Page 53 of Faking it with the Bad Boy Bikers

“Oh, shit.” Vera tightened her grip on my arm and tried to pull me in the opposite direction we’d been walking.

I frowned and looked up to see our big brothers coming out of the diner, smiles on their faces. They looked downright smug as they laughed with each other, headed away from us. The pain I’d been feeling shifted into fury and I looked at Vera. “Maybe you should stay here.”

Before she could ask me why, I was already stomping down the street after our brothers. It was time to give them a piece of my mind.

“Hey!” I bent down, picked up a handful of little pebbles, and threw them at their backs. When they flinched and spun around to see who’d done that, they looked shocked to see me. I stomped closer. “You three have got to be the biggest pricks this side of the Mississippi! You have a lot of nerve. I should make you eat these rocks!”

West winced as I threw one more pebble and hit him on the forehead. “Jesus, girl! What the hell did we do to you?”

“You told them to stay close to me to make sure I didn’t fuck up! How dare you! You don’t even know me, yet you assume I’m this terrible person set out to ruin the good family name or something. Well, I’ve got news for you. The family name doesn’t mean shit when you treat your family the way you do, the way Mom and Dad did. You should’ve just been happy to see me when I came back. Normal brothers would’ve been. Instead, you three were determined to see me as a reckless asshole.”

Mills put his hands on his hips. “What’s got your panties in a twist this time, Nellie?”

I closed the distance between us and shoved him. “You told them to stick close to me! You sent them to me and they slept with me and it doesn’t feel very good to know that, once again, I’m the joke. I was a pawn to Mom and Dad and I’m a pawn to you.”

His face darkened. “Our parents deserve a little more respect than that, Nellie. They loved you.”

I laughed. “No. They loved you three. They loved the rest of our brothers and perfect Maxie. They tolerated Vera but they didn’t love me. They were glad to tell me to leave. They didn’t want to deal with me. They never did. You were gone but you’reso sure of who our parents were that you’d believe them over me. You’re the worst big brothers.”

“You wore them out! What were they supposed to do by the time you came along, Nellie?”

I shoved him again. “Stop having kids before they decided they didn’t want kids, maybe! And I love that you’re so sureIwore them out and not the eleven kids who came before me. You three with your wild antics never seemed to wear them out. So why me? Why was I the fucking punching bag for them?”

“Nellie’s right. Y’all didn’t experience it the way we did. You were gone by the time Mom and Dad were fed up with it all. They weren’t fair to Nellie.” Vera held my hand and stood by my side. “You owe her an apology. For asking grown men to babysit her and for being so mean to her. She didn’t do anything wrong. Our parents did. You did.”

“It’s not easy being in charge of everything. I’m sure they were just overwhelmed with the kids and the ranch. They aren’t here to defend themselves so you’ll have to forgive me for not shitting all over our dead parents.” Tate looked around and lowered his voice after noticing the crowd we were drawing. “You’re making a scene, Nellie.”

“If that’s your excuse for the way they treated me, maybe the three of you shouldn’t have kids. Ever.” I knew the words were harsh but I was tired and sad. “Why are you so ready to defend our parents, who aren’t here, but you won’t even listen to me? I’m right here. Alive. Breathing!”

“What’s going on here?” Seth’s voice was the last one in the world I wanted to hear right then. I felt like my nerves were all exposed and I couldn’t handle much more.

Mills groaned. “Stay out of it. It’s family business and you’re not family.”

Seth locked eyes with me. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

Mills started shouting about staying away from his little sister. Vera started yelling at Mills about minding his own business. Woodrow and Henry showed up and naturally fell into a shouting match with Tate and West. I stared back at Seth, both of us quiet. Then I remembered he’d be in cahoots with my brothers.

“No! Don’t come here and look at me like that. Not after what you did, working withthem.” I swung my glare around to Mills. “And don’t act like you give a shit what happens to me! We all know you’d be happier if I’d never come to town. Or if I left right now.”

“You’re not leaving.” Seth and Mills spoke in unison and then glared at each other some more.

“You asked them to babysit me!” I kicked Mills in the ankle. “And you! You agreed to it! You agreed to get close to me and you let me come onto you. You did things…”

Seth grabbed my shoulders when I tried to kick him. “What we did with you had nothing to do with your brothers. We care about you, Nellie.”

Mills roared. “Stop it! What the hell do you mean, they did things? What the hell did they do to you?”

“Why do you even care?!” I shrugged Seth’s hands away and scowled when I realized tears were streaking down my cheeks. I wiped them away and swallowed around a lump in my throat. “This is all so stupid. You’re all a bunch of jerks. I don’t even know why I tried.”

“You’re letting your asshole brothers color your judgement, Nell. We love you.” Woodrow’s gaze was intense as he looked past my brothers. “Ilove you.”

CHAPTER 42

Nellie

“I knew it!” Vera cheered.

“No!” Mills shoved Woodrow and without thinking I jumped onto his back. “Goddammit, Nellie, get off me.”

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