The Lies Between Us

by M. N. Forgy

  “But they believed you?” I ask.

  “They pretty much know we’re lying, but they have no proof.” Lip shrugs.

  “Can I come in yet?” someone hollers from the doorway. My eyes widen with excitement; I know that voice from anywhere.

  Lip laughs. “Yeah, come in.”

  Piper rushes in wearing a pink little dress, and hair shiny and combed. She looks so youthful and happy.

  “Piper!” I cheer with excitement. To see her, it makes me want to move mountains, regardless of the pain I’m in.

  “Cherry!” Piper chimes. She crawls onto the bed, and I cry harder as I pull her into a big hug.

  “Easy now.” Lip laughs.

  I hug her tighter, her little heartbeat pounding against my chest. I take in the smell of her, the feel of her skin against mine, and I swear to God I’ll never let her go again.

  “I missed you,” she whispers.

  “I’ve missed you,” I whisper back.

  I sit her back and look her over.

  “You look so pretty.” I pull on the fabric of her dress.

  “Thank you. Lip took me shopping,” My eyes pull from Piper to Lip, shocked.

  “Yeah?”

  Lip shrugs, and I think my ovaries just exploded. Badass biker taking my daughter shopping is something for the books, for sure. I look at Piper, my daughter, and smile.

  “Piper, I need to tell you something,” I mutter, my brows furrowing inward. I don’t know if now is the right time to tell her I’m her mother, but I can’t hold it in any longer. I’ve had to keep it secret for six fucking years, so now is as good as time as any. Pushing little strands of hair behind her ear, I tilt my head to the side.

  “I’m your mom, Piper.”

  Her eyes furrow and she nibbles on her bottom lip as she takes in the words I just spoke. Finally, she looks up from under her lashes, her face unsure.

  “I always wanted a mommy like you. You know, sometimes when we were together, I would think of you as my mommy.” She smiles, and what was left of my heart explodes into warmth. Tears leak out of my eyes uncontrollably.

  I pull her close and cry into her hair. I finally have my daughter. Finally have my flesh and blood. I didn’t die, but I certainly went through Hell to get her. I’d do it all over again, too.

  “I’ll make up the last six years for the rest of your life, Piper,” I promise.

  ***

  Tom Cat’s funeral was beautiful, but sad. I think Lip took it the hardest. He lost a loyal brother to one he can’t stand. Tom’s casket was draped with his leather cut before the service, and it was hard to see. Bull walking up to the casket and whispering he was a true brother, and he’d see him on the other side, before thumping his knuckles on the casket… was even harder. The song “Last Ride” by Wiz Khalifa played and made everyone bawl into a fit of sobs. Dani picked the song, and I think I may slap her for playing something so perfect yet so sad at the same time.

  I set an empty glass into the sink and slowly head out of the kitchen. My side is killing me from where I was shot, but I won’t dare leave because of the pain. Clubs from all around are here to pay their respects, and it’s beautiful, really. People passing us on the sidewalks and in cars look at us like we’re monsters living on rage and fury, but when you get past that stereotypical bullshit, we’re family. We have each other’s backs and love one another just like any other family. To a lot of men, this is all they have. Some returning back from serving their country and needing that family they lost while they were away, or some who grew up on the wrong side and need guidance—we accept them all. I love being a part of something so great, because I know as well as anyone that sometimes people just need a second go at trying one of the hardest things there is to master: life.

  “Piper, wait for me!” Zane hollers after Piper as they run across the room. I smirk; Zane is going to be such a player.

  Dani walks past me and I stop her. “Have you seen Lip?” I haven’t seen him since we got back.

  “I saw him heading down the hallway earlier,” Dani tells me. I nod and head down the hallway in search of him. Him getting Piper for me is something I will forever owe him for. But since I’ve been out of the hospital, he’s been somewhat distant, like he doesn’t know what he wants. Or maybe it’s just Tom Cat’s death weighing heavily on him, I’m not sure.

  Slowly opening our door, I find Lip sitting on the bed, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Crying. To see such a strong man crying, it cuts me. Should I go in, or leave him be? I step in, deciding to comfort him. After the many times he was there when I was crying, this is my chance to repay that favor. He looks up and wipes at his face.

