When You Stayed (Generations of Rose Ridge #1)

Prologue

Connor

If I weren’t marching toward the end of something I’d wanted my entire life, I might actually enjoy this little walk.

I might even take a second to tip my head and bask in the beauty of the stars, and how this really was the perfect place to pop the biggest question I’d ever ask anyone.

Ironically, if I had a choice in any of this, it would have been right here that I laid down the blanket, propped the pillows, and made sure her favorite song was playing.

I’d been in love with Royce Quinn as long as I could remember. She was supposed to be who I ended up with, so asking her to marry me shouldn’t be a big deal. But every time I pictured it, my stomach tensed, and I had the strangest urge to throw up.

I wasn’t ready, and I knew she sure as hell wasn’t. Which was exactly what I told her father when he’d approached me three days ago with a velvet box and a ring.

I’m counting on you, Connor. She needs to get out of Rose Ridge, and the only way she’ll go is if you put a ring on her finger and explain how serious you are. Don’t give her the option to do long distance. She needs to move with you.

We were all leaving. Or trying to.

Silas and Natty had fled to Italy, taking Rook and Ryle with them.

My best friend Ford was headed to some fancy school to become a mechanical engineer, and his little sister Ellie was going to an art school for dance.

My sister was on her way to an academy up north, which meant the only two kids left were the Quinn sisters.

Royce and Taryn.

Killian was the president of the Stone Riders, the motorcycle club that our lives all revolved around.

He couldn’t leave, and I assumed his heart would just stop beating if his wife, Laura, took his daughters and left him behind, so this was his big plan.

At least for his eldest daughter, who had recently graduated from high school and had no plans at all to leave town.

None of this was mine to fix, and yet I was walking toward the abandoned cabin as slowly as if I were headed to my final meal on death row. Not only had Royce and I been arguing more than we ever had in the past, but I found out something rather major I had yet to share with anyone.

Not even my parents.

It was the sort of life-altering information that had me changing my plans from attending college to packing a bag tonight and leaving while everyone was asleep.

Beyond any of that, I knew Royce well enough to know she’d turn me down. Royce had her own dreams, and while she loved me, I would never compare to them. I’d hung around for a year past graduation to appease my family and to see Royce graduate, but it was my turn to leave.

It was my chance to figure out which pieces of the past fit into my future.

The light from inside the small, one-bedroom cabin came into view, making my heart race.

The tiny structure sat on over ten acres of land, sandwiched between the massive motorcycle club that was well over four thousand square feet, and on the opposite end of the property was Royce’s two-story house.

Originally it was divided into two separate properties, but the club had purchased the house years ago, which was where Killian had raised his kids.

The entire acreage was protected with fences, security cameras, and guards.

Royce was already waiting inside, which I knew was going to piss her off.

Royce hated this cabin. I wasn’t sure if it was because of what happened when we were kids, or if it was something else, but she hadn’t set foot inside it after that Christmas we were attacked.

The same holiday that seemed to shape this very moment.

We were warned years ago that the man responsible for the attack would return.

That he was coming for the club, and for anyone still loyal to the Stone Riders.

It was why our parents were so desperate to get us out of here.

It all happened nine years ago, when I was ten, and now it seemed like an invisible clock seemed to hang over our heads for when he’d be back.

Max was his name. He was my friend Rook and Ryle’s uncle apparently. He was also a crazed man with a vendetta against the original leader of the club, Simon Stone. It extended to Simon’s offspring, and whoever was still a part of the club whenever Max decided to enact his revenge.

My unwavering loyalty seemed to tighten around my chest like a cable wire as I drew closer. I would do this because Killian asked me to. I would do this because I’d do anything to keep Royce safe, even if it meant sacrificing our futures.

With a deep breath, I pushed the door open and found Royce sitting at the small table, her arms crossed and an angry scowl on her pretty face.

“Connor King, you better tell me what the hell I’m doing here right now!”

