Chapter 10
CHAPTER
TEN
SHAWN
I stretch my body. I’m not sure why, but every inch of me is sore. Then I remember what happened last night. Everything that happened, every single moment. And my body begins to heat.
Oh my god.
Opening my eyes, I suck in a breath, turning my head to look over at Elvis, but he’s not there. I’m alone. I sit up and lean my back against the headboard as I sink my teeth into my bottom lip and look around the room.
He’s not here.
Nobody is here, not anywhere else in my little apartment either. I know he isn’t going to pop out of the living room. I can tell I’m alone.
I don’t know how I feel about that.
I want to be okay with him leaving without saying anything. But inside, I wanted him to stay. I wanted this to be the start of something spectacular, even if I knew it wouldn’t be.
Throwing my legs over the side of the bed, I stand up and move toward the bathroom. I wince at the soreness between my legs. I wasn’t a virgin, but for as long as it’s been since I was with someone, I might as well have been. It feels like after the first time.
When I’m finished, I stand and waddle toward my dresser to grab a tank and shorts. After pulling them on with another whimper, I move through my apartment to my living room and then my kitchen.
Reaching for the door of the fridge, I tug it open and slip my arm inside for a bottle of water on the top shelf. Although there isn’t much else in there, so I don’t have to search very hard. It’s the one and only thing I come into contact with.
As I take a long drink of water, I glance around the apartment and wonder where the hell he went, but then I tell myself that I need to realize he isn’t a man who spends the night.
In fact, I may never see him again. He’s a one-and-done kind of man, and I knew that before we did anything, even if I didn’t want to believe it.
And I really didn’t want to believe it.
I threw caution to the wind and went with my feelings instead of my head.
It was stupid, and I shouldn’t have done it.
I’ll probably regret it. But in the moment, it felt amazing, and I’m going to give myself that one thing.
Call it a mistake that a normal twenty-three-year-old might make and move on… hopefully.
Once I drink my water, I quickly shower and dress for the day, trying to forget about the night before. The amazing night before. I fail.
The sun isn’t even up yet, but I have a bakery to open, even if I won’t see a single customer. I hope I can be consistent enough that someone someday will discover my bakery… someday soon, that is.
Really soon.
If they don’t by next month, I’m done for. Elvis’s money will only go so far, and as much as I appreciate that he paid me more than I asked, it won’t last me long. I need to build my customer base, and I still don’t know how to do that. Nothing I’ve tried works.
As I walk down the sidewalk toward the bakery, it aches between my legs with each step I take. I can’t believe I allowed that to happen, that we had sex. And he just left in the middle of the night.
God. I’m such a walking cliché.
I wanted it.
I wanted him to touch me, to kiss me, to do anything and everything to me. I would have accepted just about anything from him, and deep down inside, I knew it was a one-time thing.
I wanted more, though.
I was hoping against hope that he did, too.
I was naive.
I am naive.
Continuing to move, I try not to think about everything that happened last night… everything that happened three times. God. I’m the biggest idiot on earth. The more I think about it, the more reckless I feel.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I try to fight the tears, but they fill my eyes and eventually roll down my cheeks. They aren’t tears of sadness as much as they’re tears of frustration. I am so angry at myself for allowing my body to be taken advantage of the way it was.
I shouldn’t have.
What I should have done is told him no about a million more times.
But I was a chase.
And what a piss-poor chase I was. He didn’t even have to break a sweat trying to catch me. I just lay down and gave it up… literally. Right now, I hate myself for that, and if it didn’t feel as amazing as it did, I think I would really despise myself, and not just a little bit.
Moving around to the back of the bakery, I shove my key in the lock and turn it, tugging the door open before I slip inside and lock it behind me. I start to turn everything on as I move around the space. I flip the lights on before I turn the oven to three hundred and twenty-five.
I know a lot of people bake at three fifty, but I’m a three-twenty-five girl myself. I don’t know what it is, but I feel like when things bake slower, they just taste that much better. I’m sure it’s all in my head.
Gathering my ingredients, I start to make a summer strawberry lemon cupcake. Strawberry cake with lemon buttercream icing, but vegan style. It’s one of my favorite desserts, and I think I need something comforting right about now.
As I mix and cream my ingredients together, I put together my menu for the week. Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, vegan snickerdoodles, and some naturally dyed sugar cookies, along with an assortment of cupcakes. I don’t know why, but I also decide to make a chocolate cake.
