Chapter 20
AXEL
Wren’s scans all come back clean, but it was recommended to her to get an STD test, just to be safe.
They came back clear, too, but she was told to come back in a few weeks to check again to be sure.
The clinic asked if we wanted to notify the police, we declined, and they didn’t push the issue. Thankfully, we know most of the staff.
Now, we’re back at the clubhouse and in my suite. She wasn’t feeling up to being around everyone, so we came back here for some quiet time. We put on a movie an hour ago, but we haven’t really watched it. I have too many things on my mind, just like she does.
“I’m sorry for what Luke said last night,” I tell her.
“But I want you to know that no one thinks that of you. Especially not me. I don’t even think that Luke meant those things.
I think he was just drunk and jealous. I threatened him after he said it and he knows that saying something like that will never fly again. ”
She doesn’t look at me when she replies, she just stares blankly at the television. “He voiced my worst fears. That I’m not relationship material,” she admits softly. “It’s like he reached inside my mind and pulled out my darkest thoughts.”
“Why do you think that way about yourself?” I ask, needing to know how she thinks.
She slowly turns to face me, and I watch as tears track down her cheeks.
“Because that’s what every man has made me feel since I’ve been an adult.
I’ve always been good enough to fuck. Good enough to have fun with.
I’m not good enough to take home to their parents or good enough to show off to their friends.
Not good enough to make their girlfriend, or God forbid, their wife,” she says as she laughs bitterly.
“My whole entire life I’ve never been good enough. ”
“Do you honestly believe that?” I ask as tears blur my vision.
“Wren, you are one of the best people that I know. You’re kind and caring.
You’re funny and smart. You are beautiful and sexy.
The men who failed you in the past didn’t do it because of anything you did or who you are.
They failed you because they didn’t deserve you.
They made you feel that way so they could feel better about themselves.
It has everything to do with them and nothing to do with you,” I tell her as I reach out and swipe away the tears on her cheeks.
Her lower lip trembles as I continue. “You know that first night we were together? I had planned to make you mine the next morning. It killed me that you left in the night. I wanted to finally end that push and pull that was between us. I was ready to admit I had been an asshole for not recognizing what we had earlier but then I woke up and you were gone.”
“I’m sorry, Ax,” she cries. “I regretted it instantly, but I didn’t know how you were going to react to us having sex.”
“Baby,” I murmur as I slip closer to her and wrap my arms around her.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. We were both scared of what would happen, and we chose different paths to deal with it.
We still ended up right here, together. That’s what really matters.
I jumped at the chance to fake date you because I knew that it would give us a chance.
If you thought that I was going to let you go at our end date, you were wrong. I’m never letting you go.”
“Not even after what Dylan did to me?” She chokes out.
“No one could ever change how I feel about you,” I rasp.
“But what if I never feel comfortable enough to be sexual again?”
“I would go the rest of my life never having sex again if it meant that I got to spend every day with you.”
She cries out and throws herself into my arms. I pull her into my lap, and she rests her head in the crook of my neck. I hold her while she cries and my heart breaks for her.
I can’t believe that Wren thought so poorly of herself all this time. I can’t believe that stupid men led her to that thought. Now I know that I have to spend the rest of our lives making her know her worth.
I hold Wren until her sobs subside and she relaxes in my arms. “Where do we go from here?” She asks as she scoots back to look at me.
I sigh. “We keep doing what we’ve been doing.
Only as a couple. We don’t hide our feelings from each other.
We’re open and honest with ourselves. We find you someone to talk to and hopefully help you through what happened, and you keep living and fighting in spite of it. We’ve got a bright future ahead of us.”
She snorts and a small smile forms across her lips, making my heart clench. “You sound pretty sure of yourself.”
“I’ve never been surer,” I murmur before leaning forward and planting a soft kiss on her lips.
I sit there and watch her. She’s smiling even after everything she’s been through. This is the Wren that those men never saw. She’s fierce and resilient. She’s everything a biker could want in his old lady. That’s when it hits me. Wren should be my old lady.
That title doesn’t just get handed out to any woman you date or even marry. It’s reserved for the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with. The woman you can’t imagine your life without. That’s Wren for me.
I gently lift her off my lap and place her on the couch before I kneel on the floor in front of her. She looks at me with wide, curious eyes.
“Wren Dixon, would you do me the honor of,” I smile when her eyes bug out, thinking I’m about to ask her to marry me. “Being my old lady?”
Her jaw slackens as she watches me with wide eyes. “Are you serious?”
I nod my head. “Yes.”
Tears glisten in her brown eyes once more as she nods her head eagerly. “I’ll be your old lady.”
I stand up and sweep her into my arms, cradling her to my chest. I spin us around as she laughs and everything else is forgotten in that moment, because everything wrong that has happened in our lives led us to this moment.
When I stop spinning us, I drag her behind me as we rush downstairs. Wren’s giggles fill the clubhouse as we make our way to the main room where everyone is hanging out.
I stop in the center of the room and pull her back into my chest with her facing the room. “Hey everyone!” I call out, getting their attention. “Wren Dixon is officially off limits!”
Atlas smirks and shakes his head. “It’s about time you made her your old lady!”
I look around the room and soak in the excitement from my brothers and Chef, who came out of the kitchen to see what the commotion was.
I know I’ll have to let Grayson and Rowan know, but this is good for Wren to see.
She can see how happy the guys are for us, and that what Luke said was total bullshit.
I press a kiss to Wren’s temple and look back up, my eyes locking on Patience, who does not look happy right now.
That’s something else I need to talk to Gray and Ro about.
I don’t think she’s going to be a good fit for our club.
I think it’s time for her to move on. She’s not going to ruin tonight, though.
I turn us away from her and lead Wren to the bar, by the rest of my brothers. Luke smiles awkwardly at us before walking away. I know we’re going to have to have another talk about what he said, because I feel like there’s something deeper going on.