Page 6 of Hope's Heartlands

I turn to look at him, and finally he answers me. “Because I figure you’ve been through enough. And honestly, I think you might be what Cat needs. But what I’m telling you is to not fuck it up. She deserves someone that’s not going to hurt her.”

I nod my head at him, knowing what he’s saying. I know before I was an ass of epic proportions. I’m different now. I’ve changed. And I know that Gage thinks Cat needs me, but honestly, I think I’m the one that needs Cat.

We walk into the bar and Gage goes back to Troy, the president of the MC’s, office. I go to the back room and find Cat doing inventory.

She looks happy to see me and even with the hangover, I’m ready to fuck her senseless. Luckily, the hangover has me moving a lot slower. She takes pity on me and smiles as she crosses her arms across her chest. “Hangover?”

I nod my head and even that small movement hurts. She’s sweet the way she takes me by the hand and guides me back to the bar. She walks me to a stool and I sit down holding my head in my hand, wanting to close my eyes to soothe the pain, but still unable to look away from her. She has on cutoff jean shorts and a black T-shirt with the Ride or Die logo on it. She’s beautiful and takes my breath away.

She starts pouring out a few different things and then stirs it up. She sets a big glass down in front of me. “It tastes like shit but give it ten minutes and you’ll start to feel like yourself again,” she says, her voice the only sound so far that day that doesn’t make my head spin or feel like it’s about to explode in pain.

I drink down the Cat Special in one big gulp and she’s right. It tastes like shit. But just like she said, my head is already slowly starting to feel better.

She’s been quiet while I lay here with my head on the bar top. I see her moving around and she stops to check on me every now and then. I’m definitely not going to be drinking like that again. As I watch her ass swing back and forth, I’m thankful that I wasn’t so fucked up last night that I took Barbie up on her offer. I know if I had, any chance I would’ve had with Cat would have been over.

After a few more minutes, my head is finally feeling back to normal, and when Cat walks by me again, I stop her, putting my hand out and grabbing on to her arm. “That drink was nasty as fuck, but it worked. Now all I need is a kiss and I’ll be one hundred percent.”

I expect her to deny me, but instead she surprises me by leaning over and kissing my forehead before quickly pulling away. I almost grab her to pull her in for a real kiss like the one we had last night, until I hear Gage hollering from the back offices. “Saint, let’s go. I want to get you caught up.”

I just shake my head. Gage always did have awful timing. “I have to go, but I’ll come see you before I leave,” I promise her.

She just smiles and walks to the back room. I want to follow her, the temptation is there, but Gage hollers for me again.

I walk back to the offices and Gage and Troy catch me up on the recent dealings with the club. It’s so different now, but I like it. Instead of talking about all the shady drug deals and illegal shit, we’re talking about cleaning up the town and doing things right. Makes me proud to be a part of this club and where it’s going. Once they’re done with me, they bring Ranger in to go over the paperwork with the bar, and I sneak off to check on Cat.

The bar is empty and quiet. But I hear voices from the back. It sounds like Cat is arguing with someone and I go to see what’s up.

Chapter7

Cat

The delivery guy is a total asshole, especially when Ranger’s not around. He always gives me and the other girls a hard time. Usually, I can handle it and I don’t let it bother me. He runs his mouth, I ignore him. He unloads the truck, I sign for it and he leaves. A few bad words and threats from him don’t faze me. I’ve handled worse. But this time, he’s decided to get handsy. All the times we’ve ignored him I guess has taken its toll on him, because now he’s determined to get what he wants. Whether I want to give it to him or not. When I shove him away, I expect him to get the hint. But he doesn’t. He pushes me up against the brick wall, the back of my head bouncing off of it and the texture rough against my back.

He’s pushing me against the wall, holding me in place with his body and one arm and his other hand is around my neck, forcing me to look up at him. “I know you’re just a whore for the club. Nothing but a cunt to be used.”

His breath is rancid and I try to pull away from him. Flashbacks of my past start filling my mind and I fight even harder. I won’t be a victim again. But the guy is big and strong. I can’t even get him to give me an inch of room to be able to fight with, or even breathe.

My arms and body are tired from struggling, and right when I’m about to stop, out of nowhere the asshole is pulled off of me and I can breathe again. I’m taking deep ragged breaths, trying to calm myself, but all I can do is watch as Saint pummels the delivery driver.

Saint has a hold of him and kicks his ass, and with each punch he throws, he threatens the guy. He warns him, “You better quit your job because if I see you ever again it’ll be the last anyone ever sees of you.” Each word is slow and deadly. Saint glances at me while he’s saying it and I know what he sees when he looks at me. I’m disheveled, scared and hurt. As if he can’t handle seeing me this way, his hold tightens on the man until I’m sure he’s going to die from lack of oxygen. When I’m sure there’s no turning back, the man will take his last breath, Saint releases him and he falls to a bundle to the floor. He’s moaning and groaning, begging for Saint to let him go.

But Saint shows no mercy. He rears back and kicks him and I’m sure I hear a few ribs breaking under contact. “Get the fuck out!” he bellows at him and kicks him again.

The asshole pulls himself off the floor, leaving behind a puddle of blood. He staggers to the door and leaves the delivery where it stands and flees in his truck, spinning tires, pulling out of the lot.

I slide to my rear on the floor, still trying to catch my breath.

Saint walks over and squats down to look at me. He puts his hand on my knee, and I jerk from his touch. I wait, ready for him to ask for compensation for stepping in. I look at him, waiting, but he just pulls his hand back. “You okay, sweetness?”

I nod my head at him and watch as he cleans up the blood and then starts to bring the delivery in. I get up to help him but he pulls up a stool, pointing at it. “Have a seat. I got this.”

I watch as he brings everything in and starts putting it all away. When I’m a little more steady on my feet, I go to help him. We work side by side, emptying boxes, checking things off, putting it away and breaking down boxes.

The normal mundane task makes me feel more at ease.

When we are down to the last box, we both reach for it at the same time. I put my hand on his. “Thank you, Saint. I know you didn’t have to step in, but I want to thank you for helping me.”

He turns his head to the side and looks at me questioningly. “What do you mean, you know I didn’t have to help?”

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