Page 15 of Being Us (Next Generation 4)

“Good.” I gathered my things and headed to the door. Stopping suddenly, I gave my apartment one last look before I stepped out into the hall. “I’m paying this month’s rent and next and then I’m gone.”

“Where are you going to go?” Rowan asked, concern evident in his voice.

“I’ll find something.” It wasn’t like I had a lot of friends, if any at all. I did know some people, but most wanted me dead. Rowan was the only person I even considered more than just an acquaintance. Which wasn’t saying much when half the time, I only contacted him because I needed something.

“Be safe, Tanner, but get the fuck out of there. Whatever you do.”

“I’m on it.” I disconnected the call.

Stopping in front of the super’s door, I slipped some cash underneath it, along with my set of keys. The hundreds I left him should help him a bit.

Standing up straight, I couldn’t help but feel…off. Trigger and I had traveled these halls so many times these past few months. I knew he would die. It was a given with his age and all but the way he went, was uncalled for. There was no reason for it. The guys could have come after me, but they didn’t have to bring my damn dog into it.

Trigger was a part of me. He was the piece I had been missing from my life. A piece I never knew I needed. He kept me sane and calm, and prevented me from committing murder. Now that he was taken from me, I wasn’t sure what I would do. I feared that I would fall back into myself or worse. That darkness would consume me. It had threatened to destroy me once before. I couldn’t go back to that. But I had a feeling that I would meet that darkness long before I found the light I had been searching for, ever since I was a kid.

When I reached the bottom floor, the homeless man was still sitting by the door. I didn’t know how old he was. Whether he was young or well into his elderly years. Either way, it didn’t matter. I gave him a few hundred-dollar bills, hoping it would help him.

“Thank you,” he murmured.

Those two words forced me to a stop. I glanced down at him. He had never thanked me before. Why now? But as much as I wanted to find out, I had to leave and find somewhere to lay low. I just wasn’t sure where that would be.

Taking the back alleys once again, I eventually ended up in a suburban part of the city. I wasn’t sure how I got there. The pain in my shoulder and the anxiety rushing through me, must have forced me to black out once or twice because the next thing I knew, I was standing at the backyard of a small bungalow. The yard was huge, with a swing set off to the side. It looked homey and inviting. Nothing I had ever experienced before, even as a kid.

The lights were on in the house but I couldn’t see anyone moving around in it. Maybe they were in another part of the home. Or maybe they weren’t actually there at all. But it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like I had a lot of options.

I looked behind me, tempted to run back into the forest I had just come from. Glancing down at myself, I noticed the tear in my shirt. The fabric must have torn on the fence I had jumped. I shook my head, trying to gather my thoughts, but was overwhelmed with everything that had happened tonight. The events of the night were all jumbled together.

The fact I needed to get the wound in my shoulder sewn up, pulled me forward when a woman came into view. Just the mere sight of her had me stopping in my tracks. My breath caught in my throat. Something foreign inside of me stirred. Something that had been dormant for so long, I thought it had disappeared for good, slid to the surface. I wasn’t even sure it had ever been there in the first place. It wasn’t like I was a stranger when it came to sex but I never went out of my way for it. But this woman made me want to drop to my knees just to have her smile.

The woman, whoever she was, brought a glass of red wine up to her lips. Her hips moved back and forth, like she was dancing to a tune that only she could hear. She placed the glass on a table before reaching up to her dark hair and pulling out the elastic. Her hair fell down her back in curls. It was so long; the ends almost reached her ass.

I licked my lips, letting my eyes linger down the length of her when I knew they shouldn’t.

She bent over, showing me that full round ass of hers.

My dick throbbed.

I took another step forward when the wound in my shoulder reminded me what happened earlier tonight. Agony sliced through me, forcing my vision to fade in and out. The knife must have gone deeper than I thought.

“Fuck,” I breathed, grabbing onto the nearest item to keep me from falling to the ground.

I wasn’t sure how deep the knife had gone but I knew that I had lost a lot of blood. I wasn’t a big guy, tall yes, but I had lost weight over the past few months.

I should have gone to the hospital, but they would ask questions. Questions I wasn’t ready to answer. Not like I had the answers anyway. Just that Tommy fucking West took over my club, stole a rival club member’s Old Lady and who the hell knew what else. I also couldn’t risk getting the police involved. I would rather die on the street than get locked up.

But as much as I wanted to deal with this on my own, I knew when I needed help. I just hoped the woman wouldn’t call the police before I died on her back step.

Bee

CYRUS AND SAMMY CAME TOcheck on me. Again. I had a feeling they would just to make sure that I actually stayed home. I rolled my eyes at the thought. Yeah, I was home and bored. I put music on just to liven things up a bit because I was wired. While Slipknot played in the background, I drank my wine and stewed. I wanted to do something fun, exciting, but my cousins liked to be downers and ruin what little fun I was allowed to have. I sounded like an ungrateful brat but at the moment, I didn’t care. Ididnotice how Sammy had been grumpier than normal when I saw him earlier in the evening. I went to ask why but Cyrus had shaken his head, silently warning me not to. I had no idea what that was about but was curious just the same.

Bringing the glass of red wine to my lips, I was about to sit at the dining room table when the hairs on the back of my neck tingled. My eyes lifted, a soft gasp lodging its way in my throat.

A large shadow stood in our backyard. I couldn’t make out what he looked like, but I knew that it was a man. A very tall one at that. The fact that I was by myself and there was a stranger standing in our yard, made me wish Sammy and Cyrus had never left.

My eyes flicked to my bag on the coffee table. I could call them or the police, but I had watched enough movies to know that the man might not actually be alone. One wrong move and it could be the end of me.

The large shadow stumbled.

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