Page 22 of Torch
She glanced around her, noticing a few stray brothers of mine, eyeing her from working on their bikes, or shooting the shit around the yard. I didn’t like it one fucking bit, but she was clearly completely out of the loop here.
“You don’t get it, do you? For fuck’s sake, woman. You can’t be here, okay?”
Grace
Iknewhewasmad, but I didn’t expect him to be so unpleasant and unwelcoming, but then, had I let the thought cross my mind, I’d have talked myself out of this for the second day in a row.
“Look, Torch-”
“No, you don’t fucking get it, and how would you, right? You don’t know my world, and you don’t know what the fuck’s going on right now, but understand this. You’re not welcome here, okay? You need to leave, and never fucking return. Go. Get the hell out.”
“Torch!”We both turned around to see Lissa, and her biker man, Ice, behind us, coming out of the clubhouse that I almost saw the inside of.
“Grace! Don’t listen to him, but please come with me. I’m just heading to my office.” Lissa led me away from Torch and he was letting her, and worse than that? He called after us.
“Yeah, stay the fuck out. You don’t want a piece of rough from here,princess. You couldn’t fucking take it, you hear me? Stick to your own fucking kind.”
Oh god.By the time Lissa and Ice had reached the gates with me, I was shaking, and so close to tears, but I didn’t want to shed them in front of any of these bastards. I didn’t want to let the humiliation destroy me in view of them, or especially him.
“I’ll walk you guys in, then I’ll go talk to him,” Ice said, stopping at the door to the therapy office. “You’ll lock up after me, yeah?”
Lissa nodded, sharing a quick kiss with him before she unlocked the door and guided me inside, locking up behind us.
The tears were cascading down my cheeks now, and I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was choking on the embarrassment, and the humiliation. I felt the overwhelming panic hit me, the need to fix the source of the embarrassment, only once more I was the source of it, and I couldn’t fix me, could I?
“Sit down, here we go. Let me get some water.” Lissa finally sat beside me on the sofa, pressing a cool glass into my hand. “Sip this, Grace. Just take your time.”
My hand trembled as I lifted the glass, taking a few icy cold sips of water. I still couldn’t believe how mean and unfriendly Torch had been, and how much of a fool I felt, for seeking him out when he didn’t come looking for me. Why did I keep coming back for a man who was proving over and over that he was done with me?
“Come on, Grace, it’s just me. What happened? Did Torch or one of the other club members hurt you, or do anything untoward?”
If only Torch had done something untoward. I sighed, shaking my head.
“He was rude, and dismissive. He, well, you heard the things he was saying. I’m an idiot. I kept thinking all I had to do was see him again, and we could get back to what we almost had. Like maybe we could be together again, even just once, but he’s clearly not interested. I guess he’s one of those men who gets his and moves on, right? I’m the idiot for seeking him out, when he’s clearly already moved on.”
Lissa put her hand on my arm, offering a little warmth and comfort in my apparent time of need. Time of feeling like an idiot, more like.
“It’s okay. It’s my fault for being some weirdo clinger when he’s clearly not interested anymore.”
“Grace, I know him a little better than you, so I feel confident in saying this. He’s definitely not pushing you away out of disinterest. He was trying to protect you.”
She looked earnest enough, but maybe I was just incapable of reading people, and that was a fact I’d proven over and over again, wasn’t it? Why did I keep relying on my own judgement when it came to men, when I knew it was fatally flawed?
“Nobody can protect me from myself, Lissa. I’m a terminal case, it seems.”
She shook her head, taking the empty glass from my hand and setting it down on the table. It wasn’t centred on the coaster, so I adjusted it, because it just made sense to do it, right? Lissa watched but didn’t comment.
“Has Torch explained what’s going on at the club right now? What happened to him, as in why it happened?”
I sat back and hugged myself, as I wondered what the hell that even meant.
“No. When he was in the hospital, he mostly just shrugged it off, and hit on me.”
“Yep, that sounds exactly like him. Okay, so I won’t go into too much detail, but right now the club are aware that there’s a member working against them. As in, one of the club members is actively trying to harm others, kill them even. Several of the club members, Torch included, have been injured by this individual, and one of the old ladies has been snatched by him several times. He’s a very dangerous person, but we have no idea who it is.”
Oh my god. What was I doing, consorting with people like that? But wait, it wasn’t Torch, was it, because she just said that’s how he was injured. And maybe he’d been injured twice by this person.
“Are they after Torch in particular? He’s been attacked twice by this person?” Why was he staying there, if he was in so much danger? Suddenly my fear was right back where it belonged in my opinion, on his behalf, rather than aimed at him.