  “I’ll be out in a minute,” he croaks, his voice heavy with sorrow.

  I sit on the bed and grab his hand. His bloodshot eyes shoot to mine, and I frown. I hate seeing him so broken.

  “You okay?”

  Lip’s body eases, his tense shoulders sagging.

  “No, I’m not. My flesh and blood killed one of my own.” Lip shakes his head, a tear slipping down his tanned cheek. As much as it hurts to see him like this, it kind of turns me on to see him so vulnerable, too.

  “It’s not your fault, Lip,” I state.

  Lip scoffs. “I shouldn’t have let him go out there.”

  “Could you have really stopped him? He knew what he was doing, Lip,” I try to assure.

  “Probably not; his ass was stubborn.” Lip chuckles, wiping his cheeks. He smirks and squeezes my hand.

  “How are you and Piper settling in?” he questions, changing the subject.

  I shrug. “Good, I guess. I think I’m going to stay with my brother for a while. He really wants some time with Piper and I can’t leave her side. Not right now,” I explain, a piece of me wanting Lip to object. It would put my fear of him not wanting Piper in his life aside.

  Sitting in silence, I shift uncomfortably.

  “Where are we, Lip?” I finally ask, sick of the games. I can’t read his mind, or his body language for that matter.

  “I don’t even know.” He shakes his head, and my chest aches.

  I nod and stand. “Lip, I care about you, I do. But we don’t know each other, not really. Besides, I have a little girl, and you don’t even like kids.” I take a deep breath. “I won’t give her up, I’m sorry.”

  Lip nods, he doesn’t disagree, and doesn’t try to stop me.

  “Yeah, I think we just need a moment to decide where the fuck we’re going in all this.” Lip looks down at his hands, and my eyes threaten to spill hot tears. “Tom’s death, you getting your kid back, and I killed my brother. Everything is just happening so fast,” he mutters.

  I nearly sob in reaction. I have to get out of here or I’ll lose it.

  Lip’s bloodshot eyes glance up at me. “I care about you, Cherry. I do. I just need some time to process shit. I don’t want to hurt you again, and I don’t want you to come back to me because you’re familiar with me. You know?”

  I bite my lips together to keep from sobbing and nod. I get what he’s saying, but it doesn’t make it any easier. “I know what you mean,” I mutter, my head lowered to keep from looking at him. I lean down and kiss his cheek, and he grabs at my hand as I walk away.

  ***

  Tyler shows Piper how to pluck the strings of his guitar, and I can’t help but take picture after picture. To see them together, in one room, it’s something I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to. Piper’s hair is braided over one shoulder, and the torn blue jeans and pink top she’s wearing looks adorable on her. She didn’t know what to think when I bought her clothes that actually had pink on them and fit. I wanted to cry and curse Eric at the same time at her reaction.

  “There ya go, you got it.” Tyler laughs, placing the guitar fully on Piper’s lap. Looking the guitar over, it’s close to the one that was in Lip’s spare bedroom. I frown; I miss him so much. Everything reminds me of him. I heard a motorcycle yesterday, and I ran out the front door in nothi
ng but a tank top and panties, thinking Lip was there to take Piper and me home. But it was just some old guy, although he seemed more thankful for the peepshow. I’m starting to question my sanity.

  Grabbing my phone, I check my messages for the fifth time in the last hour, but there’s nothing. He hasn’t texted, hasn’t called, and it’s been days. Maybe he’s decided he can’t love me and Piper, that he just doesn’t have enough love in him for that. Glancing from the phone to Tyler and Piper, I notice Tyler smile as wide as I’ve ever seen it, but it fades quickly as he looks me over.

  “You okay, Cherry?”

  I sigh loudly and toss the phone on the couch cushion.

  “Still hasn’t called?” Tyler purses his lips, and I shake my head.

  “Screw him. If he can’t accept you and,” he looks at Piper, who is still playing the guitar, “then he doesn’t deserve you or her.” I bite at my bottom lip, because the thought of Lip not wanting to be in our lives after bringing us together is almost too much.

