Page 56 of Banshee
“I’m sorry you have to babysit me—”
“That’s not what I fucking meant, and you know it. There is no other place I would rather be than with you. I just wish webothcould get the hell out of here.”
“Is that why you’re dragging me outside?” I asked as he took my hand and led me to the door. Without a word, we stepped outside.
“Amber!” I rushed down the steps and hugged my friend.
“You didn’t think I’d leave without saying goodbye, did you?”
“I knew you’d want to. But I couldn’t go to the clubhouse.”
“Hence, why I came to you.”
Tears filled my eyes as Amber and I talked. Massacre and Banshee sat on the steps while Amber and I walked through the yard and said our goodbyes.
“I’m gonna miss you.”
“I’m a phone call away.” She looked over her shoulder. “How are things with him?” she asked with a grin.
“Things are good.” I could feel the blush on my cheeks.
“I’m so glad. You deserve a happy ever after, Aspen. Especially after what you’ve been through.
“So do you, Amber. Maybe even more than me.”
She smiled and looked back at Massacre, who winked when he caught her. “I don’t deserve him,” she said. “But,” she continued before I could call her out on her bullshit, “I’m going to hang on to him for as long as I can.”
“Something tells me he won’t be so quick to let you go.”
“I hope not.”
We hugged again and walked back over to where the men were sitting. Massacre got to his feet and pulled Amber against him. “You ready, baby?”
“Now I am.”
Amber hugged me again and whispered in my ear, “Trust him completely.”
I smiled as she stepped back, and I felt Banshee’s chest just before his arms wrapped around me. Amber waved over her shoulder as they pulled away.
“I’m gonna miss her.”
“Everyone will,” he said behind me.
As I watched them ride off, I wondered when things would settle down. How long would this war last? Who would be lost? If there was one thing we could be certain of, it was that war always took lives with it. No one was safe, and more often than not, those lives were innocent. There was no getting away from that.
Barely a week later, it had begun.
The knock on the door was urgent. I rushed to answer it, and there stood Archie.
“What happened?”
Banshee came up behind me, his arm around my waist as I leaned back.
“Grayson had an accident. He’s in the hospital.”
My hand went to my mouth, trying unsuccessfully to hold back my gasp. Grayson was one of those innocent lives. He had opened his home to us, and it bit him in the ass.
“What happened?” Banshee asked.
