For hours now she was lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling. What the hell was this with Miles? Whatever it was, she felt really uncomfortable. Was she the girl he had talked about? Why had he offered her to do the same as Happy had done for her? And then her thoughts turned to Happy again. Slowly, she closed her eyes and imagined him lying next to her, holding her in his arms. Would that ever happen again? Should she tell him that she is back home? She hesitantly reached for the phone lying on the bed next to her.
Hey, I just wanted to tell you that I'm back home. Thank you again for the visit in the morning, you were really a great help, she sent the text and sighed softly. Could she ever be his Old Lady ? No, but she could still dream.
There were so many thoughts buzzing through her head, but most of all the fact that she couldn't have children anymore. Without even realizing it, she put a hand on her stomach and ran her thumb across it. The thought of never being pregnant broke her heart. She would probably quit her job tomorrow and look for something where she wasn't surrounded by children. That was the best for everyone.
. . .
Happy was just having his way with Rowena as his phone buzzed. The times he got messages that were not club related were countable on one hand, so he couldn't ignore it. With a grunt, he pushed the girl away as he grabbed his phone from the nightstand. He opened the text and stared at the words for a while, immediately thinking back to her love declaration that morning. Great. What should he answer? He couldn't think of more than No problem, take care and tossed the device away. Rowena's fingers glided down his hard member and a moment later he felt her lips around it. He however was no longer in the mood because he knew it would hurt Faye if she knew what he was doing now. "Leave," he told the whore.
A little confused she looked at him, but instead of asking questions she nodded and started to clothe herself. Right before she left the room she looked over her shoulder, hopefully, as if she hoped he would change his mind, but he didn't and she walked away.
Sighing, Happy leaned back on his bed, thinking about the time he had been here with Faye. Part of him knew that shouldn't happen again, but deep down he also knew that it definitely would make her feel better and that was worth something as well...
. . .
Faye quickly checked her phone when she heard it buzzing. It was a short reply, maybe he was with someone else or club business. Or he wanted to stay away from her. Sighing, she took all her courage and dialed his number.
Happy stared at the screen. She was calling him. Why? Was there something wrong? A minute ago everything seemed to have been fine. Was she drunk again? Then it was probably wiser to ignore her, but the little, little chance that there could be really something wrong, made him pick up the phone.
Faye was hella nervous, but she needed to tell him what had happened between her and Miles. He was pretty pissed as he left, so who knew what he would do. And yeah, she wanted to hear his voice. "Hey uhm... I don't want to bother you but it's about Miles." She told him every single detail of what had happend. "And now I'm kinda afraid that he could say something to Clay because I rejected him."
"He won't," Happy assured her. "He knows I'll kill him, but I'm gonna pay him a visit to beat some sense into him. Has he lost his fuckin' mind? He can't say those things to you." He gritted his teeth.
"Yeah, he probably won't... but if he does, we both have a problem. But don't be too hard on him, otherwise he'll be even more pissed," she murmured softly. "I think he just said it because I was drunk and thought that I wouldn't remember his words tomorrow."
"You won't have a problem," Happy assured her, knowing it was true. Clay would never ever do something to his daughter. "And I don't care what he was thinking, this was off limits."
"I know, but you'd have a problem and I don't want that," she replied quickly. A smile formed on her lips when she listened to his voice, his words. "What are you doing right now?"
"Eh not much," he said. "I was in bed when you called," he answered, not entirely sure what the meaning of that question was.
"So you don't have anything to do right now?" she asked, sitting up, running her fingers through her hair. "Maybe... uhm... maybe you want to meet somewhere? I can't sleep and I'd like to be with you..." she said quietly.
Happy sighed. "I don't think we should, Faye. I think we should keep our distance until your feelings for me are gone."
Faye swallowed, tears itching in her eyes. "You really think my feelings for you will ever go away? You know that won't happen. So... we'll keep our distance forever now?" Her voice trembled.
"Don't say stupid things like that," he grunted. "Or course they will go away. You'll find the right guy, I'm sure of it."
"Stop! Grace said that too, but you all don't get it, right ? I love you Happy, I do since... I don't know, months? You're the person I think about before I fall asleep, when I wake up. It's not that easy!" she sobbed, trying to keep her voice down because of her parents.
"Months?" He couldn't help but laugh. "Girl, that's barely worth mentioning." He had been afraid she had been in love with him for years, but this gave him good hopes that she would get over it.
"I mean... I fell in love with you around two years ago but I love you since... a few months," she said through gritted teeth. "You know what? Fuck you. Keep fucking your stupid whore." She hung up before he could notice that she started crying.
Happy sighed. That had been harsh. But maybe it was for the best, maybe she would forget about him when she would hate him.
Faye threw away her phone, stood up and got fully dressed again. She felt sick, was hurt and wanted to get away from here for at least a few hours. Maybe Grace had a better evening with Juice than she had.
. . .
