Chapter 12 #3
Sutton is nothing like she was when we went to school together.
She’s turned into this beautiful swan who is trying to cut the strings her father has on her.
It’s probably why Ivy can relate so well to her because they both have parents who suck.
She just came back from a mission trip her dad involuntarily made her attend.
Instead of college, they shipped her out of the country for the last four years to be forced to work and sleep on the ground.
She describes it like a free labor nightmare camp where your free will is taken away and you work from sun up to sun down.
Sutton’s told us everything about her father and what they have planned for her.
He wants her to marry a man the church deems suitable for her and expect her to go along and not have a say.
They keep her locked away from most of the people, it seems, except when she’s at church on Sundays.
I’m surprised she’s allowed to hang out with me, if it weren’t for my mother insisting that I make her my new friend.
Little does she know that Sutton is amazing and easy to be around.
I love having her here with me. It would be extremely lonely if I was by myself without her here with Kane gone.
“He’s alright, I guess,” Sutton replies and stares off at something across the room.
“But…” Ivy says, trying to get her to open up with us. I swear it’s like pulling teeth for her to tell us things. I know she doesn’t know us well yet, but hopefully she’ll see that I’m here for her. “You still can’t get your mind off that guy you had sex with a few days ago. Can you?”
The moment we stepped foot in the house from Allison’s party, Ivy started plying her with a few more drinks then switched her over to water once the pizza came.
She was so frazzled, but I could tell something had happened just by the way she avoided some questions.
Finally, Ivy tore down her walls, and she told us about the guy she met at a bar on the way here from the long travel home from her mission trip.
Once she loosened up with the help of alcohol hitting her system, Ivy and I had the entire story of her life.
She’s the nicest, most sheltered girl I’ve ever met.
It’s a little sad, but also refreshing at the same time.
Her father sounds like a piece of shit after being shoved into that four-year long mission trip.
She’s starting to question what she really wants out of life and figure out that what she wants matters and to not settle for what others expect of you.
Ivy and I have told her that we are here to help her navigate through it if she needs an ear or advice.
She peeks up at me and sets her water down on the table looking at us both. She looks scared, and it’s starting to make me fidget.
“There is something I need to tell y’all about the guy I met at the bar.” Sutton grabs her hands and starts twisting them nervously.
“You’re starting to freak me the hell out, Sutton, just say what it is. I thought you said that it was a random guy that you didn’t know.”
She takes a deep breath and pauses.
“Jesus, Sutton. What?” Ivy yells, not being able to take the suspense any longer making Sutton flinch at the volume of her voice.
“The guy was wearing that same vest as those men who stopped by earlier,” she says placing her hands on her reddening cheeks, and the wheels in my brain start to wonder.
“Okay? So he was from the MC? Did you see a patch name on his cut or anything that might identify him? I can ask Kane, and he’ll tell me which one of the guys it was.”
“Remember I told you I gave a fake name at first because I was scared that someone might recognize me or who might know my parents?” I nod my head remembering the story she just told us.
“Well he did the same, but I do remember one patch. After seeing those guys I remember seeing the words Vice President on one of the shoulders of the guy.”
“Vice President?” I repeat, and I try to think of who that might be. I’m starting to think the hot Texas sun has fried my brain and drinking all that trashcan punch was a bad idea.
“Wait…wait…wait,” Ivy jumps in, setting her glass down. “Does she mean Havoc?”
“Havoc?” Sutton scrunches up her nose then shakes her head. “No, it wasn’t a guy named Havoc who I slept with at the bar.”
“It was Beckett,” I say, finally realizing it. Sutton’s eyes go round and she gives three sharp nods.
“As in Havoc who you used to date like six years ago. That Havoc?” Ivy pipes up, catching Sutton up on my past drama.
“Oh my gosh! He’s your old boyfriend?” the distress in her voice has me worried she might pass out.
She reaches out for my hands and it catches me off guard.
Her hands are sweating against mine, and she’s rambling on and on.
