Chapter 20 Mackenzie
MACKENZIE
The grocery store is the last place I expected to see Gia, but here we are.
We’ve been on lockdown for a week, and Chance isn’t playing around with our safety.
He’s even moved Freya into the clubhouse, since she’s been seen around with me.
Tegan is safe, since we mostly hang out at school, and we haven’t been out since that one night at the cocktail bar.
Gia comes right up to me, with that smug smirk on her face, taking in the huge number of items in my cart.
“Well, I’m sure the men are appreciating your cooking over me fucking them every night,” she says in a sarcastic tone.
“You know the last time I sucked Chance’s dick was the night Cash got in trouble at school.
I was in his bed that morning, too. And so was Sassy.
We both fucked him all night long. Are you going to give him that when he gets bored with just being with you?
I was the one who left those marks on his neck. Did he tell you that?”
I keep my face neutral, but inside I’m fucking pissed. Chance told me that he hadn’t touched another woman since he saw me at the school, and now she’s saying she gave him head that night. “Are we still talking about this, Gia? Still haven’t moved on, I see. Now, if you don’t mind…”
I try to move my cart past her, but she blocks me. “Oh, I’m over it. I’ve found hotter, badder bikers than the Royal Bastards.” She lowers her tone as she walks past me. “Count your days, bitch.”
She storms off, just as Lust comes over to me with his hands full of chocolate. “Are you baking a cake tonight? Is that why you need all of this? Or are you going to lick it off Chance, because—”
I grip the edge of his cut and pull it, lowering his head to me. “Gia is here. And she hinted that she’s moved on to a better MC. She also told me to count my days.”
“Fuck,” he grits out, putting the chocolate in the cart and pulling his phone out. “Chance is going to kill me. I only left you alone for a fucking minute!”
“Chance isn’t going to kill you,” I mutter, sighing. But I might kill him after what I just heard. “Let’s just pay for the food and get out of here.”
He nods, eyes on his phone. “Chance is sending a few extra brothers just in case.”
“Do you think she’s now with the Bloody Scorpions?” I whisper, shaking my head. “Not a loyal bone in her fucking body.”
“Hell hath no fury…” he grumbles, taking the cart from me and pushing it to the checkout.
He does all the work, pays for the food, and then leads me outside.
Gunner, Dax, and Custom come over to us, surrounding me.
They load the food in the car, say something quietly to Lust, and then tell me to get in.
The drive back to the clubhouse is filled with tension. They’re probably worried about Gia giving away all of their secrets, while I’m replaying Gia’s mouth on my man’s dick.
He lied to me.
Why didn’t he just tell me the whole truth, not what he thought I’d want to hear?
We weren’t together then, so I can’t be angry that she had her mouth on him, and I knew how we were both fighting our connection at that stage.
Hell, he came to the high school and was a total dick, but I think I liked the fact that he said he hadn’t touched another woman since then.
It made me feel like I was special to him.
To know that that’s not exactly true and that Gia was in his bed that very morning, and not just Gia but Sassy, too, fucking hurts.
Because she’s right, I can’t and would never give him that.
He made me look stupid in front of her, and I can’t stand that. Jesse made me look stupid, too.
Lust stares at me out of the corner of his eye. I notice that his knuckles are white as he grips the steering wheel. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lie, looking out the window.
“What did she say to you?” he asks.
“Nothing, just the usual shit,” I say, digging my fingernails into my palms.
“Don’t listen to anything she says, she’s a traitorous little bitch,” he seethes, and I nod, but her words have reached their mark.
Taking a deep breath, I try to remind myself that Chance has been nothing but good to me. He hasn’t even looked at another woman in my presence, and the last few weeks with him, I’ve been the happiest I’ve ever been.
Still, I’m not going to let him get away with lying to me, even if to him it’s a small omission. I’m pissed, and he’s going to have some explaining to do.
When we get to the clubhouse, the men carry the bags inside and unload them for me, while I head to Chance’s room. Cash has gone to the beach for a swim, but I promised him that tonight I’d make him dinner and then take him out for a movie.
