Page 15 of Maximus

“I said I’m good.”

“Yea, but I know that ain’t the truth. My room is right next to yours, remember? I hear your night terrors. They sound really bad. I just want to help.”

“What the fuck are you, a damn therapist? Just leave it alone, man. I don’t want to talk.”

“Alright, but I’m here if you change your mind.”

Yardbird was a good guy, and I hated myself for taking out my frustration out on him. Luckily, he took it without offence. He was just trying to help. What he didn’t know was only the devil could help me now. I was thinking about having a chat with old Lucifer real soon.

Ten

Gia

Weeks had gone by, and there hadn’t been any progress between Maximus and me. As a matter of fact, it seemed between his duties with the club and getting rest, the man had no free time. It was to be expected as a prospect. His life would not be his own until he was patched over. Until then, his time belonged to the club. Anything they asked of him, he had to do. It was a crazy way of doing things, but it bred loyalty and trust.

The old saying out of sight out of mind was a big old lie. My mind drifted to Maximus throughout the day, every day. I had to sign up for an online class in psychology to distract myself. The course wasn’t part of a curriculum, I simply wanted to study about why people did what they did. It was my nerdy way of killing time.

I was standing behind the bar helping Chili restock the beer when she interrupted my thoughts. I had been daydreaming, once again, about Maximus’ lips and how they felt when he kissed my cheek in the store.

“Snap out of it, Gia. I swear if you don’t hurry up and seduce that man, you are going to dry up like the dessert.”

“Chili!”

“What? You know I’m right. You’re over there with your pussy salivating for Maximus instead of breaking off some of that good good to him. I know it’s gotta be tight. You’ve been here for months and haven’t given it up to anybody. If you wait much longer, you might just give him a heart attack when you do give it up.”

“Would you please stop? You know the walls have ears around here. I don’t need King shouting at me for disobeying his rules. If I am going to get yelled at, at least let me have done something nasty first.”

I toyed with Chili. She was a mess and lately had been rubbing off on me a bit. I still did not indulge in her crass language, but I wasn’t admonishing her for it either.

“Now you’re talking. All you need is for that fine ass specimen to come knocking on your door in the middle of the night offering to service you.”

“You are stupid, Chili. That man is not thinking about me. He never comes in the bar anymore. You know I haven’t even seen him since the shopping trip. Is he even here? I wouldn’t know if they sent him on a run or if he was standing outside that front door. You know why? Because I can’t leave the clubhouse. I am trapped in here like a prisoner. My skin is in dire need of some Vitamin D.”

“Your skin isn’t the only thing that needs Vitamin D. While I can’t help you escape this place, I do have a temporary solution to at least get you some fresh air. We need several cases of beer and liquor from the backroom. Here’s a list. Don’t be back there all day. We’re gonna have thirsty bikers in here in about an hour.”

“Thanks, Chili. I could use the break.”

I retrieved the list and headed to the backroom. There was a door that led outside. We sometimes propped it open to let in some fresh air, and maybe on a good day the sun would shine through. It wasn’t much, but I had to take what I could get. King didn’t care because the area it opened to was fenced in.

As soon as I entered the room, it felt like someone else was in there. I looked around but didn’t see anybody. Now, I was scared. I grabbed my phone in case I needed to call for help. That’s when I heard a weird noise emanating from around the corner. Whoever was in there was hidden from my sightline by the shelves with cases of spirits on them.Gee-whiz. I was literally shaking in my boots. Being a fraidy cat, I crept into the room using the light from the flashlight on my phone to guide my steps.

“Who’s there?”

Wait?Did I really expect someone with nefarious intentions to answer me? This was the stuff horror movies were made of. I stayed completely still and listened intently. This time, when the noise came, it was louder and more recognizable. It sounded like someone was crying.What in the world?It would have been one thing if it sounded like a girl. Maybe someone broke up with their man. But that grunt and the accompanying sobs told a different story. Those were masculine tears.

Sliding closer to the source of the noise, I turned the corner and got the shock of my life. Maximus was sitting on the floor in a dark corner with a gun in his mouth. His hands were shaking, and tears ran down his face like a waterfall. My heart melted, then stopped. I felt so bad for him. It messed with my head to see him so vulnerable. When my brain came back online, I slowly moved toward him to help. He was not eating that gun on my watch.

“Maximus, honey, what’s going on?” I said quietly, so as not to startle him. “Can you please put the gun down? You don’t want to do this.”

There was no answer, only more crying. His eyes looked like he was lost in a horrible memory. That’s when it clicked. This man was a former Marine. Could he be suffering from PTSD? I didn’t know him that well, but I did know he needed me. In that moment, I knew I would do anything to help him survive whatever hell he was going through.

“Maximus, sweetheart, you wanna tell me what’s going on? I just want to help. You can trust me. I won’t tell anyone.”

My heart broke as I looked at this big alpha male in the middle of a mental breakdown. I was so scared that my entire body was shaking. What would happen if he pulled that trigger? I needed to get him to give me that gun. He wasn’t responding to me verbally, but he managed to look at me. That told me he was present. His pain was written all over his distraught face.

“I believe you can hear me, so I’m going to tell you something to let you know you can trust me with your secret. You don’t have to say anything, just please don’t pull that trigger.”

I wanted so badly for him to nod his head in acknowledgement, but he just kept looking at me. The tears were slowing down, so I took that as a sign to keep talking. At least I wasn’t making things worse.

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