7. Kara
7
KARA
D espite what happened at the hospital the last time I’d been there, when Friday rolled around again, a nagging feeling settled in the pit of my stomach and wouldn’t leave me alone. I anxiously cleaned anything I could find at the clubhouse, wiping down the kitchen, even though Hayden did that religiously. I washed sheets and blankets. Scrubbed bathrooms, and when I checked the clock and it was only ten, I wanted to scream.
Hawk seemed equally lost. He grouchily snapped at everyone who looked his way and complained loudly about the fact no one had fixed the wobbly leg on the pool table and then stomped off to the shed to find some tools to fix it himself.
After a few minutes of tinkering with the tools, he slammed the toolbox shut, the metal on metal making a painful screeching sound. “I fucking hate this!”
I paused in the middle of wiping down the communal room walls. “Maybe you should take a walk. Or a ride? You haven’t done that for a while.”
He paced across the room, perhaps considering the idea, and then stopped to stare at me, a sort of helpless expression on his face. “I want to be at the hospital clinic.”
“Me too,” I admitted.
He groaned, scrubbing his hands over his closely cropped hair. “Fuck it. Let’s go.”
I smiled for what felt like the first time since everything had happened. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. People there need us. Gray said security has been insane at the hospital after what happened. They’re checking IDs of every person who walks in, and the cops have a whole team stationed down there apparently.”
That was surprising. “Seriously? Providence Police Department actually did something proactive?”
“That new chief is on the warpath about gang violence. Maybe it had something to do with them.”
I frowned. “Not sure Josiah’s followers count as a gang.”
Hawk shrugged. “Maybe not an officially branded one, but calling together a mob of people with the intent to hurt or capture might be worse. Clearly, it was enough to get them to get off their asses and do something. I’m not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.”
Neither was I.
Hawk’s party was tomorrow night, and there was a midnight bus out of town leaving the terminal just down the road from Sinners. I knew I needed to be on it. The pieces had fallen together too easily. Last week I’d tried to come up with ways to leave, and all of them had involved elaborate schemes and lies.
But tomorrow night, while everyone was enjoying the party, I’d just slip out. Walk the block to the terminal and get on the bus before it left.
I knew nobody would be happy with me. But I’d written letters for them all, explaining why I was doing it, asking them to respect my decision and not come after me.
I expected Hawk and Hayden to ignore it completely, but if I could get a couple of hours’ head start, then I’d be inside Ethereal Eden’s gates before they could intervene.
But if today was going to be my last day in Saint View, while Hayley Jade was at school, I wanted to be at the hospital. I owed Willa a thank you, and there was nowhere else I was more needed than with the underprivileged patients the clinic served. I kissed Hawk’s cheek, knowing he’d spend the entire shift hovering over me, making sure he was never more than a few feet away, but I was okay with that. “I’ll get my purse and meet you in the van.”
Hawk paused and then shook his head. “Wait. I got you a present.”
I paused halfway to my bedroom and glanced back at him. “What do you mean? I’m not the one with a birthday coming up in a few days.”
“I know. But I got you a gift anyway. I was going to give it to you tomorrow, before the party, but I changed my mind. I don’t want you leaving the house without it.”
I frowned, following him into his room and leaning on the doorjamb while he plucked a package clumsily wrapped in brown paper from the top of his closet.
It was soft, but heavier than I expected. I shook it as a joke.
He grinned lazily at me, nodding. “Go on. Open it.”
I perched on the edge of his bed and ripped the paper.
The smell hit me before my eyes registered what it was. A familiar scent now, after burying my face in his jacket on more than one occasion.
A gasp slipped out of my mouth as I pulled the jacket out and stared at it. “What?…Is this…”
“Your old lady jacket? Yeah.”
I stared at him and then down at the jacket that I’d only seen on a couple of other women. Bliss and Rebel. War’s mom, Fancy. Queenie. The Slayers’ emblem covered the entire back of the jacket. The skeleton figure holding a scythe a demonic and intimidating figure, but one I’d come to associate with safety and kindness and the love of the people who wore it with pride.
On the front, where Hawk’s jacket had patches that showed his title of vice president, this jacket had a patch that read “Old Lady.”
I ran my fingers over it. To the outside world, it wasn’t exactly a complimentary term, but in here, it was the ultimate sign of respect. It was a commitment.
It was as good as a marriage proposal from whichever man gave it to you.
“It’s amazing,” I whispered. It truly was. It was so intricately made, the stitching neat and precise. The design complicated and beautiful, though I wasn’t sure others would see it the way I did. “I don’t know what to say.”
Hawk plucked the jacket from my fingers and moved in behind me, holding it up for me. His head dipped to my ear, and he kissed me just below it. “Say you’ll wear it. Say you’ll be my old lady, Kara.”
My eyes filled with tears. A “yes” sat hot on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to blurt it out. Shout it from the rooftops. Tell everyone how much I loved him and wear his jacket with pride, everyone knowing I was his.
My reckless heart had me slipping my arms through the sleeves before my brain caught up and shouted I couldn’t do this.
I froze with the jacket half on, but he didn’t notice, he’d already twisted away to rifle through his drawers. When he turned back around, he held two small patches, identical strips to his VP patch but blank.
