Page 19 of Wait For Me

Prospect Mike: Dude looked like he had a hell of a night and smelled like it too, if you get my meaning.

He smelled like sex. The motherfucker smelled like her. My fingers twitched over my phone ready to give the command to have the asshole held until I could get there. No way was I giving a kill order when I wanted to be the one to take that shot. Someone’s hand came down on top of mine before I could type that shit out though.

“You had your chance.”

I glared up at Kip who wasn’t gloating. He didn’t seem happy about the news he obviously just read over my shoulder either. Instead, he looked a little sad and lost.

“What the fuck do you care?”

“That’s my sister. If she’s happy, I care.”

“He’s fucking old, married, and has two kids at home.”

Kip shrugged. “I’m guessing my little sister hung on to her innocence in the hopes that a certain someone would claim her.” His brow rose in knowing gesture. “When that didn’t happen, she spent some time getting to know herself, and if I had to guess, she just decided that there was no point in waiting. From what Aunt Viv has told me, Star doesn’t plan on coming back for some time still. She doesn’t plan on sticking around Loveland longer than it takes to earn money to move on to the next place either. So, she must know that it is a temporary situation with this guy.”

“You’re condoning your sister living as the other woman in some asshole’s relationship.”

“She’s a big girl out there making big girl decisions now. What I’m doing is trusting her enough to keep making them. She’ll probably learn a few lessons along the way, but so long as she isn’t being hurt beyond repair, we’re going to let that happen.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“Is it really any more fucked up than the way you and Ashlynn destroyed her hope?”

“We weren’t together,” I argued.

“Nope. Ash was her best friend though. My sister lost a lot that night because you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants and thought you had something to prove to her. She lost her best friend, her place to crash after she turned eighteen, and her family here with the MC. She also lost peace of mind because she couldn’t even work without being harassed about you. All because Ash thought revenge against something I didn’t even do was more important than her friend and you thought it might get you out of something you stupidly agreed to.”

What could I say to that? He wasn’t wrong. The road trip Star set out on hadn’t just given her clarity about life. It had helped me see things from a different angle too. Already knew I fucked up. So much more than I ever thought I did.

“You going to at least let your Prez and the VP know?” I asked.

Kip shook his head. “Neither are you or Prospect Mike. I already shot a text off to him to hold that information back. He’s to stand down on taking action against the dipshit unless he harms our girl.”

“Our girl,” I muttered.

“I have a feeling you had a change of heart about my sister while you were out there watching her live her life. If I’m right, then I suggest you use your time wisely, figure yourself out, and work on what it will take to get her to trust you when she comes back.”

“I don’t think she’s coming back.”

“She’s coming back.”

“How the hell can you sound so confident? You haven’t seen her out there. She’s thriving, man.”

“Yeah, but I also know that Uncle Mack has a marker in place. There will come a day when he uses it to call her home.”

“What if she’s not alone when that happens?”

“Then you’ll leave her be and move the fuck on,” Kip growled at me. “I’m not above giving you a second chance with her, if you earn one. You won’t do a fucking thing to fuck with any kind of life she builds for herself outside of you though.”

~*~

The next morning, Mom was waiting to pounce on me for information about Star, and I wished like hell I had never started the conversation about her.

“It doesn’t matter,” I muttered to her as she poured me a cup of coffee and set it down on the table.

“Why does it suddenly not matter when yesterday you were glued to that damn phone of yours waiting on updates?”

“Because she fucked him!” I hadn’t meant to yell the words, but there was no taking them back either.

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