  “He’s just going through a lot with Tom’s death and all,” I defend, and Tyler huffs in irritation. I roll my eyes. Tyler wouldn’t understand; he’s never been with a chick after a week let alone falling in love with another person.

  “I mean, at what point do you say, ‘hey, enough is enough’, Lindsay? A couple can only handle so much bullshit.” Tyler shrugs, and I wince at my civilian name. I’ve grown to hate it compared to Cherry.

  Cocking my head to the side, I narrow my eyes at Tyler’s flippant tone. I don’t agree with him, because I don’t think a couple that cares about one another should ever just walk away when things get tough.

  “Never,” I respond. Tyler narrows his eyes in confusion.

  “I think when two people love each other, you never get to that point. You never give up, and you never reach the point of enough,” I clarify. Tyler’s face looks like he was just slapped with reality, and it makes me smirk. One day, a girl is going to turn his world upside-down, and I hope to God I’m there for it.

  “Hey, kiddo, let’s go raid the cookie jar,” Tyler suggests. Piper’s eyes go wide, and she hands Tyler the guitar. Watching them enter the kitchen, I pick my phone back up, my fingers aching to type his number into a message. My phone dings and my heart jumps with it. Opening my messages, I find a text from Dani.

  DANI: Family get-together next week at the beach. You better be there with Piper.

  I’m not sure if I should go; it feels weird not knowing where Lip and I are. My phone dings again.

  DANI: You’re family. Be there or I’ll just come and get you.

  I laugh. I love that woman. Piper told me how nice Dani was to her when they met, that doesn’t surprise me though. Dani is an amazing person, and family means everything to her. To know that I am her family no matter what, it’s refreshing. I sigh and tell her we’ll be there.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  LIP

  One Week Later

  “Lip, you coming to the get-together?” Dani asks, stacking trays of food. The club decided to have a big BBQ, trying to lift everyone’s spirits after Tom’s death, but I just can’t wrap my head around it. Growing up, my mother was Catholic, and my father wasn’t so much. When someone passed who was close to us, my mother made us mourn religiously, while my father went to the club and got his dick sucked to grieve.

  “You need to go, been moping around here for a fucking week,” Bull scorns. “I get it, brother. We all loved Tom Cat, but he gave his life so you fucking had one. Now get out there and fucking live it,” Bull demands, his tone angry.

  “Live it, as in go and find Cherry?”

  Bull nods. “Please, I can’t take this shit anymore. You always looking at your phone, hiding in your room—I’m about to buy you a box of tampons, son.” Bull smirks, and I scoff.

  Cherry staying at her brother’s has nearly killed me. Seeing where she used to lay in our bed and where she used to throw her hair shit all over our bathroom counter, I feel like a piece of me is gone. I stay here at the club mostly so I don’t have to notice her absence, or smell her scent around the house. All a reminder of how I fucked up, how I fuck everything up.

  I want her in my life, and I want Piper in my life—that much has become clear to me. But how do I reassure her I want her daughter in my life? How do I say, ‘hey, you fucked up, and I fucked up. Let’s move forward’?

  “Where is it?” I ask, knowing Bull is right. I need to get out of this fucking place for a while.

  “The beach.” Dani shrugs. “Should be fun, the kids love it there,” she continues.

  “I don’t know,” I mutter, grabbing another beer. I glance at my phone again then shake my head at myself and sigh. Here I am acting like a fucking chick checking my phone, hoping she calls me first. Knowing Cherry, she’s waiting on me to come to her.

  “Cherry will be there,” Dani sing-songs. “You can stop checking that phone and just go to her, ya know.”

  My ears perk at Cherry’s name. Just hearing another person say it drives the nail of loneliness in my heart. I saw a redheaded girl sitting at the club bar the other day, and my heart stopped, thinking it was Cherry. It wasn’t her of course, and I looked like a damn fool for swinging the strange chick around by her arm like a crazy asshole.

  “I don’t know how to make things right,” I answer honestly. Dani sighs heavily, flopping her purse on the counter.