With the back of her head Grace leaned against his chest, feeling content in his embrace. Her thumb glided along his knuckles. They kept standing there for a while, until Grace realized she really had to go. Going away wouldn't become any easier anyway. She freed herself from his arms and walked to the hallway. Right before she opened the door, she turned around and gave him another long kiss and a brief hug. "This was an evening I will never forget," she said with a slight blush.
"I won't forget it either," he told her, stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers. He put on his shoes and followed her outside, it was dark and there was no way he would let her go alone, especially not now.
Grace frowned as she saw a man sitting on his bike, who had been playing on his phone and put the device away now he saw them. He had clearly been waiting for them. It was too dark to see who it was, and she looked over shoulder to Juice.
He laid an arm around her shoulder and looked at the man on the bike, immediately recognizing him. "What are you doing here?" he asked Miles, stepping closer.
"You won the bet, right? Thought I'd come and congratulate you in person, have a beer to celebrate it. You won 350 bucks by getting into the church girl's pants and you told me you would do it here tonight, so I figured it was a hint you wanted to get paid immediately." With a smirk Miles pulled his wallet out of his pocket and took out the money, waving with it. He looked at their faces. Both their eyes were wide, they were clearly in shock. Oh, this was wonderful. This cheered him up immediately.
Grace could only stare at Miles. What... what was going on? Had they bet on who would get into her pants? Tears jumped into her eyes as she turned towards Juice. "Was this... was this only to earn money? Some sick game with your friends?" She stepped away from him. Her whole body was shaking. He had played her and she had been unbelievably stupid that she had fallen for it! How could she have been so naive?! "Oh I've been so stupid," she sobbed, rubbing her eyes because she didn't want to show those assholes how hurt she felt.
"Yeah, you were," Miles smirked. "We already took the bet the first day you showed up. Rat, me, Sack, Hap, Juice... even Faye." He laughed.
Grace stepped away from the two men, her legs wobbly. Even... even Faye? None of them had truly liked her, it was all about the money?
Juice stared at Miles, his body tensed and the urge to beat the shit out of him arose in him. "You stupid asshole," he growled, pushing him so hard that Miles almost lost his balance. He wanted to beat him, yell at him, he even wanted to see him dead on the ground right now, especially after he looked at Grace. There was so much sadness and even anger in her eyes that it broke his heart to see her like that. She was an innocent girl, she had trusted him and Miles destroyed everything with a few sentences. "Grace, listen, I'm sorry, okay? Yes, there was a bet but I only joined to keep the others away from you. I thought they'd give up if they saw that you're with me..." he tried to explain, grabbing her face. "And Faye... she joined because of the same reason, that's a thing I can promise you."
"Don't touch me." Grace slapped his hand away from her face. "That lame excuse is even worse than the whole bet. You think I'm really that stupid? You could have told them that I was with you without joining the bet." She shook her head, anger and pain were rushing through her. "I can't believe you did this to me," she said as a tear rolled down her cheek. She turned away from him and wanted to walk to the street.
Miles was still leaning against his bike with a smirk on his face. "Asshole," she hissed. The look in his eyes filled her with anger and after a small run-up she ran into his bike so that it fell over, the man still on it. He fell backwards on the ground, his bike partly on top of him and for the first time in her life Grace wished someone was hurt. Rubbing the tears from her eyes so she could see were she was walking, she headed for her car.
"We're not done here," Juice hissed to Miles as he ran past him, following Grace to her car and grabbing her arm. "We just met for the first time, Grace! I-I didn't want to seem like... I don't know but I'm sorry!" His voice sounded desperate and he had no idea what he could say to make her feel better, to believe him. There was nothing he could do about it. "Shit Grace... you can't believe I really just wanted to get into your pants! I was about to meet your parents, would a guy really do that if he wasn't interested in a girl?" A big lump formed in his throat, he tried to swallow it but he couldn't. "You can hate me, I get it... but please let me take you home, you can't drive like this." He looked at her worried.
"No, I never want to see you again, Juice. And stop acting like you care so much about me all of a sudden, 'cause you hurt me more than a car crash would do." She breathed in heavily. "But fine, I'll wait in the car until I've calmed down."
When she said the words 'car crash', it immediately reminded him of Faye and especially Zobelle and his guys. It hurt him, it really did, but maybe it was for the best if they wouldn't see each other right now. "Yeah, you're right... I shouldn't prentend like I care." He tried to control his voice, making it sound firm, but internally he wanted to beg her to forgive him.
Grace stared at him in disbelief. Against her better judgement, she had hoped that he was really sorry. "I don't even know who you are," she whispered, tears stinging in her eyes. Sniffing, she opened her car, got into it and slammed the door shut. The moment she sat in the seat, she started crying. She had wanted to wait until he was gone, but she couldn't control herself any longer. Tears streamed down her face and she bowed over the steering wheel, clinging to it. She felt so stupid. She had really believed he wanted to be her boyfriend, that he had wanted to meet her parents, even though they barely knew each other. She should have known that could never be true, that he had only given her illusions so she wouldn't stop him undressing her, touching her... The thought that his fingers had been inside her, made her feel sick and her stomach cramped. He had been so close to taking her virginity, he had almost begged for it. How was it possible she had let it come that far? Why was her resistance crumbled down as if she had no dignity at all?
