Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
WILL
For the past two weeks, I didn’t recognize myself. There were dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep. My skin was pale. Hell, I had even lost some weight.
I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. This torturous cycle had me on the brink of insanity. I knew leaving Tech would be hard, but it had to be done. When he blatantly denied us being together while standing stark naked with me, I knew he would never come out.
It had been a tough pill to swallow. He probably never intended to tell the brothers, and I had foolishly ignored every red flag about our relationship.
All the secrets he kept. After two years, I really didn’t know much about his past. I kept telling myself that I was just being patient.
But it was all bullshit. All the time we spent together, he should have at least felt enough to be honest with me.
It wasn’t like I would judge him, and he should have known that.
For instance, he didn’t think I realized that touching his back was a trigger. He wouldn’t even let me graze it. I figured in time he would begin to open up, but he didn’t. He just continuously gave me the same excuse.
I just need time.
As if I hadn’t already given him two fuckin’ years. As angry as I was with him, I was more upset with myself. I allowed us to get here. We never should have made it this far without him being open. Oscar’s words from that night at Ollie’s had been replaying in my mind over and over.
Don’t get so wrapped up in trying to be there for him that you inadvertently give him your heart and end up hurt.
It was exactly what I had done, too. He had my heart in an iron-clad grip. There was no shaking him. The only thing that stopped me from answering his many phone calls was the last moment we spent together.
The look of panic on his face when Alice walked through the door said it all. He was content with us hiding out and would deny what we were at all costs. So, he left me with no choice. I had to leave him.
Alice had been super apologetic. She felt so guilty every time she saw how our breakup had taken a toll on me.
I told her I actually owed her a thank you.
Had she not busted into the room, I probably would have stayed with him the remainder of the year like I promised.
It would have been even harder to leave if I had stayed.
Alice came back into my life at the perfect time. I missed her so much in the years we hadn’t been in touch. She was the sweetest out of Oscar and me. She evened out our crazy little friend group. We had yet to fully reunite with an outing.
Alice’s husband, Declan, was losing his mind now that she had left him. She was in danger every time she left the clubhouse grounds. No one wanted to risk going out for the evening until the situation with Declan was settled.
Today was another chaotic day at Crystal’s. In the beginning, my days were light. But once Blade’s triplets, plus Chase and Elena, were added to the equation, nothing was simple about my days anymore. Let me tell you, watching two sets of triplets was not for the weak.
It was like each set of triplets was in a battle of who could turn up the most. They were always into something. We had so many child safety gates around the house to prevent them from disappearing. Crystal’s house was huge.
I’m talking about eight bedrooms and six bathrooms. Three of those bedrooms were designed for all the kids, filled with bunk beds and cribs.
She also had a playroom, a movie theater, and a game room.
The older kids rarely went straight home after school.
They would come here, do their homework, and then retire in the game room.
Honestly, it kept me distracted during the day. I didn’t have time to think about Tech. It was once I was alone in my room that was my undoing. I couldn’t even stomach sleeping in my own bed anymore. It held too many memories that were now painful to think about.
A loud shriek from the other side of the bathroom door broke my thoughts. Quickly, I flushed the toilet, washed my hands, and left the bathroom. As soon as I walked into the living room, I didn’t need to ask questions. Angel was telling us exactly what she wanted.
“Da-da. I wan Da-da,” she cried.
I whipped out my phone to call Viper, but Crystal stopped me. “No, Will. I heard Viper tell Cara at breakfast that he would be working on some contracts with the club lawyer, Michael. He can't conduct any kind of meeting with her.”
I got ready to slide my phone back into my pocket, but Angel threw her head back, releasing a gut-wrenching wail.
I picked her up, bundling her in my arms. “How about we do some painting? We can make Daddy a pretty picture for when he comes home.” I tried to calm her down, but she was already shaking her little head.
“Yeah. Come on, Angel. We paint with Willie,” Mari said, approaching us. That made me chuckle. Mari was always down for arts and crafts.
