Page 68 of Bound By Temptation

Yes. I loved her. With every fiber of my soul, I loved her.

The door to the kitchen swung open and a, “Stop that! People eat stuff off those tables. Out!” Indie’s sister Meadow cried as we pulled away. “Anyway, we have a volleyball game to get to.”

“Shit,” Indie said, somehow getting out of my grasp and hopping down from the table. "Let me get this in the oven and tell Conner to get it out, and I’ll deal with it in the morning.

“Volleyball?” I asked, wondering what the hell they were talking about. Indie never played volleyball in school.

“Yeah, my oldest, Trinny, plays,” Meadow filled in. “She has a game tonight against her rivals, so we’re all going to cheer them on.”

“You have fun with that shit.” I moved to Indie, pulled her into my arms, and kissed her hard. “See ya later.”

Then I turned to leave, knowing I wouldn’t be without Indie for long. Now she was under my skin, and I had zero reason to pull her out.

23

INDIE

“You seriously cannot fuckhim on the counter in the kitchen. That’s so gross,” Meadow told me as I put the cakes in the oven and turned on the timers. She was right, but so wrong. I would’ve let Ax screw me six ways until Sunday on every surface of this place if he wanted to.

Not that I’d let him in on that little tidbit of information, but it was very true. I was completely and totally screwed when it came to Ax Monroe. As much as I hated to admit it, he was partially right.

I’d missed him. My soul missed him.

But how did someone get over such a betrayal? I couldn’t just sayoh you were young … it’s okay. That wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t okay. It wasn’t right.

It took me years to even try to get trust back within myself. Yes. I had my family but trusting a man had not come easily because of Ax’s actions.

If I closed my eyes, I could see myself in that same place as a teenager, crying and full of so much pain she didn’t know how to process it. Each moment like a ticking timebomb just waiting to explode at just the slightest touch.

Those years building myself back up, putting faith in myself, and finding my strength were the hardest of my life. I had to put walls up where there hadn’t been before, seal them with concrete, and reinforce them with steel.

But I’d done it. On my own and came out on the other end a woman who knew what she wanted in life. Knew what her priorities were. Knew her mind and inner strength. Knew the world around her could be cruel and how to survive it.

Sure, Ax stepped in from the bikers who wanted to attack me at the club, cooked dinner for me, and cleaned up my bakery when he made it a mess. All nice things, and with any other person, I might’ve given him more credit for it.

But it would take so much more before I could trust him.

I was still working on forgiveness because GramO always said that forgiveness was for you, not for the other party. Years later I was still working on that, which was so much easier said than done.

Ax now with his proclamations of being together and letting the past go. Did he really think it would be that easy? For him, he had no ramifications. In school, he was still the popular kid. He was still a biker. His brother was still his best friend.

The only one who got hurt from this was me. The innocent girl who fell in love with a boy with a reputation, and I should’ve known I would not be the girl he changed for.

But had he really changed? I just didn’t know anymore, and everything was blurring.

“Just stop. Let me get myself together,” I snapped at my sister harsher than intended.

“Yeah, considering there’s cake in your hair and probably up your shirt.”

“Dammit,” I growled, going to Conner and handing him the timer. “This goes off, take the cakes out. Marley will be here to close down the place. Got it?” He nodded, not saying a word. Did I look as crazed as I felt?

Nevertheless, I didn’t have time and turned back to my sister. “I’ll meet you there. I’m gonna go home and change first.”

“You’ve got an hour and a half. I came in early because I eat the shit here. No way do I want sex juice on it.”

“Now who’s being gross, woman?”

She chuckled. “Sad but true … but it is kinda hot. I’ll meet ya there.”

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