by Wilder, L.
“You think you’ve got what it takes to make her happy?”
“You know, if you asked me that about any other woman, I might say no. I don’t have a lot of money. I don’t have an expensive truck or a big, fancy house, but that stuff’s never mattered to Lauren. She’s all about a person’s heart, and she stole mine years ago.”
“And what about the brothers?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I’ve got no interest in dating any of them,” I joked. When Cotton didn’t so much as crack a smile, I knew he wasn’t amused. I quickly straightened my posture and said, “I kinda think of them as her muscled-up, overprotective big brothers, who’ll rip me limb from limb if I fuck this thing up.”
“You’re right about that,” he scoffed. “You say you and Lauren have always been close. Well, that wouldn’t have been the case if I hadn’t thought you were a good kid...I’ve kept an eye on you. I know you’ve taken some hard hits...your mother...your grandmother, but you didn’t let it keep you down. You’ve worked your ass off at that bar. Helped make it into something better. Not sure Pappy would’ve made it if it hadn’t been for you.”
“Just did what needed to be done.”
“And your efforts didn’t go unnoticed.” He leaned back in his chair. “I’m curious. She ever tell you much about her past?”
“Some, but not the whole story.”
“That’s something you need to know, son.” His expression softened as he said, “I’m a firm believer in letting go of the past, but you gotta hold on to the lessons it taught you. If you are planning on having any kind of future with Lauren, you’re gonna need to know what happened to her and what she learned from it—because some of those lessons might be the very thing that ends you before it ever really begins.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be sure to talk to her about it.”
“Be sure that you do.”
“Does that mean I have your consent?”
“I always thought you were a good kid, Flynn, and you coming here today proves I was right. So, yeah, you have my consent.” His expression grew fierce as he leaned forward and said, “But if you fuck this up ... if you hurt her, you’ll have me to contend with. You got that?”
“Loud and clear.”
“Good.”
“Thanks, Cotton. I appreciate ya taking the time to see me.” I gave him a quick nod and said, “I’ll get out of your hair.”
I turned and was about to walk out of his office when Cotton asked, “You ever considered prospecting for Fury?”
“Thought about it many times.” I looked back over to him. “Ended up deciding it wasn’t my path to take.”
“Well, come see me if you ever change your mind.”
“I definitely will.”
I walked out of Cotton’s office and found Stitch waiting for me. Again, he didn’t say a word as he led me down the hall. Once I was outside, I gave him a cordial wave goodbye, then got in my truck and headed home. As I made my way back to the house, I was feeling pretty fucking good.
Chapter 8
Lauren
“You did what?”
Flynn continued to dice the vegetables for our stir fry as he repeated, “I went to see Cotton.”
“When?”
“After you left the house this morning.”
“Why in the world would you do that?”
I was stunned. I had no idea Flynn was even thinking about speaking to my father. I was even more stunned when he said, “I went to talk to him about you.”
“Me? What about me?”
“You know, about us dating. I wanted to make my intentions known.”
“What? Wait.” I gasped. “Just stop, put the knife down, and tell me everything from start to finish.”
“Okay, but I think you’re making a bigger deal of this than it really is.”
“Oh, I don’t think so.”
He set the knife down on the counter, then turned his full attention to me as he told me all about his visit to the clubhouse and his conversation with my dad. When he was done telling me everything, I asked, “Do you do this sort of thing with all the girls you date?”
“No.”
“Why’d you do it with me, then?” I could tell by his expression he was thrown by my question, so I added, “Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s sweet that you went to see him and cleared the air, but why did you find it necessary to go to the trouble?”
“Because it was the right thing to do.” He stepped over to me and placed his hands at my hips. “Sorry to break it to you, babe, but your father is a very powerful man. The last thing I want to do is get off on the wrong foot with him.”
“I get that, but I...I don’t want you to feel obligated to do things for me that you wouldn’t do for any other girl.”
“I don’t want to be with just any other girl, Lauren. I want to be with you, so if I have to jump through a few hoops, so be it. I’ll jump through them without complaint.” Flynn leaned down and gave me a kiss, then walked back over to the counter to finish cutting up the vegetables. “You mind getting the chicken out of the fridge?”
I didn’t answer. I just stood there for a moment, looking at him as I considered everything he’d just said. “You’re really something, you know that?”
“I’ve been told that a time or two.” He snickered. “Now get me the chicken, woman.”
After we finished dinner, we went outside and sat on the porch swing, talking for hours while looking up at the stars. I was having a great time when Flynn surprised me by saying, “You know, you told me a little about your parents, but you never said anything about how you ended up at the club.”
“No, I guess I didn’t.”
“You up for telling me about it now?”
Since we were kids, Flynn had always been special to me. I felt safe around him. I felt like I could tell him anything without any judgements whatsoever, and yet I’d never told him about what happened to me. I’d only given him bits and pieces, just enough for him to drop the subject and move on. I knew it wasn’t fair to him, especially after he’d told me everything about his parents. I’d always wanted to pretend none of it ever happened. But it did happen, and Flynn deserved to know my story. I just needed a little more time before I opened up to him about it. “I’ll tell you everything, but can we talk about it another time? I’m kind of wiped tonight.”
