I don’t answer her straight away. I look at the sunflowers I’d placed down just days before. “I like to think she is.”
Her clear pools of blue bore into mine before she turns to look back at the headstone. “You were one of the only people that showed me what it felt like to be loved, even though it was never your job too. Your son may be a biker, but you passed your good heart onto him.”
My heart pangs at her admission, Keeley isn’t a ‘feelings’ person but here she is talking openly about them.
“I’m sorry I’m taking him away from you, Arlene. But I think I need him.” She eyes me and blushes. “I think he’s going to help me heal my fucked up mind.” She covers her mouth. “Sorry, Arlene. I think I can feel the swat upside my head from here.”
I sit back and watch her as she slowly opens up and eases into talking to ‘my mom’. She talks non-stop for another ten minutes before wrapping it up. “We have friends waiting for us and I know they want to get back home so... I guess we should go now. But I want to come back and see you sometime.” She looks at me and I nod with a faint smile on my face, the thought of not coming to see her every week playing on my mind. “Well I guess I’ll see you then. Oh and Arlene? Tell my mom that I forgive her, I love you.”
She kisses her fingertips and presses them to the headstone, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. I pull her against my chest and kiss her temple, ready to say my own goodbye.
“Well mine won’t be as fancy as Steely’s because I’m not going to say bye. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I stop there, feeling a sudden warmth flood through me and I close my eyes. “I know you’d be happy of my choice to leave the club, I can see your smug smile now. You were always like Keeley when it came to the club, but you loved pop so much that you put your own feelings aside, and I know you didn’t want me and Jacques involved. I promise I’ll try and get him out of there, but he’s his own man now and I think he needs time. Anyway, time’s getting on and we need to get on the road. See you real soon.”
I stand up pulling Keeley with me, running my fingers across mom’s headstone with a sad sigh. “Love you, mom.”
Keeley reaches up and touches the scruff of my beard, laying a palm against my cheek. “You sure this is what you wanna do?”
I don’t hesitate in picking her up and walking out of there without saying a word, my actions speaking louder than any words ever could.
“So where is it I’m going to be living? I can see you as a big city girl,” Hunter says as we settle down to go to sleep in a roadside motel.
I scoff. “You obviously don’t know me that well. And if that’s what you’re wanting, you’re going to be very disappointed.”
He pulls me into him so his body curves around mine and whispers in my ear, “I don’t care where I am. As long as I have you by my side and in my bed, I’m going to be one happy man.”
This man is the most perfect example of the phrase ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. His outer appearance clashes with his inner beauty; beard, hair shorter on the sides and long and unkempt on top, broad physique always clad in black jeans and leather. And the tattoos… the tattoos are a work of art, I don’t think there’s one area of his body, apart from his face and head, that isn’t covered by them. He’s fiercely protective when he cares about something, passionate in his feelings, and scary as hell but I know it’s just a front that he’s put on due to the lifestyle he’s lived, much like me. He’s kind, sarcastic and everything I’ll ever need. He’s perfection personified in the form of a rugged, sexy ass biker.
And he’s all mine.
“I live in a hick town in the middle of nowhere, but it’s home,” I breathe back, starting to get a little hot under the collar at the feeling of his hard body pressed up against mine.
It was an easy decision when deciding on room choices, Sam wanted us to room together and Connor and Hunter were going to get rooms by themselves, but I vetoed that idea straight away. I’ve slept in a bed with Hunter more times than I can count and we’re no strangers to each others bodies. But tonight isn’t about the sexual tension I can feel between us, he’s encased me in his arms to make me feel safe.
I shiver as I feel his breath blowing across my neck. He pulls me closer and kisses me on the back of the neck, but it makes me wince with the pain.
He pulls back and looks at the bandage. “Why didn’t you tell me you have one back here too? We need to clean and dress it.”
He’d appointed himself my nurse and had done exactly that to every one of my cuts or stitches, all apart from this one. “It’s okay. I forgot it was there, we’ll get it tomorrow.”
