Page 60 of Has-Been
Seth took the bottle from me, and tucked it in his pocket.
“You’ll man the fuck up and wait until the doc looks you over. You can’t take more of these yet, dickhead.”
Micro cursed, flipping off his VP before he leaned back on the seat across from me, glaring at me for a moment before he looked away.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, because he was still scary, despite my momentary courage, and I didn’t want him pissed off with me. He shrugged, and then cursed with pain again.
“You were probably right. Jesus, I need to get to my bike. It’s probably fucked. I’m guessing you’re gonna be telling us all what the fuck happened today, VP?”
Seth groaned again, tugging me against his side, and stroking my hair.
“Wait for Reacher. I’m not sure what the fuck happened, but something went wrong.”
“Wow, thanks for that, I had no idea something ‘went wrong’. Jeez. Colour me fucking relieved that you’ve got this shit in hand.”
“Shut the fuck up, man. It’s not Stitch’s fault, is it?” Ryder was the grumpiest I’d ever seen him, and Tori was trying to soothe him, but he was clearly in enough pain to make him snappy and aggressive too.
I couldn’t wait for the journey to be over, so I could get out of this van filled with pissed off alpha males.
Thirty-Seven
Reachermusthavesatthere for five minutes or more, while he waited for me to fight my way back out of my head, and realise what a prick I’d made of myself. I was going to stand up and act like a man, well, as soon as my legs felt a little less like jelly.
“Fuck.”My back and ass were killing me, but the thought of going back in there to get any more help was almost as terrifying as the thoughts roiling around in my head.
“Something triggered you,” Reacher finally murmured, watching me with his chin rested on his fists.
“Yeah? No shit.”
He watched me trying to pick myself up from the ground, and eventually took pity on me, and stood up, giving me a hand up. I leaned against the wall of the building for a minute, hoping the pain in my body would ease off a bit.
“What happened, Has? I’ve never seen you like that.”
I couldn’t look my Club President in the eye right now, because that hadn’t happened since I was a teenager, way back when I used to dull the feelings with whatever the fuck I could get high on. Back when I just wanted it all to stop for good.
“Weirdest thing. I was fine until I had to drop trou, and bend over for the doc.”
Reacher cursed, moving over to stand against the wall with me.
“Elise was with you?”
I nodded, leaning my head back against the wall, and staring at the blue sky and the fluffy clouds, and wondering why the sky wasn’t as dark and angry as my mind right now.
“She has no idea, and I can’t tell her. It’s bad enough that she’s seen those fucking videos, but this too? I’m such a fucking catch, right?” I let out a bitter laugh. “No wonder Stitch wants me dead. I should have stayed away from her like he said.”
“Yeah, you probably should have. That said, we don’t exactly make the best decisions when our dicks get involved, and we make even worse ones when our hearts do. Stitch’ll understand that eventually. His sister could do far worse.”
I looked at him then, finally braving meeting those wise old eyes of his.
“You’re serious? You think I’m a good match for her? She’s younger than me, she’s smart as fuck, like she could be anything, and you think some loser biker’s old lady is the role for her? She’s gonna realise she could have done better than me, and I’ll fucking die when she leaves me. Fuck. I didn’t realise just how much I fucking love her until I said that, and suddenly I realise it’s true. I don’t exist without her. Not anymore. She brings light into my darkness, and she makes me feel things. Good things. Until today, all that shit from the past, it felt like I could just forget it and move on.”
“And now? You wanna go looking for retribution?”
Did I? I had no idea, but if I saw one of those fuckers crossing the road? I’d make sure I left nothing recognisable in the road but blood and pain.
Reacher pushed away from the wall, standing a few feet away from me.
“Promise me one thing, brother.”
