Page 14 of Q: Satan's Fury MC

“You heard me. I gotta get going.”

“Seriously?” she gasped, her hands falling to her sides. “We were just getting started.”

“Sorry, babe. We’ll catch up some other time.”

Without saying anything more, I pulled up my jeans and headed for the door. As I started down the hall, I couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt that was scratching at the back of my mind. I had no idea what I had to feel guilty about, so I decided to ignore it and headed straight to my room.

I was ready for this fucking day to end, so I took a shower and hit the sack. I was hoping I would pass out from exhaustion, but sadly, that didn't happen. Not by a long shot. Hell, I spent most of the night tossing and turning. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get Jules out of my head.

This chick really had gotten under my skin, and not in a good way.

She had me feeling off-center, and I didn’t like it.

I didn’t like it one fucking bit.

JULES

At night, when I’m lying alone in the dark and feel the walls closing in on me, it’s not my family that I miss.

It’s not my friends.

It’s me.

I miss the me I never got to be.

With every cruel word and excruciating blow, she was taken from me. I thought I’d lost her forever, but every now and then, I’d get a glimpse of her. It might’ve only been for a moment, but every time I saw her, I got a little stronger—a little less scared.

But more days than not my fear would take root, and I would be overcome by my insecurities—just like the day I met Q. I knew I had treated him terribly. I also knew he’d done nothing to deserve it, which had been weighing on me all week. To my surprise, my bad mood hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“What’s up with you?”

“Nothing.”

“No, there’s something.”

“No, there’s not. I’m fine.”

“I’m not stupid, Jules. Anyone can see that something’s got your thong in a twist.” Caroline cocked her eyebrow as she added, “You’ve been in a mood for days, so what’s the deal?”

“There is no deal.”

Even though it had been over a week since the festival, my stomach still sank when I thought back to my encounter with Q. I could still remember the way he looked at me when I was in my costume and churning butter. I’d liked the way he stared at me with that wanton look in his eyes, and I hated myself for it. I hated that he stirred something in me that I hadn’t felt in years. I didn’t want to feel those things.

Not now when I was finally starting to get my footing.

I knew Caroline would think I was crazy for feeling the way I did, so I told her, “I’m just tired.”

“There’s more to it than that, and you know it. Hell, you and that bad mood of yours are scaring the children.”

“What!”

“It’s true!” She stepped closer and pretended to cover her mouth as she whispered, “That poor child looked absolutely frantic.”

“What child?”

“Callie! The little girl who bolted when you were passing out the candied apples yesterday.”

“That wasn’t because of me!” I fussed. “She had to go to the bathroom, and you know it.”

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