Page 53 of Enemies to Lovers

I knew that he was fucked up before he’d come to the club.

I knew that things had happened in his life that he didn’t share with anyone, not even any of his club brothers.

I’d always assumed that he was head over heels happy with Laney.

And Lottie not even being his…

“Lottie not being your blood doesn’t change anything,” I said fiercely. “Holt’s not mine, but he’s mine.”

Audric nodded, seeming to understand what I was saying.

“Are you saying that you’re going to fight for him?” Audric asked. “For Baker?”

I gritted my teeth, not willing to answer that question.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do yet.

Other than I was sure that I was about to move into a shotgun house in the middle of the hood, displacing Audric for a second time in a month.

“Something’s telling me that I need to be here,” I said. “For now, that’s all I got.”

“That’s all you need…for now.” Audric slapped me on the back. “I’ll have everything moved out by tonight. Lottie’s with her grandparents again, it’ll be easy.”

I watched him go, but didn’t turn away from the window that was practically looking into the one that was only ten feet away from my own.

Baker didn’t have blinds yet, and I hoped she didn’t realize that she needed them.

Thirteen

May your success offend the shit out of people who don’t want to see you win.

—Baker’s secret thoughts

BAKER

I was tired, but otherwise okay.

Holt’s sleep regression was kicking my ass.

And I could tell he was missing Copper almost as much as I was.

At first, I hadn’t thought he noticed Copper being gone, but every time the door would open—Audric, Webber, and my dad checked in often—Holt would get all excited, only to deflate when he didn’t see who he wanted to see.

My heart lurched a little bit each time his little face would fall.

I’d definitely made up for lost time with my son, and now his every emotion—something that grew more and more every day—made my heart react in kind.

I had a feeling his sleep regression had a lot to do with a piece of his heart missing.

Which, might I add, had a lot to do with my own sleep regression.

Even when Holt finally gave up the ghost and went to sleep, I didn’t go to sleep. I laid on my side, facing what was once the direction of Copper’s room, and stared at nothing.

Though, now I stared directly into the house across from me. The one that was only ten feet away.

I’d never really understood the term ‘shotgun’ house. But now that I’d lived in one for nearly a month, I could tell that they weren’t my favorite places to live.

Long and narrow, Audric’s house was twelve feet wide and forty-feet long.

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