Truth is, this one I just don’t want him to see. I know he’ll go off like a flashbang and demand to know what happened, and I’m just not sure I’m ready to tell him.
“Steely, it could get infected. I ain’t risking that, sit up.”
I sigh, determined not to show any emotion. “You’re not gonna let up until you do this, are you?” He shakes his head. “Fine. But just so you know in advance, it isn’t gonna be pretty.”
His brow furrows and he reaches up to peel the bandage off gently. I hear his hiss of breath and he leaps off the bed. “What the fuck is that!”
I close my eyes, trying not to remember the moment that my Uncle butchered me. “Please, just clean it up and cover it again. I can’t stand that you’re looking at it.”
He bends down and grabs my face. “Don’t do that, not with me.” He bites his lip, looking like he’s struggling to keep his anger under control.
Wanting to distract him, I press me lips to his and he growls and deepens it, lifting me straight off the bed like I don’t weigh a thing. I wince at the pain in my limbs but I swallow it down with every movement of his lips against mine.
He kneels on the bed and lowers me down, lying between my legs, keeping his weight off me with one arm resting on the bed.
“I’m trying to be a gentleman, Steely, but you’re makin’ it fuckin’ impossible,” he growls out.
I run my fingers down his chest. “No one said you have to be a gentleman.”
He grabs my hand and lifts it above my head, running his fingers down the sensitive skin on the underside of my arm, finishing at my waist. “There’s nothing gentle about what I want to do with you. So until you’re fully healed, that’s exactly what I need to be.”
A shiver rolls through me at the promise of his words. “Well in that case, let’s get a bandage back on my neck and get an early night.”
He groans and presses his forehead to mine. “I’ll have you whatever way I can right now, so let’s get to it.”
He lifts off me and holds out his hand so I can scoot along to the end of the bed, giving him access to my neck. “You gonna tell me why you’ve got an inch long patch of skin missing from the back of your neck?”
I squeeze my fists tight. “Not unless you agree to not talk about it again after.”
He starts cleaning the area and grunts.
I fight with the memories.
“Now who holds the key to your destiny, bitch.”
I know he’s gone for good, but the fear that I still feel is all too real. “Two months after my dad kicked me out, I got a tattoo on the back of my neck, a key. I got it to symbolize that I held the key to my own destiny, I know it’s super cheesy but it made me feel like I was back in control. After I left, it wasn’t easy for me but I found Sam and she made things feel alright again. Anyway, enough about that. Merl saw the tattoo and asked why a key, so I told him. I guess he didn’t like my answer so he pulled out his knife and well… you can guess what he did.”
A growl leaves his throat and I hear a thud as he hits the wall. “If only you hadn’t ended him! I can’t believe he did that to you!”
I watch as he paces the room and I wait for him to calm down. Seeing him visibly start to relax, I slide off the bed as he turns to me and wraps his good arm around me, kissing me on the temple. “I’m sorry, beautiful. The thought of him doing an
ything like that to you has me on fire. I can’t think of his hands all over you without wanting to rip them off.”
“I know how you feel, I wish I made him suffer. But I just wanted to get rid of him.”
He nods and goes to wrap both arms around me but shakes out his shoulder in pain. “You need to take your pills, you’re doing too much,” I say.
“You don’t need to worry about me, I’ll be fine. We have three hours of travel left and then that’s me. Relax and recuperation with my Old Lady is on the cards from there on out.” I give him a look and he raises his hands up in surrender. “Sorry, Old Lady is just a habit.”
I roll my eyes back at him. “Yeah, we’ll break that habit.”
“Is that a promise?” He challenges.
“Sure is. Come on, get me patched back up and we’ll call it a night.”
I haven’t lived in Little Hollow for very long, but as we pull onto main street, I feel like I’m coming home. I’ve missed the sleepy little town. Seeing the salon is a different story though, the memories of that night all rush back and the panic starts bubbling its way through my body as I’m not ready for everything to come back to me so quickly.
