Elsie
I’d prayed.
I’d crossed my fingers.
I’d wished on falling stars.
But deep down, I never thought that things would work out for me. I thought I was destined to live a life full of disappointment and heartache. But last night, Wyatt proved me wrong. He asked me to move in with him, and for the first time in a very long time, I was excited about the future.
And I was looking forward to talking to him about it the following morning.
Unfortunately, he disappeared again, and I was left wondering how long it would be before he returned.
I curled up with his pillow and tried to go back to sleep, but I was too happy and excited, to even think about sleeping.
I eventually gave up and got out of bed.
I got dressed, then slipped down to my room to take a shower.
As soon as I was done, I got dressed and headed straight to Lacy’s room. It was early. I was worried she might not be awake, but seconds after I knocked, her door opened, and she motioned me inside. “Hey.”
“Morning.” I stepped into her room and was surprised to find that it was in complete disarray. There were boxes scattered on the floor, and the clothes from her closet were piled on her bed. “Whoa. What’s all this?”
“I’m packing up.”
“What?”
“I’m leaving.”
“You can’t leave.”
“I can, and I am.”
“But why?”
“Because it’s time for me to go.” She ripped her favorite Aerosmith poster from her wall as she muttered, “If I’m being honest, I should’ve left a long time ago.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Seeing how happy you are with Wyatt has made me realize that I’m wasting my time here.” She crumpled up the poster and shoved it in the trash. “I’m tired of being just a hang around. I just can’t do it anymore.”
“You’re more than that.” I walked over and sat down on the edge of her bed. “You’re like family to everyone here.”
“No, Elsie. I’m not.” She reached up and pulled her Bad Company poster down from the wall. “I’m a club girl. I’m the one the guys wanna play with, but when it comes to picking an ol’ lady, they always end up with a good girl like you.”
“Why does that sound insulting?”
“You know I didn’t mean it that way.” She came over and sat down next to me. “It was great while it lasted, but it’s time for me to face the fact that I’m never going to find my happily ever after unless I leave here.”
“But what am I going to do without you?”
“I’m sure you’ll manage just fine.” She gave me a playful nudge. “Besides, you have Bones. I’m sure he will keep you entertained.”
“Yeah, but it won’t be the same.”
“Maybe not, but it’s for the best. You’re an ol’ lady now. It’s time for you to start hanging with the other ol’ ladies.”
“You’re serious about all this.”
“Yeah, I am.”
“But where will you go?”
“I’m not sure.” She shrugged. “I might go stay with my grandmother for a little while. Save up a little money and maybe move down south. I don’t know. I’ll just see how it goes.”
“When will you leave?”
“I’ll wait until the lockdown is over, but after that, I’ve gotta go.”
“I understand.” I looked around at all the stuff she had to pack and asked, “Can I give you a hand?”
“No, it would be too depressing. Besides, you’ve got some socializing to do.” She motioned her hand towards the door. “Darby and the girls are in the kitchen having breakfast. Time for you to go join them.”
“You don’t want me to help?”
“No, honestly, I need you to go.” She grabbed a handful of clothes and stuffed them into a box. “Otherwise, I might end up changing my mind, and I really don’t want to do that.”
“Oh, Lacy.”
“No. None of that.” She shook her head and ushered me towards the door. “You gotta go.”
I wanted to give her a big hug, but it was clear that she was in a fragile state. I didn’t want to make things worse, so I smiled and said, “Okay, fine. Can I come back later? Maybe we can have a couple of drinks to celebrate your big move.”
“Yeah, I’d be down for that.”
“Good deal.” I stepped out of the room as I told her, “I’ll see you in a bit.”
My heart was heavy as I turned and started down the hall.
As much as I hated to see her go, I knew she was right to leave.
She would never find what she was looking for at the clubhouse, but it broke my heart to think of losing such a dear friend.
I knew we would promise to call and visit, and we would—for a little while.
But eventually, it would get harder and harder to keep in touch.
Time would get away from us, and before we knew it, a year or more would have gone by. While it saddened me to think of not talking to her every day, I couldn’t help but feel excited for her. She was going after what she wanted, and with her stubborn streak, I had no doubt she would find it.
It was a thought that had me smiling as I walked into the kitchen, and it only grew wider when I saw that Lauren and Casey were sitting with Darby and the girls.
I loved Lauren, but I hadn’t seen much of her since she’d married Flynn.
And it was the same with Casey. She’d been seeing some guy from school and rarely ever made it home.
I rushed over to the table with a big smile and said, “Hey, guys! Long time no see!”
“We were just thinking the same about you!” Lauren hopped up and gave me a big hug. “Where have you been hiding?”
“I’ve been around.”
Casey stood and rushed over to me, hugging me tightly. “It seems like it’s been ages since I’ve seen you.”
“Because it has been ages. You never come home anymore,” I fussed.
“Well, it’s tough with school and all.”
“I get it. I’ve been busy with school stuff myself.”
“That’s not all she’s been busy with.” A smirk crossed Darby’s face as she teased, “From what I’ve heard, she’s been pretty busy with our boy Bones, too.”
“I heard the same!” Susana cocked her brow. “Spill it, lady.”
“Well, we’ve been talking.” I sat down next to Darby as I told them, “And it’s been pretty great.”
