Page 10 of Ink & Reina

I tensed. I hated hearing that they were together—an official fucking thing.

Tensions had been high between her and Johnny. She was ripping her family apart, and she didn’t even realize it. Her mom had even begun to listen to me and Johnny. After hearing my horror stories, shetriedto get Reina to see sense. But then Reinayelled at her, claiming she just wanted Reina to be as unhappy as she was, and her mother spiraled again.

I hadn’t seen her since. As far as I knew, her mom had remained holed up in her bedroom, her depression taking her down again.

Bipolar depression, especially as bad as hers, was a shitty fucking thing to suffer from.

“How can you not see how bad he is for you, sweetheart?” I asked her, setting the tea on the coffee table.

She glared at me. I leaned my head back, glaring up at the ceiling for a moment. This was a never-ending cycle with her. I couldn’t even ask a simple question about him without her wanting to bite my fucking head off. It was just a sign of how goddamn bad Jordan was for her.

“I’m tired of hearing about this. None of you can provide physical evidence of why he’s such a terrible person. He’s good tome.”

I gritted my teeth. I could provide her with the evidence, but I didn’t want her freaking out. That healed wound on my side still throbbed sometimes with a phantom ache.

But I had a feeling that even if Ididshow her, she would want proof that it was actually Jordan. Because that was how deep his claws were in her.

He had brainwashed her so much already, and I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before he brainwashed her into thinking Johnny and I were the enemy as well.

Jordan was smart. He knew which girls to go for—knew how to hook them and have them hanging on to his every word. He’d had Reina hooked from the first word out of his mouth.

She’d been blind to all of his bullshit ever since.

Her doorbell rang. I gritted my teeth. I’d been at her house less than thirty minutes, and already, Jordan was here to whisk her away for the rest of the day. Healwaysdid this. Even if Itook her somewhere to try to spend uninterrupted time with her, he showed up wherever we were and talked her into leaving with him.

I suspected he had put a tracker in her phone, but considering she wasalwaysglued to the damn thing, I couldn’t check. And if I asked to go through her phone… yeah, that would go oversowell.

“Oh, that’s Jordan!” she exclaimed, her eyes brightening the same way they used to when she looked at me. She gave me a quick hug before rushing to the door. I stood and followed them out, glaring at Jordan as he kissed Reina, groping her ass before opening his car door for her.

What a douche.

He only smirked at me when she wasn’t looking. Shaking my head, I straddled my bike and spun out of the driveway, heading toward the clubhouse.

“You’restillnot ready to prospect?” Blink asked me as he dropped into a chair at the bar beside me. I nodded at Lindsey, Blink’s wife, in thanks when she set a plate of food in front of me. She smiled at me and patted my hand before disappearing back into the kitchen.

“Graduation,” I reminded him for the umpteenth time.

He was pushing for me to prospect. The entire club was, but I had a goal, and I was determined to graduate before I buried myself in the life of an outlaw. I was going to prove I was better than Jordan and my father. Graduating would be proof of that.

Blink heaved a heavy sigh. “Alright, alright. I’ll stop asking.” I smirked before I shoved a bite of food into my mouth. I knew as well as he did that he wouldn’t. “Anything on Jordan?”

I shook my head, my mood souring. “Reina won’t listen. Fucking Johnny is MIA—been MIA for a few days now.” He tended to disappear when he and Reina were on the outs. “Pretty sure he and Reina had a pretty big fight, but she’s not saying anything about it.” I frowned. “Jordan is changing her too quickly for me to fucking keep up with.”

And that was the truth. She wasn’t reading as much. Normally when she went out with him, her glasses were missing. Sometimes, when she went out on dates with him, her clothes were so provocative that I wanted to lock her in her fucking bedroom like an overbearing parent.

He stayed silent. I set my fork down, my appetite gone. “Maybe he really isn’t being an asshole with her,” I said after a moment. It was a thought I hadn’t wanted to entertain because Jordan wasn’t capable ofnotbeing an asshole. “Maybe I’m just being too much of a dick considering my past with him. He’s not doing any of his normal shit, Blink. He’s not fucking her. He takes her out. He doesn’t keep her out late.” I rubbed my temples. “None of itmakes fucking sense.”

“Maybe it’s time to cut your losses, kid,” Blink said quietly.

“Not that easy,” I grumbled.

I was in love with Reina. Shit with her would never be simple because of that.

Blink clapped a hand to my shoulder. “Love can be a right bitch, brother. Back off for a while. Let them do whatever it is they’re going to do. Sometimes, we just have to let shit play out.”

With that, he stood up and walked toward the back hallway where his apartment was. I sighed and got off the stool, walking outside, needing some air and some peace and quiet. Grim, the club VP, was sitting on a picnic table, a cigarette between his lips. He was an older guy in his thirties, and he was quiet. Never really said much.

Without a word, he offered a cigarette to me along with his lighter. I nodded in thanks and lit the cigarette, handing him back his lighter.

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