hesitate to hug me back and I know that something is going on with him. Why he won’t tell me is also beyond me. We talk about everything.

  “Goose, what’s wrong?” I finally ask.

  “Listen, you know I want to be with you more than anythin’,” he begins. “I just think that for a little while longer we need to explore other people. I mean you’re just turnin’ seventeen next week. We still have a year before we can be together.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I yell at him. “You’re just doing this so you can get wasted and fuck the club girls tonight. I’m not fucking dumb and I know what’s going through your mind. If that’s what you want, don’t come near me again Goose. I’m not going to have their sloppy seconds and wonder if I have something when we can finally be together.”

  After saying my piece, I turn on my heels and run out the door of his apartment. Before I hit the last step, I know the tears are falling rapidly from my eyes. I try to sneak in the back door so that no one notices me crying, but Irish is standing there. He’s been facing the direction of Goose’s apartment so I’m sure that he knows whatever is going on with me has to do with him.

  “Sami, what’s wrong?” Irish asks, trying to slow me down as I run into the house and towards my bedroom.

  “Nothing. Just leave it alone. Please!” I plead with him before closing my door and sinking to the floor.

  I’m so wrapped up in my own pain and misery that I don’t hear the back door shut. I don’t see Irish stalking over to Goose’s apartment. If I had known he was going over there, I probably wouldn’t stop him I’m so hurt by Goose right now. I can’t believe that he’s doing this. Turning on my music, I blare Broken by Seether.

  Goose

  As soon as Sami runs out of my door, I know that I’ve fucked up. Big time! There may be no coming back from this one. Fuck! I can’t believe that I possibly just ruined the one good thing that I’ve ever had in my life. And for what? A piece of pussy that every other brother has been balls deep in. I’ve only been with one or two before I met Sami and it really did nothing for me. Not with knowing that every other single member of the club had already been in there.

  Before I can think anymore about the situation, Irish is barreling through my door. This is not going to be good. I know that he’s seen my girl crying her eyes out. Now, he’s over here to protect her and make sure that I don’t ever hurt her again. I wonder if he knows what just happened.

  Irish doesn’t say a word to me. He comes straight up to me and punches me dead in my face. It hurts like a son of a bitch, but I’m not going to do anything back to him. I completely deserve what he just did to me. Hell, I want to kick my own ass for being the one to make Sami cry.

  “What the fuck did you do to my daughter?” Irish growls out.

  “I told her that I think we should see other people durin’ the next year,” I tell him honestly.

  “For what? We know you’re goin’ to be together. Just like Whit and I know what Sami’s been doin’ lately. She’s been researchin’ some shit that involves the two of you. You honestly have no clue, do you?”

  “No. I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about right now,” I tell him.

  “I’m not goin’ to spill the beans on it. That’s her secret to share with you. Now, somethin’ other than you sayin’ you wanted to see other people happened. You’ve been sayin’ that to her for close to a year now. What changed this time?”

  “I might have used the word ‘explore’ instead.”

  “You dumb fuck!” Irish yells. “You’re seriously goin’ to fuck the club girls tonight? Is that what you want to bring to my fuckin’ daughter?”

  “No!” I yell out. “Isn’t that what’s expected of me though?”

  “Are you fuckin’ serious right now? Of course it’s not expected. Everyone here knows that you and Sami are pretty much a done deal. Who told you that’s what’s expected of you?”

  “No one really. I just know that a bunch of the guys were talkin’ about how I’m goin’ to have all the pussy I can handle now that I’m a full patch.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what anyone says. And if I find out who the hell told you that, they’re gettin’ their asses handed to them. I was with Caydence when I patched in. I didn’t touch a single club girl. My girl was worth way more than some loose pussy everyone’s had a taste of.”

  I’ve been at the party thrown in my honor for a few hours now. I’m here sporting a black eye and Pops let me know what he thought of me too. By the end of the night, I’ll have a set of matching black eyes.

  So, I’m sitting at the bar drinking beer and whiskey. The only thing I can do now is drown my sorrows because I know that I’ve seriously messed up with Sami. I’ll be lucky if she ever talks to me again after tonight. I’m ignoring all the club girls that have tried to get a piece of me. And I’m pretty much ignoring everyone else here. There’s no one I want to talk to right now. Sami is the only one I want to talk to and see. I know that there’s no way in hell that Irish and Whitney are going to let me see her right now.

  “You okay?” one of the club girls asks me.

  “Get the fuck away from me,” I mumble.

  “Don’t be like that. This is your party,” she says, moving even closer to me.

  “I said back the fuck off!” I say with more force.

  This girl just doesn’t take a hint though. She keeps trying to push her way in to me and get me to do whatever with her. It’s not going to happen, and she needs to realize her place really quick. Just as I go to say something more to her, she disappears. I look around and am shocked almost completely sober by what I see.

  “Did he or did he not tell you more than once to leave him alone?” Sami yells at the club girl, dragging her away by the hair.

  “Who the fuck are you?” the club girl yells back at her.

  “She’s goin’ to be my old lady is who she is,” I start off. “And she’s the niece of a member and the cousin to the President’s wife.”

