Page 8 of Falling Hard

“Come on, Libby, open the door. It’s just me. Wake up. I’m not standing out here all evening!” shouted a deep male voice while the banging got louder.

Jolting upright, I placed my hand on my chest and gasped. Heart racing, I frantically looked around the room and noticed the clock reading the time. I slowly relaxed as I realized I must have fallen asleep. Crawling out of bed, I opened the door groggily.

“Well, good evening, sleeping beauty. Did I interrupt your cat nap?”

“Critter, what the hell are you doing here? I thought you were upstate for the next few months?” Wiping my eyes and blinking them rapidly, I tilted my head to the side, still not fully awake and believing the tall, bald man dressed in a black T-shirt, dirty, ripped jeans and his leather vest.

“Aww, shucks, I’m happy to see you, Critter. Why, thank you, Libby. I’m happy to see you too. I’m so glad my dad sent you to babysit me instead of one of the old, much less good-looking guys. Why, thank you, Libs. I’m happy to be of service to you too,” he said, dramatically playing out the made-up conversation he thought should have gone down while grinning madly.

I chuckled and smacked his shoulder as he walked in.

“Way to avoid the question, Critter.” I raised my eyebrows at him, immediately picking up that he’d dodged the question. “Let me guess, club business, right?” I smirked at him as he followed me into the room.

“Yeah, you could say”—he looked at me sheepishly—“club business, plus I heard your old man was going to be in town, so I figured, hey, why not take the opportunity to come visit one of my favorite ladies.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me suggestively.

“Eww, no, Critter! Just no! You’re like a brother to me!” I locked eyes with him. “An unwanted big brother, might I add. Plus, there’s no way, no how, never in any lifetime will that ever happen between us again.” When he opened his mouth, I knew it was to challenge me, so I added, “You’re a manwhore, and I will never put up with your less-than-pleasing ways! Now that’s settled, you can just go and make yourself comfortable in the chair over there while I go back to bed.” I grinned knowing full well he was not about to let me go back to sleep.

Flynn—a.k.a. Critter—might be twenty-five, but he acted like he was twelve. I’d known him since I was fifteen and he was twenty-one when we’d instantly bonded over our love for animals. I happened to find out his soft spot when I found a baby squirrel that had fallen out of its nest during a club party.

I had tried to find a way to return it to its home, but the tree was huge, and I had almost broken my arm trying to climb it. Critter, wasted as fuck, had stumbled upon me and noticed the tiny squirrel in my hands. He’d immediately started yelling about how cute and fluffy it was and then began to rant about how, one day, he was going to have a furry critter of his own, and it would be his princess. Then he proceeded to haphazardly climb the tree and put the baby back safely.

Needless to say, the men who saw him do this all busted out laughing, and anytime there was a little critter around, they proceeded to rag on him about it. Hence, the road name Critter.

He also happened to be one of the only people who knew everything about me. He still sought out my company even after he’d witnessed a bad anxiety attack the day my father came back to the clubhouse with a bullet wound to his shoulder. I freaked out and had to be rushed to the hospital because I was hyperventilating so much I lost consciousness and hit my head pretty hard on the concrete. Critter had accompanied me to the hospital and spent the whole two days I was there cheering me up by telling stupid jokes and flirting with me shamelessly. Ever since then, I knew he would be a dear friend to me, and he was.

“Oh, I don’t think so, Libby. You’re not going back to bed. We are going out tonight.” He grinned at me. “Come on. Get ready, and before you even start to complain, I am not taking no for an answer. You’re like a hermit who lives in your shell. You need to get out more, so get up, and get ready to leave,” he said, his face scrunched up as he tapped on his nonexistent watch.

“Aww, come on, you know I don’t like crowded places. It makes me feel uncomfortable especially since I have a feeling I won’t know anyone besides you.” Did I have to remind him about last time? By his expression, I realized yes indeed, I had to remind him. “The last time you took me out it was to a bar, and you ditched me for some busty blonde. I had to walk back to the clubhouse, remember that?” I then added a remark about how I doubted he had run the idea past my father.

“I may have mentioned taking you out tonight. I just didn’t tell him where we were going, and he told me if anything happened to you, he would gut me alive. Does that make you feel any better?” He had a smile on his face as he said it, and I wondered if he realized my father was serious about the gutting him alive comment if something happened to me.

“Now get your ass moving, woman!” he ordered, pointing to my bag and tapping his foot drastically.

Laughing, I grabbed my backpack and walked into the bathroom to get myself ready, knowing there was no getting out of this. I applied minimal eyeliner and mascara and a touch of light-pink lip gloss and looking at myself in the mirror, I debated how much effort I really wanted to put into my look tonight. I put on a light-gray tank top and some black yoga pants, then pulled out my aviators and put them on the top of my head.

“What do you think? Is this okay?” I asked Critter, who was busy typing away on his phone. As I came out of the bathroom, I did a quick twirl.

“Hot damn, maybe we should just stay here, and I can keep you all to myself,” he said, trying and failing horribly to sound sexy. He moved forward and grabbed my hips, trying to pull me closer to him.

“That is never going to happen. Like I said, you are like an older brother to me.” I laughed and attempted to squirm out of his grasp but failed miserably as his fingers dug into my sides. His intentions were fully clear now as he began his onslaught of painful tickle torture.

“I will not stop, munchkin. I will tickle you to death for refusing me some lovin’.” He pressed me against the wall to halt any attempts to escape.

“Critter!” I squealed. “First of all, I’m not that short. I’m five foot three, and second, if you don’t stop, I’m going to pee myself!” I laughed and tried to shove him away as hard as I could, but to no avail.

“If you think a little pee is going to stop me, you’re absolutely right. That is gross, Libs. Way to kill the mood.” He laughed and backed up, his eyes going to his phone. “Ah, shit, we gotta go if we want to get there on time. You ready?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m good to go. Again, where are you taking me?” I grabbed my phone and wallet while asking myself internally if I should be worried. “We aren’t going to a bar, are we? You know I am not a fan of places full of drunken people,” I said wearily as I grabbed my black leather clutch with white skulls all over it. I shoved my phone, wallet, and hotel key inside before turning to face him as he winced a little like he’d been caught red-handed.

Already not liking the look on his face, I questioned my decision to go along with him, knowing full well a large part of me just wanted to stay in the hotel room, curl up on the bed, and read a good book or watch a movie. I wanted anything except to go out and be social, but at the same time, excitement bubbled to the surface.

“Well, you see, there’s something huge going on, and I really wanted to go, and then it was sprung on me that I needed to come to keep you company—not that I mind, anyway, because I love spending time with you, Libs.” I could tell by the sound of his voice he was honest. “And if you really love me and consider me your most favorite brother from another mother, you’ll come.” He grinned hesitantly at me, knowing he was asking a massive favor. “I promise I’ll stay by your side the whole night, and nothing bad will happen, you can trust me,” he practically begged, heading for the door and holding it open for me.

Trust, now that was a four-lettered word that was very hard for me to do. Living the life I did and seeing the things I’d seen, having been backstabbed more times than I could count and being an overly paranoid person, trusting didn’t come easily.

Did I love Flynn like a brother? Yes, of course, but did I fully trust him? Absolutely not. The only person I trusted with every ounce of my being, and probably the only person I would ever really trust, was my father.

“Just spill it, Critter. You know the suspense is killing me. I’m not a patient person, and I can make your life miserable if you don’t tell me.” I needed to know details so I could prepare myself emotionally and mentally. Honestly, on second thought, I didn’t even know why I agreed to go so willingly in the first place.

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