Page 14 of Ink & Reina

I wanted to shake her. Throttle her. Maybe it would finally make her fucking normal if I did.

“I hate you,” I seethed. She flinched, but I didn’t care. I was so done watching my tongue around her and tiptoeing around her mental health. I was herdaughter. Didn’t I fucking matter?

I stormed out of her room, slamming her door shut behind me. Johnny turned from the kitchen sink where he’d been rinsing out a glass and instantly grabbed my shoulders, bringing me to a halt.

“Easy, little sis.” His brows pulled low over his eyes. “What’s going on?”

“Mom isn’t coming to my graduation.” My lips trembled. I hated that she always upset me like this. She’d been like this basically my entire life, and yet, it still hurt. I never got used to it. I just wanted a normal mom—one who at leasttried.

Johnny drew me into a hug, holding me tight in his arms. “Just breathe. I know it’s hard, and I know it sucks. So, just breathe.”

Johnny had even driven all the way from college to be here today. Our relationship had been shaky for a while, but with time—and determination on my brother’s part—we were okay again. Closer, actually. He came home to see me every break he had, and we talked on the phone every single night, even if it was just long enough for him to tell me goodnight.

He made so much of an effort with me. Yet my own mother couldn’t even come out of her room long enough to come to my graduation.

“Why are you crying on your fucking graduation day?” Ink demanded as he strode into the kitchen. He was still proudly wearing his prospect cut two years later. He said it was normal. I personally thought it was taking him too long to become a member, but he was pretty tight-lipped about the club, so I didn’t know much.

“Mom,” I roughly answered. He drew me into a hug when Johnny released me, his arms strong and steady around me. I sniffled. “Thanks,” I whispered. “I needed this.”

Ink’s hugs were something incredible, and I craved him when things like this happened. He was my steady force when I felt like the world was falling apart.

Ink laughed softly. “Glad I could be of service.”

I giggled and stepped back from him. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, warming my soul. “Go fix your makeup so I can get you to the school in time for you to get in the line-up,” he ordered.

I quickly rushed off to the bathroom, smiling to myself. I was so thankful to have Ink a part of my life. He was my rock when everything started going awry, and he helped me rebuild my relationship with Johnny, giving me the courage to fix everything.

The subject of my ex was a sore topic still, so everyone avoided the topic like the plague. In fact, what Jordan did hurt so much that I didn’t even look up anything of his online. I preferred to pretend he never existed.

I just wanted to pretend my relationship with him never even happened. He’d gotten what he wanted from me, and he took off.

Simple as that.

Ink was the first person to reach me after the ceremony, and he grabbed me in his arms and spun me around. I squealed, laughing as I clung to his shoulders. He set me on my feet and grinned down at me. “Congratu-fucking-lations! You fucking did it, sweet girl.”

I giggled and threw my arms around his neck, unable to stop hugging him. Johnny tugged me away and spun me around next, except he didn’t stop spinning me until I gagged. He set me on my feet and ruffled my hair, making me frown as I tried to fix it. “Proud of you, little sis. You fucking did it.”

“I did it,” I breathed. I grinned, so glad this chapter of my life was over. Next was college. I frowned at that thought since I wouldn’t have Ink with me there. He’d made his choice to stay. He wanted to be a Savage Crows MC member, and I wouldn’t dare try to pull him away from that.

“Come on,” Ink said, grabbing my hand in his. “We’re going for a ride.”

And go for a ride, we did. He drove me on his bike all night long until I was too tired to ride any longer, and then, he laid out a blanket in a random field somewhere. We laid there together, our eyes on the stars, the sound of nature filling the silence.

“You have no idea how proud I am of how far you’ve come,” Ink said softly from behind me, his body curled around mine, keeping me warm.

“Thank you,” I told him, meaning it. “Your opinion means everything to me, Ink.” And it did. I valued what he thought of me.

He pressed a kiss to the back of my head. I drew in a deep breath. “Ink, are we going to stop being friends when I go off to college?” My voice cracked. I was suddenly emotional. I couldn’t lose Ink. If I lost him, I’d spiral. I knew it with every fiber of my being.

Ink softly laughed. “No, sweetheart. I’m still going to come see you two weekends out of the month. You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” he promised.

I breathed a sigh of relief, not even embarrassed by how much I needed him. I turned to Ink a lot for guidance and a break from the real world when everything became too much tohandle. And he was always there, ready to keep me from falling apart.

That night, for the first time ever, my best friend slept next to me, and those old feelings rose back up in me hot and fast as he held me tightly to him, his arms like steel bands around me, protecting me from all of the unseen monsters of the night.

I was falling for my best friend.

This couldnotbe happening.

---