  “You guys just need to start over, forget everything that went wrong. She misses you, ya know. She wants to be with you. But she doesn’t think you want to be with her because of her daughter.” Dani’s eyes furrow inward with an accusing glare.

  “But I do,” I flick my eyes to Dani’s and she smiles sympathetically. “I wasn’t sure at first, but I—” I lower my head and exhale a frustrated breath. “I’m miserable without them,” I confess. “When I met Piper and saw how fragile she was, all I wanted to do was protect her. She reminds me of Cherry so much, and there’s this piece of me that just wants to be their protector, their main source of security.”

  “Then fucking tell her that,” Dani huffs. “You both fucked up, you both told some shitty lies. Nobody is worse than the other in this, but Cherry being my partner in crime, I’m just going to say that you are the fucking asshole in this. You need to go to her and stop with the pride bullshit.” Dani lays it out there, no beating around the bush. As much as her flippant mouth angers me, she’s fucking right.

  “Thanks for the advice,” I grumble sarcastically and stand from the counter. As much as Dani’s words make sense, but why would Cherry believe anything I said after all the lies I’ve spoken? Why should she?

  I saunter into my room in the back of the club and slam the door. I never thought I wanted kids, never thought I’d love someone, but now I don’t know how I could live without Cherry and Piper. The way she’s on my mind day and night, the thought that another guy is looking at what’s mine, I know without a doubt I’ve fallen for her. Me running to her and spewing a bunch of apologies, though? That ain’t Cherry’s style. Hell, that ain’t my style.

  I spot Cherry’s property patch lying on the floor. Stepping forward, I grab it, the smell of her making my dick swell. Bull gave me Cherry, and I fell in love with her. She taught me how to balance my dark and light. Without her, I’ll dissolve into my own shadow. I can’t help the man I am, but for fuck’s sake, I’m not going to be the man who lets the one girl he’s ever loved slip away.

  Fisting the cut, I turn to the door, taking long strides out of the room.

  Cherry is mine, whether she wants to be or not. I won’t let her walk away that easily.

  “Dani, wait up!” I holler.

  I follow Dani and some of the guys to the beach, the whole time my heart slamming against my chest. What if she tells me she can’t right now, that she needs to focus on Piper? I shake my head. Fuck that; I won’t let her push me away with that bullshit.

  I pull up to the beach and prop my bike on its kickstand.

  “Good luck, b
rother.” Bobby smirks, patting me on the back as he walks past. Asshole.

  Red hair catches my attention, and my heart sinks. There she is. Fuck, she’s beautiful. She’s wearing a two-piece mint green bikini, her red hair vibrant as ever with the sun shining through it. She still has that patch on her stomach, though, where she was shot. She and I will have matching scars now, ones that prove our devotion to one another. How many couples can say I took a bullet for my significant other?

  I stomp forward, sand filling my boots, Cherry’s cut in my hand. A guy with long, blond hair and flowery trunks walks up to Cherry, and my jaw clenches. He’s fucking flirting with my girl, and that isn’t happening.

  Striding up beside Cherry, I sneer at the punk.

  “Sup?” He juts his chin out, but I don’t respond. I convey all I need to say in my death stare. The guy stammers, looking around awkwardly like he just realized there are a bunch of Devil’s Dust bikers around, and walks away like a fucking coward.

  Cherry turns, and I swear to God the words I was going to speak lodge in my throat. Fuck, she’s breathtaking.

  “Really, Lip?” she huffs. “We were just talking.” She shakes her head.

  I wanted to come off half-decent when I approached Cherry, but after seeing that punk flirt with her, I can’t think of anything but claiming her ass in front of everyone. Using one of my hands, I fist her hair and pull her head toward mine.

  “You’re mine, Cherry. I won’t let you walk away, and I sure as hell won’t let some punk try and take my place,” I scorn. Her lips part, and her eyes grow heavy with lust. “I want you in my life, and I want Piper in my life,” I mutter, easing my grip, my fingers flowing through her red hair. “I fucked up. I fucked up bad, babe.” My eyes narrow as regret stings my chest.