Page 7 of Ky
I stayed there rooted in place, not so much as turning my head to look in Ky’s direction. I didn’t know what the hell he was doing and I almost didn’t care. I say almost because I couldn’t help but see that something was going on with him, and considering I thought of him as a good friend, I wanted to help. But he wasn’t letting me in. I knew Ky. I’d dealt with plenty of guys like him. The kind that kept their shit locked down tight. The ones that carried their burdens like a weighted blanket slung over their shoulder. Yes, I knew all about those types. The thing was, I wasn’t sure if I had it in me to go through it again. The whole getting close to someone only to have them keep resurrecting buildings around them in order to keep you and everyone else out. And just when you think you’ve found your way through the maze of walls, another one goes up right in front of you. Yeah, I hated to say it, but fuck all of that. It was exhausting and I didn’t need other people’s heaviness dragging me down if they just wanted to keep holding onto it.
Cami’s car rolled up beside Ky’s car and stopped. I did my best to school my expression but I was just one of those people that weren’t very good at hiding my emotions. I liked to talk things out. I was me, the happy and not so happy parts, and that was what you got whether you wanted it or not. And I wasn’t about to change because I rather liked the me that I was.
“You good?” Brand asked as he walked up beside me.
“Yeah, fine,” I practically grunted.
Damn, I’d been hanging around the gruff MC boys too long, I was starting to sound like them. I wasn’t a grunter, not even a little.
“What’s going on?” Brand pressed, and I wasn’t about to go into it, not here. I saw the elation on Cami’s face about coming out here and I didn’t want to dampen that for her, not even a little. With all the shit her and her sister had gone through lately she needed some good, happy moments. She was sweet and awesome and I found myself loving her like a little sister.
“Ky’s checking to make sure it’s clear,” I gave Brand some bullshit answer and mentally crossed my fingers that it would work. I knew it wouldn’t, but lucky for me, a bunch of loud, rumbling bikes came riding up and halted whatever Brand was going to say.
Charming, Mouse, Lake, and Tripp walked up and we chatted for a bit while Mr. Grumpy-pants got himself together. When Ky did finally walk over, Brand made a point to ask him if it was all clear and I might have winced, hoping that Ky could just play it off. I think he managed to, or Brand just decided to drop it for now.
“Chris you ride with Ky,” Brand called then let me know he was going with Cami.
“No, I think I’ve had enough of Ky’s speed for one night. Lake, you’re up.” I backed away from the car and made my way off to the side.
We all knew how this was going to go, but we still cheered on Cami as hard as we could. It was cute how she tried to tuck her apprehensions away and go for it. Though I was surprised she did punch it as fast as she did. They went back and forth a few times then it seemed like Cami and Brand were ready to get back to the compound. Yep, two guesses as to what they were going to be up to for the rest of the night.
I was happy for him. God knew, I loved that guy. He was like my damn long lost twin or something. I knew it was the right decision to move down here. It wasn’t that I was chasing him, though I could admit he did have a lot to do with the choice of location. The beach was a close second. And since I didn’t need to worry about money, the beachfront house was the perfect tranquility to the other side of my life, the one where I hung around these guys all the time.
I loved the MC boys, but they liked to party hard all the damn time. I think there were a few that didn’t even stop. Something was always going on at the compound or at the bar. I’d been around enough to know that some of them rarely slept.
I was used to the club life. I grew up in a small town where one-third of the population belonged to the head chapter of the Steel Paragons, or so it felt like. I worked at a bar that the vice president owned since I had turned twenty-one. I’d been around them for celebrations and through some of the harder times. And yes, I’d even slept with one of them. A relationship I’d never be able to define and one that I could never copy. And I wouldn’t want to.
So with Brand and Cami giving each other that look that said they couldn’t wait to tear each other’s clothes off, I had no choice but to ride back to the compound with Ky.
The only saving grace was that he drove fast enough to get us back in the blink of an eye. The ride may have been short but it was filled with a thick, heavy, silent tension. As soon as the car was in park, I hopped out and started to make my way back to the bar where my car was parked.
“Chris,” Ky called out and I could hear the strain in his voice.
I turned to face him and waited. His mouth opened but nothing came out. With a twinge of sadness in my heart, I decided that I had to let this whole thing go. I had to let the friendship that I had with Ky go.
“It’s fine,” I said, an odd, eerie edge to my tone. “Just don’t worry about it, Ky. I’ll see you around.” Then I turned and headed on my way without so much as a look back.
I didn’t need that shit and I wasn’t going to allow myself to get beat down by someone that obviously didn’t care.