I have no idea why I decide on a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing, but I do. It sounds amazing, and if nobody comes and buys it, which they won’t, I’m going to drown my sorrows in that damn cake.
I’m working my ass off, baking, moving, and grooving, my radio up as I do my thing when the front door chimes. Touching the music on my phone, I turn it down, plastering on a smile as I lift my head to greet my customer.
My smile dies on my face when I see the person who is now standing in front of me. A person who has never even bothered to come to my bakery even once, or my apartment for that matter.
My mother.
And she looks pissed.
KING
Probably shouldn’t have snuck out of Shawn’s in the middle of the night, but when the club calls, you fucking answer.
And my president, Atomic, fucking called me.
Pulling up to the clubhouse, I’m not surprised to see him standing right outside the door, his arms crossed over his chest, his chin tipped, and his eyes on me.
It’s still dark. I kill the engine before climbing off my bike and making my way toward him. “What the fuck is going on?”
Atomic clears his throat, taking a step closer to me. He tips his head down slightly, his gaze focused on mine and nowhere else. “I got a line on a new avenue for the club, but it runs at night, and I need the opinion of my vice president before I bring it to everyone else.”
“And it had to be this instant?” I ask.
“You were busy?”
Pressing my lips together, I try to keep from growling at him. I want to beat the shit out of him, but he’s my president, and it’s not the time or the place. “Yeah, I was fuckin’ busy,” I grind out.
He smirks. He knows exactly what the fuck I was doing. Instead of arguing about anything, I jerk my chin toward him and ask him what the fuck we’re going to go check out at this time.
“How can this be legit if it’s in the middle of the night?” I ask. “Unless it’s a titty bar, and honestly, I don’t want to deal with running that shit, like at fucking all.”
Atomic jerks his chin. “It’s loading and unloading merch but also delivery of said merch.”
“And this is a way to funnel money how?” I ask.
His lips curve up into a grin. “It’s not. But then again, it is.”
“Want to explain?” I ask.
“It’s a way to transport.”
I lean close to him, my eyes widening. “Are you telling me that you want to traffic drugs, like not just locally?”
He lets out a chuckle. “That’s exactly what I’m saying, and it works out fucking perfect. Because we would be owners slash operators, loading and unloading shit without a single fucking person asking questions.”
“This is crazy,” I mutter. “You’re thinking much bigger than I ever imagined.”
“This club is on the verge of blowing up, and you know it. We’re growing our numbers day by day.
It’s what the OGs wanted. We have the one club in Corpus your dad started and the one in Dallas mine started.
But we’ve had other affiliates ask for legitimacy.
This could be the key to that. This could catapult us, and we would be the original chapter. ”
I run my fingers through my hair, tugging on the ends. I cannot believe this shit. He’s right. I’ve had a few phone calls myself about affiliated clubs wanting to wear the official Dark Horse MC patch.
“Well, let’s fucking check this shit out, then,” I state.
He jerks his head toward his pickup truck.
I’m not surprised we aren’t taking the bikes, but I am partially annoyed.
My bike is my ticket to freedom. I don’t like being beholden to someone else’s timeline.
I don’t want to have to wait for him to get to the truck if we need to get the fuck out of there.
But on the other hand, I trust Atomic. He’s my brother. So if it’s more inconspicuous to be in the pickup truck, then that’s the shit we’ll do. I walk over to it, tug the door open, and climb inside just as he jumps into the driver’s seat.
“How far out is this place?” I ask.
“Just in the industrial area. It’s a big sorting and shipping facility,” he replies.
There are a few out there, and I’m glad that’s where it is. It seems like the safest place to have an operation like this. At least the most low-key, anyway. Before we’re even out of the compound driveway, Atomic clears his throat.
“What?” I ask when he doesn’t say anything.
“You gonna make that baker your bitch?”
I chuckle, shaking my head. “Why?”
“Her brother is a fucking problem.”
“Yeah, I got that,” I say.
“You gonna rectify it?”
He doesn’t look at me as he drives toward the industrial area, the buildings growing larger, and I notice the trucks are heavy in the area. I’ve only ever been here during the day, and if there were this many trucks around, I didn’t notice it.
Then I realize he’s waiting for my answer. Clearing my throat, I turn to look at his profile. “Yeah, brother. I’m going to rectify it, even if I don’t make her my bitch. She’s a good girl, doesn’t need that piece of shit waiting for whatever the fuck he’s waiting for.”
“Money, dope… opportunity.”
“Yeah,” I grunt. “That’s exactly it. Opportunity. Well, that shit is fucking done.”