I peered at them. “What are those?”
He flipped them over, revealing the writing on the back.
One read Little Mouse. The other had Hayley Jade’s name.
My heart swelled so much I was sure it was going to suffocate me.
“I had them made when I got your jacket done. They go here, on my sleeve, so you’re always with me.”
The lump in my throat was enormous. I couldn’t even speak.
All I could do as a tear slipped silently down my face was let him pull the jacket up on my shoulders and zip it up.
It fit perfectly and was by far the most beautiful thing I’d ever owned.
His gaze drank me in, molten eyes tracking every curve of my body now encased in leather. He groaned. “If we didn’t have somewhere we need to be, I’d have you naked apart from that jacket and riding my tongue until your legs don’t work.”
I wasn’t all that sure they were working right now.
But if Hawk noticed, he didn’t say anything. Just guided me outside, passed me a helmet, and told me to get on the back of his bike.
I did. I slid on behind him, wrapping my arms around his middle and feeling the tight warmth of his body against mine. All while wondering how I was ever going to walk away from this man, when he’d so totally and completely stolen my heart.
T he new hospital security was intense. We had our hospital-issued ID badges checked before walking through metal detectors. There were new security doors in place of the ones that had been destroyed by Josiah’s groupies. We’d taken off our jackets so as to not draw attention, but Hawk attracted it anyway, getting himself a pat down from a police officer before we were admitted to the clinic.
I nudged him as we made our way behind the nurses’ desk. “That was very big of you. You didn’t even complain about that officer getting up close and personal.”
“Why would I? He’s here to help keep you safe. If I have to have my junk groped by a dozen cops to make sure no one brings a weapon in here that could hurt you, then I will.”
I pressed up on my toes and kissed his cheek. “You’re a much sweeter man than you let others believe. You do know that, right?”
He took a sneaky handful of my ass and wiggled his eyebrows. “Still think I’m such a nice guy?”
I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. In the female locker room, I hung my new jacket with care and grabbed a pair of scrubs to change into.
Hawk waited for me outside, dressed in scrubs of his own, and matching Grayson, who leaned on the wall beside him.
Grayson’s smile met his eyes when he saw me, and I fought to keep my gaze on his face, instead of letting it wander lower. Knowing that he had all those tattoos beneath his clothes was a distraction I hadn’t anticipated.
He moved toward me, then paused, glancing back at Hawk. “Uh, I don’t know the protocol here.” He turned back to me. “I really want to kiss you right now. But…”
Hawk let out a low, menacing growl from somewhere deep in his chest.
Gray and I both swiveled to stare at him.
The purring rumble cut off, flipping into a wide grin, showing off his white teeth. “Just messing with you. Kiss her. I won’t hurt you.”
Gray leaned toward me.
“Much,” Hawk added.
I glared at him.
Grayson sniggered and tipped my chin. “Hey.”
I melted, staring into his eyes. “Hey.”
His mouth on mine was so sweet. He kissed me slowly, lightly at first, his mouth playful until his tongue was seeking entrance, and I was leaning into him, loving the feel of his hard body against my softer one.
“I shouldn’t find this hot,” Hawk muttered. “Can we do this somewhere else? When we don’t have patients to help, maybe?”
Both of us looked over at him in surprise. Blood rushed to my face at the very thought of being sandwiched between him and Grayson.
Gray cleared his throat. “Uh, did you just hit me up for a threesome?”
“No. That would be super inappropriate. You’re our boss.”
My hopes fell.
Grayson’s cheeks went pink with embarrassment. “Right. I’m sorry.”
Hawk raised an eyebrow. “I was thinking more of a foursome. Chaos will want in.”
Oh my God.
Hawk laughed, walking backward down the hallway toward the clinic. “Don’t act like the two of you haven’t been thinking about it. We all know what this is. We all know it’s happening at some point. Question is, when?”
He disappeared around the corner into the clinic waiting room, leaving Grayson blushing and me practically panting.
I glanced up at him, trying to decipher his expression. “You don’t have to—”
“I want to.”
The words came out his mouth so quick there was no denying he meant them. My heart thumped hard. I didn’t even know how the four of us together…like that…would even work.
But I so wanted to find out. “Do you want to come over tonight?”
“I want to, but I can’t.”
“Tomorrow morning?” I asked.
He frowned. “We’ll be getting ready for the party. Hayden asked us to come in early to help decorate, remember?”
I nodded. “Right. Of course.”
He took my hand, sliding his fingers through mine. “Maybe I could come back to the clubhouse after the party tomorrow night? No pressure. We just see what happens?”
Except I’d be gone by then. On a bus back to a life I didn’t want.
For a second, I convinced myself I could stay and that everything would be okay. That this calm I felt right now wasn’t the eye of the storm.
But I couldn’t forget being locked in that coffin. I couldn’t forget being chased down by men with evil, soulless eyes. I couldn’t forget they’d brought knives and guns into my child’s school and if Hayden and Hawk hadn’t gotten to her in time, I might not have her at all.
Josiah was never going to stop. He was just planning his next move.
I had to make mine before he could.
I forced a smile for Gray. “Sure. Tomorrow night sounds great.”
It wasn’t the first lie I’d told. And it wasn’t the first one I’d regret.