Page 22 of Heir

And I really hated crying. I hated showing any strong emotions, mostly because I didn’t know how. I mostly just shut off when that happened, and the last thing I needed was to shut off from Blue.

“Won’t that cramp your style?” I asked with a teary laugh.

He blew out raspberries with his lips. “What style?”

When I looked up at him, his tongue was out, and he was cross-eyed. I burst out laughing, and he pulled me into his arms.

“It’s always been me and you against the world, yeah?”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”

On my worst days, it was Blue who was always there for me. The boy who sneaked food into my room when Mom decided I had gained five pounds too many and sent me to my room without dinner. The boy who stood up for me against the school bullies because they thought I was weird.

Everything was just better with him around.

He stood up. “Come on, baby girl. Let’s bring you back to my place. You have your stuff in your car, right?”

I nodded. I might have to risk going back to my apartment for some of the stuff I had forgotten in my haste to pack up and leave for somewhere Mom wouldn’t know.

I had gotten most of the important stuff, and my essential things were in a small storage unit I’d rented out on the edge of the city, so I wasn’t too worried.

Everything was going to be fine. It had to be.

“You follow my bike back, okay?” Blue said.

I nodded and walked with him out of the bar. I hadn’t seen Blue’s current apartment. His mom had retired to Florida several years ago, and growing up, it had been just him, his mom, and his sister.

His sister, Alina, died from Hodgkin’s lymphoma when she was nineteen, so now it was only him in California.

Blue had restless legs.

He moved around a lot, and he had only been at this place for two weeks.

I didn’t even know he had moved until he called and told me he was settled in, and I didn’t exactly know why he moved so much, usually at a moment’s notice.

I knew Blue was a part of the King’s Men MC, though I didn’t know what he did for the club. I didn’t ask, and he didn’t bother to tell me.

I didn’t care.

We arrived back at the apartment quickly, and I looked around the small, clean two-bedroom apartment in the middle of the city.

It was sparsely furnished with only the necessary items, like the huge gray couch pushed up against the wall, facing a huge flatscreen TV hanging on his wall, and a small coffee table between them.

There was a small dining room table with two chairs, and that was about it.

The second bedroom had one twin bed and a dresser.

Blue looked at it, then eyed me. “I think you’ll fit just fine.”

I rolled my eyes, and he laughed. I pulled him into a tight hug and buried my face in his chest, taking in the comfort of his scent. “Thank you. It’s perfect.”

He squeezed me tightly in his arms before pulling back. “Get settled. I’ll bring the rest of your things.”

“Thank you,” I said, knowing he wouldn’t let me help him if I offered. He ruffled my hair and walked out of the room, leaving me in silence.

I let out a small sigh and sat on the bed. This would be a temporary home until I figured out my next step. Perhaps I should leave California, but I was now considered my mom’scash cow, so to speak.

She wouldn’t let me go that easily. But then what could I possibly do?

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