Page 50 of Firecracker

Quick ran his hands through his hair nervously. “Well, after dropping you off at White Wolfe, I had Dallas do a full search on you. I needed to know more about you. I was hooked. I wanted everything.”

I scoot back to the headboard pulling the sheets over my naked body.

“Okay, that is some stalker shit. You know that, right? I don’t know anything about you. You’ve been playing me from the beginning?” Sounding hurt and sad, I close my eyes.

Why…

“I haven’t been playing you. Fuck, Ruby, I’ve never caught a feeling this hard before. You’ve got me acting like a teenager over here. I haven’t lied to you about anything. I just didn’t tell you about the background check. You can ask anyone, we do a full screen on everyone. I just asked to see it.”

“Again. Quick, why me?” I breathed.

He moves closer sitting on his shins fully naked, showing me all his glorious body. “I don’t know. I’ve been trying to figure that out myself. I just saw you, or actually, that hideous fucking jacket, all this beautiful crazy hair and when I saw your eyes for the first time, I was hooked. I wanted to throw you over my shoulder that instant and fuck you in my truck. It took everything I had to leave you there. That’s why I came back here and asked to see your file.”

“They had the file on me before I even came here?” Sounding shocked.

“Yes, since all this bullshit over the last year or so we do a background check on anyone that even talks to the Spin girls. That included family, friends, and everyone they knew. We needed to be certain you weren’t being used to get to one of the girls,” he answers honestly.

“I just don’t understand. We’re lifetime friends.”

“Yeah, lifetime friends that haven’t spoken but a few times in the last year and all of a sudden you want to come visit and need help.”

“Jesus, it does sound bad,” I reply, pulling my knees up to my chest. My heart hurts thinking of how bad of a friend I’ve been. “I’ve been a bad friend.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” he demands, moving closer, he touches one of my knees. “That’s what Iz and I were fighting about last night. I was pissed off and confronted her. Asking her why she didn’t try saving you or helping you get away from him. Why she left you with him—”

“I wouldn’t leave him,” I cut him off. “It wasn’t her fault. Everyone tried to warn me, but I didn’t care. I felt important, and the band needed me. They all made me feel special. It wasn’t just Brody. The whole band was—”

“Neither one of you are at fault,” he says interrupting me. “After talking to Izzy and hearing you, I thought about it, and you both were young and did what you thought was best. I see Izzy’s side, but I understand your thinking as well.” He pauses. “The main thing is that you learned from it and you’re getting out of the marriage.”

“My life isn’t all peaches. I had a pretty hard childhood until I moved in with Brody. Brody came from money and took care of me, gave me what I thought was stability but really it was just lies and manipulation. I’m the reason he has a record deal. I got that for them. I took care of everything.”

“What changed?” Quick asks, moving to sit next to me, leaning up against his headboard.

“I had Isabella. I changed. Brody wasn’t first anymore, and it drove him nuts. He was always a very jealous man, but instead of him beating the shit out of the other man, he would tell me it was my fault. Switch it around on me. He was just a fucking coward,” I answer, hugging my knees, as I place my forehead down on top of them.

Quick puts his hand on my back caressing me, trying to soothe me.

“Well, my name is Jake Reeves, and I’m twenty-seven-years-old.”

I tilt my head to the side to look at him. Jake Reeves…

I smile. “You don’t look like a Jake to me,” I say teasing.

“I’m not Jake Reeves anymore. I left him behind when I moved to West Virginia with Shy,” he explains.

I lean back, giving him my full attention, hoping he will continue.

Quick grabs the sheet I have covering myself and stretches his legs out under it covering himself beside me. “I’ve been on my own pretty much since I was of age. I’ve moved around a lot. I met Shy and the MC about five years ago when I was living down in Myrtle Beach. It was Bike Week, and they were all fucked up partying. Shy wasn’t P\president of his club then and was still living back at the original clubhouse in West Virginia under Wolfe, Ginger’s father.” He pauses obviously thinking back to that day. “Let’s just say some stuff went down and I was there for the club. I hung with them for the rest of the week. Before Shy left to head back home, he told me if I ever needed or wanted anything to give him a call.”

I’ve turned my body facing him now waiting for him to continue, when he doesn’t I ask, “So what happened? Did you call or go see him?”

Quick laughs. “Obviously, I called him, or I wouldn’t be here today?”

“Seriously, you're going to leave me hanging? You just called him one day, that’s it?” I say sarcastically.

“I can’t tell you the details of what happened, but yes, I called him one day and said, ‘hey I need a new life’ and bam, here I am. Shy was traveling back and forth from here and West Virginia. I was his main guy he planted here. Ginger didn’t know who I was, so it worked perfectly. I wasn't a member. No one really knew me except Shy, Mac, and Dallas.” He nudges me. “They even did a background check on me, so don’t feel bad.”

“Well let me see your file,” I snap back.

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