Chapter 10 #2
I hesitate, then decide she deserves to know a piece of me too.
“My family… they’ve got money. Old money.
Big house, board seats, the whole thing.
Jacob Wellington the Third. That’s me on paper.
” I let out a rough laugh. “Doesn’t fit me though, does it?
They never really knew what to do with me.
I was too loud, too rough around the edges.
When I found the club, when Cole brought me home the first time, it was the first place that felt like I belonged.
The club became my real family. They showed up with soup when I was sick.
They ride beside me when shit gets ugly.
Blood doesn’t always mean family. Sometimes it’s the people who choose you. ”
She listens quietly, her hand resting on my chest.
“I get it,” I say softer. “The pressure. The feeling like you’re disappointing everyone just by being who you are. But you’re not disappointing me, Buttercup. Not even a little.”
I kiss her forehead, then her temple, then her mouth again. She melts into it. Her hands slide up to my shoulders. I can feel how small she is against me. How careful she is with every movement. It makes me want to be careful with her too.
At some point she pulls back just enough to look at me. Her lips are red. Her hair is messy from my hands. “I don’t want to go home yet,” she says.
I nod. “We don’t have to. We can stay here as long as you want.”
She smiles. It’s small and tired but real. “Thank you.”
I kiss her again because I can’t help it.
This one is softer. I put everything I’m feeling into it.
The protectiveness. The want. The way she’s already under my skin in a way no one else has ever been.
When we finally separate again, the windows are so fogged I can barely see outside.
I reach over and crack mine a little. Cold air slips in. It feels good against my face.
Lucy leans her head on my shoulder. I wrap my arm around her and hold her there. We don’t talk for a while. I just listen to her breathe and feel the weight of her against me.
We talk for a while after that. Not about her dad.
About small things. Her shift. A patient who brought her a drawing of a dinosaur in scrubs.
The way Sophie keeps teasing her about me.
I tell her about the club meeting this morning and how Rook almost got into it with a prospect over something stupid.
She laughs at the right parts. Her body relaxes against mine.
When it gets later I know I have to take her back. She has to get home before her dad starts asking questions.
I drive her to where her car is parked near the clinic. I pull up behind it and put the truck in park. The windows have mostly cleared by now.
She turns to me. “Thank you. For tonight. For not pushing.”
I reach over and tuck her hair behind her ear. “You don’t have to thank me for that.”
She leans in and kisses me one more time. It’s soft and lingering. When she pulls back she rests her forehead against mine again.
“We’ll figure this out,” I say. “Your dad. The sneaking around. All of it. I’m not going anywhere.”
She nods. “I know.”
She gets out of the truck and walks to her car. I watch her the whole way. She looks back once before she gets in. I lift my hand. She smiles and gets behind the wheel.
I stay parked until her taillights disappear down the street.
Then I sit there with the engine running and my hands on the steering wheel. My chest feels full. My body still feels warm from where she was pressed against me. I can still taste her on my tongue.
I don’t know what this is yet. I don’t have a name for the way she makes me feel. But I know I’ve never felt it before. And I know I’m not letting it go.
I put the truck in drive and head home. The whole way there I keep thinking about the way she looked when she said she didn’t regret standing up to her dad. The way she kissed me like she was choosing me even when everything else in her life was telling her not to.
I’m going to be careful with her. I’m going to give her the space she needs to figure out who she is outside that house.
But I’m also going to be here. Every time she needs to get away.
Every time she wants to talk. Every time she just wants to sit in a foggy truck and kiss until the world feels smaller and quieter.
She’s already becoming the best part of my day. And I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep being the person she can lean on. When I get home I sit in the truck for a minute before I go inside. I pull out my phone and send her one last text.
Me: Are you home safe?
She answers almost right away.
Buttercup: Just pulled in. Thank you again for everything.
Me: Always. Get some sleep, sweetheart.
Buttercup: You too. Goodnight, Tiny.
Me: Goodnight, Lucy.
I lock the phone and head inside. The house feels quieter than usual. I go to my room and change into sweats. I lie on the bed and stare at the ceiling.
My mind keeps replaying the night. Her voice. Her hands. The way she fit against me. The way she chose to tell her dad the truth even when it was hard.
I don’t know where this is going. I don’t know how we’re going to handle her dad or the sneaking around or any of the other complications. But I know one thing for sure.
I’m not walking away from her. Not now. Not ever.
I closed my eyes and let myself remember the way she sighed when I kissed her neck. The way her skin felt under my fingers. The way she looked at me like I was someone worth fighting for.