TatumIt's cold when I wake up, and immediately I can tell that Remy is no longer in bed with me. I'm definitely not cuddled up to him in the way I fell asleep against him last night. I fight against the instinct to open my eyes. As soon as I do, I know I'll have to face the fact that he's gone. Even after we shared what we did last night, he left. As much as I wish I were surprised, I can't bring myself to be. This is what he told me he'd do. He'd be a dick and push me away. This time it's up to me to be the mature one, to keep his stubbornness from messing up our lives. I'll do it, but damn he's going to feel my wrath. No matter how mature I may have become, I still have a fucking temper, and he's totally going to feel it."Damnit, Remy." I sigh, as I fully awaken. "Why are you doing this? Why are you going to make me get angry?" I ask the empty spot next to me on the bed.It's no longer warm, which means he left like a thief in the night, taking my heart with him. I knew as so
RemyFor the first time in a long time I'm not excited about the alarm waking me up. No matter how disheartening life was before, I knew I always had a chance to make it right with Tatum. There was always that hope in the back of my mind. This morning, I know that hope is gone. I know without a doubt it's gone. I broke both our hearts yesterday, and I did it in front of everyone. I'm expecting Liam to come for my patch today. I won't stop him when he does, because I'm the most deserving recipient of bastard of the year, ever.There's a knock at my door, and I think about acting like I'm asleep and didn't hear it. Whoever is there, though, won't allow me to; they bang on the door harder. Why delay the inevitable? I get up and put some sweatpants and a shirt on."Yeah?"Jagger comes in through the doorway, worry apparent on his face. He's been a good friend, and I've appreciated every moment we've spent together. Realizing this may be one of the last times I'm allowed to talk to
RemyMy heart is in my throat as my gaze travels up and down Porter Pike. Steele warned us that Tatum had wrecked, but she couldn't say where she was, and she couldn't get loose from the confines of her seat belt. It jammed, and if I know my girl she's mad as hell.Drew's driving as carefully as possible, but I know he's dying, wanting to speed up and down the roads, to get to her as quickly as possible.Coming out of a straight-stretch, I look to the right, noticing an SUV rolled over on it's top. "That's Tatum." I point, knowing with everything I am, that it is her.We get as close as we can, bailing out our doors, sliding and slipping as the sleet continues to come down. Making our way over to her, we yell for her. "Tatum!""I'm okay!" Her voice is a balm to my soul, the best sound I've ever heard in my life. "The blood is rushing to my head, and my seatbelt is jammed.""We'll get you out in a second," Drew promises her as we race to the driver's side.He reaches down
TatumThe clubhouse is noisy, but as I sit in Remy's room, waiting on him, I relish the quiet. I don't know what he's doing, but I know whatever it is, it's in my honor and possibly for his sanity.I asked my dad hours ago when Remy would be back, but he wouldn't tell me. That makes me nervous. Remy isn't a hard man, not until he's backed into a corner, and then he fights like a wounded dog.The doorknob turns, and I stand up from where I've been sitting, my gaze taking in the man I've been thinking about."Are you okay?" I ask as I take in Remy's appearance. I've never seen him look so disheveled. Never seen him with blood on his knuckles or the red stains on his clothing."Better than I've been in a while. They won't be back. Ever again." He sighs, but his shoulders aren't slumped. They aren't hunched over at all; he's standing straight and tall, looking like he's ready to take on the world.I don't ask him what that means. I don't want him to lie to me, but I also don't
TatumI hold tightly to Remy's hand as he helps me off the back of his bike. Warmer temps today have helped the ice from yesterday melt, but my ankle is still a little tender as we slowly walk to Harper's bakery. It's early, and there aren't many people in the downtown district."You sure you feel up to being out today?" His voice is still deep with early morning timbre and scratchy from how we slept last night. I got to hear it in my ear this morning as I woke up – a little secret I'll keep all to myself."I feel fine." I lean in, kissing him on the cheek. "After this I need you to drop me off at CRISIS, I'm helping Addie today.""What you need to do is stay off your feet," he complains. "Which is why you aren't working with Cash.""Yeah, but if Caelin helps him, someone needs to help Addie, and all we're doing it cleaning out some old filing cabinets. I checked, and it's all good, Rem. Calm down." I giggle, feeling absolutely free with him as we go through the back door of
RemyWhat a difference a few months makes. I can remember coming out into the main room of the club and seeing everyone coupled up, wondering what the fuck was wrong with me. Now I'm sitting at the table, Tatum at my side."Do you know why he's called us all here today?" she whispers from where she sits, looking up at her dad who commands the table from the end."No idea," I answer, but I do. I have a feeling it's time for him to hand the club over to Drew, and with it will come a whole new way of doing things, a whole new world, and the ushering in of a new first family."Thank you everybody for coming." Liam sends out a grin to the table.I lean back, throwing my arm over the back of Tatum's chair, letting her get a clear view of her dad."Some of you know what this is about, some of you don't. I can assure you I didn't keep it a secret to hurt anyone, but I did it for myself. Up until this morning, I wasn't positive I could go through with it, but when I woke up next to
VOLUME TWO: WILDAddieMarch (The Present)"You're so full of shit." I hug Tatum tightly around the neck, doing my best to get my emotions under control. "I'm glad you're okay. I was worried," I reference the wreck my best friend had while running from her boyfriend's crazy parents. She's the closest thing I have to a sister, and when I heard she'd been in an accident, my mind immediately went to worst-case scenario. Conditions had been treacherous after an ice storm had almost crippled Warren County, and Tatum had lost control, ending up with an injured ankle and a totaled SUV. As I'm about to say something else to her, the doorbell to CRISIS, the women's shelter my mom runs, rings, causing us to both glance up at the camera positioned over the door.And this moment is when my normal day comes to an abrupt end. The man standing at the door is one I've been hanging out with lately. In secret. Meaning no one knows, except he and I. Since we started, I've wanted to keep it tha
WildJanuary (The Past)Inhale the future, exhale the past. I read that on a shirt somewhere in a gift shop at the beach. It was hanging above all these wooden signs that had white-girl wasted sayings on them. You know, the ramblings of a girl who's had her heart broken and gotten drunk on three glasses of wine. Those sayings always made me roll my eyes. I never believed any of them were true until this morning when I packed the saddlebags of my motorcycle to the brim, put on a backpack and started heading north up I-55. I'm not sure where I want to go, all I do know for sure is I wanna be anywhere but here. Mississippi has nothing and no one for me. The only things that matter are the bike between my legs, the memories in my brain, and the container of ashes that hold the only person who ever gave a shit about me.Exhaling is getting a lot easier the further I get away from the pain, the loneliness, and the same old shit. On the horizon as I head north, is the unknown, it may