“Sure, whenever you feel ready.”
We sat there in silence for a little longer, then Flynn walked me home. We made plans to see each other the following day, but sadly, they fell through when a pipe burst at the bar. We’d talked on the phone and texted from time to time, but I hadn’t seen him in over a week—which had me in a pretty foul mood.
Getting close to the end of the day, I was so ready for it to be over when one of my students couldn’t find his work. “What do you mean you don’t have it?”
“It’s not in my folder.” Collin gave me an unapologetic shrug. “I guess it’s gone.”
“But you just had it yesterday, and you were almost done with it.”
“I know, but it’s not here. I guess my dad took it out of my folder.”
“And why would he do that?” This wasn’t the first time Collin didn’t have his classwork. In fact, it seemed like every day he was missing an assignment he should have had on hand. In the past, I’d tried cleaning out the huge mess in his backpack, but it did little to help. I tried giving him color-coded folders, but that didn’t work either. I even tried giving him a desk tray to submit his work each day, but it just ended up being a waste of time and space. I didn’t know what else to do. I’d always strived to be understanding with all my kids, but unfortunately for Collin, my patience was running thin—very thin. And it didn’t help matters that the kid was just sitting there and looking at me like he could care less about his missing assignment. Irritated by his lackadaisical behavior, I crossed my arms as I stood over him and announced, “Well, we’re all going to wait until you find it.”
“I don’t know w
here it is, Ms. Lauren.”
“Then, you best get to looking for it.”
He didn’t move.
“You had it yesterday. It couldn’t have gone far.”
He still didn’t move.
That’s when I pulled out all the stops and gave him the look—the one that made most kids in the class shake in their boots.
Nothing.
Damn.
“Collin,” I warned. When he still didn’t move, I threw my hands up and grumbled, “Fine. Give me your backpack.”
With the entire class silently watching, he reached down and picked up his backpack from the floor. He plopped it on top of his desk and unzipped it. His face was completely void of expression as he looked up at me and said, “It’s not in there, Ms. Lauren.”
“Well, it has to be somewhere. I’m going to check in here just to be sure.”
As I started riffling through Collin’s things, I found a journal mixed in with everything else. It wasn’t the sort of thing one would expect to find in a kid’s backpack, so I pulled it out and asked, “What’s this?”
“I don’t know.” Collin shrugged once again. “Must be my dad’s.”
“Your dad’s? Why would his journal be in your backpack?”
“I dunno. Must’ve grabbed it by mistake.”
I opened it up and found one page after the next filled with odd names and a list of what looked to be serial numbers next to them. “Any idea what this is?”
“No, ma’am. Just something for his work, I guess.”
“Hmm.” I closed the journal and stuffed it back with the rest of his things. “It looks important, so be sure to return it to him.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I was about to zip up his backpack when a familiar line of text caught my attention. I reached in the side pocket and pulled out the paper; sure enough, it was Collin’s missing assignment. “Well, how about that? I found it!”
“Really?” Collin asked with surprise. “I didn’t think it was in there.”
“Well, here it is.” I placed it on his desk. “Now, get busy and finish it before the bell rings.”
Realizing the show was over, the rest of the class quickly lost interest and went back to work on their assignment, so I used those few minutes of silence to get caught up on some of my own work. As usual, the quiet didn’t last long, and I was back to dealing with one issue after the next. By the time the day was over, I felt like I’d been put through the wringer, but when I walked out to the parking lot and found Flynn waiting for me with a smile on his face, my fatigue was all but forgotten.
I rushed over to his truck and asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I was on my way to the bar and thought I’d come by to say hey.”
He lifted an iced mocha coffee and offered it to me. As I took it from his hand, I exclaimed, “Well, aren’t you the sweetest!”
“I try.”
I took a sip of the delicious cold coffee, then asked, “You think we’ll be able to get together this weekend?”
“Yeah, I’ve got it all worked out with Pappy to have off Saturday night.”
With my working days and Flynn most nights, it’d been difficult for the two of us to finagle some time together. I also knew the weekends were busy for him. “Are you sure it’s okay? I don’t want—”
“It’s more than okay,” Flynn interrupted. “I’ve been covering for Pappy all week, so he owes me.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of spending a whole night with him. “Great! I could use something to look forward to.”
“Me too.” He glanced down at his watch and groaned. “I better get going. I told Jackson I’d be right back.”
“Okay.” I leaned close to him and gave him a quick peck. “Text me later?”
“You know I will.” He gave me a quick wink, then said, “Be careful driving home.”
“I’ll try.”
Once I got in my car, he backed out of his parking spot and headed towards the bar. I, on the other hand, sat there for a few moments, drinking my coffee and thinking about how grateful I was to have Flynn in my life. I’d often wondered what it would be like if we became more than just friends. Since I knew him so well, I had no doubt we’d get along great, but I never dreamed I’d be this happy. Feeling really good about the two of us, I pulled out of the school’s lot and started home. As soon as I walked in the house, I cleaned up the kitchen a little, then slipped upstairs to change my clothes.