I was going to miss her. Many people underestimated Royce because she walked around with her head in a cloud and wore pink to every single event in her life, even funerals.

What they didn’t see was her quiet resilience, or her ability to adapt to things out of her control.

My heart warmed as I watched her anger flush against her chest, and it took me back to when I’d realized how badly I wanted to marry her.

“Sorry, Roy.”

She scowled, and I felt bad because she’d asked me to stop calling her that, but old habits were hard to stop. “Sorry.”

With a shake of her golden hair, she shot to her feet. “I want to know why you texted me to meet you here. If you’re breaking up with me, you could have just texted that like a normal person.”

I stepped closer. “I’m not breaking up with you.”

Her blue eyes were dim under the single light fixture over the table, but they were frenzied too.

Words seemed to die on my tongue. If I opened my mouth, I’d explain all of it to her, and she’d hate her father, and Royce loved her dad. She thought he hung the damn sky, moon and stars…all of it. There was no way I could turn her against her favorite person.

“I have a question for you.” I smiled. It was wobbly, but I tried to fix it before she caught on.

Her gaze snapped to how I began lowering to one knee. Those eyes I fell in love with at the ripe age of five blew wide and her nose flared.

“Connor.”

It was a warning I couldn’t heed. This would break us once and for all.

She’d be lost to me, but I was going to lose her regardless once she realized I wasn’t headed to college.

I deceived her, and I didn’t have any plans to explain myself…

not now at least. Maybe in a few years, once I figured a few things out.

I knew it even as I gave her the best smile I could and held out the velvet box.

“Royce Hannah Quinn, will you do me the great honor of—”

Royce flew to her knees in front of me and shut the box, with a tear sliding down her face. “What are you doing, Connor?”

I couldn’t seem to swallow as I saw the same fear in her eyes that mirrored what was in mine.

“Trying to propose.”

She searched my face; her hand still wrapped around the box that was clasped in mine.

“You can’t.”

I whispered between us, “I have to, Royce.”

Her golden brows furrowed. “Why…I don’t understand.”

This wasn’t worth my energy to go in circles. Royce would figure it out eventually, and I was leaving. Not in two months, like I had told everyone. I was leaving tonight, and I wouldn’t be looking back. Even if Royce said yes, she’d be packing her bags and coming with me.

“Your dad…he wants you to be safe. It’s been nine years since Max made his threat…he’s scared if you stay behind, you’ll get hurt.”

She clamored to her feet, panic stamped across her features. “But I already told him I want to intern at the Hollow. He said he was fine with it.”

I shook my head because she’d figure out the rest of it.

“He…” she trailed off, still pacing.

“He loves you, Royce.”

Her sharp gaze sliced back to me, and I realized I should probably stand up.

“You knew I’d say no, Connor. I just graduated two months ago. You took a year. I haven’t even had that.”

I ducked my head, nodding.

“And where would we live, in your dorm room?”

I had to lie because I wouldn’t tell her where I was really headed or that if she had said yes, she might be in even more danger than she would be here. “I’m assuming your dad would make arrangements for us.”

“So, you would get to chase your dream while going to school, but my dad wanted me to be your wife, at home all day and allow my own hopes to wilt away?”

She was angry, and I didn’t blame her. I was hurt, but I was also loyal.

Too fucking loyal.

“Connor, we’ve been struggling for months…we both knew we were likely about to break up.”

That was also true. I wanted to poke around my past, and I had no intentions of including her. Or anyone, for that matter. It had created a divide between us.

“I’m trying to protect you, Royce. Even if we weren’t together, you know I’d always want you safe. No matter what. You’re my family.”

She seemed to soften with that, and with a heavy sigh she walked into my arms where I hugged her close.

She smelled like roses and some kind of fruit—it was divine, and distinctly her.

Always had been, but I was curious now if there was any other smell that I might enjoy more.

