Chapter 7
Chloe – Past – Age 21
I’ve been doing good over the last two years.
I loved my new job, and I knew, barring anything happening to the office or my boss, that I planned to work there for a really long time.
I was six months away from being able to get an apartment.
Stella and I had talked about getting a place together... but something had held me back.
Mainly, there was no way I could hide my feelings from her about Asher.
It would be dang near impossible.
And... there was something going on with Stella.
And I didn’t know how to bring it up with her.
Especially since I have been keeping a massive secret from her.
But... well... ever since prom, she hasn’t talked about Kyrian.
At freaking all.
And three months ago, I found out why.
Kyrian had gotten married to a girl from his past. A girl who he said was his one that got away.
But between you and me, he would have been better off without that woman in his life.
I knew that was mean of me to say, but there was something about her that I couldn’t put my finger on. I just didn’t like her.
As for Stella, well, apparently, she had a massive crush on someone else.
A brother from another club. His name was Gavel. And he was a brother in the Soulless Outlaws MC.
He was only ten years older than her.
Which was nothing compared to the twenty-one-year difference between Asher and me.
And just thinking about him... it was making it hard. So, so hard.
Even more reason for me to distance myself.
It’s been hard, but I’ve been doing it.
There have been times when I wanted to talk to Stella and see what she thinks.
There have been times that I wanted to talk to Asher and see if the massive uncontrollable feelings I have for that man are only one-sided.
But like every birthday we’ve had since we met, we’ve either celebrated it at Stella’s house or here at the clubhouse, and this was no different.
“So, this is how you want to spend your twenty-first birthday?” Stella asked.
I smiled, “Yeah.”
Stella sighed, “Ugh, we could go dancing at a club. Why, Co? Why?”
I giggled, “Do you remember what happened the last time we went to a club?” I asked her.
Her face paled, “Yeah, forget I said anything. This works. Totally works.”
We went to a club when we were twenty to celebrate her cosmetology degree and my accounting degree.
Since we went to community college, it was easier for both of us.
But back to that night.
We had dressed up in short black dresses.
The night had been good.
We had gotten ready together at her house.
Stopped and had food, and then went to the club called Juice.
We had danced, and any time a guy tried to dance with us, we shoved them away.
Until one of the guys didn’t appreciate it.
Oh, he had walked away...
Unbeknownst to us... we had someone watching us, making sure we stayed safe.
Pagan was there.
And over the years, Pagan had bulked up. And he had bulked up huge.
He wasn’t as big as Creature... he just didn’t have the height.
But he was as big as Coal.
Apparently, Pagan had read the situation correctly.
So, when the douchebag brought back four of his buddies... Pagan wasn’t alone.
No.
Asher, Rome, and Stoney were there.
And when one of the frat boys looked at me and then looked at the brothers and asked, “How much?”
Asher lifted a brow, “Come again?”
“They must be y’all’s whores. How much for the night?” The second douchebag asked.
Asher crossed his arms over his chest, “Which one are you asking about?”
“The dark one,” the second douchebag said.
“That right?” Asher asked.
“Yeah, man. She’s got a banging body.”
“Well, for you going after her... afraid there isn’t an amount I’d be willing to accept. Matter of fact... I’m going to give you to the count of five to get the fuck out of this club.”
The third douchebag jerked his chin up, “And if we don’t?”
“Then the five of you won’t be leaving on your own two feet.”
They all laughed. The fourth douchebag snickered, “There’s five of us and three of you.”
Asher lifted a shoulder, “Been far more than that against us. One.”
They all snickered, then popped their knuckles and cracked their necks.
Then Asher said, “Two.”
And when Asher got to five, Asher moved.
He wrapped his hand around one of the man’s throats and forcibly shoved him out the door.
Rome knocked the second and third one out, then grabbed them by their legs and dragged them out the door.
Stoney moved then and grabbed the fourth guy by the back of his shirt and started to drag him out.
Pagan moved to the last guy and punched him in the face, then he, too, dragged the last guy out.
I looked at Stella, and then we both started laughing as we walked out of the club.
“That was hilarious.” Stella snickered.
Asher stepped into the media room then and asked, “What was hilarious?”
Stella snickered again, then told him, “That time we went to the club... y’all dragging them out of there, then beating the dog shit out of them.”
“That was fun,” he said.
Then he looked at me, “What do you want for your birthday?”
I lifted a brow at him, “You already got me something.”
And he had... he had gotten me a beautiful bracelet that matched my necklace perfectly.
He shrugged, “Name something I can do right now.”
I looked at Stella, then thought about it... and said what the heck.
“I could do with a good foot massage and having my toes painted.”
He nodded, and I kid you not, left, then returned half an hour later with a bag of stuff.