I wait for some type of emotion to hit me and let me know how I should feel about this, but as the seconds turn into minutes, nothing happens.
Sutton must take my silence as me being upset because she starts to cry.
“I’m so sorry, Raegan. I would never have slept with him had I known who he was. If I’d known, I’d probably kicked him in the balls or mangled his face even more than it already was when I walked into the bar that day.”
“Wait, his face was mangled?” I ask.
“Yes, like he had just gotten into a fight with a beast,” she babbles on.
Hmm, Kane looked like he had been in one hell of a fight when he came and saw me that afternoon too.
Why would they both be… Oh shit, he must have told Havoc about us and they came to blows.
But why would Havoc want to fight Kane? Havoc and I had a great talk and we worked everything out and are trying to be friendly with one another.
I pocket these thoughts and questions for another time when I can speak with Kane or Havoc.
“You hate me, don’t you? I’ve ruined everything…”
“Sutton…” I try to get through to her.
“My father thinks I’m a complete failure, and now I’ve got no one…”
“SUTTON!” I yell and shake her. She startles and finally looks up at me with sorrowful eyes. “I don’t hate you, I never could.”
“Really?” she asks hopeful and I nod. “I’ll never speak to him or see him if that’s what you want.
In fact, I’ll just pretend like it never happened.
Gosh, I thought it was someone from a different town so that I’d never have to run into them here.
” She slaps her hand across her forehead looking so defeated.
“What? Why would I want that?”
“Because…because he’s your ex. There are rules to not date or sleep with your best friend’s ex.”
From beside us, Ivy bursts out into laughter startling us. She’s laughing so hard she’s doubled over in stitches.
“Why…must I…live…so far away?” After a moment she stops her howling and wipes the tears leaking down her cheeks. “This is the best thing I’ve heard all year and just when I’m about to leave to head back home.”
“Why are you laughing?” Sutton asks, and I already know what she’s going to say.
“Only in small towns does something like this happen. Do you know how many books I’ve read about something like this?” She starts to giggle again, but I ignore her and bring Sutton’s focus back to me.
“Havoc and I have been over for six years. I couldn’t careless who he’s sleeping with.
Yes, Havoc and I messed around, but we never slept together, we didn’t make it that far and now that we’re older it’s all water under the bridge for all I care.
What we had was when we were teenagers and nothing else, and nothing is going to happen between us ever again. Ever.”
“So, you’re not mad?” she asks.
I shake my head then give her hands a squeeze. She lets out a long and exhausted breath.
“Sutton, if you want to be with him, then do it, but please guard your heart. His soon-to-be ex-wife is a real piece of work, and he has a young kid,” I try to warn her.
“Nothing is going to come of it. First of all my father would never allow it to happen unless it benefited him or The Fellowship. And secondly, I’m not going to be here long enough to have a real relationship,” she admits.
After what she told me all about their little romp, she is totally taken with him. I scrunch my nose at the thought of all the details she went into now that I found that it was Havoc who she was talking about.
“What are you thinking about?” Ivy asks, finally finding her composure like the brat she is.
“How Sutton and I need to keep our sex life details to ourselves, I’m not sure I want to have that image of you two in my head. No visuals, please!”
We all burst out with laughter and hug each other. Sutton has been through a lot over the years and nothing, especially a guy, is going to tear us apart. Once Ivy leaves to head back to New York it will be just the two of us, and I think we are going to just as close as Ivy and I are.
We talk some more and find out some really juicy details from Sutton that I try to help her with and table the thoughts I have for another time when we aren’t hovering over sober and buzzed.
Just before eleven o’clock Sutton’s phone rings.
We can hear a woman ordering her to come home, “Nothing good happens after the sun is down.” Ivy and I have a silent conversation that says we are going to help this girl live her life to the fullest and not let anyone squash her light.
I can tell she’s embarrassed about the call, so we walk her out to her car and say our goodbyes.
Since Ivy’s plane leaves tomorrow evening, we lock up the house.
“Let’s get some sleep,” I offer after we lock up the house and set the alarm.