Her reaction hurt him. He might not know her for long, but he just didn't want to lose her ‒ which he currently had. "I'm sorry," he muttered, and he couldn't watch her being so hurt. Instead, he approached Miles, grabbed him by the collar and held him against a car standing next to him. "Do you realize how stupid this move was?" he growled dangerously, hitting him with his fist in the face. "You idiot mentioned Faye, she's going to hate you... and I don't think Clay likes this!" A second hit followed before Juice let go of the man whose nose was bleeding now. "You better stay out of my sight the next few days!"
Miles snorted, wiping his nose to his sleeve. His back hurt because that stupid bitch had pushed over his bike and there was even paint damage. He looked at Juice again. "As if Clay would care about that dumb church whore."
"No, he doesn't care about Grace, but he does care about his daughter. You really think Grace will hang out with her again?" he shook his head and put a cigarette between his lips, taking a few deep drags, but it didn't help to calm down.
Miles shrugged his shoulders. "She's a church girl man. I bet Clay is happy she's gone. It's your head she's in man. You should be glad I saved you from her, before she drags you into a church and forces you to kneel down before a pile of wood."
"Shut the fuck up. She didn't force me to do anything. But now she thinks I forced her to something!"
He chuckled at Juice's words. "Well, was she good? Was it worth the drama?"
Juice turned his head to look at him. "You really wanna do this, huh?" Juice put out the cigarette on the ground and stepped closer again.
Miles took a step back. His back hurt like hell, so he wouldn't win a fight. "Okay, I get it. She definitely wasn't."
Juice turned Miles around, grabbing him by the neck and slamming his head against the car. "Say it again..." he growled in the man's ear, slamming again.
Miles screamed as his face hit the car. He heard his nose break and a flaming pain spread across his face. "The fuck man!" he yelled. "It's just a bitch man, calm down!"
Juice felt satisfied as he heard Miles' nose break. He deserved it. "She's not just a bitch, asshole," he replied coldly, slamming his head against the car one more time. "And now you leave, otherwise you won't be able to walk home again."
Miles spitted out a blob of blood at Juice's feet and gritted his teeth. He wanted to yell at him for doing this, but there was still a little bit of sense left convincing him he was still a prospect and that he would really fuck that up if he kept pushing this way. Without saying anything, he climbed on his bike and rode home.
"Wise decision," Juice muttered angrily and he went back to his apartment where he slammed the door behind him. His eyes fell on the sofa on which he had been lying moments ago with Grace. Anger, disappointment, all these feelings rose inside him. And he had been stupid enough to let Grace go. He got a beer from the fridge, opened it and took a long sip. He didn't know what to do next. He had lost her for the time being. Faye had lost her.
. . .
It took almost ten minutes before Grace was able to drive home. As soon as she'd entered the house, she went to her room. The moment her body hit the mattress, she started crying again. She had fallen so hard for him, he had completely blinded her.
"Grace?" A soft voice sounded after a while. Grace didn't answer, but her mother came inside anyway. "Sweetheart, what happened?"
She could hear the shock in her mother's voice and felt how she sat down on the bed. Her fingers stroked her hair, but Grace slapped her hand away. She didn't want to be touched be anyone.
"Did something happen with Adrian?"
Grace took a deep breath, trying to man up. She didn't want to cry so much because of a man. "I wasn't with Adrian," she muttered, still lying with her back towards her mother, staring at the wall. "I had a date and it ended bad."
"Oh baby..." Her mother sighed, stroking her shoulder. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because he was a biker and I knew you wouldn't want me to go. But guess what? You were right. He was just an asshole who was trying to win a bet by... kissing me." Sniffing, she turned around. "I really liked him, mom. It really felt like... he was the one."
"You thought a biker would be the one?" her mother asked disapproving.
"He was sweet. I know it was stupid, okay? But I felt so happy around him and he just..." She shook her head. "It was all a stupid game for him."
Sighing, her mother stroked her back. "You'll get over him. Be glad you saw through him so soon. You'll find a good man, Grace. One that respects you. Try to consider this as a lesson."
Grace stayed silent. She knew her mother was right, but she had hoped to find more comfort in her presence. The hurt was much deeper than she had shown her mother: she had thought that they would start a relationship together and she had been willing to jeopardize the relationship with her parents just for him. She had been willing to give him so much, she had already given him so much, and the only thing he wanted the whole time, was having sex with her. "Can you... can you please leave me alone?" she whispered.
Sighing, her mother stood up. "Okay. Just... don't worry too much about it, child. Feelings like these will pass, I bet you will feel already much better tomorrow."
Another tear dripped down her cheek. She knew her mother was wrong.
