We go inside and Jason makes me pack as much stuff as I can. It’s way too much, but I do it anyways. I get Kitty in her carrier and we head to Jason’s with a bike escort. When we get there, I thought that there was no way I could possibly be tired. That’s why we sat down on the couch together. I thought maybe we could talk about everything, but it turns out Jason had other ideas. He pulls my feet into his lap and starts to give me a foot massage. With his steady motion, and Kitty purring in my lap I find myself closing my eyes. Yeah, I thought I would have trouble sleeping, but it turns out knowing that Jason can fend off at least ten guys on his own, and come out with a couple scrapes and bruises, was extremely comforting. This is why I completely pass out before I can even ask him any questions.
Chapter Fifteen
I wake up instantly knowing something isn’t right. I feel a cold sweat down my back and get a chill when I realize that the window in Jason’s room is open. Where is Jason? I roll to the side of the bed and instantly I have a hand over my mouth. I hear my laboring breath between the fingers over my mouth and I feel a gun at the side of my head. I try not to freak out as I hear a voice that I remember well. Crowley. “You let Jason know, that no matter how many guys he puts outside, I can always get close. Tell him to stay outta my way.” While he said it he ran his arm down the side of my body. I was never wearing just a bra and panties to bed ever again. “It’s such a shame a piece like you wasted on a boy like him. You need to find a man who can protect you.” With that he hits me over the head with the butt of a gun and that’s when everything goes black.
“Sophie, baby. Wake up. Baby please wake up.” I open my eyes and wonder why my head is throbbing. I bring my hand to my head and realize that I obviously have a cut. That’s when everything started coming back to me. “Jason, where were you?” He shakes his head, “There was a noise outside. I went to check on the guys when I found Gunner knocked out. I came right back in and found you on the ground. Honey are you okay?” I shake my head, “It was Crowley. He said no matter who we put outside he can always get close. Said you needed to stay out of his way.” Jason closes his eyes and then I say, “Then he hit me with the butt of a gun on my temple. I mean, seriously? Why does crap like this keep happening? They just shot up my house and now they come here? What do they want from me?” Jason runs his finger down my jaw, “They want to use you to get to me. We were close in busting him two nights ago. Almost had him, and he got away. We got the drugs, and most of his men, but he got away. Soph, I am so sorry. I think it’s time we discuss a plan B for your protection.” I give him a weird look, “Um…what are you talking about?” He shakes his head, “I gotta think about sending you somewhere. Safe.” My mouth drops. He cannot be serious. “That is not happening. You can’t just send me away!” He wipes at what must be blood dripping down my head, “We need to get you looked at. We’ll discuss this later.” I do not think so!
I jump up realizing that was a huge mistake. I grab my head as I get dizzy and Jason puts his hands to my hips to steady me. Woops. I put my hand up in a “one-minute” gesture. When I get my grounds I look up to him and say, “We will not discuss this later. We will discuss it now. You cannot seriously think that I would just jump at the opportunity to run away! Do you not know me at all?” He closes his eyes and opens them, “I will not fight with you on this. I want you safe. If I have to place you somewhere else to keep you safe, then that’s exactly what I’ll do. I don’t need your permission to do it either.” The audacity. “The hell you don’t! Who do you think you are?” His arms get tighter as he pulls me into his body. “I’m the man that loves you. I refuse to stand and watch as more things happen to you. Especially after what happened in your past.” I go to answer, but I hear from behind me, “What happened in your past? What’s he talking about?” Kris. Shit. I look up to Jason giving him a pleading look, but I knew I wasn’t going to get any help from him. He wanted me to speak to Kris two weeks ago. Sigh. I turn and look to her. “Kris what are you doing here?” She walks closer, “I came with Trance. I needed to be sure that you were okay.” I point down my body, “Well, now you see. I’m fine.” She’s not used to this sassy me, so she looks a little taken aback when she says, “All right. We’re done with this. I’ve let you do this new attitude Sophie for weeks now. If we’re gonna have it out, then let’s have it out.” I went to speak, but I was interrupted with, “This isn’t the time.”
