Page 27 of Falling Hard

I was learningthe hard way that trusting someone, or anyone for that matter, was the hardest thing to do. I wasn’t going to lie and say I hadn’t trusted Maiden because I had. I had put all my trust in him, and the result was, well, here I was, hot-wiring a car in the middle of the night.

I was so sick of people putting me down due to my illness. Fuck them. Fuck the lot of them. The two wires sparked, which was to be expected considering it was the oldest car in the lot because I couldn’t bring myself to steal a car that was actually needed.

A throat cleared behind me, causing me to jump.

“What the fuck, Critter!” My hand went to my heart. God, what was his deal? “Sneaking up on people is not okay!”

“Well, first off, it isn’t people, it’s you, and second of all, I think your dad would be thankin’ me.” He inhaled on his cigarette. “Start explaining, Emmeline.” He said my name in a singsong way.

“I’m leaving,” I said firmly, which caused him to arch his eyebrows at me. “And you can’t stop me.”

I was getting out of this MC tonight, no matter what it resulted in. I was leaving.

“You’re right.” He smirked. “I’m not gonna stop you.” He then opened the door wider. “I’m gonna help.”

My expression twisted. “Why?”

“I’m bored.” He shrugged like it was the most obvious answer. “And I want to piss Maiden off. Plus”—he leaned in—“I can see we have chemistry, so let’s see where it takes us.” He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

As long as it was far away from here, I honestly didn’t care, so nodding my head, I scooted to the passenger seat. To my surprise, Critter got the car running right away with just a tweak of the wires.

So now it was happening, the revolution was finally was happening, and I was leaving the MC life for the first time in my life. I inhaled sharply. Could I do this? Could I really turn my back on the MC life?

As Critter drove the car out of the lot, I couldn’t stop myself looking from over my shoulder at the only home I had known.

“So where we heading, Em?”

I felt like I was losing my mind. What the hell was I doing? “Go back!” I shouted.

Critter jumped on the brakes.

“What the fuck, Emmie? What’s wrong? We haven’t even made it out of the gates.”

My hands trembled. God, how was I going to make it without my support? I blinked back tears, and my head snapped up when I felt Critter’s hand on my knee.

“Come on, Em, tell me what’s going on.” His voice held a lot of understanding as if he had been in this situation before. “This isn’t like you, is it? Hot-wiring a car, which I’m now guessing isn’t just to get to a bar?”

I blinked, he honestly thought I was just hot-wiring a car to get to a bar or nightclub? Seriously? If I wanted a drink, I could have helped myself to the bar.

I now realized like when it came to everything in my life I would be giving up before letting something begin. Fuck this. Fuck second-guessing.

My gaze locked with Critter’s, and I realized nothing was going to put this fire out within inside me. I was finally ready to be a real adult.

“Can you take me to the family estate?” I asked, and he smiled.

“Your cousin is heading there too.”

I grinned. “Perfect.” I wanted to see her. This was going to be great, and it made me feel more comfortable knowing my cousin would be there when I arrived.

---