  The club girl instantly goes quiet. She now knows that she fucked up big time just by opening her mouth to Sami. Before Sami can do anything else, Grim and Pops make their way over to her and take the club girl away. She won’t be coming back I bet.

  Sami looks at me and I can see more tears in her eyes. She’s looking at me with eyes full of love and I know I need to make this right with her. Everyone here is my witness that I haven’t done anything. And if she’s over here now, I can guarantee that Irish explained what my thought process was earlier. I don’t’ know though. The next move is going to be up to her.

  “So, Goose, are you ready to leave yet?” she asks, stepping closer to her.

  “Yeah. I’m more than ready to leave. Can we talk?” I ask, an almost pleading tone to my voice.

  “I think we need to.”

  The two of us remain quiet as we make our way out of the clubhouse. I want to grab her hand so bad, but I don’t’ know if she’s going to want me to do that. So, I remain walking next to her to see where she’s going to take us. It doesn’t take me long to realize we’re walking out to the table that sits behind the apartment.

  “So, what was up with earlier? Irish already talked to me, but I need to hear it from you,” she says once she’s comfortable.

  “I heard the guys sayin’ that now that I’m full patch, I’d be gettin’ all the pussy I could handle. I’m not sure who exactly said it, but it was said. So, I thought it was expected of me to be with the club girls at my party tonight. I didn’t want to do that to you. So, I spewed that bullshit,” I tell her. “I know that when you were datin’ those guys it killed me to watch you and think that you were gonna be happy with
them. I honestly don’t know what I was thinkin’.”

  “You weren’t with any of them?” she asks, and I can see that she really didn’t want to, but she needs the answer.

  “I sat at the bar where you saw me the entire time I was there. Beer and whiskey were my friends tonight.”

  “Okay. If you ever try that bullshit again, I will never talk to you again. That’s a promise Goose. I’m not going to be sitting home worrying if you’re fucking with them.”

  “I don’t want you to have to worry about that at all. I would never cheat on you or ruin anythin’ by bein’ with a club girl. They aren’t worth it when I can have you all to myself.”

  Sami leans closer to me and I know that this time I’m forgiven. I might not be so lucky next time and I’m not going to try anything like this again. If I’m being honest with myself, I don’t think I could have been with a club girl tonight if I had to be. My girl is worth a million of them. She’s a rare gem and I’m going to do everything in my power to never hurt her again.

  Sami

  The day has finally come that we’re having a dinner for two. I celebrated my seventeenth birthday a few days ago and I’ve been busting at the seams to talk to Goose about being together. After the patch party, Irish told me that he gave me his blessing to make it official with Goose. He just didn’t want me to feel pressured to do anything before I was ready. I told him that Goose and I had already talked about that and we’re not rushing into that aspect of our relationship right yet.

  Goose is going to take me out tonight so it’s just us before we come back and have cake and ice cream with mom, Irish, and Cassidy. I didn’t want anyone else included when I know there’s going to be a party at the clubhouse for him later this week. So, I’m just putting the finishing touches on myself when I hear Goose knock on the door.

  I walk out to see Goose is wearing a new pair of dark blue jeans with a button-down shirt under his cut. His hair is done, and he’s never looked better than he does tonight. He even looks better than when he took me to the homecoming dance.

  “Are you ready to go, Sami?” my mom asks me, breaking me out of my staring.

  “Yeah. I’m ready when you are Goose.”

  He walks over and takes my hand before leading me out to his new car. Goose got my favorite car ever a Dodge Charger. After he opens the door for me and making sure I’m settled, Goose runs around to get in the driver’s seat.

  “You look amazin’,” he tells me.

  I decided to wear a light summer dress with a pair of dress sandals. My hair is left down, and mom helped me curl it so that it lays down my back in soft curls. Bailey came over just to do my make-up and I know that she did it the same way she usually does.

  “Thank you,” I tell him, still not knowing how to take compliments.

  Once we pull into the diner and get settled into a back booth, I become nervous as fuck. I want to have this conversation with Goose, but I’m not sure how he’s going to respond to it. There’s the way I know I want him to respond, and then there’s the way that he could respond. For all I know, he could tell me that he wants to wait until I’m eighteen no matter what the law, my mom, and Irish say about it.

  “What’s on your mind butterfly?” Goose asks me.

  “There’s something that I want to talk to you about, but I don’t know how you’re going to take it.”

  “What’s that?” he asks, scooting closer to my side of the table because I’ve started talking softer.

  “I’ve been doing some research. It’s completely legal for us to be together now. Mom and Irish are okay with us making things official, they just don’t want us to rush into certain parts of our relationship. Honestly, I’m not ready for that yet,” I say in a rush.

  Goose doesn’t say anything for a minute. He just stares at me. I’m getting more and more nervous as time ticks by and there’s no response from him. Just as I go to tell him to forget it, he gets up from his side of the booth and slides in next to me. Once he’s sitting down next to me, he places a hand on each side of my face and lowers his lips to mine. Goose gives me the sweetest kiss I’ve ever experienced in my life.

