Page 18 of I Should Hate You-but I Don't

"We will." He kissed the top of her head. "I promised you I would never give up."

Chapter Eight

Zane

—Seven years ago—

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The double doors at the front of Sacajawea Middle School opened. Kids poured out of the building and ran down the ten steps to the buses lined up in the parking lot. Zane sat on his Harley, a block from the school, and waited.

It'd been six months since he'd talked to River. It'd taken him that long to find someone in the state office who could give him information on where she lived with her new foster family.

He'd spent yesterday staking her out, watching her walk home, and memorizing her route. She had over a mile to go and had to cross two busy intersections, which made him question the school for not supplying a bus to take her home and her new parents, who weren't home to watch her until after six o'clock at night.

As other kids swarmed in front of him, he spotted River walking slowly along the sidewalk. He'd purposely parked away from the school to avoid drawing attention to himself.

He watched her wait for the crossing guards to escort her away from the school grounds, never letting her out of sight. Then, after three minutes of her walking to him, he assessed the situation.

He had zero experience with kids. When he was thirteen years old, the only things he worried about were what was for dinner and whether he could ride his motorcycle after school. By that time, he'd already recovered from his mom leaving, and his unsupervised lifestyle at Gem Haven was exciting.

River kept her head down, focused on the sidewalk, and lugged a backpack that probably weighed more than her. She wasn't aware of her surroundings and hadn't spotted him yet.

His chest tightened. Anything could happen to her.

He had other things to do than care for someone else's kid. Hell, he'd already failed at watching over the two girls. Half the time Kingsley checked up on Kenna, it took him months to find her again. The foster care system shuffled her around like a deck of cards.

River continued to walk right past him, unaware of him sitting three feet away. He whistled. She kept walking.

"River?" he called.

She stopped, turned around, and completely changed her expression at the sight of him. Gone was the solemn child who moped down the street. River's face lit up, and she ran, throwing herself at him without hesitation.

He chuckled. It'd been a long time since someone got excited over seeing him. Nowadays, most of Gem Haven's members avoided him because he'd gone from a young member to acting president. Even the bitches in the clubhouse were afraid he'd send them away.

"You came back." She squeezed him harder.

He set her down beside his bike and extracted himself from her fierce hug. "Told you I would."

"How long can you stay?"

"Three hours." That was the amount of time he had before her foster parents started arriving back home. "Do your foster parents check in with you after school?"

She shook her head. "They work all the time, and I'm old enough to watch myself now."

He looked around to see if they had gained any attention. Surprisingly, the buses had left, and the front of the school had emptied.

"I got an idea. You game?"

She nodded emphatically. "You want to play with me?"

Amusement filled him. River gave him a touch of innocence where the club problems couldn't touch him. If only for three hours.

He took his helmet and slid it over her head. The weight of it almost took her down. She was a little bitty thing.

"Can you climb on behind me?" He put the footpegs down. "Step up and see if your feet touch."

She banged her helmeted head into his elbow, his shoulder, and his back. He couldn't go far with her. She was a walking disaster with a helmet and heavy backpack.

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