Page 20 of Nines's Time

Nines scans the bar before bringing his gaze to mine and smiles, taking one of my hands in his.

“What’s the special?” I blurt the question, not meaning to ask, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“It’s a burger and fries,” he answers as Jacks sets two beers on the table.

“Best burger you’ll ever have,” Jacks adds and holds a hand out in my direction. “I’m Jacks, owner of this place.”

I take his hand and smile at him. “I’m Meadow.”

Jacks looks to Nines, cocking his brow. “She your ol’ lady?”

“Old lady? I’m not old.”

“Yeah, Jacks, she’s mine. Make sure to spread the word,” Nines answers him, ignoring my comment about them calling me old. But then again, he surprises the hell out of me by calling me his.

“Will do,” Jacks says, rapping his knuckles on the table. “I better get back to the bar. Those burgers will be out soon. Holler if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Jacks. Appreciate it.” Nodding, Nines brings his gaze back to mine.

“What does old lady mean?” I ask without thinking.

“Ol’ lady, not old. It’s what we call our women. The title holds a great deal of weight in the clubs and those associated within. You’re an ol’ lady and no one fucks with you without repercussions from the members of the club and that woman’s ol’ man,” he explains.

“Oh, okay, but he asked if I’m yours, and I’m not.”

“Buttercup, let me explain a few things to you,” he says, releasing my hand to brush my cheek, then sliding his fingers down my jawline and cupping the back of my neck. “I’m not a man who doesn’t know when he sees something he wants. I’m also not a man who can’t tell when a good woman is in front of him and worth claiming. We might not know each other. But we’re gonna rectify that. We’ll take things at your speed on certain things and mine on other things. But I’ll tell you now, I’m not giving up on what we can have.”

“You won’t think that when I tell you the truth about who I am,” I whisper and drop my gaze to the table. I reach for my beer and lift it to my lips. I down half of it and look to Nines once more. “My life has been nothing but hell. From my first memory to the time I escaped the monster who raised me.”

“Meadow,” Nines murmurs, but I shake my head, stopping him.

“No, you need to know this. I told myself I was going to tell you my story so you would know what you’re getting into with me. Or so you can change your mind because you’ll see I’m not worth it and that I’m nothing but a disgrace,” I state and look away from him to glance around the bar to get my bearings for what I’m about to do. Thankfully, Nines doesn’t say anything further, and when I bring my gaze back to his, he’s staring at me oddly. I don’t know how to read his expression and not sure if I want to.

“My mother died when I was a kid, though I’ve always told myself she simply left me because I don’t like to admit the truth. The monster who raised me killed her. He beat her and always blamed me for it. That or he would inject her with a drug and make her compliant to do as he wished. He made her have sex with him and his friends.”

“Jesus.”

I ignore Nines’s muttering and keep going. “The older I got, the worse things became. My dad molested me for as long as I can remember. Before school. After school. The middle of the night. Whenever he wanted to touch me, he did. When I was old enough to work, he had me working at his shop and would do things there as well. I won’t go into detail. You can probably figure out what all happened. But it wasn’t until my eighteenth birthday that I realized there were more monsters out there. See, my dad let me date this guy. I didn’t know that he was in on whatever vile things my dad was a part of, but that day I learned because my ex-boyfriend raped me right there while my dad watched on while touching himself.”

“Fuck, Meadow,” Nines growls, his hand at my neck drops away as he shakes his head and releases a harsh breath.

“I told you I wasn’t worth it, and now you know. That’s not even my whole story. That’s just the synopsis of what I’ve lived through.”

“Meadow, look at me,” Nines commands, gripping my chin, forcing me to do as he says. When my eyes lock with his, I don’t miss the fire burning in his beautiful eyes. “That’s the last time you call yourself worthless. Yeah, you’ve lived through hell. You got dealt a shit hand in life, but you gotta get this, baby, you’ve taken that shit and made something beautiful with your life out of it. If anything, you’re one hell of a woman to be able to live through that and still escape it intact.”

“I’m not,” I whisper. A single tear slips and rolls down my cheek.

“Might not see it that way, but you will,” he declares and releases my chin to palm the side of my face. “I’ll prove it to you, and I’ll also tell you, you’re not the only one with demons. We’ll get into that another day. Tonight is about us having a good night and getting to know each other. We’ve had the heavy shit, now let’s enjoy the rest of it with good food, some beer, and I’ll take you for another ride on the bike.”

My breath catches in my lungs, and I’m unsure if I can breathe properly even if I want to. I’ve just told Nines about my past and yet he’s not looking at me in disgust. A part of me wants to believe, but another part, the one that fears the world is scared it’s all a game and he’ll cast me to the side when I least expect it.

“I did like riding the bike,” I admit, shoving my thoughts to the back of my mind.

“Good.” He grins. “You’ll be on it every chance I get to put you there.”

Before I can answer him, two plates are set in front of us. I glance down, and my eyes widen at the sight of the food piled onto the plates. This is definitely a lot of food.

I snag a fry and bring it to my lips. On the first bite, I moan at how good it tastes. Nines wasn’t kidding about it being good.

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