  Alice drops our drinks off while Goose is still kissing me. Finally, he pulls away and I know that things are going to change for the better. Resting his forehead against mine, Goose closes his eyes and doesn’t move or say anything.

  “Are you serious right now butterfly?” he finally asks.

  “I am.”

  “You want to make us official? Because once we’re official, there’s no goin’ back. As soon as you turn eighteen, you’re becomin’ my old lady.”

  “I want that more than anything,” I tell him honestly.

  “Then, we’re not waitin’ another second. You’re mine Sami.”

  I smile in happiness and lean in to kiss my man again. Before I reach his lips, he pulls out a box and hands it to me. I open it up to see a butterfly charm and the number seventeen. The smile that breaks out on my face can’t be contained as I pull out my own box and hand it to him.

  “This is for you even though it’s going on my bracelet. I’ve been holding on to it for a little bit,” I tell him, waiting to see his face.

  Goose takes the box and opens it up. Inside sits a little motorcycle charm. I got it for him as soon as I saw it. It’s because he’s now a full patch member of the Wild Kings. He’s already had the motorcycle, now he has the cut to go with it. What better way to celebrate?

  “Here’s to the beginning of the rest of our lives,” Goose tells me, giving me another kiss.

  Today is definitely the beginning of the rest of our lives. I have a wonderful family, a man that’s truly amazing, and I don’t have to be afraid of what I want to do with my life. No matter what I decide to do, I’ll always have strong people at my back. Goose and I may fight and argue, but at the end of the day, he’s my one and only. Age doesn’t matter when you find what you’re truly looking for in a partner.

  Epilogue

  Keegan

  I’VE BEEN IN CLIFTON FALLS for a while now. When I first got taken out of my uncle’s car by Rage, I figured I’d heal from the beating and then move on. It’s what I’ve been doing for sixteen years. Stay in a town until I don’t feel safe and then move on to the next town. It’s no way to live, but it’s what I had to do to survive.

  Now, everything has changed. I have family here and Rage and Kasey are here. Rage has been by my side since he pulled my beaten body out of that car. Through the entire healing process, not wanting to go out of his room at the clubhouse, and even now at the house they put me in. His little girl Kasey is so cute too, and he’s so good with her.

  About a week after I started staying in the house, even though I wasn’t necessarily a domestic violence victim, he asked me to watch her. So, now my days are filled with playing with Kasey and getting to know my family again. Rage is always there.

  Now, it’s been months and I’ve settled into a nice routine. I spend time with Whitney, Sami, and their little family during the day. At night, I’m always alone. I don’t really talk to anyone else and I don’t go anywhere. No one is out looking for me necessarily, I just am scared to go out. I always seem to find trouble. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing.

  “Keegan, you here?” Rage calls through the door.

  “In the kitchen,” I answer back.

  Rage walks in with Kasey and I can see the laughter that’s filling his eyes. The kitchen is a complete mess as I’ve been experimenting on new recipes for cakes and candy. Cooking and baking is one of my secret passions and I don’t usually share it with anyone. Not even Whitney when I go over to help her.

  “Um, you know you have flour all over your face, right?” he asks me, moving farther into the kitchen.

  “Do I?” I ask, laughter bubbling out of me.

  “Yeah. Here, let me get it for you,” he says, walking right up to me.

  As Rage goes to wipe the flour off my face, my breath catches. Since the day
I first saw him, Rage makes me feel things I haven’t ever felt. I’m sure it’s not the same for him, so I keep this to myself. Especially when he’s not the type I usually go for.

  Rage is tall with dark hair. Most days he has it spiked up, but some days he doesn’t do a thing with it and I just want to run my fingers through it. His eyes are a dark brown that I could fall into if I let myself. You can tell that Rage works hard with the muscles I see on a daily basis. And his tattoos are amazing. They cover his upper body and when I say I wouldn’t mind tracing each and every one of them, I’m not lying. It’s not just his looks though. Rage is sweet, attentive, he adores his little girl, and he has a protective streak a mile wide.

  Once he’s done wiping the flour off my face, he stares down into my eyes. It’s almost as if he’s searching for something. I’m not sure what it is though. Before anything can be done, Kasey pushes herself in between us.

  “Can I help you today Keegan?” she asks.

  “Absolutely!” I tell her.

  “Well, I’ll let you two do your thing and I’ll be outside.”

  I watch Rage walk away and I get lost in my own thoughts. That is until Kasey pulls me back to reality. She’s such a smart little girl and I love spending time with her. This is what I missed out on when I was growing up. Being able to be carefree and do as my heart desired. I always had to be mindful of my dad and stay out of his way. My mom was never there for me. Her alcohol was too important. If I ever have kids, I’m not going to be like my parents. I’ll be for them whatever they need or want. They’ll be just like Kasey and the rest of the kids I’ve seen around the club.

  Rage

  The day I saw Keegan, my life started to brighten up again. Losing Storm was one of the worst days of my life. Storm was my best friend. In my mind, we were moving towards something more, but I don’t know if she felt the same way. Now, we’ll never know if she was my one and only. The way that Keegan’s making me feel, I think that she might be that. If only I could get out of my own head and try again.