We all whipped our head to the side where Trance was standing. Her eyes were big as she says, “It damn well is. Trance, you want me to know my place, but in this you need to know your place.” My eyes get big because Trance looks like he’s ready to fight. This situation was not that big of a deal. Jason gives my waist a squeeze and I know what I need to do. “Okay, okay. We’re all okay here. Kris, let’s talk in Jason’s spare bedroom.” Jason doesn’t let me go so I look up to him and he says, “Someone is looking at your head first. Doc is downstairs. Let’s do that, and then you can do your girl thing.” I roll my eyes at him, but then grab my head. He gives me a look that says “Point proved” and I keep my mouth shut as he leads me downstairs to see Doc.
“Doc! I haven’t seen you. How’s it going?” He shakes his head at me. “Sophie Marie, get over here and let me see that head, darlin.” I nod. Doc was one of my favorite brothers. He was such a happy old man. I sit down in front of him and he starts to move his hand on my head. I take in a sharp intake of breath, but after that I was prepared for the pain. He pulls away and says, “I gotta get a couple stitches in there. I’ll make sure it doesn’t scar that pretty face of yours.” I smile, “See that you do that.” He laughs and stitches me up.
When he’s done he looks at me and says, “These boys are bigger babies over a paper cut than what you just did. Proud of ya girl.” I smile big at that. I was tougher than all these boys. I look to Jason who is shaking his head at Doc. “Hey, I mean it. That man had me look at his stitches and whimpered like a little baby when I touched them.” I laugh out loud as Jason says, “Touched them? You stuck your finger in ripping out the last stitch and redoing it. Pretty sure it was necessary.” I give him an Ouch look and he nods at me as if that proves everything. He pulls me up out of the chair and Kris got close. I look to her and say, “Spare bedroom’s over there.” She nods and we walk there.
I sit down on the bed and Kris stands. “Listen, I don’t really want to get into everything. I’ve forgiven you weeks ago, I just didn’t want to make it all just go away.” She shakes her head at me, “I was wrong. I was way wrong. The point proven that I showed up here because I was with Trance. I’m an idiot. I shouldn’t have ever said anything like that. Especially to you. I apologize.” I nod, “I know. I won’t say it’s okay, but I do forgive you.” She pulls me in for a hug and when we pull back she says, “Do you wanna elaborate on the past thing?” I sigh, “I need to face that mountain a little bit later. I need to do it with you and Mel both there.” She gives me a weary nod and says, “So are we okay here?” I nod, “We will be. I’m sorry I snapped at you. Jason has brought out the sass in me, and I snapped. You caught me off guard, and I have just recently had a trip down memory lane that I didn’t really want to go down.” She shakes her head as she hugs me one more time. “Listen, it’s my fault. Let’s get you somewhere that Jason isn’t freaking out over your health and figure all of this out.” I don’t think so, “Kris, I’m not leaving. Jason isn’t sending me anywhere and he can’t force me to.” She half nods, and then leads me out to the living room.
The guys were all standing around talking and when we entered the room Jason gave me a once over and I give him a subtle nod. He must feel satisfied with this because he doesn’t say anything. He puts his arm out like he wants me to walk to him, but I ignore it. I know he just wants to ship me off somewhere, and I refuse to be a part of it. If he thinks he can just say something like that and then all is forgotten, then he has another thing coming. He half smiles as if me not coming to him is funny and I stick my tongue out at him. All of
this is done without talking, so when Jason starts to laugh everyone starts to look at me. I give them a “I have no idea” look and they all swing back to talking. I look to Kris who shrugs her shoulders and I have no idea what is going to happen next. That’s when Brantley turns to me and says, “Are we gonna have an issue with sending you away.” To this I laugh, “If by issue you mean me not going? Then, yeah, we’re gonna have an issue.” Brantley raises an eyebrow and I snap my mouth shut. Woops. Trance looks to me and says, “What if you don’t have a choice?” My mouth pops open and I don’t get to answer because Jason jumps in with, “Enough. Sophie and I will discuss this later. We’ll talk it out and make the best decision from there. Soph, go get changed, yeah?” I fight to roll my eyes, but only because it hurts when I do that, and I walk upstairs.