“I’m not surprised.” Mia smiled. “I’ve always thought you two would be good together.”
“We definitely have our moments.” Normally, I would share the big news with Lacy first, but with her announcing her big move and all, I didn’t get the chance to tell her about Wyatt asking me to move in with him.
Not knowing how they’d take the news, I was a little hesitant to announce it to the girls, but before I realized what I was doing, I said, “He asked me to move in with him.”
“What!” Lauren’s mouth dropped. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, we talked about it last night.”
“So, you’re gonna do it?”
“I am.” I took a sip of coffee and smiled. “I mean, we’ll have to wait until Cotton lifts the lockdown and all that, but...”
“That’s awesome, Elsie.” Lauren sounded sincerely happy for me. “Wyatt is lucky to have you.”
“I’m just as lucky to have him.”
We continued to banter back and forth, everyone sharing something about what was going on in their lives, and it wasn’t long before the kitchen was roaring in laughter, especially when Darby and Susana started talking about how things were going at their school and how lame the college guys were.
You couldn’t miss the frustration in Susana’s voice as she told us, “The last guy I went out with was a total asshat. He stayed on his phone the entire time and then got pissed when I told him I wanted to go home early.”
“Oh, I hate when guys are so focused on their phones.” Casey rolled her eyes. “I don’t get it. Why bother asking us out if you don’t plan to even try?”
“Exactly! It’s like they are wasting both of our time.”
“I’m over it.” Darby threw her hands and huffed, “I refuse to go out with another momma’s boy with control issues.”
“Oh, God. Don’t get me started on the control issues,” Casey grumbled. “I love Lewis, but if he doesn’t stop pouting every time he doesn’t get his way, I’m gonna lose it.”
“Ugh. I hate that.” Susana threw her head back with a groan. “I hate it even more when they try guilt-tripping you into doing stuff you don’t wanna do, like going to their stupid frat parties or staying the night when you’d rather go home.”
“What about when they try to check up on you all the time? It’s like they’re trying to catch you doing something.” Darby giggled as she added, “Which I usually am.”
“We’re dating the wrong men,” Mia announced. “Actually, men is the wrong word. We’ve been dating boys. Immature, spoiled-rotten boys. We need to be dating men.”
“I agree.” Susana shrugged. “But men are in short supply.”
“Not around here.” Mischief flashed through her eyes as Mia announced, “In fact, there is one that’s caught my eye, and I’m thinking about starting something up with him.”
“With whom?”
“Wrath?”
“Wrath?” Darby gasped. “Our Wrath?”
“The one and only.”
“You’ve got to be kidding?”
“No, I’m not kidding. Not at all.” Mia twirled a thick strand of her long, black hair around her finger. “I’m telling ya, I’ve dated the bankers, the lawyers, and the preppy college boys, and none of them have ever made me feel the way I do when that man looks at me.”
“He’s definitely hot, and he’s got that whole intense thing going.” Concern marked Susana’s face as she asked, “But what about your dad?”
“What about him?”
“If he even thinks about getting involved with you, Stitch will kill him!”
“Dad loves Wrath.”
“He likes Wrath. He loves you, and you know how protective he...” Darby stopped mid-sentence, then turned her head and started to sniff the air. “Do you smell that?”
The words had barely left her mouth when I caught the faint smell of smoke. “Yeah. Is something burning?”
“I don’t know, but it certainly smells like it.”
She and I got up and started trying to find the source of the smell, and it wasn’t long before the others joined in. Seconds later, we heard a commotion outside and went over to the window to check things out. That’s when we spotted a small fire in the back corner of the garage. “Holy shit.”
Susana raced over to the back door and pushed it open as she shouted, “Fire!”
We all followed after her, and that’s when we noticed that the garage wasn’t the only thing on fire.
Clutch’s SUV and the front gate were also going up in flames.
Two Bit and Savage each had fire extinguishers and were doing their best to tend to the fire at the front gate, while Hayes and Smokey were working on the one at the garage.
At first, it looked like no one was doing anything about Clutch’s SUV, but then I spotted Rooster with the water hose.
He tugged it over to the front of the truck and started spraying it with water, but instead of putting out the fire, it seemed to stoke the fire.
The smoke was really starting to billow when Cotton and several of the brothers came barreling out of the clubhouse.
I had no idea how the fires got started, but it was clear they were intentional. It was mayhem, and it was absolutely terrifying.
The clubhouse was under attack.
I’d seen the guys wounded. I knew they’d been in fights before.
But never at the clubhouse.
Eager to put them out, the brothers scattered and started doing whatever they could to help. Darby was about to go give them a hand when Cotton spotted us and ordered, “Girls! Get back inside. Now!”
“But, Dad...”
“Get your ass inside, Darby!” Cotton roared. “And find your mom!”
That’s all it took for all of us to go rushing back towards the back door.
I was about to follow Mia back inside when I heard an odd buzzing sound above my head.
I stopped, and when I looked up, I spotted a large, white drone suspended in the air above the clubhouse.
I was trying to get a better look at it when Mia reached back and took hold of my arm, pulling me inside.
“You better move it, or Cotton’s gonna have your ass. ”
“Yeah, I’m coming.”
I didn’t have a good feeling as I followed her back inside.
Something big was going down, and I feared it might be the end of us all.