Page 31 of Tanner (Dirty Misfits MC 5)
Silence fell between us and I figured he had left. But as I dried off my hair and picked out my clothes for the day, his softer voice filtered through the closed door.
“I wanted to say so many things to you at The Body Shop.”
I paused. “Then, why didn’t you say them?”
He chuckled. “Because we were working. Because I didn’t have a right to tell you how sexy you looked, or how much I hated the fact that you were working there.”
“Ah.”
“I didn’t have the guts to tell you that I always wanted to protect you. To shroud you away from the darkness of this world while also being your light within it.”
I blinked back tears. “Well, you had a hell of a way of showing it since you acted like you barely knew me.”
“I know, I know. And I’m not proud of it. Hell, I even told the guys that it was none of their business when a couple of them caught me staring at you.”
“Wow. Nice,” I said flatly.
“All of this to say,” he said with grit in his voice, “they are my brothers, sure. Family, always. But they don’t need to know how hung up I am over a girl that completely left me in high school.”
I swallowed hard. “I told you what happened with my—”
“Doesn’t matter. It still hurts. After everything we went through and all of the times you stuck it to your parents before sneaking out to come be with me, it never occurred to me that you’d roll over and take it from them.”
I clenched my jaw. “You’re walking on thin ice. I did what I thought was best not only for myself, but for you and the child I was growing at the time. You don’t get to throw that in my face.”
He picked the lock on my door before he eased it open. “And you don’t get to throw this entire crew and it’s secrets in my face because of racing thoughts you’re having that you still can’t settle on.”
I searched his eyes for a long time as I stood there, clad in nothing but my bra and some jeans. I quickly pulled a t-shirt over my head and flopped my still-damp hair down my back. I gathered it at the crown of my head quickly before it soaked my shirt, then tied it in a wet, messy bun with the hair tie I had around my wrist.
And after gathering what I wanted to say, I drew in a deep breath.
“There’s a lot of history between us, yes. Lots of it good, and some of it bad. And yes, some of the bad was caused by me. But I told you what happened. My father was ruthless in the gauntlet he threw down with me, and when he told me that he’d force me to put our child up for adoption, I knew he was serious. I knew he’d find a way to do it. It’s why I ran away from home the second I was old enough. The second I had my diploma in my hand, I packed my shit up in the middle of the night, left a note for my sister with a burner phone number on it, and drove to Jackie’s.”
He sighed heavily. “How is Jackie doing?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. We sort of grew apart after I saved up enough money to get my own little place.”
His eyes locked with the wall over my shoulder. “Gotcha.”
I closed my eyes. “I think it might be best if I go with Cheyenne to Sloane’s.”
He snickered. “Suit yourself. I know there’s no point in trying to reason with you.”
My eyes ripped open. “Why? Because you believe I’m stubborn? Or because you know I’m right?”
He turned his back to me. “Then, go ahead and get your things packed up.”
I shrugged. “I deserve someone who will fight for me, Tan.”
He stepped out into the hallway. “And if you can’t see that I’m doing exactly that, then maybe we shouldn’t be together at all.”
I watched him walk away and my heart sank to my toes. All of my hopes and dreams swirled down the drain that had all come rushing back the second I heard his voice call out my name yesterday. Knowing we were still in the same town together had to be a sign, right? Seeing him at the club and him working to help all of these girls had to be a sign of his heart, right?
I can’t lose him. Not again.
So, I rushed out into the hallway and blurted out the only thing I knew would stop him in his tracks.
“I never stopped loving you, Tanner!”
And while it stopped him in his tracks, it stopped everyone else, too.
Then, all eyes were on us.
Fifteen
Tanner
Her words made me angry. Not because of their meaning, but because of their timing. She felt backed into a corner, and while she kept her mind locked away from me, she wanted me to unscrew mine and dump all of its contents onto the floor.
