Page 164 of Making Choices

“No.”

“The offer stands... I’m flexible when it comes to my living arrangements.”

A worried look crosses Toker’s face and his grip on my arms tightens. I find myself hauled against his chest, then engulfed in a bear hug. His warm breath skims across the top of my head, a feather light kiss grazes my hairline.

“Thank fuck you’re all right.”

“It was scary.” I melt into him. “I thought I was overreacting at the start.”

“We shoulda been with you.”

His reminder that none of the men I usually rely on were with me today makes me stiffen in his embrace. This is the closest I’ve been to Toker since the afternoon I discovered that I’d been banned from the compound by Zeke. Slash had already frozen me out weeks before that, still I wasn’t expecting Toker to join in. As quickly as I found myself exiled by the main three, I learned that my banishment from my normal life extended to every patched member. Hunter. Cub. My uncles. The other old timers. They all left me to fend for myself at a time when we’d usually be rallying around each other.

Even after my ban was lifted, my overtures have been rebuffed.

I’ve tried, over and over, to speak to them, to rekindle a connection with them.

They’ve all chosen to keep their distance.

Just like the situation with Venom and Slash, when push comes to shove, I’m not enough for any of them.

The Shamrocks come first.

And it’s abundantly clear that I don’t count as one of them.

My lack of matching patch and swinging dick has proven fatal to our relationship.

With that new knowledge firmly in mind, I mutter to Toker, “I’m sure they need you back at the compound.”

“Probs.”

I swallow hard as my resolve deepens. “You should go, then.”

My cousin feels the change in me.

He lets me move out of his reach.

Allows me to turn my back on him without an argument.

“We should get ready,” I say to Nadia.

She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.

“For our dates.”

Behind me, my cousin grumbles under his breath.

Spinning to face him, I jam my hands on my hips. I’m planning on asking him what his problem is but I change tack at the last moment, modifying my tone to enquire innocently, “Can you organise for Isaiah to be with us tonight? We’re going clubbing... then we might end up at the compound.”

“Maybe you should just come to the compound now?”

The look I give Toker should make him burst into flames.

Instead, it just makes him shuffle his feet and stare at the concrete floor.

“Why would I do that? Wouldn’t want to wear out my brand-new welcome.”

“Cherub,” he calls after me when I take hold of Nadia’s hand to drag her inside with me.

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