Page 12 of Love Gamble

Damn.

That seems to work. Melinda takes a step back and starts crying. “I hope I never see you again! You are an asshole, you know that?”

I honestly have no idea why she’s so upset. She was fine at the restaurant. “I know this is an unpopular question, but what did I do?”

This makes her cry harder. “You made me fall for you!”

I’m seriously so confused. It’s been a week since we met, and we’ve hung out maybe three times? She yells at me for about another minute before Julianna tells her, “Okay, that’s enough, I think you should leave now.”

We both get back into the car, and I look up into my rearview mirror to see Melinda standing there, still staring daggers at me.

“Shit,” Julianna says. “Do you have a golden penis? Were you seeing her long?”

“Less than a week!”I say. I know traditionally guys are the players and the villains in these stories, but I don’t understand how one week constitutes this level of response.

Julianna laughs. “Holy shit, you do have a golden penis! She must have fallen hard—and fast.”

I smirk. “Thanks for having my back,” I say, clearing my throat and trying to shake my confusion and embarrassment. I really wish she didn’t have to see that.

“Of course,” she replies. “And what is going on with you and Corey, then?”

I go silent for a few seconds, and she loses her patience. “Damon, tell me. You can trust me.”

“I’ve been avoiding thisthingwith Corey and so when I met Melinda and she showed interest, I thought, well, maybe this will be good. Maybe I can have this thing with Melinda to get my mind off Corey.”

And it had been some time, and I was horny.

“Clearly Melinda did not get the memo.”

I wince. “Yeah, but in my defense I always told her I wanted something casual.”

“So what happened?”

“I couldn’t get my mind off Corey, despite trying.”

“Oh,” is all Julianna says as she starts putting everything together.

“I know,” I reply, clearing my throat. “Corey saw her, and she got angry, and then I realized I still want her. I don’t know. I knew I had to end things with Melinda, that it wouldn’t be fair to keep seeing her, but I didn’t expect this reaction.”

I stay silent for a bit as I turn at an intersection, heading back to the clubhouse. “I didn’t tell Corey I ended things with Melinda, because there are still other reasons we can’t be together right now.”

I glance over and see Julianna’s eyes widen at my honesty. “Because of everything going on with the club?”

“Mostly that. I need to focus, and there’s a lot of pressure on me right now. But then there’s also her age, River, where we are in life...”

“Damon, I’ve known you for years and these all sound like stupid excuses. What’s the real reason?”

Leave it to Julianna to give it to me straight.

I sigh, knowing she won’t let me out of this conversation. “I know you chose this life. I know you accepted the consequences for falling in love with a biker. But it’s dangerous. Corey got kidnapped and she wasn’t even dating anyone in the club. I can’t put her in that kind of danger. I refuse to let any woman I’m with be threatened like that. And before you say anything, I know Romeo and River accept that you and Bella made your choices. But I can’t do it.”

Instead of telling me I’m being stupid or that I need to let Corey choose, Julianna sits and contemplates what I just said. We drive in silence for a beat. During this time, I see a car that’s following me a little too closely. All tinted windows. Turning wherever I turn.

“That’s incredibly admirable, Damon. This life is hard. And dangerous. And it’s not meant for everyone. But Corey was born into it. She’s like me. She knows what the sacrifices and dangers are in being with a biker—”

“I could never do that to her. I know what it’s like to lose someone you love when they choose danger.”

And I’ve said too much. There’s a reason people don’t know much about me before I joined the club.

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