February, 2018

Four:

Happy and I texted at least once a day, and met up for dinner twice a week. He came to Billy's almost every afternoon with me and my house for movie nights every night whenever my parents were out of town vacationing, and we formed a solid relationship. Despite my feelings for him and the significant crush I'd formed, nothing had ever happened between us and we were only friendly. He'd become my best friend.

"Jas, you listening to me?"

I tore my mind away from wondering what time Happy would appear on my doorstep that night to marathon bad horror movies, and looked over at Jason who was sitting directly across from me, smiling largely. "Sorry, Jase, I was just thinking about the essay I've got to turn in."

He nodded his head in understanding and took my hand in his own. "You study too hard, baby. Gotta relax."

I felt guilty for lying to him and thinking about someone else while I was with him, but Happy had never given me any notion that he shared the feelings I had for him, so I'd finally decided that it was time to close that chapter. I'd been dating Jason for months, but I still hadn't brought him up to Happy, and made sure to put my phone in my room whenever I was with him so that he didn't see Jason calling or texting. It wasn't that I was hiding him, I was just ... I didn't know what the hell I was doing.

"Free Bird?"

His voice made me jump and I looked at the side of the table where Happy was standing, legs spread wide apart and arms folded across his chest. He was glaring at where I was holding Jason's hand, and I could see his jaw twitching.

He was angry. No, angry wasn't the right word. The man was furious.

"Hey, Hap." I wrenched my hand from Jason's and got to my feet so I could wrap him in a hug. "What're you doing here?"

"Came to get the guys lunch." He commented gruffly, resting his hand on the small of my back when I'd let him go and attempted to create space, effectively weighting me down in my spot so that I couldn't create any distance. "What are you doing here?"

I could hear the underlying rage in his voice and I cringed. I didn't want him to be mad at me or feel like I'd betrayed him.

"I'm Jason." Jase cut off my awkward silence by holding out his hand. "Nice to meet you, man. Jas seems to never shut up about you, thanks for taking care of my girl."

Happy let me go but didn't make a move to return Jason's shake, just turned so that our bodies were standing toe to toe and stared at me with a blank face. "His girl? How long has this shit been going on?"

I felt my cheeks redden under his harsh stare and pursed my lips. "A while?"

"Two months." Jason cut in. "We've been dating for two months now, Jas."

I wanted to scream at him to shut up because everything was crumbling around me, but Happy's jaw ticked again, a little uncontrollably, before he turned on his heel and walked out of the door without ordering anything. Looked like the guys were going hungry.

I hung my head back in defeat and stared at the ceiling like god would listen to me and let me replay the day over so that I could avoid the diner and go somewhere out of town where Happy wouldn't be able to stumble over us. Unfortunately, god didn't seem to be listening to me.

"That was awkward. You didn't tell him about me?"

My eyes found Jason who looked somewhere between confused and hurt, and I let out a long sigh before I slid back into the booth across from him and shook my head. "Happy is really overprotective of me, I didn't know how to bring it up without him losing his shit. I didn't want him to hunt you down and threaten you to take care of me."

Or for him to be fine with me dating someone that's not him, because it would fucking kill me when he finally confirmed that he doesn't give a shit about me being anything but his friend.

He coughed and glanced at where Happy had just disappeared. "Are you guys a thing? He seemed pretty pissed off to find out you've got a boyfriend."

"He doesn't have feelings for me." I shook my head. "He's just my best friend."

If he noticed that I didn't comment about my feelings for Happy, he didn't focus on it. The easy-going attitude he always had came back over him and he leant forward to hold my hand again. "Well, let's just enjoy our lunch and have a good day than, yeah?"

I nodded my head weakly but didn't comment further.

All I could do was think about the look on Happy's face when he'd found out my secret.

Just as I'd expected, Happy's bike roared into my driveway at nine o'clock and I had the door opened before he'd even gotten to the porch. I'd been pathetically waiting for him to arrive, even though he hadn't messaged or called to say that he was coming over.

"You have a fucking boyfriend?" He slammed the door behind him and glared at me. "You have a fucking boyfriend for two months and you didn't tell me?"

I sighed and pursed my lips, but decided on getting some alcohol to try and calm the situation down. Happy followed me into the kitchen and watched while I poured us both a glass of whiskey. "Yes, I've had a boyfriend for two months and I didn't tell you. I didn't think that you'd care, Hap."

He drained the glass in one go and then slid it back to me for a refill. "You didn't think I'd care? Free Bird, what the actual fuck?"

"You're my best friend, and I'm sorry for not telling you." I caught his eye while I followed suit and drained my glass, then refilled both of them. "But ... like, Hap, what's the difference between me not telling you about Jason, and you not telling me about the Crow Eaters that are in your bed every night?"

Happy's jaw clenched tightly, the territory I'd gone into wasn't one that we'd ever spoken about. "I don't date the Crow Eaters, I fuck them."

His words hurt, and I tried to hide that by taking a sip of the harsh liquid. "I didn't think that it would be a big deal to you. He doesn't invade our time, you're still here every night-"

"Yes, I'm here every night. I'm the one who's taking care of you. I'm the one who's drinking whiskey and watching movies and taking you for rides." He snapped.

The tone made me cringe. "So, what? You're saying that you don't want to be doing those things?"

"No." He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, moments away from losing control and tearing my house apart. I'd seen him angry before, seen him in the ring with one of his brothers, heard the things that he was capable of over drunk conversations where he let me into the demons in his mind. "I want to be doing those things, that's the point. Don't you get it?"

"Get what?" I'd finally had enough and I gulped down the whiskey until my stomach felt warm and hit me enough to be honest with my confusion rather than a smart ass remark.

Happy's eyes flew open and he gripped the tumbler glass so tightly that I was worried it was going to smash. "You're underage for the next five months, Jasmine. I don't have the choice to be with you while you're underage, I can't go to fucking prison for being in love with a seventeen year old."

His words hit me like a ton of bricks. "You're in love with me?"

"Of course I fucking am!" He yelled, grabbed the bottle off the counter and chugged it. "Are you that fucking blind that you didn't see it? I'm here whenever I'm not with the club. I'm here, I'm with you, I spend more time here than I do at the fucking clubhouse! I run after you like a puppy!"

I took the bottle from him and put it on the counter before I leant on the tips of my toes and craddled his cheek softly in my hand. It had the desired effect and he instantly calmed down, but his breathing was still harsh.

"You know that I love you, too." I smiled softly. "You know I do. I have since that first night at Billy's."

My admission made all of the anger fly out of him, and he gripped the back of my head before he smashed his lips down to mine.

The kiss was all consuming, earth shattering, bone melting, and he used his free hand to keep me upright as his mouth moved against my own.

His tongue swiped over my bottom lip and I granted him access right away, quivering at the approving moan that he made when our tongues melded against each other.

We kissed for what felt like hours before he pulled away and looked at me so tenderly that I could have died right there, standing in the kitchen. "Break up with your boyfriend."

"Okay."

He pressed his lips to my forehead. "And, fuck little girl, I know that it's hard, but just put up with me for the next five months until you're legal and I can claim you, yeah?"

"Okay."