Maybe someone else out there might fit me more perfectly.

There was nothing wrong with Royce, but she had felt more like a friend than my girlfriend this past year.

“I love that you asked, it’s sweet of you. You’re so loyal and I’m going to miss that.” She sniffed, then pulled back. “I wish you all the best with college, and everything you’re looking for.” She finished by pressing a kiss to my cheek.

I wasn’t sure what to say, but her hand stroking the side of my face got my attention.

“You walked here, right?”

I nodded right as she got a familiar determined look on her face…it was the one that meant she was about to do something reckless.

“Don’t, Royce…You—” she ran past me and slipped outside.

I darted after her, but she was already inside of her Jeep, tearing away from the cabin and driving toward the clubhouse.

“Royce!”

She drove past me without so much as looking back. I was going to get my ass chewed for messing this up, but what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t force her.

As I was about to break into a run to chase her, I realized this wasn’t my problem anymore.

I had done what Killian asked of me, and it didn’t work. This was his burden now.

My best friend arrived at my door nearly an hour later.

I immediately asked, “How bad was it?”

Ford stepped inside my room and let out a sigh. He looked a lot like his dad, with the same chestnut-colored hair, similar hazel eyes, and fair skin that still looked red from our lake day. Poor fucker took way too long to tan.

“Killian was pissed. Royce threw a tantrum.”

I grabbed my duffel bag and plopped it on the edge of my bed, packing it. “I did my best.”

“Did you have to tell her it was her dad’s idea?”

I shrugged. “You know Royce. She knew me asking wasn’t normal.”

Ford’s brows caved as he picked up a framed picture out of the brown box on the desk. “How so? You two were going to get married at some point, why wouldn’t she think you’d ask before you headed off to college?”

Had he really not picked up on all our arguments, or how Royce hadn’t been around nearly as much this summer?

“We were likely going to break up right before I left. There hasn’t been much to talk about lately. We’re growing apart. She also hates that cabin and knew I’d never propose there.”

His gaze flicked over to me before settling on a different picture inside the box. “Why not tell Killian that?”

“I don’t know, I was already in shock that he demanded that I ask her to marry me to begin with.”

Ford let out a small laugh. “Still shocked you managed to keep it from your parents. I bet they would have gone toe-to-toe with him about it.”

“Dad falls in line pretty quick because of the club order.”

“Not your mom, though.” Ford laughed again while pulling out a pink sweater.

I gestured toward it. “Can you take that box back to Royce for me?”

His shocked expression dug a little too deep into my sternum.

Royce and I were supposed to be end game material.

We had talked about our future all four years of high school.

For years we were inseparable, annoyingly so.

We took each other’s firsts and always vowed to be together for all our lasts.

I was madly in love with her, to the point that I nearly lost my friendship with Ford.

He was sick of it at one point, got tired of me choosing her to hang out with over him…

so yeah, this news was probably surprising to him.

“You’re serious, then. You two are finished?”

I turned away and continued pulling items out of my dresser. “What was the final decision Killian made regarding her choice to stay behind?”

Ford let one of the framed photos clink against another in the box. “She has to agree to live under his roof, have escorts from the club everywhere she goes. She won’t have any freedom from the club, she’ll be watched and guarded at all times, and she can’t date anyone from the club.”

Guilt pricked at my chest. “I can’t even process the idea of her dating someone else, much less a member.”

“Knowing you two, you’ll be back together before you leave for college, so you won’t have to worry about her falling for some Stone Rider.”

More guilt seemed to assault me as I watched my friend from across the room. He had no idea that I’d be gone tomorrow morning and where I was headed, he couldn’t follow.

“I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to happen after this for us. Just take the box to her for me. I need to close this chapter once and for all.”

Ford hesitated before clearing his throat, staring at the box. He seemed like he wanted to say something.

“You okay?”

He blinked, and whatever was there instantly left. “Consider it done.”