I throw on a pair of skinny jeans and my white flowy cami. I grab my leather jacket and my boots as I head downstairs, “Where are we going?” He looks me over and says, “Braid your hair. We have somewhere to be.” I nod. I do as I’m told and I walk to the group of guys. They all head outside and we get on the bikes. Fifteen minutes later we find ourselves surrounded by bikes and heading down Brantley’s driveway. There were so many bikes around and I had no idea that this was such a big ordeal. I hold onto J until we get to the top of the driveway and he has me get off. He tells me that Melanie is inside awake with the baby, and that I should wait in there until he comes in to get me. Lovely. Although, I get to see Connor, so that’s an upside. I head up the stairs to the house with Kris. I’m sure they will both want answers from me. Mel has the door open before we even get to the top and she lets us in. We let her know everything what happened and she kisses my temple over my bandage. I smile up at her and I swipe the tear sliding down her face. I needed to keep it together. They needed to see that I’m okay. “Mel, I’m okay.” She smiles, “Yes. Yes, you are, and the boys will take care of all of this. Soph, do you think maybe you should go visit your mom for a bit?” I gasp, “And lead them to her? She would never survive if something happened again.” Oh no. Did I say that out loud? “What do you mean again?” This was Kris. Shit! I definitely said it out loud. “I need to talk to the two of you.” They both nod and I start from the beginning.
I tell them everything and by the end, when I thought I would be a mess, I felt liberated. Hugs were exchanged and both of them shed a couple tears. Even Kris. I stood strong. I had already come to terms with everything I went through, and they would eventually too. Melanie broke the silence with, “So that’s why you were always so skittish around the guys?” I nod, “And that’s why you stopped dating Jason?” I nod again. She continues with, “Now, you’re with Jason one hundred percent, and you’re sticking close to him even if he tried to tell you to leave town.” I, yet again, nod. She smiles at me and then to Kris, “So, aside from me being a little mad that you hid this from us, I’m really happy that you found that in Jason.” I smile at that, “I know you’re mad, please don’t be. I only kept it to myself because that story, in my hometown, defined me. I didn’t want it to follow me to college. It was as if I was making it so it never happened. The two of you helped me get passed that scared little girl. Jason, has helped me even further since then. All of you have made me who I am today.” Melanie smiles and says, “Speaking of who you are today, you and Kris are good now?” I nod, “For sure. We’ve talked. Maybe not forgotten yet, but definitely forgiven.” Smiles all around as Jason comes walking through the door.
I stand up and he indicates for me to follow him down the hall. We get into the office and he shuts the door. “Soph, I need you to hear me out.” I nod. “I need to get you away from here. You’re making it easy for them to get to me because they’re using you. You have to trust me to know what’s best for you. Please?” I stand there as I put my hands on my hips saying, “If you honestly think that you can just ship me off while you stay here and face all of this, then you have another thing coming!”
Chapter Sixteen
Hands on my hips I stand on my mother’s front porch looking at Jason. I hadn’t spoken to him since he forced me into a car after taking my packed clothes from his house. That’s a lot of hours in a car together with no speaking. I hear the door open behind me and I hear, “Sophie! You made it.” I whip around, “How did you know I was coming?” She looks to Jason and then back at me. I whip back around and say, “You called my mother?” He gives me an eyebrow and then, “She needed to know we were coming.” My mom cuts around me and says, “Sorry, my daughter is being so rude! I am Marie. Jason, it is so nice to meet you.” I roll my eyes and grab my head as Jason hugs my mom.
