Chapter 11 #2
"I grew a whole inch this year!" she informs him proudly even though he already knows. "And I lost a tooth last month."
"Very impressive," he says with exaggerated seriousness. "Hey, I heard Sera and Ruby are downstairs watching a movie. Why don't you go join them for a bit while I talk to your mom? Eda's down there too."
Emily looks to me for permission, which I grant with a nod. "Be good," I tell her as she rushes to put on her shoes. "Listen to Eda and don't wander off."
"I won't," she promises, giving Blaze a quick hug before dashing out the door and down the stairs.
Once she's gone, Blaze's casual demeanor shifts; tension evident in the set of his shoulders. "We need to talk, Cam."
"That sounds ominous," I say, leading him to the kitchen table. "What's going on?"
He takes a seat, his expression more serious than I'm used to seeing from my typically carefree brother. "Storm's got feelings for you," he says without preamble.
I blink, taken aback by his directness. "I... I know. We've talked about it."
"And you've got feelings for him too," he continues, not a question but a statement.
"Yes," I admit, seeing no point in denying it. "Is that a problem?"
He runs a hand through his hair, a gesture so familiar it makes my chest ache with sudden homesickness for simpler times. "I don't know, Cam. That's what I'm trying to figure out."
"Explain," I prompt, feeling defensive but trying to keep an open mind. Blaze and I have always been close, despite the age difference. If he's concerned, I owe it to him to listen.
"Look, I like Storm. I respect the hell out of him, actually. He's solid, loyal, and good at what he does."
"But?" I prompt when he hesitates.
"But what he does," Blaze says carefully, "is hurt people. Badly. Sometimes kill them. That's his role in the club as an enforcer. He’s the guy they send when someone needs to be scared, or worse."
"I know what he is, Blaze," I say quietly. "He hasn't hidden that from me."
"Do you, though?" he presses. "Do you really understand what it means to be with someone like Storm? The danger, the violence, the lifestyle?"
"I'm getting a pretty good idea," I say, thinking of Eric at the grocery store, Cantlay's men at the Halloween party, the constant undercurrent of threat that's followed us for weeks now. "I'm not naive."
"Never said you were," he sighs. "But Storm... he's not just any brother, Cam. He's got a reputation, a history. They call him Storm for a reason."
"Because of his temper," I say, recalling what Storm told me. "When he loses it, it's like a storm breaking."
Blaze nods grimly. "I've seen it happen. Once. A guy disrespected one of the old ladies, made some lewd comment. Storm lost it; put him in the hospital. He almost killed him with his bare hands. It took three brothers to pull him off."
A chill runs through me at the image he's painting, but I push back against my own unease. "That was protecting someone he cares about," I point out. "Just like he's protecting Emily and me now."
"True," Blaze acknowledges. "And that's the thing, when Storm cares about someone, there's nothing he won't do to keep them safe.
But that kind of protection comes with a price, Cam: a life in the shadows, always looking over your shoulder, never knowing when some enemy from his past or the club's might decide to use you to get to him. "
"Is that what this is about?" I ask, suddenly understanding his concern. "You're worried that being with Storm puts Emily and me in more danger, not less?"
"Partly," he admits. "But it's more than that.
I brought you to the club for protection, and I'll always be grateful to Storm and the brothers for stepping up.
But this, you and him, it wasn't part of the plan.
And I need to know that you're thinking this through, not just falling for the guy who showed up when you needed someone. "
His words hit uncomfortably close to home. Haven't I asked myself the same questions? Wondered if my feelings for Storm are real, or just a trauma response, gratitude morphed into attraction?
"I appreciate your concern," I say carefully. "But I'm a grown woman, Blaze. I've been making decisions for myself and Emily for a long time now. I don't need you to protect me from my own choices."
"I know that," he says, frustration evident in his voice.
"But dammit, Cam, you're my sister. After what happened with that bastard Eric, I swore I'd never let anyone hurt you again.
And now you're falling for a guy who lives in a world of violence and danger, and I'm supposed to just be okay with that? "
"No," I say, softening at his obvious concern. "You're supposed to trust me. Trust that I know what I'm doing, that I've thought this through. That I wouldn't let Emily get attached to someone if I didn't believe he was good for her."
Blaze studies me for a long moment, weighing my words. "You really care about him, don't you?"
"I do," I admit, the truth of it settling deep in my chest. "I didn't expect to.
God knows I tried to fight it. But he sees me, Blaze.
Really sees me. Not as a victim, not as a single mom, but as me.
And the way he is with Emily..." I trail off, thinking of them making pancakes together this morning. "He's good with her. Good for her."
My brother sighs, the tension gradually easing from his shoulders. "I just want you to be happy, Cam. Both of you. After everything you've been through, you deserve that."
"Storm makes me happy," I say simply. "As crazy and unexpected as that is, it's the truth."
Blaze nods slowly, accepting this even if he doesn't fully understand it. "Okay. Then I'm happy for you. Just... be careful, alright? Keep your eyes open. Storm's a good man, I believe that, but the life he leads, the life I'm choosing too, it's complicated."
"When has my life ever been simple?" I ask with a small smile. "But I appreciate the concern. Really."
He returns the smile, reaching across the table to squeeze my hand. "That's what brothers are for.”
We chat for a while longer, Blaze filling me in on his progress as a prospect and his hopes for becoming a full patch member soon. It's strange to hear him talk about the club with such passion, this world that was so foreign to me just weeks ago now a central part of both our lives.
