Chapter Six
Brynn
FOR THE LAST week all I’ve been able to think about is the date with Kingston.
I’ve barely seen him since that night, but we’ve talked on the phone a few times and spend a lot of time messaging one another.
It was the best date I’ve ever been on and I wish Kingston wasn’t so busy with the club so we could see one another again.
This is the first time in my life I have ever wanted to have a second date with a guy and it’s a foreign feeling for me.
In the past, I was usually so bored on a date, I would count down the minutes until I could give my excuses and go home.
There wasn’t even a second of feeling that way when I was out with Kingston.
Yes, I told him things I didn’t really want to but it wasn’t because he pressured me into doing it.
There’s just something about him that makes me comfortable and wanting to open up to him.
I know he’ll keep my secrets and not share them with anyone else. Especially since I don’t want the world to know who my family is. Even when I told him my family members were part of an MC, he didn’t push me to know which club they belonged with. That’s another first for me.
When Kingston kissed me, I knew without a doubt that I could’ve stopped it at any time, but the second his lips touched mine, there was no way in hell I was going to pull away from him.
An electric current flowed from him to me and lit my entire body up in ways I’ve never felt before.
Goosebumps broke out over my skin and I couldn’t stop the moans from escaping if my life depended on it.
Kingston tasted like the one beer he allowed himself to drink with our dinner and something minty.
I’ve only kissed a few guys after they’ve had beer to drink and could never stand the lingering taste of it.
With Kingston, it was different and something I didn’t mind at all.
I only wanted more of him.
Shaking my head of the ever present feelings and thoughts regarding Kingston, I put my focus back on the computer in front of me.
I’ve given myself a deadline to get this book done and I need to get back on track.
I re-read what I’ve written today to get it back in the front of my mind and continue on with the story of the girl who’s been treated like shit her entire life finding love with the least likely person.
A gruff man who’s known as the town hermit and doesn’t talk to anyone else.
They went to school together and he’s always been there when she’s needed him the most.
Writing, I always keep one ear on the bookstore around me.
While I try to tuck myself away in the little nook I’ve found, I’ve been taught my entire life that I need to pay attention to my surroundings and always be alert.
Especially with whoever is leaving the ‘gifts’ for me on my porch.
Yes, I’ve gotten more of them and the last ones were pictures of Kingston and myself while we were out on our date.
I have no clue how this fucker got close enough to get our picture without either one of us knowing someone else was there, but they did.
It sent a tremor of fear through me that I can’t suppress.
Anyway, I’m deep in my writing when I hear two females talking from one of the aisles close to me.
“Can you believe Kingston finally got some girl from here to go out on a date with him? Even though he lost the bet and that was what he had to do, I didn’t think he’d actually go through with it,”
one of the girls asks, shock filling her voice as my fingers stop typing and pain fills me.
“Don’t doubt Kingston, Savannah.
My cousin is a man who will always do what he says.
Even if it’s because he’s lost a bet and didn’t want to follow through with the stipulation.
You didn’t see him when he got back to the clubhouse that night.
This was about more than some bet for Kingston,”
the second girl says, happiness filling her voice as my heart cracks in two and I realize I’m nothing more than a pawn in some game Kingston was playing.
Tears fill my eyes as I realize this is why he doesn’t want to go out with me again.
Yeah, we’ve talked and messaged one another, but that’s it.
There’s been no indication on his part that he wants to see me again or anything.
I’m so fucking stupid! Here I am reliving every second of the best date of my life and Kingston is more than likely laughing and joking about what a fucking na?ve girl I am to think he actually wanted to go out with me and didn’t ask simply because of a bet he lost.
“You’re telling me Kingston actually had a good time on his date?”
the first girl asks, surprise in her voice as I snap out of my shock and quickly pack away everything.
I can’t stand sitting here for another second, listening to their conversation about me.
I’ve been hurt by words my entire life.
For some reason, these words from strangers hurt more than anything I’ve ever heard in my life.
With everything placed back in my bookbag, I secure it on my shoulders before grabbing my helmet from the chair next to me and racing from the second floor of the store.
For the first time ever, I don’t stop to put on my riding gear as it sits buried under my laptop and the rest of my shit.