Stella left the room when he did and said she needed to get something from the kitchen.
“Prop your feet up for me,” he said.
I didn’t hesitate. They made a thunk sound when they landed on the black coffee table in front of the couch.
Which caused him to chuckle.
The media room consisted of three couches and two love seats, with end tables and two coffee tables.
It even had a popcorn machine as well as a soda fountain. I loved this room.
I watched as Asher sat down on the coffee table, then grabbed my feet and placed them in his lap.
Then he grinned and muttered, “Of course, you would have cute fucking toes.”
How in the world did this man do this to me all the time?
Just by the words that fell from his mouth.
Because once again, my breath caught.
“My toes?” I asked after I got my breath going again.
He looked up at me and nodded.
Then, in a voice I hadn’t heard from him before, something deep and raspy and full of... what exactly... “Yeah.”
Then he proceeded to take out a bottle of lotion and a foot scrubber and got to work.
And when he massaged the soles of my feet, I let out a moan, which caused him to freeze for a split second, and if I hadn’t had my eyes on his face, I would have missed the tick in his jaw, the vein throbbing in this neck, and the long exhale of breath.
Once he was finished, he pulled out four bottles of nail polish.
Pink. Red. Purple. Black.
He lifted them and lifted a brow, I smiled, “You pick.”
He winked at me, then sat them all down but the red.
A deep red.
A deep red that was almost the same color as my prom dress.
Then, I watched as he proceeded to paint my toes perfectly.
And when I saw all of that, I asked, “You’ve had to have done this before with Stella.”
He shook his head, then glanced up at me, “No. I didn’t.”
Then who has he done this for?
I’ve never been what you would call a jealous person.
Unless it was about eight years ago, and I watched Asher take one of the club girls’ hands and lead her down the hall where the club girls stayed.
But I felt the jealousy growing, and somehow, Asher being Asher, he picked up on it, and how he knew it, I couldn’t tell you.
“You’re the first person I’ve done this for, Chloe. And I want it to look good.”
What could I say to that and not mess up my friendship with Stella?
Honestly.
See... this was why I decided to distance myself from not only the club but from him.
Because seeing him as often as I did and knowing he couldn’t be mine?
It was torture.
Pure freaking torture.
So, I did the only thing I could do: I nodded and said, “Well, thank you.”
He winked, then put everything back in the back, and once he was done, he leaned forward and said, “Want to tell you something, and I need you to hear me, alright?”
I tilted my head to the side and nodded.
Then he whispered, “Meant what I said to you, Chloe. I’m going to wait. Just need you to tell me when you’re ready. Because a connection like the two of us have is rare. And no way in fucking hell am I going to go to my grave and not know what it feels like to have all of you.”
The only thing I could ask him was, “All of me?”
He nodded, “Yeah. I want your body. I want your mind. But most of all, I want your heart. I want to plant myself so deep inside of it that it will take you a millennium to dig me out.”
And before I could say anything... like... Stella.
There was a tap in the doorway.
Asher and I both looked in the direction and saw Priest standing there, “Sorry to interrupt. But I fucking need you, Asher.”
I looked back at Asher and saw him visibly sigh, then lift his chin.
He looked back at me, apology brimming in his toffee-colored eyes, then he carefully removed my feet from his lap, stood, leaned forward, wrapped his hand around the side of my neck, pressed his lips to my forehead, and there he whispered, “Remember what I said, alright?”
All I managed to do was let out a clipped nod.
Yes, I watched him as he walked away, but he stopped in the doorway, turned, and asked, “Did you know that my favorite color is red?”
I nodded, then without a filter, I said, “Yeah. You wear it a lot. And you have red accents on your bike.”
And with that, he walked away.
Stella returned a few minutes after he left, sat down beside me, took in my toes, grinned, and then asked, “So, what did y’all talk about?”
I shrugged, “The usual.”
Thankfully, she let it go and got back into the movie we had been watching.
But for the remainder of the night, I replayed his words over and over in my head.
Dark-haired.
Green-eyed.
Beauties.
I will wait for you.
But most of all, I want your heart. I want to plant myself so deep inside of it that it will take you a millennium to dig me out.
Oh, what was I going to do?
I knew to move across the country.
How much would that cost?
Probably a lot.
Definitely more than I had in my bank account.
But... maybe... maybe Stella would be okay with it.
I mean, she did leave the room when he came in here.
She never said a word about me and her dad texting.
She knew about it.
Sometimes, she would even ask me about it.
.... I just didn’t know how to go about any of this without someone getting hurt.
And my mama was right.
Like she always is.
I think the greatest harm anyone can do to themselves is to deny what the heart wants. No one wants to be miserable.