Page 35 of Free

“You never brought a girl to the parties here. Why?”

“Never wanted to.”

“And now you do?”

“Now I do,” I tell him.

“Uh-huh. And she’s different?” he asks as Addison stands across the room with her plate in hand. I watch her pick at her food as Jamie keeps talking.

“What’s the difference, Jamie?”

“I’m just curious. You bought her, Free. She isn’t going to want to stay with you. You know that, right?”

“What’s the fuckin’ difference? What do you care?”

“I don’t want to see you get hurt, brother. We’re family.”

“And I’m fine, Jamie. Don’t get things fucked up. We fucked, that’s it.” That’s not all it was. I fucked her three times. I broke my own goddamn rules for this girl. She isn’t just a nobody, not anymore.

“Are you sure that’s it?”

“Yeah. I’m sure.” He reaches over and slaps a hand on my shoulder before nodding his head.

“As long as you’re sure,” he says. I nod my head and grab my plate filling it up with food. Then, I walk over to Addison and motion for her to follow me to the table. We sit down and eat in silence for a long time, listening to the sounds of fucking coming from the other room.

“Does it bother you?” I ask her, noticing how she’s squirming around her chair.

“What?”

“Hearin’ them fuckin’ in the next room.”

“A little.”

“You wanna go?” I ask her. She nods her head, and I stand up, offering my hand. Addison slips her hand into mine, and I pull her to her feet. We have to walk back through the other room to get to the door.

I lead her through the room of sex-induced haze and out the front door.

Chapter 17

Addison

Days turn into weeks, and weeks into two months. I spend all my time with Free and Bunny. I like being around the two of them. They are both pretty great to talk to. Free keeps me on a short leash around the clubhouse these days, and I’m not sure why. He doesn’t let me roam too far before he’s calling me back to him.

I’m looking toward the window to see what I can see outside. It’s not that he doesn’t take me out because he does, but there are some days I’d just like to go alone. Free must notice me looking because he walks over and stands next to me.

“You wanna go outside?”

“Can I?”

“Yeah, you can.” He grabs his phone out of his pocket and punches in a number before nodding toward the door. He doesn’t make the move to follow me this time, and I find myself wondering why. Does he trust me not to run?

Whatever the reason may be, I walk to the door and shove it open, stepping out into the sunlight. I look up and let the sun hit my face before I smile to myself.

I’ve been thinking about things, about my life particularly. I’ve been thinking that it isn’t so bad here. Yeah, Free has made me use the drugs again, but he said that would end soon. Then what? What do I do after that? Go home and live the same boring life I did before? It hardly seems fair to me.

I walk around the small yard before turning and looking back at the clubhouse. I could run right now. I could run and there would be no one to stop me. So, what the hell is holding me back? What’s keeping me here? I should run. He did buy me, after all. But I don’t. Instead, I sigh and walk back toward the door, and head inside. Free is standing near the bar when he looks over at me, a look of shock on his face. Did he expect me to run?

“You’re still here,” Bunny says as if she’s as confused as Free is right now.

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