Page 4 of Tyrant

Chapter 2

Lark

An hour into my prom, the one night that is supposed to basically be the be all, end all of life up to this point, all I want to do is leave. I don’t want to go home. I want to go somewhere quiet with Gray. I haven’t seen him like I used to. Haven’t been able to talk to him. It’s been almost a year since Raiden was locked up. One year out of five,and nothing is the same. Raiden never brought me around the clubhouse, and he didn’t let any of his club brothers meet me, but it was different with Gray. They’ve been best friends since before I was even born. There’s such a gap between us because my parents tried and tried and got nowhere until I came to be by some miracle.

I miss my brother.

I miss Gray.

I miss the way life used to be easy in ways I didn’t even comprehend.

A wave of misery washes through me, settling in my stomach like a block of ice. The high school gym is packed. It’s sweltering, loud, bright, and so pretentious.

“Gray?” I’m afraid to touch him. Afraid that if my hand even brushes against the sleeve of that black suit that makes him look like a fallen angel, all the heat and longing I’ve trapped inside of me for years will explode.

He bends his head and gives me that half crook of his lips that’s driven half the women in Hart into a flurry. “What’s up?”

The music pulses loudly around us. There are too many bodies pressing too close. It’s too hot in here. Too loud. Too many people excited to be young, celebrating their future. I don’t feel like I fit in. I’m an imposter. I hate this so much.

I didn’t want to waste money on the stupid dress, but my mom insisted. She was all for this being the best night of my life until she found out that Gray would be taking me. He cornered me after school a few weeks ago, riding up on that huge, growly bike, so beautiful in leather and denim that it hurt, and asked if it would be okay if he took me.

I told my mom last week it would be Gray picking me up and going to prom. She’s muttered about three words to be since then. My dad didn’t storm around the house or yell about it. He’s like my mom that way. I wonder if they’ll pretend I don’t exist for the rest of my life like they do about Raiden.

Except, I hear them talking when they don’t know I’m listening.

I hear my mom crying late at night.

I see the way my dad has aged.

“Lark?” Gray’s easy smile turns into a puzzled frown.

“I’m fine. I just… can we leave?”

Anyone else might try to talk me down, but not Gray. “Absolutely.”

He doesn’t give me his tattooed hand. He bands an arm around my shoulders instead and wraps his body around mine like a protective shield. The crowd parts for us even though we’repushing our way against the grain. It’s Gray. Everyone knows who he is and what he’s a part of. Those who don’t envy and revere him, fear him, unless you’re a woman. I literally hear a few feminine sighs as we walk past.

I get it. Gray’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever met. He’s more than just attractive. He’s beautiful because he’smyGray.

He doesn’t know that yet.

We finally make it outside. After the loud, hot gym the night feels almost cool even though it’s not. I don’t shiver. Out here, with Gray beside me, I can take a full breath for the first time in almost a year.

He removes his arm from my shoulders immediately. He walks beside me to his car, silently, not touching. He holds the door for me, and I don’t bug him again about being a white knight. He might be on the wrong side of the law most of the time, but he’s the most honorable man I know next to my brother.

I pull my seatbelt as Gray gets in and starts the car. It’s not his, but it smells like him. As always, that mixture of oil and gas and motors because he works on bikes all day long, fresh air because when he’s not working on them, he’s riding them, and the familiar scent of his cologne.

“Where do you want to go?”

He knows it’s not back to my house. It’s barely even nine yet. I don’t have to be home until eleven. We have time.

“I don’t know. Anywhere. Nowhere. Just not here.”

He nods. He knows a place. Of course he does. I’d trust Gray with anything. My hopes. My future. My life.

If only he wanted that, but I know he doesn’t. I shouldn’t either.

Gray drives. He’s quiet. There’s no music in the car. It’s not a new car and not old. A nineties sedan in faded red. It’s nondescript and Raiden once told me the guys drive vehicles like that because it’s easier to blend in when it matters.

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