“Kee?” Sam asks, looking behind her. She only has to look where my eyes are trained to know what’s wrong with me. “It’s alright, he’s gone, just breathe.”
She climbs into the back seat with me. “That’s right, in and out.” She mimics what she wants me to do and I copy her. “Connor, get Hunter.”
I hear the truck door slam and Hunter’s bike engine cuts out. The door beside me flings open and as his large hand slides into mine, and instantly I feel grounded.
“Steely, I’m right here. Take all the time you need.”
“I don’t need time,” I say breathlessly and push my lips to his. “I just need you.”
He pulls back to check I’m okay, seeing what he must need to, he scoops me up with a grunt. I can tell his shoulder is playing up and I make a mental note to play nurse to him when we’re alone.
We walk in after Sam and I ache seeing it so bare. There’s no floor laid down anymore and it smells of fresh paint.
We have to start all over again.
“Connor and Lewis have patched up most of it for now, but there wasn’t anything that could be saved. They’ve assured me it won’t be too much longer before we’re up and running again, but obviously you take your time to recover and come back whenever you want,” Sam says tentatively.
I shut my eyes and remember the flashback of the state the room was in before I fell unconscious. I only saw a glimpse, but what I did see was a wreck. I just nod weakly, not able to say anything.
“Don’t want to rush anybody but she ain’t the easiest to carry after I’ve just been shot,” Hunter states.
I gasp. “Oh my god! Put me down, I can walk now. I may be slow but I can walk.”
He nods, slides me down and rotates his shoulder, his jaw ticking as he grinds his teeth together. “So what is this place?”
I look around feeling sad. “It was our salon, mine and Sam’s.”
“You have your own salon?” He asks, sounding impressed.
“Did. It was destroyed the night I was taken,” I say, trying not to sound bitter. I’m not sure if it was Jacques or my Uncle, and frankly, I don’t think it matters right now.
“And it will be ours again once it’s finished,” Sam says cheerily.
I smile at her, Connor seems to be changing her outlook on things.
Hunter absently rubs my back. “I’ll help, it’ll get done faster that way.”
Connor nods. “Thanks, man. That’ll help a lot.”
“So shall we show Hunter up?” Sam chirps.
I nod and tell them all to walk ahead of me. Sam and Connor do but Hunter stays behind me. “I can climb some stairs, Hunter.”
“And I want to watch you climb these stairs. You may be hurt but I’m still a man.” He winks at me but I can see the playfulness in his eyes. I know that he just wants to make sure I’m okay more than anything.
I look to the top of the stairs and brace myself against the handrail, taking each step one at a time. My muscles ache and my knee screams at me, but I grit my teeth and bear it. Getting to the top, I hesitate before stepping over the threshold into the apartment, the place that I was taken from.
Hunter must see me tense up and threads his fingers through mine as he looks around. I don’t know what I’m expecting but everything looks the same apart from a few decorative bits that seem to be missing.
I smile at the colorful mess that is our home and I realize I don’t feel scared, I can do this.
“Me and Connor are going to stay at Miss Debbie’s for now, she’s travelling some more and staying with family so you can have this place to yourselves? Unless you wanted to stay at Miss Debbie’s?”
In the sudden haste to get back home and back to normality with one addition; Hunter, I’d forgotten to think about living arrangements and I don’t know what to reply.
“Erm, earth to Keeley?” Sam says giggling.
I look at Hunter, he’s assessing me, wondering what I’m thinking. “Yeah, I guess we need some space to catch up. Thanks, Sam.”
I don’t mention the future, wanting to concentrate on the here and now, and I can feel Hunters eyes burning into me.
“Okay, I think the cops still want to speak to you and the insurance company too, but that can wait. For now, me and Con will go to the grocery store and pick you up some essentials, anything in particular you want?” I shake my head with a grateful smile on my face. “Well alright then, we’ll be back soon.”
She pulls me into a tight hug. “Sorry if I’m hurting you, but I need this.”
I hug her back, I don’t care if it aches. “Love you, Sam,” I whisper.