We head inside and Jason starts to talk about the issue at hand. Halfway through I stand up and say, “Mama, if you want me to go, I’m gone. I don’t want to bring anything to your front door.” She smiles at me, “Honey, you’re here, and you’re staying. If I had an issue with it, I would’ve told Jason on the phone. Now, I’m gonna get you two some lemonade.” I nod and Jason says, “I can’t stay.” My mouth drops open and I swing my head to Jason. “You aren’t staying?” He looks to me with regret on his face. He didn’t want to tell me because he was afraid of my reaction. My mom jumps in and says, “I’m still going to go into the kitchen.” No one says anything, but she still walks away. “Soph, I gotta go get this all taken care of so you can come home.” I shake my head, “I’ll never sleep here without you. I can’t…I won’t…Jason, please?” He comes toward me and pulls me into his arms, “Sophie, no one can get to you here. Trust me to fix this so you can come home.” I feel a tear slide down my face and I hate my emotions for betraying me. He must feel the tears on his shirt because he pulls away and puts his thumbs to my face, “Soph, please don’t cry. I don’t want to leave you, but I have to get this taken care of. They hurt you. Twice. That can’t go without some sort of response. You have to understand.” A light sob breaks from my mouth. “Jason, I swear to God you better not get hurt.” He shakes his head, “I won’t. I promise. Now, you can’t work while you’re here. Someone could track it. Don’t use your phone, and stay out of town. No one can know that you’re here.” Lockdown. Overkill. “Jason…isn’t that a little…overboard?” He instantly says, “Not for the woman I love. I need you to do this for me. I will never be able to focus if I think that you’re out in the open.” I close my eyes and he kisses me lightly. “Soph, I gotta get back. I love you, and I’ll make this as fast as I can.” Sigh. This wasn’t fair. I give him a half nod and say, “I love you.”
He walks away after calling my mom back into the room. They go out on the porch as I plop myself down onto the couch. I hear his truck start up and within seconds he was gone. I pull my legs up to my chest and I seriously cannot believe that he is gone. I thought for sure he would come back into the house with my mom. No such luck. My mom comes back into the house and I stand up as she puts her arms out for a hug. I take everything she has to give me and we stand there for a really long time. When she finally pulls away, she decides that I’m too skinny and she needs to fatten me up. I smile as she starts cooking and I help where I can. My mom was feeling like she had a purpose though, and I was not about to take that away from her. Especially since I was pretty hungry.
By the time she is done cooking us dinner she has a full course meal on the table. I’m talking dinner for twelve. I smile because I can smell the dessert she just took out of the oven, and they are my favorite death by chocolate brownies. She always knows exactly what to do. We chat lightly while we eat. I eat so much I feel like I need to pop to button my pants. Home sweet home. Then I ate two brownies. Geeze! By the time all was said and done I fell into my old bed and passed out. In the middle of the night, I wake to my phone ringing. “Hello?” Silence then, “You were sleepin.” Jason, “Yeah, honey. Mom made me a meal for twelve and I ate so much that I passed out.” Sigh, “I thought you’d be awake, and I wanted to hear your voice.” I smile, “I’m awake now.” I hear him smile as he says, “I should let you go back to sleep.” Sigh. “You
made it back okay?” He answers, “Yeah, Soph. I did.” He sounds tired, “Are you going to sleep now?” He surprisingly says, “I’m gonna try.” I thought I relied on him, maybe he relies on me too. “I love you J. Hurry this along and come get me soon.” I hear the smile in his voice as he says, “I love you too, Soph. I’m hurrying.” We hang up the phone and I would never tell him this, but it takes me quite a bit to fall back to sleep.
Three days. It’s been three days and my calls from J have been few and far between. I’ve gotten a few short texts, but they were just him letting me know that he is okay. I’m out putting laundry on the line for my mom. I love the smell of freshly hung laundry. Mom went into town for more food and a movie. I think I’ve eaten her out of house and home. I hear something that I haven’t heard for at least three days. Pipes. I turn trying to see the driveway, but I can’t. I make a run for the driveway because obviously Jason has come back for me. The smile on my face wipes clean when I see a pack of bikes that aren’t Skull Shifters. Immediately, I turn on my heels and run. I have no idea where I’m going to run to, but I hit the woods. I get off of the trail and I know that I have a cut on my arms from some thorn bushes. I try and keep my breathing quiet, and I’m just about to hit the back of the woods when I trip. Rolling my ankle, I fall to the ground. I use my extra good arm to break my fall just to be sure I don’t break my elbow again.
Shifting Minds (Skull Shifters MC Book 2) Page 11