Page 3 of A Wrench in the Plan
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“No, I get it,” I told him, trying my hardest to shake it off.
No, I hadn’t liked being put on lockdown and guarded like I was a threat to the club. I knew I wasn’t. And deep down, I think LT knew it too. Trusting in LT was what made it bearable. He was a fair man, and I knew he wouldn’t jump to conclusions. He wouldn’t have hurt me unless he had a real reason to. That wasn’t to say that I hadn’t been scared shitless. Yeah, I didn’t set the fire, but there was zero proof that it wasn’t me. If someone set me up… well, there was no telling who would believe that.
It turned out that Sparrow had flushed out the mole. Before LT released me, he filled me in a little. The prospect plant had gone after her. She’d apparently put up one hell of a fight, and though she’d didn’t walk away unscathed, she did leave the guy unconscious in the end.
“How’s Row?” I asked.
His eyes went sad, then angry, making me regret asking.
“She’s alright, I guess. Trav is looking out for her,” he told me.
“Good,” I said awkwardly. The whole Sidekick and Sparrow thing was a subject we didn’t talk about much. I didn’t think Chry was mad about it, but there was still a whole weird level when your best friend wanted to sleep with your sister. “I’m glad she’s not alone.”
“Yeah.” He paused and I could see the shutters going down in his eyes. “I just need to put all this to the side for a few hours.”
That sounded good to me, so I gave him a small, understanding nod.
“Can we just… go to my room?” he asked with a look of hesitance. A look I couldn’t read beyond that. Did he think I’d rather be alone? Or was there more going on in his head that I couldn’t pick up on?
“I’m pretty worn out, so definitely.” I tried for another smile, but this time it felt pretty damn weak. That hadn’t been a lie, I was mentally exhausted.
Slipping his hand into mine, we weaved our way out of the clubhouse and up the outside stairs to the second floor where his room was. He didn’t let go of my hand as he pushed the door open. In a quick blink, I was pulled into the room and then tossed onto the bed. A laugh fell from my mouth as I bounced on the mattress. It felt good. I hadn’t laughed in a while.
Then… it was like everything was back to normal. Well, mostly. Chry had this cloudiness in his eyes as his body covered mine. It was deep, like he was trying to hide it, but I could see that he wasn’t completely here with me. But instead of doing the right thing and asking him about it, I let him kiss me. I let our lips fuse together in a way that only felt natural at this point. Felt right.
“I haven’t seen you in a week,” he said as his lips made a trail down my neck. His hand firmly held my jaw, as if he had to make sure I was real and there. “It fuckin’ sucked.”
A chuckle fell from my mouth.
“I know,” I told him. Itdidsuck. “It’s over now.”
But… was it?
I hadn’t been told much of anything. Only that they had caught the guy that started the fire. I just went along with it, too excited that I was free.
Though, in truth, it hadn’t been that bad. I had a whole apartment to myself. A nice TV, with more streaming services than I thought one person would need. The officers made sure I had food. I had a bathroom all to myself. And a bed, though that had gotten lonely real quick. LT had hung out with me a few times, but the talking had been kept to mostly shallow stuff. I didn’t ask about the fire, and he didn’t offer up any information. Him just being there did help me to feel a little more like he was protecting me, and a little less like he thought I’d done it. So I took those sporadic hours of Prez sitting with me, drinking a beer and watching whatever the hell show I was binging on at the time. Or if I was studying, he’d ask me about my classes and how college was going. I was thankful when he’d offered to grab my stuff for me, and even more grateful that when I reached out to my professors with a lie that I had to take care of a sick family member, they’d let me do most of the work online.
It hadn’t been a week of fun times like I was on vacation, that was for sure. If anything, it gave me a lot of time to think, and I finally came to the conclusion that college wasn’t for me.
I’d started college late for a few reasons. One, I didn’t have the funds— not that I had that now, either. Two, I didn’t have a place I wanted to put down roots, even if they were temporary. Three, I wasn’t sure what the hell I wanted to do with my life. And now, I wasn’t even sure why the hell I was going.
There was something out there for me, I just hadn’t figured out what it was yet. The idea of working in a bar for the rest of my life wasn’t all that unappealing, not that I even had that now with the fire and all.
So had I been wasting my time the last few years? And more importantly, money? ’Cause that shit wasn’t cheap. Then I thought about how if I hadn’t given college a try, I never would have met Cat. I wouldn’t have the most amazing friend anyone would have been lucky to have. And if I didn’t meet her, she never would have introduced me to Chry and opened the door to the club. Maybe it hadn’t been all for nothing, but that was a huge chunk of change to pay for all of that. Had I really had to go into debt to find my place? I suppose if you think about it, that was what college was, except that most people walked away with a degree and a chance to get a decent-paying job.
“Hey,” Chry said softly. “You with me?”
“Yeah,” I told him, sending him a smile. “Why don’t you tell me all the ways you’ve missed me?”
My smile turned more seductive. His eyes locked onto my mouth, and then he was crawling up my body to bite my bottom lip. My hand slipped under his shirt, nails digging into his skin.
“I don’t hear words,” I teased.
“I missed this,” he said, grinding his hips against mine. His cock was hard as steel, matching my own. I jerked up into him, a moan slipping out as our cocks brushed together. “Fuck, I need you naked.”
It was all a blur as we ripped each other’s clothes off. But with as frenzied as we were to shed them, Chry didn’t seem to be in such a rush as he kissed every inch of my skin. My hands were in his hair, eyes locked on his every move. We didn’t do tender often, but I craved it so fucking bad when we did.