She pulls back, tears in her eyes. “Love you too, Kee.” She skips to Connor. “Later, guys.”
It takes her a second to tear her eyes away from me but she shakes her head and closes the door behind them, leaving me and Hunter alone.
“It looks like a rainbow threw up in here,” he says after a beat.
I laugh, glad he’s quashed out any tension. “Yeah, that’s Sam’s doing. I just went along with it, I couldn’t stand to see her pout about it all.”
What do we do now?
I point to the door on the far side of the living room. “Bathroom’s just over there, obviously kitchen is right here, that’s Sam’s room…” I point to the left of the kitchen, “... and this is mine.”
I open the door to the right of the kitchen and hold out my arms. “It’s nothing much, but it’s home.”
He doesn’t say anything so I move further into the room, admiring the ornate black furniture. It’s all pre-owned furniture but me and Sam spent a whole day painting it black, it is after all my favorite color. When my feet touch the fluffy rug, I crouch down slowly and run my fingers through it.
“You know... when I was in that cold room, I thought about this rug.” I laugh a humorless laugh. “I wanted to be back here so I could feel how soft it is against my feet, weird huh?”
He bends down and runs his hand over it. “Nah, that’s not weird. It is pretty soft.” He winks and puts me at ease. “I like your room, it’s very… you.”
I look around in pride. “Yeah, I like it too.”
He pulls me up with one hand. “I know this is going to take some getting used to, but you don’t mind me being here do you? I know this is your space.”
I wave him off. “Hunter, we practically shared the same room for most of our life. I think I stayed at yours more times than I did at my own house, until we got older.”
“Well you’ve got me there. But I meant on a more permanent basis,” he says slowly.
I look into his expectant eyes, conveying his feelings about me. “I really didn’t think about living arrangements this whole time, but you’re here now and I don’t want you to leave. If this is what you want, then I’m up for trying.”
H
e grins. “So I guess this means we’re roomies then.”
I pull him by his t-shirt onto my bed. “I guess it does.”
There’s nothing more I want than to be here with Keeley, but the memory of the betrayal on Jacques’s face as he walked away from me won’t leave my mind. Pops doesn’t pay much attention to him anymore now he’s grown up, so how he acted toward me doesn’t surprise me one bit. He must think I’ve abandoned him.
I get up slowly and sit on the edge of the bed, debating whether to call him or not. Deciding to try, I grab my cell and make my way out of the room into Keeley’s kitchen, well I guess it’s my kitchen now too. Shit, that’s going to take some getting used to.
I pour a glass of orange that Sam and Connor brought back earlier on, and punch in his number. It’s ten at night so I know he’ll still be awake.
He answers on the third ring. “What the fuck do you want?”
“Don’t be like that, Jacques. I tried to find you before I left but you weren’t there.”
“Yeah, ‘cause I didn’t wanna be found!” He shouts back over the loud music in the background.
“Where are you?” I ask.
“That ain’t none of your business, now go play happy families with your new girlfriend, Nomad.”
“Wait… Jacques.” I’m too late, he’s already hung up on me. I guess he just needs time. I’ll text Smokey and tell him to keep an eye on him for me before trying again.
I make my way back to bed with Keeley. My Steely. I’ll never let her out of my sight again. Giving up club life won’t be easy, I’ll still want to ride but now I’ll have her on the back of my bike instead of my brothers by my side. It hurts a little, but for her, it’s worth it.
I climb back into bed and kiss her shoulder as she stirs. “It’s just me, beautiful. Go back to sleep.”
She moans in contentment and I find myself falling asleep shortly after.
“Wake up, sleepyheads!” A voice shouts through the door with a round of knocks.
Keeley groans beside me, “Fuck off, Sam. We’re trying to sleep.”
“Cover yourselves!” Sam walks in with her hand over her eyes while she talks to us. “I decided last night that in light of everything that’s happened, I don’t much like having you out my sight. So we’re going to the beach.”
When I'm With You (Little Hollow #2) Page 23