After he leaves, I sit alone at the kitchen table, turning our conversation over in my mind. Blaze's concerns aren't unfounded. Being with Storm does come with risks, complications, and a lifestyle I never imagined for myself or Emily.
But the alternative, walking away, returning to our safe, predictable life without him, feels increasingly impossible to contemplate. Somehow, in the midst of all this chaos and danger, Storm has become important to us. To me.
The question now is whether that importance outweighs the risks; whether what we're building together is worth the price of admission to his world.
I'm still pondering this when another knock comes at the door. This time, I check the peephole first, a new habit born of recent events, and see Octavia waiting in the hallway, Emily at her side.
"Hey," I greet them, opening the door. "Movie over already?"
"Ruby and Sera got into an argument about whose turn it was to pick the next one," Tavia explains with a roll of her eyes. "Emily decided she'd rather come back up here than listen to them bicker."
"It was really loud," Emily confirms solemnly. "And they weren't even watching the movie anymore, just fighting."
"Well, thank you for bringing her back," I tell Tavia with a smile. "Would you like to come in for some coffee?"
"Actually, that's why I'm here," she says, an unusual hesitancy in her voice. "I was hoping we could talk."
Something in her tone alerts me that this isn't a casual visit. "Of course," I say, stepping back to let her in. "Emily, why don't you go read in your room for a bit? The grown-ups need to chat."
Emily, sensing the seriousness in the air, nods and heads to her bedroom without argument, closing the door behind her.
"Let me guess," I say once we're alone, moving to the kitchen to start the coffee. "You're here to talk about Storm and me."
Tavia's eyebrows rise in surprise. "How did you know?"
"Blaze was just here, sharing his brotherly concerns about the same topic," I explain, setting mugs on the counter. "It seems my love life is the hot topic at the clubhouse today."
"Not just your love life," Tavia says, taking a seat at the table. "Storm's too. I've known him for years, and I've never seen him like this with anyone. It's got everyone talking."
"Great," I sigh, joining her at the table while the coffee brews. "Just what I need: an audience for my complicated relationship."
"Welcome to life in an MC," she says with a wry smile. "Privacy is a luxury, especially when it comes to relationships. We all live in each other's pockets here."
"So I'm gathering," I say, feeling a twinge of discomfort at the thought of my personal life being clubhouse gossip. "Is that what you wanted to talk about? The lack of privacy?"
She shakes her head. "Actually, I wanted to check on you; make sure you're doing okay with everything. Storm's a lot to handle under the best of circumstances, and these are hardly those."
"I'm okay," I assure her, grateful for her concern. "It's all happened very fast, and it's not what I expected, but... I'm okay."
"And Emily?" she asks, glancing toward the closed bedroom door. "How's she handling it?"
"Better than I could have hoped," I admit. "She adores Storm. This morning, she found him in my bed and her only reaction was to ask for pancakes."
Octavia laughs, a bright, genuine sound. "That sounds like Emily. Kids are adaptable, much more so than we give them credit for."
"That's what Storm said," I note, pouring coffee for us both.
"He's right. When Digger and I got together, I realized that being here has given not only me more brothers, but has given us women a family."
I consider this, remembering how easily Blaze accepted the MC lifestyle; how natural it seemed for him. "I never thought of it that way," I admit. "Blaze finding family here, not just brotherhood."
"That's exactly what it is," she says, her eyes softening. "Family. With all the dysfunction and drama that implies, but family nonetheless. When you join an MC, either as a brother or an old lady, you're never alone again."
"Old lady," I repeat, testing the term. "Is that what I am now? Storm's old lady?"
"That's up to you," she says carefully. "And to Storm. It's not a label that gets applied lightly. An old lady is a brother's partner, his equal, his other half. It means something in this world: protection, respect, commitment."
"Commitment," I echo, the word weighted with implications. "We haven't exactly discussed the future in those terms."
"But you've discussed it?"
I nod, thinking of our conversation this morning. "In vague terms. We’re taking it slow, figuring things out day by day. It's all so new, and with everything else going on..."
"I understand," Tavia assures me. "There's no rush. But Camryn, I want you to know something: Storm isn't the kind of man who does anything halfway. If he's let you in, if he's showing you and Emily who he really is, then he's all in. Whether he's said it explicitly or not."
Her words settle over me, confirming what I've sensed but haven't quite articulated to myself. Storm isn't playing at this relationship, testing the waters. He's committed, heart and soul, in a way that's as terrifying as it is exhilarating.
"That scares me a little," I confess. "The intensity of it all. I've never felt anything like this before; never let anyone get this close to me or Emily."
"It should scare you," she says frankly. "Love always does, especially when it comes with complications like ours. But, Camryn, speaking as someone who fought her feelings for a biker for far too long, take it from me: sometimes the scariest choice is the right one."
I study her face, seeing the wisdom born of experience and the contentment of someone who made that choice and found happiness despite the complications.
"Thank you," I say sincerely. "For checking on me, for the advice. It means a lot."
"That's what friends are for," she says, reaching across the table to squeeze my hand.
As she leaves and I go to check on Emily, I find myself thinking about the word family, and the way the MC has wrapped around us, protective and caring despite the danger that brought us here.
Storm, Blaze, Effie, Eda, all the others, they've become something more than friends, more than protectors.
They've become family.
And as complicated, dangerous and unexpected as that might be, I'm beginning to think it might be exactly what Emily and I have been missing all along.