Page 28 of GOAT

“I had to do a debriefing with Carlisle today,” I said, mentioning the chief of police by his last name. “It just… being in the same room with him makes my skin crawl.” I tried forcing a smile to my lips to try to reassure him I was okay, but I couldn’t do it. Not in front of him. Faking anything in front of Cameron when he’d seen me at my rawest already was near impossible. “Got sick afterward, but I’m okay now.”

He clenched his jaw. “Was your partner with you?” he asked, referring to Clarence, my new partner. When I nodded, he ran his hand over my hair in a way that always soothed my nerves. “Good. Harder for him to do anything to you if you’re not alone with him.”

Blakely set my food in front of me then, and I immediately took notice of the bruises on her wrists and the bite marks on her forearms. Jax came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, nipping at the skin of her throat. Her cheeks flushed, her eyes going a little hazy. Cameron grunted. “Can you not assault her in front of us?”

Jax smirked. “Is it assault if she likes it?” he asked.

I snorted. “No. Not as long as she’s consenting.”

Jax hummed and pressed a kiss to Blakely’s temple. “She definitely consents.”

I laughed quietly at her red face as I dug into the mashed potatoes she’d made. Honestly, ever since I’d moved in here with Cameron, I’d been eating so much better. He had coffee ready for me every morning, along with a packed lunch. We normally caught breakfast together if I happened to be working the day shift, and when I got home, he made sure I had dinner—a home-cooked meal.

It was… nice. And I loved living here, too, which was just the cherry on top. I was safe here. When Cameron had asked me if I wanted to go back home, I’d fucking panicked. And then that night, even though he’d assured me I could live at the clubhouse with him, I’d had two nightmares back to back about being taken out of my home and stuck back in that fucking room again.

Cameron paid to break my lease the very next day. We put my furniture in storage and moved the rest of my stuff into his apartment upstairs. And that was that. No one said anything about me moving in. It just became the new normal.

Blu came rushing down the stairs just as I was finishing up my dinner. She was wearing a tiara that looked very expensive with a frilly, purple dress, her blue hair hanging in ringlets around her shoulders. Over her dress, she was wearing a pink sash that read “Birthday Girl” on it.

Konrad and Grey followed her down, and the smile on Konrad’s face as he gazed at her was everything. The man was a dick ninety percent of the time, but the softness he held for Grey and Blu was almost too tender to witness.

“Happy birthday!” I gushed, wrapping her in a tight hug. She squeezed her arms around my neck before jumping back and spinning around, making the skirt of her dress flare out. “You look beautiful!”

She blushed and twisted her fingers in the skirt of her dress. “You think so?”

“I know so,” I promised her. She was still so shy and a bit self-conscious, but Blakely and I worked hard every day to bring her out of her shell and make her see how beautiful she truly was.

Her blush deepened. “Blakely helped me get ready. I didn’t really know what to do.”

I winked at her. “Want to know a secret? I don’t know what to do either. And I skipped my high school prom because of it.” I shrugged.

She gasped. “You didn’t go to your prom?”

“Nope,” I said, popping the P.

Cameron leaned into me, nuzzling into the curve of my neck. I shivered. “I can’t take you to prom, but we can definitely act out prom night,” he murmured. “I’ll be prom king, and you can be prom queen.”

“Jesus Christ,” I hissed, my nipples hardening and my core clenching, filling with warmth. “Can you not right now?”

His chuckle rumbled against my skin before he leaned back, both of us turning to watch Shaw carry a shit ton of gift bags from his office. My eyebrows ran for my hairline. Were all of those for Blu? Jesus. I mean, Cameron and I had gone just a tiny bit overboard for her, but it was hard not to. She was just so damn sweet and loving. But it looked like we weren’t the only ones who’d gone all out for the princess.

Amaliya came from down the hall, a frown pulling at her lips, looking like something was bothering her. But when her eyes landed on Blu, she squealed and rushed forward, wrapping Blu in a quick hug before stepping back to gush over Blu’s outfit. Whatever had been bothering her was definitely not on her mind anymore.

Those two together were something else, for sure. They were practically best friends, though Amaliya was definitely a lot brattier than Blu was. I’d have thought she and Ace would become good friends, but Ace was just too… moody and snappy for her. Despite her brattiness, Amaliya was still tender. Ace on the other hand… he was more… angry beneath his bratty exterior.

“Finally!” Ace cheered, coming out of the chapel. He shoved his fingers through his hair, his newly manicured, pink nails glimmering under the lights. He was wearing a mesh crop top, allowing us to see his freshly pierced nipples and his belly ring, and a pair of sweats were riding low on his hips, flashing the top of his boxers at us. “I’ve been dying for her to be able to open her gifts.”

Blu was gaping at all of the presents, her eyes wide. “Th-this is all for me?” she choked.

Konrad pulled her into his arms and bent to press a soft kiss to her lips. “All for you, jellybean.”

Her eyes filled with tears. Blakely murmured, “Oh, no,” and rushed around the counter, grabbing a box of Kleenex as she went. She and Konrad worked on keeping her makeup from running as Grey hugged her.

Shaw came back out of the hall, more gifts on his arms. He looked a little alarmed at the sight of Blu crying. “I… what the fuck is happening?” I bit back a snicker. The man was so clueless sometimes.

Ace winced. “I think I made her cry,” he muttered.

Shaw sighed, cutting Ace a dark look. “Ace…”

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