Chapter Sixteen
Cam
She should have immediately called Jen to pick her up, but something stronger pulled her down the hall to the room that the receptionist said Megan was in. Cam’s heart ached for the woman she didn’t know but had seen laying on the floor in probably one of her worst moments.
She listened at the other side of the door for a noise. What if she was sleeping? If she was asleep, then Cam would just leave and call Jen. This was a stupid idea anyway. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.
“Come in,” a voice called from inside.
She pushed the door open to see Megan propped up in the hospital bed. Machines surrounded her, beeping softly. Megan raised an eyebrow at Cam in confusion.
“I’m sorry to barge in… I was with Kit when he, uh, found you.”
She shook her head. “God, can this get any more embarrassing? ”
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Kit told me to go home, but…”
She smiled an inch. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just fucking mad at myself.”
Cam nodded, unsure what else to say. “Well, I should get--”
“Wait, are you dating my brother?” Megan asked.
“Kind of, tonight was our first date.”
Kit and she had never had an official talk about their relationship status, but he did have a tattoo on his body that represented them.
Megan smiled a genuine smile. “Finally, he’s dating someone and not messing around with those club sluts.”
“The girls at the clubhouse?”
Megan nodded. “I haven’t been around for long, but I know the younger guys at the club can be wild.”
“Did you use to hang out at the clubhouse a lot?”
“Pfft--no, I can’t stand the Savage Spades.”
Cam didn’t ask for an explanation because she didn’t want to get her angry while she was still recovering.
“They’re going to let me out in a day or so. I’ll have to find a group or go to some kind of treatment, but I would like to meet the woman that is making my brother finally settle down. Maybe he’ll even stop fighting.”
“Fighting?” Cam asked .
She arched an eyebrow. “Yeah, you know, the fighting ring. He can make some good money if he wins, but it’s not worth him getting concussions.”
“Like street fighting?” Cam asked.
Megan frowned but didn't say anything. How could she not have known about this? He hadn’t had any bruises on his body in a while. She’d almost forgotten about the marks on his face when he first started coming around the bar. She should have pushed for more information. Fighting for money was stupid no matter how good you were; if someone hit him the wrong way, he could be dead. What else about Kit’s life did Cam not know about? They barely knew each other if she thought about it.
Cam forced a small smile. “I should let you rest.”
Megan nodded in agreement, and Cam walked out of the hospital room. She walked outside to the concrete stairs and sat down on the top step. Jen picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, where are you?” Jen asked.
“Um… I’m at the hospital. I was going to see if you could pick me up?” she asked, thrown off by how Jen answered the phone.
“Amire, watch the bar. I have to pick up Cam. I’ll be right there.”
“What's going on?” Cam asked.
“I’ll tell you when I get there.” She hung up before Cam could ask any more questions. This night was just getting better and better.
*****
She slid into Jen’s beat up Honda. “So, what’s going on?” she asked.
Jen pulled away from the curb and drove back towards town. “Hugo said Venom showed up at the clubhouse.”
“Kit told me. Is that where he went?”
“I don’t know, but they had a vote…and…”
“What Jen? Spit it out!”
Jen let out a sigh. “They made a deal with Venom that they’d convince you to sell the bar and give the profits to Venom. He said if they didn’t agree, he’d bring his sex trafficking business into Goldbeach.”
Cam’s blood started to boil. She’d been calm all night, but her composure was slipping. “They can’t decide what I do with my bar. I’m not selling.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the window. Who did they think they were? First, they barged into her bar and claimed they’re protecting her, and now, they believe they can make decisions for her? Did Kit agree to this?
“Come on, Cam,” Jen said.
“Come on what ? It’s my bar. If I decide to sell or not is my decision. Not some club that decided they like to drink there.”
“The bar isn’t making any money, and it never has. If people want to drink, they either do it at home or go into the city.”
She looked at Jen in shock. Jen had never given her opinion on Cam’s business.
“I’m sorry, but Venom is a scary guy, and keeping the bar is playing with fire,” Jen told her.
She hated that Jen was right. Even knowing that selling the bar would leave her without a job, Jen was encouraging her to do it. Her dad wouldn’t have wanted her in this situation, but getting rid of the bar was easier said than done.
Cam swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’ll think about it.”