Angel frowned at Mari. I knew we were headed nowhere good. This was how it went when Angel was in a Daddy Day mood. She would go from crying to angry. She was like Cara in a sense. Angel could flip like a switch.
She reached down, grabbed the hand that was holding my phone, and placed it to my ear. “Call Da-da,” she demanded.
At two years old, her vocabulary wasn’t huge, but she could say enough that you knew exactly what she was saying.
Crystal sighed from the couch, rubbing her eyes. “Go ahead and call, Will. She isn’t letting this go.”
Angel turned to her grandmother with a smirk. I swear it was like she was trying to say, “I’m glad you know that.”
I threw my head back, roaring with laughter, and made the call.
“Go ahead and bring her over, Will. I’m in my office,” Viper said as soon as he picked up the call.
“How in the world did you know that’s what I wanted?”
“It's literally the only time you call me.”
I thought about it for a moment, and he had me there. Other than these kinds of moments, Crystal, Debbie, and I always had things under control. “Right. Well, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
I ended the call and made my way out of the house with Angel riding the crook of my arm.
As soon as we walked through the door, Angel started trying to shimmy her way out of my arms. I placed her on her feet, and she took off like a rocket.
She knew her way to his office, but I still jogged behind her to make sure she got there safely.
Right as I rounded the corner, Angel approached Viper’s office door and banged on it with her tiny fist. “Da-da open!” she cheered happily.
The door swung open, and Viper swooped Angel up, making her shriek with laughter. Viper lifted his head and spotted me down the hall. I gave him a wave, preparing to get back to Crystal’s. I didn’t like being in the clubhouse anymore.
“Hey, Will, wait a second,” Viper called out, walking over to me.
“What’s up?”
“Are you alright?” he asked.
I gulped. I didn’t know where this was headed. “Y-yeah. I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
Viper tilted his head and pursed his lips like he didn’t believe me. “Will, we’ve known each other for some time now. You’ve been off for the past few weeks.”
I considered completely lying, but I felt it would be pointless. He was right. In the past two years, I had grown close to Cara and Sara as well as their Ol’ Men. So, instead, I gave a vague yet truthful answer.
“I’m just going through some things in my personal life, but nothing I can’t handle.”
Viper nodded with a small smile. “Well, you know, if you ever need to talk, my door and Cara’s door are always open. You're not just our employee. You’re family, Will.”
I looked away, feeling overly emotional. This club had been better to me than some of my own blood and family. I felt immediate acceptance here. It was one of the reasons I wasn’t letting my breakup with Tech drive me away from this place.
“Thanks, Viper.”
“No problem.” He patted me on the shoulder before returning to his office.
I stood there for a moment and then made my way back up the hall to leave. As soon as I turned the corner, Tech’s bedroom door opened. I sighed, thinking he probably had been watching me on the cameras and was just waiting for a moment to corner me.
My thought was immediately debunked when a pretty woman with ginger hair stepped out of his room. She faced the doorway, where I could partially see Tech’s body. She placed her hand on his chest, pressing her body against his.
“I had a great time last night, Tech.”
Tech laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “Y-yeah,” he mumbled. As if he could feel me, he turned his head my way. His eyes widened to the size of saucers.
My vision blurred with tears. I thought Tech had already broken my heart, but I was sadly mistaken. I wouldn’t wish this feeling on my worst enemy. I had to get away from him. I briskly walked past the two without giving either of them eye contact.
“Who was that?” I heard the woman ask as I walked out the side door. I didn’t wait to hear his response.
I hadn’t even made it twenty feet before I felt my phone buzz. Pulling it out, I saw the text from Tech.
Tech: Dimples, please let me explain. It's not what you think.
The tears I had been holding back dropped one after another. I couldn’t stop them. As I stood there staring at my phone, everything hit me like a Mack truck. It was really over. There was no coming back from this.
I knew I left him two weeks ago, but there was a tiny part of me that hoped he would grow a pair of balls and tell his brothers and profess his love to me. But after he basically did to me what Jeff had done, I could never look at him the same.
I did the only thing I could do. I went to his contact in my phone and blocked his number. He would never get a chance to make a fool out of me again. We were really over.