I’m about to open the door to the room and let him have it when I hear a voice. “Gunner said that the president always tests out the new girls.”
My chest tightens, and a sickening feeling twists in my stomach.
“Yes, that’s right. I always get to fuck the club girls first,” Chance replies in a low tone. “Perks of being the president.”
“Well,” the woman purrs. “I think I’m going to like it here very much.”
No.
This is a nightmare.
No fucking way would he be doing this to me.
Pushing the door open, I stand and feel the exact moment that my heart breaks. Chance is lying back on his bed, shirtless, as a beautiful redheaded woman unbuttons his jeans. She’s wearing nothing but a pair of red lace panties.
His eyes lift and lock with mine, and I see no emotion in them.
They are dead, lifeless.
Part of me wants to storm inside, scream, and lash out, but I listen to the other part of me. I close the door and walk down the stairs with my head held high. I need to make it out of here, then I can go home and cry.
For once, no one is around, and I’m able to get to my car without seeing anyone. At least so I thought. I’m about to open the door when Cash jogs over to me, still in his sandy board shorts from the beach. “Hey, where are you going? I thought we were—”
He sees my face and brings his arms to my shoulders. “Kenzie, what happened? Are you okay? Let me call Dad. He—”
“No,” I snap, shaking my head. “I need to get out of here now. I’m sorry, Cash. I don’t want to see anyone, please.”
He looks right at me, and he probably sees just how close I am to breaking.
With trembling fingers, I go to open my door again, but Cash stops me. “Get in the passenger side, I’m driving you home.”
“No.”
“Now, Kenzie. Or you aren’t leaving, and I’m calling Dad.”
Yeah, no fucking thank you.
I get into the passenger side, he takes the keys from my hand, and starts the car. We drive in silence for a few minutes while I try not to cry in front of him.
“Do you even have a driver’s license?” I ask.
He winces. “Technically, no, but I’m a good driver. I’d never put you in danger.”
How did this amazing child come from Chance?
“Can I ask you something?”
He’s silent for a moment. “Sure.”
“Does the president try out all the new club girls first? Is that a thing here?”
From the way his face drops, I know the answer. “Yeah, that is how they do it here. But that’s when Dad was single. There’s no fucking way—”
“I’m never going back there,” I whisper, the first tear falling.
The others are close behind.
I knew… I knew he would break my heart.
Why didn’t he just stay away from me? Why did he have to fight for me? Why did he have to show me a taste of what my life could have been like with him?
We pull into my driveway, and Cash punches the steering wheel. “I fucking told him.” He turns to me and forces a sad smile. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”
When I don’t move from the car, he gets out, comes around to my door, and lifts me into his arms. “It’s going to be okay.”
He unlocks my door. It takes a few tries, but he gets there and then carries me to the couch. After locking the door behind us, he heads into the kitchen and comes back with a glass of wine.
God bless him.
He sits next to me and stares at his phone as it rings. He declines the call and glances around my living room. “You have a spare room here, right?”
I nod, drinking half the glass in one go. He eyes me closely and then nods, as if coming to a decision. “Well, I hope you don’t mind a roommate because I’m staying here tonight.”
“Cash,” I whisper, reaching out and touching his cheek. “Thank you for taking care of me, but you need to go home. We can still hang out. Let’s just reschedule tonight’s plans.”
His phone rings again, and this time he answers it. “What?” he barks. I’ve never heard him use that tone before. Ever.
“I’m at Kenzie’s. I’m staying here tonight.”
He rolls his eyes. “No, fuck you. I’m staying here, and you can’t make me leave.” He pauses. “I don’t care. I warned you not to hurt her. I even trusted you. I’ve never been so fucking ashamed to be your son in my entire life.”
He hangs up and throws his phone against the wall.
And when I start ugly crying, he wraps me in his arms and holds me.
It doesn’t keep me from falling apart.
But it means the world to me.