Jen dropped her off at home and then went back to the bar to close. Her shoulders finally dropped from being around her ears all day when she walked into the empty house. Who knew a first date would turn out so crazy.
*****
She’d called Kit five times, each one going to voicemail. She had class in a few minutes, but she was more worried about where Kit was. He was probably pissed after the whole Megan situation, but she needed to know where he was. Had he really agreed that making her sell the bar was the solution? If he wanted her to sell the bar this whole time, why hadn’t he talked to her?
She dressed for class with no idea how to get there. She hated to wake up Jen since she’d closed last night, but at this point, she was out of options. She knocked on Jen’s door.
“Huh?” Jen croaked out from the other side.
“Can I borrow your car? I have class, and Kit’s not answering. ”
“Keys are on the table,” she said.
“Thank you. I owe you one.”
She grabbed Jen’s keys and walked outside only to stop in her tracks when she saw Big Blue parked in front of the house. She left Jen’s keys on the entry table before closing the door and walked up to her truck.
So he had time to fix her vehicle and drop it off but not enough time to answer the phone? What time was he here last night? He might be going through a lot right now, but that didn’t mean he could shut her out. Even Jen knew more about what was going on than she did. Cam got in the truck, finding the keys in the ignition. Good thing the truck didn’t get stolen. Did Kit even think about that when he dropped it off?
*****
She sat through a boring, hour-long lecture. It was a waste of time considering all she could think about was Kit and the future of her bar. This was precisely why she didn’t want that damn club involved in her life. She needed to be focused on school. If she would have just paid Venom his monthly payment, this could have been avoided. Instead, she let herself believe for a second that a motorcycle club would take care of it. That’s what she gets for relying on someone else. How many times did she have to learn that she’s the only person she can depend on?
The professor dismissed class, and she walked out of the lecture hall with the rest of her classmates. There were two homework assignments that she had to get through and a paper to write if she didn’t want to fall behind, but she barely had time to breathe, let alone do homework. She checked her phone to see that Kit still hadn’t called her back. There were only a few places that he’d be. She started the truck and drove to the clubhouse.
His truck sat in the first spot in front of the bar entrance. She took the place next to him and threw Big Blue in park. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the fire that was in her belly. Had he really voted that he would convince her to sell her bar? He must have, or why else would he be avoiding her? When she walked inside, Zeke was sitting at the bar.
“Oh, hey, Cam.” He looked around as if searching for someone. “Has Kit talked to you?” he asked.
She sighed. “No, but Jen has.” She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow.
Zeke shook his head. “I’m sorry, Cam.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s not up to y’all what I do with the bar anyways”
His eyes widened. “You’re not going to sell it?”
“I don’t know, but if I do or don’t, that will be my decision.”
“Cam--”
“Where’s Kit?” she asked, not giving a fuck what else Zeke had to say about her business .
“Haven’t heard from him since he stormed out last night. You can check his room.”
She looked around, trying to figure out where his room might be.
“Down the hall, follow the set of stairs. It’s the third door on the left,” Zeke said.
“Thanks.”
As she followed Zeke’s instructions, she realized just how many rooms were in the clubhouse. There must be a room for every member and then some. When she got to Kit’s door, she took a deep breath before knocking. No answer. She knocked again. Nothing. Fuck it, she opened the door herself. He couldn’t avoid her forever. His body was spread out sideways on the bed. He wore the same outfit as last night. His pants now had grease marks on them, probably from working on her car. She kicked the side of the mattress.
“Kit.”
He groaned in response.
“Where the hell have you been all night? I’ve been calling you.”
If anything, he should have been at the hospital with his sister, not working in his shop. He turned over to his back. His cheek had a ugly bruise as well as dried blood crusted under his nose. Megan’s words replayed in her head: He can make some good money if he wins, but it’s not worth him getting concussions .
“Did you fight last night?” she asked.
He sat up and rubbed a hand over his face .
She snorted. “You know what, forget it.”
Why did she even care? He was the one shutting her out. She had her bar to worry about. It was a waste of time coming here. She was stupid to think something serious was going on between them. He was probably just trying to be friendly by fixing her truck and inviting her on the camping trip. He said it was his and Zeke’s job to make sure she was okay. That’s probably all it was. She walked towards the door.
“Cam,” he said so quietly she barely heard him, but she walked away anyways, shutting the door behind her.