Charity"How has Drew been handling it?" Denise asks as we sit on her screened-in porch. I have my laptop with me because I truly intended to work, but now that we're talking, I'm not sure I can concentrate on what I need to. "He doesn't talk to me. Not about this, and I won't ask Liam. I don't want to break any of the trust they have in each other. If I do get up the courage to ask Drew, he just smiles and says there's nothing for me to worry about. Which pisses me off. Of course there's shit for me to worry about."Mandy has been the only person I've really been able to discuss things with, and even then I haven't told her much. I don't want her to get involved, and there's no way for me to know what Dalton's told her."Not great," I admit. "He's not sleeping well, he's having dreams, and he's losing weight. I think he's spending more time inside his head than he has since we were in high school."She takes a drink of her sweet tea. Her hair is beginning to show signs of agin
DrewThe sound of my gloved fist hitting the focus mitt reverberates off the empty concrete walls of our boxing complex. Before me, Tyler stands, bracing against the impact of my punch. No matter how hard I hit, he's always been able to withstand the force. Sweat flings in every direction as I try to punish my body enough so that I can sleep tonight without the nightmares. "Harder," he encourages. "Show me with the velocity of your punches, what you can't with words."That's what I need to hear to break down the dam holding all my feelings and emotions in. I throw hands harder and faster than I've ever thrown them before. I'm not sure how he's keeping up with me, but he is. It's always been that way with Tyler. He knows what I need, when I need it. We started working out together when I was a teenager who desperately wanted to control his anger. Now I'm an adult who wants to let that tight grasp he's had on the emotion for years go. I'm back to what I know, and what I know is
Charity"I gotta talk to you." I grab hold of Drew's hand as soon as he walks through the door of his parent's house. Making sure our girls didn't see us, I turn, whisper-hisssing so he can hear me. "Alone."We quickly take the stairs to his boyhood room, I shut the door, locking it behind us. It hasn't changed much since he moved out. The same comforter still decorates the bed, the one I slept with every night he'd sneak me up here. My favorite pillow still leans against the wall, and I bet over on the right side of the mattress there's still the stain where I lost my virginity to him on a night his parents had a club function.His eyebrows raise to his hairline. "Was 'talking to me' code for you wanna fuck like we use to as teenagers?" He grins, laying back against his old bed, supporting himself with his elbows."No," I laugh, rolling my eyes. "I really want to talk to you."Seeing him leaning back like that though, his long legs kicked out in front of him and not a care i
Charity"I need chocolate and I need it stat," I announce, walking into Southern Delights, Harper's bakery.She's about to shut down for the day, but I can tell by the look on her face, she's excited. It's been a hot minute since all us girls got together to talk about our husbands and to eat with the abandonment of a girls' night out. The only difference is we can't have it at our normal hangout, El Mazatlan, and we've been told not to get drunk either. It's a girls' night out, lite."You're in luck! I made us brownies and some chocolate chip cookies. I have some chocolate ganache to top it with if that's your thing too, along with some strawberries." She answers all my prayers as I walk through the sitting area and past the counter. Giving her a hug, I inhale deeply, loving the smell of the treats. "If this was a bar, I'd be belly up."She laughs, giving me a grin. "Go on back, Christine's already here. We're just waiting on Tatum and B. Everybody else has shit to do.""
Charity"Mom, is it okay for us to go outside?" Harley asks as she and Justice stand in front of me. I'm still uneasy about the things that have been going on with us for the almost last year, but I know they're just kids who want to have fun. It's summer and neither one of them want to be cooped up any longer. Drew will have my ass if he finds out, but I relent. "As long as someone goes with you.""I will!" Tatum jumps at the chance. She hasn't been around the girls much lately, with planning her wedding and all. They've missed her and I have a feeling she's missed them. I know they're ready for the real wedding planning to start, so they'll be able to pick out their dresses and decide how they're going to wear their hair."Are you sure? You came here to help Addie today." I glance at the two friends. "Working on a Saturday is totally not what she signed up for when she agreed to be my friend," Addie laughs. "Anyway, we've got the majority of it done. The rest of it is
DrewMy blood is running cold, my gaze is in deep colors of red and gray as Dalton drives me to CRISIS. My hands were shaking too hard to get onto my bike. That's never, in all the years I've ridden, happened to me. Fear traps me tightly in its clutches, wrapping tightly around my body as we drive in his truck, the emergency lights flashing.I was completely against calling the cops as soon as they told me what happened. I want retribution, I want this fucker's heart still beating in my hands when I get done with him, I want every drop of blood I can get. There's one thing to mess with my club, one thing to piss me off, a whole other thing to take my child in fucking broad daylight.And fuck, Justice, she's my one who feels everything. My bleeding heart who's tough, but does her best to try and understand things from every perspective. Harley? She'd beat the shit out this person, I have no doubt about it, but Justice. This could break her, and I don't want her broken. God, I love
JusticeI should have screamed louder when the man took me, I should have fought harder, kicked stronger. My stupid shoestring. Ever since I've been able to tie my shoes, I've never tied them super tight, and they constantly come undone. My mom always tells me they're going to get me in trouble, and today she was right.I'm scared, worried I'll never get to see my parents again. What if I'm not able to be in Aunt Tatum's wedding? What will Harley do without me? Tears prick the back of my eyes as I think about never sleeping in my bed again, or seeing my grandma or papaw. I should have listened. How many times did they tell me to run from strangers? To never allow them to take me anywhere? This is all my fault.The building I'm in is wet, cold, and dark. I can hear water running, which means I'm probably close to the river, but I can't be completely sure. My hands are tied in front of me, and I close my eyes, trying to think back to the Facebook video my mom made me and Harley wat
Drew"Are you sure he knows what he's doing?" I bite my nails as Tyler and I sit behind Caelin in the security cave. "He knows what he's doing," Caelin answers the question instead of his dad. "Look, I promise." His eyes are so much like the elder Blackfoot, it scares me. "I'm going to figure out what this asshole has done, and I'll be sure Justice gets out of this with as little damage as possible. She's my friend, and I don't want to see her hurt.""You have my trust." I clap him on the shoulder. "But I'm gonna need you to hurry this up a little for my sanity.""Do you remember when you and Dalton were the ones there for Meredith and Mandy? Back when she was pregnant with him?" Tyler leans his head toward his son. "I can't begin to tell you how damn scared I was when I knew, like really knew there was a threat. All the time you imagine what you're going to do, how you're going to handle it when someone terrorizes your family, but you don't know. You can't imagine the way you