Page 72 of Torn In Two

“So study harder and take it again.”

He blinked. “Just like that?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“Because I’ll look like a dumbass when I fail again.”

“Why does it bother you what you look like to other people?”

Hawk groaned.

I held my hands up, backing off. “Sorry, sorry. I’ll stop with the questions. But you know I’m right.” I grinned at him. “I always am.”

He shook his head and went back to his work.

He and Kara left just before three so they could go pick up Hayley Jade from school, but I mouthed the letters GED at him as he left.

Instead of a wave goodbye like I got from Kara, Hawk just gave me a middle finger.

The sun was low when I saw out the last clinic patient and locked the doors for the night. I was normally tired after I finished a shift on the psych ward, but the clinic always left me feeling invigorated.

It wasn’t like I didn’t believe psychology was important. It absolutely was, and I found people endlessly fascinating.

But there was also a part of me that was a whole lot more satisfied by the work we did with the underprivileged. There was a sense the work I did here one day a week made more of a difference than the hours upon hours I spent listening to married couples fight about stupid shit, or rich snobs from Providence blab about all the problems they’d created for themselves by having too much goddamn money that would have been better spent on a donation.

I left the clinic on the same high I always did, my heart full, my head determined to find a way to do more.

But first I needed to see a little girl who was still refusing to speak. As well as her pretty brown-eyed mother, who had so firmly put me in the friend zone it was sad.

I followed Kara’s directions to the clubhouse, taking the winding road through the woods and whistling beneath my breath at the imposing gates at the top of the driveway. The skull figure in the middle with a scythe in its bony fingers was terrifying.

As was the huge tree trunk of a man who stepped from the shadows, a shotgun in his hand.

“What the hell do they feed these guys?” I rolled down the window and stuck both hands out so he would know I wasn’t armed. Then louder but with barely more certainty, I called, “I’m a doctor. Kara invited me here to see Hayley Jade.”

The tall blond man leaned down and stared in the window at me. “Get out of the car.”

“I’d really rather not,” I said before really thinking about it.

I changed my mind pretty quickly when I found myself facing down the barrel of the shotgun. “On second thought, it’s a lovely afternoon. Maybe I would like to get out and stretch my legs.” I reached for the handle slowly and released the lock so the door could swing open.

“That’s what I thought.” The biker gave me a warning look, as if daring me to run or make any sort of move.

He needn’t have worried. I wasn’t about to try to outrun a bullet. Plus, I had nothing to hide, which he soon found out as he poked around my car, checking for God knows what.

When he straightened, his expression was slightly less murderous. “You’re good to go. Sorry about that. But we had a security breach not all that long ago, and now I don’t trust anyone.”

I offered him my hand, trying to show I wasn’t a threat. “No hard feelings. I totally understand. I’m Grayson.”

He took it. “Fang. But you aren’t here to exchange pleasantries with me. Go on through. The road will take you straight to the clubhouse. Hayley Jade and Kara are waiting for you there.”

“Thanks.” I got back in my car and drove it slowly through the gates and down the hill, a big, rectangular building rising from behind the thick trees a minute later.

“Fucking hell.” I stared up at the building. Bikes were parked outside the doors, cigarette butts were discarded in an ashtray, and a club jacket slung over an outdoor chair. There wasn’t a welcome mat or a cheery front door wreath in sight. The entire place screamed “get out.”

I’d promised Kara I wouldn’t judge her home though, so I concentrated on just getting myself out of the car.

Because there was a little girl on the other side who needed me to help her.

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