Page 83 of Gunner

“Then maybe I shouldn’t be here.”

Hearing a loud gasp, I closed my eyes. I had forgotten Aspen was in the room. I needed to talk to her privately and explain. Turning to the woman that I had been working with, I walked over and sat at the table, ignoring the men in the room.

“Aspen, we should talk in private.”

“Haizley, I’m not ready to leave.”

“Nor do you have to.” I regarded King, waiting for confirmation. When he nodded, I turned back to the frightened woman. “You can stay here.”

“Not without you. I’m scared.”

“You have Diesel, now.” As if on cue, Diesel nudged his head under her hand and leaned against her leg.

“You spent all morning with him, walking around outside. That is incredible progress. And I won’t be gone forever. I will still come here for sessions with you until you are ready to leave. But there is no need for me to take up one of their rooms. You haven’t needed me outside of our sessions for days.”

Aspen bit her lip and nodded. She knew I was right. She had been doing really well, even before Banshee gave her the dog. She had gotten to know some of the men really well. I found it interesting that two of the biggest men here, Tank and Big Ben, were the ones she seemed to feel the most at ease with.

“Can you stay tonight? And tomorrow we can work out a plan?”

“Yes, I will stay one more night.”

Her shoulders dropped and the tension visibly left her body. With Aspen settled, I stood and walked back to King.

“I appreciate you allowing me to stay for Aspen. But if I am going to start meeting with people in person, I need a proper place to hold sessions. The room I have been staying in is not it. I also will not subjectanypatients to undo animosity or harassment.” Silently reminding him that he had asked me to speak with someone who might not want everyone to know.

“May I suggest you continue to stay here for Aspen, but maybe meet patients outside the compound? A slower transition for her could only help, right?”

I narrowed my eyes at the club president. I knew when I was being manipulated. He was right, though. That was what I haddecided earlier, before all this bullshit about how they all felt about Derek, and me being Gunner’s woman, started.

“I will consider it.”

“That’s all I ask.” He turned and walked down the hall without another word, knowing he had won. Though, I wasn’t sure what battle he was fighting.

Goddammit!

“Aspen, I am going to go upstairs for a bit. You’ll be ok here?”

“Yea,” she said quietly.

Hurrying from the room, I jogged up the stairs. I needed some time to myself. As a therapist, it was important not to get too caught up in the lives of your patients. That was something I hadn’t forgotten, just ignored over the past week and a half.

Entering my room, I locked the door and tossed myself on to the bed. Today had been a lot.

What am I doing?

Why am I here?

I never got this involved in my patients’ healing. I was a facilitator, not a security blanket. Rolling over, I pulled out my phone and dialed my best friend. I needed to talk this shit out with someone who would understand and not judge.

“Hey, bitch, where the hell have you been?” Typical Missy.

“I’m sorry. The last few days have been a shit show. I broke the cardinal rule.”

“You slept with a patient?”

I chuckled at her gasped outrage. “Technically, yes. But not like you’re thinking. I have a patient who was drugged and raped. The first two nights out of the hospital, I slept in her bed with her. She was such a mess. The third night, she slept alone, but I didn’t get much sleep with the nightmares she kept having.”

“Oh gosh, Haiz. I feel awful for her.”

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