Page 18 of Tanner (Dirty Misfits MC 5)
He shrugged. “I’d follow behind you guys the entire way. I’d probably have Brooks with us, too. But you two can drive, we can bring up the rear, and we can keep you two safe while we get her to your sister’s.”
Tears rushed my eyes, though. “Jesus.”
“What’s wrong? I figured her going to stay with your sister would be an option you’d like.”
I sighed and closed my eyes. “So, I never really did fill Sloane in on what truly happened at The Body Shop a few months back.”
“That doesn’t shock me. You’ve never been one to open up about things that scare you.”
I glared at him. “I wasn't scared.”
He shrugged. “We were all scared. It’s okay to be scared.”
“I wasn’t scared,” I said curtly.
He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, suit yourself.”
“I wasn’t scared!” I exclaimed.
“And we’re out of options, Summer! This is it! It’s the safehouse or your sister’s! And I’m sorry you don’t like it, and I’m sorry I got you into this, and I’m sorry you had to fall in love with me in high school, and I’m sorry I ruined your world. But at the very least let me try to protect you while we get this shit under control. Then, if you want, you and Cheyenne can leave me in the dust since you’re already so good at it.”
I balked at him. “Tanner!”
He turned his back to me and started walking down the hallway. “Call me when you’ve made a decision about your daughter.”
“Damn it, Tanner. Come on!”
While I didn’t want to talk about what happened at The Body Shop, ever, we still had to figure out how best to protect Cheyenne. So, I chased after him. I ran him down and wrapped my way in front of him, stopping him dead in his tracks.
And after gathering my thoughts, I drew in a deep breath through my nose.
“I think it would be a good idea if Cheyenne went to be with my sister, but I still need some time to think about it. To—to process everything that’s happening right now.”
He brushed past me. “Well, when you figure it out, let me know. You’ve got until the morning.”
“Tanner, come on. Talk to me.”
But instead of answering me, he stormed into a bedroom down at the end of the hallway before slamming the door closed.
And even though I was worried for my daughter’s safety, I couldn’t help but memorize which room he had ducked into.
Just in case I wanted to find him before the sun crested over the treetops in the morning.
Nine
Tanner
As I laid in bed staring up at the ceiling, I tried to sleep. I tried my damndest to get some rest because we all had a very long day ahead of ourselves tomorrow. But I couldn't stop thinking about Summer, sleeping right down the hallway. I couldn’t stop thinking about the girl in that picture, Cheyenne, and how we looked so much alike.
The hurt I felt deep down inside was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.
I still didn’t know why Summer left me. I still wasn’t sure why she stood me up when we talked about running away together for months beforehand. And for the life of me, if she had been in Santa Cruz all this time, why the fuck didn’t she track me down and tell me about our daughter? About the fact that I was a father?
God knows I would’ve stepped right up to that plate and done whatever I could to help.
But instead, she kept all of it from me. Our future, our daughter, her life. What the fuck was wrong with her? When the hell did I piss her off so badly that she felt the need to rip my future away from me and leave me with absolutely no hope?
I just didn’t understand any of it.
I didn’t understand how Summer had so many damn opportunities to pick up the phone and tell me she was pregnant. Even after she stood me up. Even after we went our separate ways. She had to have known she was pregnant before my graduation. She had to have known she was effortlessly keeping my own damn child away from me.
Did she really think me to be that bad of a person?
No wonder she left, then.
I slid my hands down my face and groaned as I sat up. I swung my legs over the bed and tried changing out of my jeans and leather jacket to see if getting more comfortable might help me sleep. I slid into some pajama pants and put a raggedy t-shirt on. I went and splashed some warm water in my face, hoping that it might relax my brain long enough to turn off.
But the anger swelling within me was much too powerful.
Eleven years. That was how much time and effort Summer put into hiding Cheyenne from me. And no matter how many times I turned it over in my head or tried to rationalized it, I always came back around to the same damn conclusion.
