Page 15 of The Broken Beginning: Part One

“Brinley! I don’t know what you want me to do here.”

“I want you to choose me over that whore.”

“She’s not a whore or a slut, stop saying that. Jesus, she had sex one damn time and had the bad fucking luck to get knocked up.”

Brinley started laughing. “That just makes it worse, you idiot. You popped her cherry, and you think she’s ever going to leave you when your dads are best friends?” Her huff coincided with the woman of my dreams turning her back on me. “Why can’t you just choose us over the stupid club?”

“And what would we do?”

“We could go to California together. There are clubs out there, if you want to get into one. I could do my acting thing and support us until you establish yourself with a new MC.”

It was my turn to laugh. “First of all, it doesn’t work like that, Brin. I started prospecting with Aces High right away because I was already family. With a new club, I’d have to be a hang around for months, maybe even years, before anyone even put me up for prospect. Then, at least a year of doing that shit again. It’s not that simple.”

She rolled her eyes at me, so I turned it back to her. “You think you’re just going to fall into acting gigs out there? It’s not that easy either.”

“I am gorgeous and talented. It won’t take much,” she argued while turned slightly away from me with her nose in the air.

“Brinley, Hollywood is full of gorgeous, talented people who serve other people their dinners and wake up to go clean their hotel rooms too. I can’t see you doing either of those things to support yourself.”

“You doubt my skills?”

“No, babe. I doubt the system and I’m a realist.”

“So, you want me to waste my best years and my youthful beauty to stay in this lame ass town for another five years while you live with your wife and kid before we can take off? What then? You’re just going to abandon your kid to come with me?”

My stomach clenched tight because that was one scenario I hadn’t thought of. It was true that I couldn’t really fathom an actual kid ever being involved in my life. It seemed more like someone else’s bad dream waiting to happen, than my reality. I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. She was right though, there was no way I could just take off on my own kid. My mom had done it to me, and my dad would kill me if I ever followed in her footsteps. When I didn’t speak up right away, Brinley got other ideas.

“Or were you planning on bringing your little bastard with us? I’m not raising someone else’s squalling little brat.”

“I doubt it would be squalling by then. It won’t exactly be a baby in five years.” I was joking to lighten the situation, but that comment backfired on me.

“And what about Boone, your little wifey and her dad? Do you think any of them will even let you step one foot out of the city with that kid, let alone cross the country with the little demon, especially if they know I’m the one you want to raise it?”

“Damn, Brin! Tell me how you really feel about the baby.”

“I want it dead!” She shrieked. “That’s how I truly feel. I want her to take a terrible fall and kill the thing inside her that is tying you to her. I want for it not to exist and if you were smart, that’s exactly what you would make happen!”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” I roared the question at her, because her vehemence that she wanted that kid dead was otherworldly. It was also not fucking happening. I might not have wanted to be a parent this young, but damn I didn’t want to kill something that Lily and our dads already loved.

“I’m just being honest. It is ruining everything! Everything we talked about. All of our dreams are ruined because of that fucking girl and her little brat.”

I pulled her back into my chest and wrapped my arms around her perfect body. “I know. I’m sorry, babe. If I could change things, I would.”

“You can though,” she sobbed. If you wanted to, you could change it all. Make her get an abortion. Just leave. None of you even know if that brat she’s carrying is really yours. What if it’s not? What if you stuck around and married that bitch, and the kid that she’s carrying isn’t yours, and you lose me as a result?”

“Are you saying you’re going to leave me?” I asked, pulling her tighter to me, as if that was all we needed to hang on to the dreams we’d been planning for over the last six months.

“I don’t want that to be true, but I don’t think I can stay here for another five years. What will I do, Damon? My father is going to disown me as soon as I graduate.”

“Come on,” I finally pulled her further away from the shadows where we’d gone to have this conversation. “Let’s get out of here and go spend the rest of our night together.”

“Okay,” was the only answer I got before she followed me back to my truck. I brought it instead of my Harley, knowing that we would need a place to be together. Her house was off limits thanks to the tight-as-fuck security her dad had on the place. My house was obviously a no-go now, and I’d catch too much shit for bringing her back to the clubhouse after my brothers just watched me marry a club princess. The only spot I could think of was the place that got us into this mess to begin with.

So, I choked down my own issues with going back and headed up the highway and off the ramp that would take me to the little shack in the woods my dad used for hunting. It was the same place I’d taken Lily that night, only we hadn’t made it all the way to the shack. We’d made it halfway down the drive before I stopped the truck and just took her there. If I had known she was a virgin, I would have taken her all the way to the shack. Wait. No. Fuck that. If I had known she was a virgin, I would have done the smart thing and not gone there at all.

I’d always been aware of Lily’s feelings about me. That was the biggest reason I stayed away. My father had already hinted more than a few times as we got older that it would be cool if our families ended up tied together by marriage. He might have claimed earlier that he made her off limits, but that was only if I didn’t have intentions of getting serious with her.

I hated that idea and spent as much time as I could avoiding Lily as a result. It was actually that act of rebellion that led me straight into Brinley’s arms. I noticed how she tormented Lily in the halls at school and figured that the enemy of my enemy should be my friend.

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