I quickly strap on my helmet and straddle my bike, putting the key in the ignition and starting my engine.
Taking off out of the parking lot, I race toward my house so I can pack up a bag and get out of Pine View for a while.
I ’ve been on the road for hours and am almost at the compound.
My eyes are swollen and red from crying and no one knows I’m coming home.
I didn’t want to call and have my parents know something was wrong before I got here.
There’s no way in hell I’ll tell them the truth of what happened to me and I haven’t been able to think of a plausible reason as to why I’ve been crying.
I could use the excuse of someone leaving shit on my porch, but that would lead to being a prisoner while my dad, uncle, grandpa, and the rest of the club dug into the situation until they figured out what the fuck was going on.
That’s not gonna work for me.
So, I’ll have to come up with something on the fly once I get to my parent’s house and hope Maddox and Zoey aren’t there.
Pulling up to the closed gate, I wait for the Prospect to make his way to the driver’s side of my car.
“Are you lost?”
he asks, leaning down to look in the window of my car at me.
“Not lost at all.
I’m here to see my family,”
I tell him, taking in the new Prospect as he tries to figure out who I am.
This guy is so new, he doesn’t know I’m Scathe’s daughter.
Looking him over, I take in his dark blond hair that’s cut close to his head on the sides with the top longer and artfully messy as if he’s run his fingers through it a million times today.
He’s got light blue eyes that appear cold and hard they’re so light while his face is clean-shaven and he’s sporting ink on his neck and down both arms.
He’s a good looking guy if I’m being honest, but one who will keep his entire focus on the club and only care about getting his dick wet with the club girls when he has a free minute to fuck.
“You got family here?”
he asks me, surprise filling his voice.
“She sure as fuck does, Lance.
This is my grandbaby,”
Mimi says, walking through the door by the gatehouse and coming over to my car.
“I’m sorry,”
Lance says, speaking up and standing straight up next to my grandma as she leans down to see me.
“I didn’t know who you are.”
“It’s okay.
You’re new and it’s been a long time since I’ve been back home,”
I assure him as my grandma looks at him with a smile on her face.
“I’m gonna ride up with my sweet girl, Lance.
Open the gate for us, please.”
“Of course, ma’am,”
he responds, racing to the gatehouse as fast as his legs will carry him while my grandma gets in my car laughing her ass off.
“Sweet girl, I’m not gonna ask why you’re here right now, but we will be having a conversation.
Especially since I know you’ve been crying,”
Mimi says, her tone firm and unyielding as she looks at me with soft eyes and my own fill with tears once more.
“I’m not gonna bitch though because you’re home and I’m gonna take advantage of you being here.”
With a nod of my head, I pull through the gate and head for the parking lot.
While I know my parents have a house here, they also have one off the compound and it’s a toss-up which house they’ll be in.
At least that’s how it was before I left home.
Now, they could only live in one house or the other.
I don’t really ask about that kind of stuff when I do talk to my family because it’s not my business.
Really, I just don’t want to know because big changes like that mean I’m missing out and that hurts my heart even though the choice to leave was my own and I don’t regret moving to Pine View.
After parking in a spot with the rest of the cars, I shut off the engine and didn’t make any moves to get out of the driver’s seat.
Mimi didn’t get out of her seat either.
I stared straight ahead of me, memories flooding me of playing outside here around the clubhouse with the rest of the club kids.
When they’d let me play with them that is.
I’m the youngest kid here and by the time I came along, the rest of the kids were all older than me and just starting to figure out what they liked to do and were finding their place in life and with their friends from school.
On the odd occasions they were around the clubhouse, I always felt like a third wheel as they wanted to hang out and not be followed around by a little girl who didn’t have anyone her own age to play with.
It made for a lonely existence and one of the reasons I decided to move.
“You know you’re home here, Sweet girl.
This will always be your home and no one will ever turn you away,”
Mimi says, a sadness in her voice she only reserves for me because she knows how lonely I was growing up.
“Everyone misses you and wants to see you.”
“There’s nothing for me here, Mimi.
I mean, my family is here but this has never felt like home.