I’d just thrown on a pair of sweats and was heading towards Susana and Darby’s room to help them with their school project when I heard Mom call out to me. “Hey, Lauren?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you run something over to the clubhouse for Dad?”
“Sure.” I made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen where she was waiting for me. “What is it?”
“Blueprints for the clubhouse’s kitchen renovations.” She handed me a long cardboard tube. “Your dad and Stitch are waiting for them over in his office.”
“Okay, no problem.”
When I started towards the door, Mom shouted, “Hey, while you’re there, tell Dad that dinner will be ready soon.”
“You got it.”
Normally, I would’ve taken my time and walked over to the clubhouse, but knowing how impatient both my dad and Stitch could be, I decided to drive. As soon as I reached the top of the hill, I noticed Catch standing at the gate. He was wearing his Fury cut and faded jeans, his long hair pulled back and out of his eyes. To anyone else, he might’ve looked intimidating, but I knew better. Catch was as good as they came and had a smile that could melt the coldest of hearts. When I reached the gate, I rolled down my window and smiled. “Hey, Catch. How’s it shakin’?”
“Shakin’ pretty good. How about you?”
“I can’t complain.”
“That mean you recovered from your night out with Had and the girls?”
“I have, thank goodness. We had a great time.”
“So I heard.” A mischievous grin crossed his face as he leaned in and said, “Hadley said you put on quite a show.”
“Yeah, poor Flynn was worried Maverick was gonna string him up.”
“Can’t say I’d blame him.”
“Well, thankfully, it didn’t come to that.” I motioned my head at the clubhouse. “I better get going. Dad’s waiting on me.”
“All right. You be good.”
He gave my door a tap and sent me on my way. Once I pulled up to the front, I parked the car and rushed inside. When I walked into the bar, I found Quinton and Tank sitting at one of the tables. Tank was drinking a beer and watching not one but two women draped over Quinton like he was their next meal. Quinton was leaned back in his chair with his face completely void of expression as the scantily dressed women rubbed all over him with their boobs in his face.
When he saw me walking towards them, he didn’t move—he didn’t so much as blink, but his eyes followed my every step as I made my way past them and out of the bar. I waited until I was out of his line of sight before I lifted my head and groaned with a fake gag. Over the years, there had been occasions when I’d seen the brothers with women. It was rare, but when it happened, the guys usually did their best not to draw attention to themselves. Never once had any of them looked at me the way Quinton just did—like he was hoping for some reaction. He didn’t get one because I honestly didn’t care what he was doing with those women. A part of me wished I did, though. Quinton had always been good to me, and I hated the idea of hurting him, but I couldn’t conjure up feelings that just weren’t there.
When I got to Dad’s office, the door was open, so I stepped inside without knocking. He was sitting at his desk while talking to Stitch, and neither of them noticed I’d walked in until I said, “Hey. Mom told me to bring these over.”
“Thanks, Lauren.” Dad took the plans from my hand and quickly opened them. “I appreciate you bringing them over.”
“No problem. She also want
ed me to tell you that dinner’s almost ready.”
“Okay, I’ll be heading home in a few minutes.”
“Good deal. I’ll let her know,” then added, “Catch ya later, Stitch.”
He nodded as I turned and headed out of the office. I’d just started down the hall when I spotted Quinton standing at the doorway of the bar. I knew the second I saw the expression on his face he was waiting there for me. Without realizing what I was doing, I slowed my pace and tried to prepare myself for whatever he was about to say. When I finally reached him, Quinton let out a breath and said, “I wanted to apologize for the other night. I had no business popping off like I did at the bar.”
“Okay.”
“I also wanted to let you know I’m done.” His dark eyes grew fierce as he announced, “I’m not a man who likes to give up, but I’ve got no choice in the matter.”
“I’m sorry, Quinton. I wish things could be different.”
“It is what it is.” He gave me a slight shrug. “I’d like to say I lost to a better man, but I don’t believe that’s the case.”
“Flynn really is a good guy. I hope one day you’ll see that.”
“Maybe.”
“Well, Mom is making dinner, so I better get going.”
“Okay, have a good night.”
“Thanks, Quinton.”
When I started to leave, he said, “Hey, I’d ’preciate if you’d call me Q.”
“Yeah.” My heart sank a little at the thought, but I understood his reason to start using his road name. “I can do that.”
“Have a good one.”
“I’m gonna try.” I walked out to the bar and said, “Bye, Q.”
I left the clubhouse with mixed emotions. While I was relieved that things had finally been resolved between Quinton and me, I hated that there’d be a change between us. We’d always gotten along, but I noticed he’d become distant with me. Quinton would try to play it cool and act like he wasn’t bothered by the way things had turned out, but I knew it was only a matter of time before it got too hard to pretend. He’d get angry, especially whenever he saw me with Flynn, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. The heart wants what the heart wants, and mine wanted Flynn. I just hoped in time Quinton would find a woman who’d give him that indescribable feeling that’d come after he found the one he was meant to be with—then he’d see it was never me.
