Page 51 of Hawk

I laughed in his face. Loudly. “That means that you’re full of shit and the Vipers just want to go back on their word. Wait until that gets around.” I looked back at Diesel and Rocky for support, but only blank expressions met me. I turned to the Vipers MC and their fucking smug expressions. “Fuck you.” I spat the two words out between my brothers and the Vipers, and I left.

It was fucking bullshit. I felt as if this was some kind of orchestrated attack against me, and for what? The only thing I did was step in to prevent an innocent person from being murdered by a bunch of gang bangers. And the worst part was that innocent person thought I was a human trafficking piece of shit.

“Hawk, wait up!” Rocky called after me, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk, so I kept going, around the clubhouse building and to my bike.

“Not now, Rocky.” I hopped on the bike and slipped my helmet on. “Keep an eye on Laura. I’ll be back. Whenever.” I didn’t need this shit, not from Laura or my brothers or those asshole Vipers.

All I needed was my bike and the open road. My mind was full of anger. No, not anger. Rage. It was filled with rage that somebody was coming after me, targeting me. The fact that someone made my brothers—my fucking president—doubt me, was goddamn infuriating. My tires hugged the highway like a possessive lover while I ate up the pavement, hoping that enough miles would help my anger dissipate.

Ten miles. Fifteen. Thirty. Fifty. None of it did anything to change my furious state, so I kept riding. The scenery changed from Steel City to Las Vegas to the desert. The inky night sky was lit by a low hanging moon and the further away from my troubles I rode, the more stars sparkled above me. It was beautiful, but it did nothing for my current mood.

All I wanted was to take care of my MC and my club brothers, to keep Laura safe. But now it had all gone to shit. My brothers looked at me sideways as if maybe, just maybe, they thought I could be a fucking informant for the fucking cops. Laura thought it was likely—or at least possible—that I was selling humans.

What the fuck was I doing any of this shit for anyway?

It seemed like none of it fucking mattered, but I wasn’t a quitter. I didn’t give up on shit because it was hard. I figured it out and plowed right through it, but as the low-fuel light came on and I pulled into the next gas station off the highway, I began to wonder if it was worth it.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Laura

It was after midnight and Hawk still hadn’t come back to the clubhouse. He left without a word to me, not that he owed me an explanation, but seeing as he was my ride, it would’ve been nice. I was worried and I was pissed off. Worried that something had happened to him, worried that he decided I was no longer worth the trouble I brought into his life and that I was now on my own. And pissed off that he left me stranded at his biker clubhouse with a bunch of goddamn strangers.

“Hey, Laura, you okay?”

I turned to find Peyton’s big blue eyes studying me like I was a high school science project. “Yep. I’m fine, thanks.”

She tilted her head and her full lips pulled into a tight pinch. “I know you don’t know me well and I also know there’s something going on with you and Hawk. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but you don’t have to lie to me.” Her words came with a gentle smile.

There was no use lying to Peyton. She wasn’t Kristy, but she also wasn’t an enemy. “I don’t know how I’m feeling. Worried about Hawk. Angry with him when I don’t even have the right to be.”

“You always have a right to be angry,” Ellie offered with a smile as she joined us. “Even if you’re in the wrong.”

I smiled and shook my head. “I’m upset that he left without saying anything, but I know why he’s upset. At least I know why he’s upset with me.” I inhaled deeply and let it out in a quick, harsh breath. “I let someone get in my head about Hawk, made a few accusations that turned out to be immediately and horribly wrong.” I shook my head as I thought about how icy things were between us lately. “I think I hurt his feelings.”

Peyton laughed and wrapped her arms around me. “Don’t worry about Hawk. He’s a big boy and he’ll still keep you safe even if he’s angry.”

“That’s true.” Ellie had a wistful expression on her face. “He wasn’t too thrilled about my crap affecting the MC.”

“Mine either,” Peyton added.

“But he made sure we were safe because we mattered to his club brothers, which meant we mattered to the MC. To him.” Ellie smiled wide, the affection she had for Hawk was evident.

“Yep,” Peyton agreed enthusiastically. “He’s good like that.”

I groaned and covered my face with both hands. “That only makes me feel like a bigger asshole.” Hawk was a better man than I ever gave him credit for. “I really screwed up.”

“As long as you’re alive, you have time to fix it.” Ellie’s smile was sweet and kind, making me wonder how she ended up with a biker.

“Maybe.” I wasn’t sure if there was anything there to actually fix other than a few nights of amazing sex. Okay, that wasn’t exactly true, there was definitely something there between Hawk and me, but was it worth pursuing when we had such different lives? When I’d brought so much unnecessary drama to his doorstep? I wasn’t sure. I wanted there to be something more, but at this point, I’d ruined whatever chances we might have had.

I was sure of it.

A commotion sounded behind us and pulled me from my thoughts. “What’s going on?” Four members of the Steel Demons MC walked forward in determined strides, all wearing nigh on identical serious expressions. Two of them, I didn’t remember their names, headed our way.

“Babe, what’s going on?” Peyton wrapped herself around an olive-skinned man with dark close-cropped hair.

“We gotta go, Pey. Hawk needs us.” He cupped her face and kissed her intensely without a care that all eyes were on them. “I need you to stay here and keep everyone here. Everyone,” he emphasized, and turned his gaze to me.

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