I’m the youngest one here and no one ever wanted anything to do with me unless they were forced to hang out with me.
I already know that’s what happened when I grew up.
The times when the other kids would play with me is because one of you told them to.
It was never because they wanted the little, lonely girl around them,”
I say, a lone tear sliding slowly down my face and dropping to land on my hand that’s still hanging on tightly to my steering wheel.
“Oh, Brynn,”
Mimi says, pulling me awkwardly into her arms as she holds me close to her and lets me cry on her shoulder.
I don’t know how much time passes before I pull back from my grandma and she gently wipes the tears from my face.
Without another word, we make our way out of the car and into the clubhouse.
Nothing has changed over the years as I look around and take in the few people sitting around the common room with a plate of lunch and drink in front of them.
My grandpa is the first one to notice us as he gets out of his seat and moves toward us.
“My baby girl is finally fuckin’ home,”
he says, pulling me into his arms and giving me a huge, tight hug that I’ve always associated with him.
“Missed you, Brynn.”
“I’ve missed you, too,”
I tell him as I hear a chair scrape against the floor and don’t bother looking up to know it’s my mom.
She shoves my grandpa out of the way and pulls me into her arms as my grandpa pulls my grandma into his.
My mom doesn’t say anything as my dad makes his way over to us and pulls the two of us into his arms and buries his face in my mom’s neck.
The one thing I can say about my parents is they never shy away from showing affection toward one another no matter who’s around.
Growing up, their love is what I always told myself I’d strive for when I started dating and finding a guy of my own.
A guy like Kingston who I could see myself building something with until I heard about the bet and how I was nothing more than a stipulation he had to do.
I can’t believe how bad it honestly hurts to know that’s all it was for the man I could see myself falling for quickly.
Tears fill my eyes and spill over as I start to cry in the middle of the clubhouse common room.
“I see the baby’s back home.
Gotta bring the drama right along with her as usual,”
my sister Zoey says as everyone in the room starts to laugh.
Sucking in a deep breath, I close my eyes even tighter and try to stop the tears from falling as my mom and dad don’t say anything.
No one does.
“I’m gonna head to the house.
If you’re staying here on the compound, I’ll go to the other house,”
I state, not giving anyone a chance to say anything.
I literally just told my grandma how I feel and she didn’t step up and say anything to my sister.
No one ever does.
Zoey can do no wrong in everyone’s eyes and I should be used to it by now.
Instead it’s just one more thing to hurt my heart and make the cracks that have always been there shatter and splinter even more.
“Sweetheart, why don’t you stay at the house here with us?”
my mom asks, looking at my back as I continue to leave the common room.
“I’m sure there’s no room for me there.
There never was when I was growing up and I’m sure it’s no different now.
Even though Zoey and Maddox have moved out, there’s still no room for me anywhere here,”
I say, not waiting for any response as I push through the door and rush to my car with tears streaming down my face that have been held back for far too long.
Getting in my car, I make my way out of the parking lot of the clubhouse and head for the house in town my parents’ own.
No one’s there and I pull in the garage and close the door behind me as I sit in my car after parking and shutting the engine off.
I don’t know why I bothered to come here when this is how things go every single time I come home.
Zoey and Maddox will make snarky comments about me and no one will step in to stop it from happening.
They don’t take a second to see the pain and hurt I feel because they don’t care enough about me.
Even with my grandma knowing how I feel, she still didn’t say a word because at the end of the day, I’m not supposed to be here.
The ‘oops’ baby is nothing more than a young girl who’s supposed to keep her feelings locked down tight and not let anyone hurt her because of who my male family members are.
Well, that’s not who I am.
I am so hurt and exhausted from trying to keep all of my feelings buried my entire life.
Finally, I get out of the car and grab my bags before making sure it’s locked.
Heading in the house, I go straight up to my room.
Nothing has changed in the years I’ve been gone.
I fall on the top of my bed after setting my bags down carefully so I don’t break my laptop.
Closing my eyes, I do nothing to stop the tears from falling as I cry myself to sleep.
Just one of the times this has happened over the years.
When I’m alone in my room, I can truly be who I am and not feel judged or looked down on for being who I am and feeling what I feel.