Page 48 of Timber

“Could have had it lasered off,” he bites out.

“That would have left some sort of a scar, jackass,” Axe says and I can tell he’s getting angrier the longer Smoke’s refusing to see the truth.

“You can see every single, very pronounced rib on the woman.” I pause as I pull my shirt higher until it’s right below my bra. “While yes, you can also see my ribs because Preston darn near starved me, they aren’t as pronounced as the woman’s in the picture.

“I was only allowed one very small meal at home, and the only other meal I got was when I was in school and that was the free lunches. Sadly, those lunches consisted of a cheese sandwich, milk, and a little fruit. Sometimes, it’d be a bologna sandwich, but that was rare. Since then, I’ve lived off one meal a day when Preston fully got his hooks in Mom and that meal was usually when I was working at the diner. It’s been going on for about thirteen years now. Another thing is that my hair is naturally blond, like yours. You can tell the woman in the photos has had her hair dyed because of her brown roots, that are about an inch long.”

“You could have been sneaking extra meals as of late and not telling anyone. You also could be lying about having natural blond hair,” he sneers.

I don’t miss the glares everyone’s giving him, especially Levi, who is twirling a pen in her fingers. Judging by the look on her face, I bet she wishes it was a blade.

Ignoring the curses from the others, I lower my shirt. Even though I want to shrink into a ball at the look Smoke is giving me, I give into my feelings and make them known.

“Holy mother of all flying monkeys in the sky! You cannot be this blind or pigheaded! I know how smart you are from the journals. How can you not realize or accept that it is not me in these pictures?”

Laughter rings out at my words, but I don’t break eye contact with Smoke. I cannot believe he’s being this dense.

“God, I love you, woman. If you weren’t my niece, I’d be adopting you as a sister,” Levi says as she laughs, though I can tell it’s strained. However, her words have my chest warming at her considering me family even though Smoke won’t have anything to do with me.

“God fuck damn, I love your version of cursing, Sunshine,” Timber rasps out as his laughter dies down.

“Yeah, well, with me trying not to swear, I had to get creative in expressing myself,” I mumble as I run a hand through my hair.

“Why do you try not to cuss?” Tripp asks as he looks at me in confusion.

It’s then that I realize only a few people know what I want to do with my life. “Because once I’m certified, I want to own and run my own daycare. No one wants someone watching their kids that cusses all the time,” I snap without meaning to.

My anger is rising at how Smoke continues to glare at me as if I was the person behind all of this. I never asked for any of this to happen.

Turning my attention back on him, I return his glare. “What more do I have to do to prove that I’m not the woman in the photos? That I am who I say I am? That everything I’ve said is true? That nothing of what you ranted about at me yesterday is true?”

I pause, but he doesn’t say anything. “I’ll take a drug test to prove I’ve never done any type of drug. I’ve never smoked. I’ve never had a sip of alcohol. After seeing how badly things got when Preston was drunk, I’ve never had the urge. I’ve never even been in a relationship with anyone, let alone a sexual one. Reason being is that I feared what Preston would do if he found out I was seeing anyone. Or make me do. I’ll even go to an OB-GYN so you can verify that my barrier is still intact. I know there’s no way to test that I’ve taken someone in my rear or mouth, but I haven’t done either of those things. Heck, my first kiss was from Timber yesterday.” My cheeks heat at admitting to everyone that I’m a virgin and Timber was my first kiss, but they need to know the truth.

“Also, to top it off, maybe you should have looked at the pictures even closer, because if you had, you’d have noticed the ducking time stamps on the backs! I was twelve and thirteen when these were taken. You and I both knowexactlywho it is in these pictures. It’s just for some reason, you have it in your head that it’s me and it’s not.”

I throw the rest of the pictures down on the table in front of him. I’m breathing hard after my rant, and I’m so angry that it hurts that he continues to not see the truth. He’s so blinded by his rage and his own hurt, that I’m not sure if he’ll ever see the truth.

That realization shatters something deep inside me.

Something that I don’t think will ever be repaired.

Mae is fucking pissed at Smoke, and she has every right to be. If he had just calmed down and looked at the pictures with a clear head, this part of the fucking fiasco could have been avoided.

I pull her into my arms, but her body remains tense, and she doesn’t break eye contact with Smoke. Looks like she inherited his stubbornness.

Turning to Thor, I raise an eyebrow in question. He shakes his head. Good, cause I think she needs to get out of here.

“Mae, why don’t you take everything you didn’t scan and give it to Alexei? He can finish up the rest and then return everything to you,” Thor says. His voice is gentle, but I can hear the underlying anger in his words. He’s fucking pissed and I think once Mae’s out of the clubhouse, shit’s gonna hit the fan.

“Come on, Sunshine,” I say and turn her around.

Thankfully, Axe already put her things back in her backpack. He hands it to me along with the scanner and laptop, and I lead Mae out into the common room where she grabs her phone out of the basket on the bar. Looking around, I’m surprised that they’ve got everything already back in order.

Alexei and Ethan immediately stand when they see us. I set everything down on the table they’re at.

“She’s already scanned a few things, but here’s everything. When you’re done, bring it to my house. Ethan, in a minute, will you walk Mae to my house? Afterward, come back and finish helping Lex.”

“You got it, Timber.”

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