Chapter 29

TRAX

I didn't wake up until I felt someone sit on the edge of the bed. I was glad Sophie was back and hopefully she had found us a place to move to.

"Hey, babe," I mumbled still half asleep.

"I've missed you, Daryl. How are you feeling?"

Fuck, that wasn't Sophie's voice.

My eyes flashed open to see Kat sitting next to me on the bed. Definitely not who I was expecting.

She looked as good as she normally did, which was a helluva lot better than most women. Her platinum blonde hair was hanging down her back in soft waves. She always was a bit heavy-handed with her make-up so she looked ready for a night on the town instead of it still being sometime in the afternoon. There was still plenty of sunlight coming in my lone window to let me know it wasn't late in the day yet.

Since she had started the strip club, Kat wore skin-tight dresses instead of something more casual like she used to wear. Today was no different. Her dress was black with a thin pin-stripe of pink. The amount of cleavage that as showing was a fucking lot. Any guy's eyes would go directly to it. You couldn't help it, I couldn't help it.

But even though I looked, they did nothing for me anymore. Kat had always been a beautiful woman and I never understood why she went for me and no one else that I knew of. We were friends with benefits. Neither one of us claimed exclusivity. We didn't want it.

When I took her that last time at the club, I knew that was going to be our last time together. She deserved more than what I could give her. Plus the fact, that I had Sophie now and I wasn't going to risk that for anything. I no longer had any desire for her. In fact, my dick didn't even twitch at the sight of her extremely large tits.

For once me and it were on the same page.

Sophie had changed me. I loved her more casual style she normally wore, but that didn't mean she couldn't dress up and leave me speechless. It was way more than what Sophie wore, it was she did to me. She made me feel again. She made me laugh and I never used to laugh. And without even trying, she made me want her like I never wanted another woman.

And I didn't want another woman…only Sophie.

I had no idea why Kat was here. It was rare for her to come to the clubhouse. Usually, when she did it was to see Bear, not to see me. And since I had stupidly never told Sophie about her, this was the last place I wanted her to be.

I'm sure why I never mentioned my history with Kat to her. Maybe because it was casual. Maybe because I'm a fucking idiot.

"Kat, what are you doing here?"

She smiled softly at me while placing a hand in my thigh. That reminded me that I was only wearing the jeans I had put on after the shower. Even though Kat had seen my scars many times before, I felt the need to put a shirt on. I was praying that Sophie wouldn't walk in.

"I wanted to check up on you, Daryl. I heard about you getting shot so I needed to see you. Plus, I got myself thinking."

"About what?"

"About…us."

Fuck.

The smile, the hand on my leg, and the tone of her voice let me know she may not be on the same page as I was. I liked Kat, I really did. We had been friends for almost as long as I had been a Road Devil, but fuck buddies for less. We were friends for a couple of years before we slept together one drunken night. Then another less drunken night we did it again before it became an off and on again thing. We had never really talked about it, but I thought we both knew it was a casual thing between us.

"Kat, there ain't an us."

This time she moved her hand to mine, threading out fingers together. I wanted to pull them apart, but I also didn't want to hurt her. "There could be, Daryl. We've been flirting around with this for way too long. We're good together, so why not be together?"

The hope I saw in her eyes was like a knife to my chest. Kat didn't deserve me or the way I treated her like a fuck toy. It was consensual, but I should have known better. I didn't want to crush her, but I was not going to have any other choice.

Before I could find the words to gently let her down she said, "Daryl, I love you. I've always loved you."

This just went from bad to really fucking bad.

I had no idea she felt this way about me. I knew she liked me, hell I liked her, I still do, but not this. I didn't plan for this to happen.

Fuck, I hated having to do this to her. Kat didn't deserve me hurting her this way. I don't even know that if Sophie wasn't in my life what I would do. I didn't love Kat.

"Kat, I'm sorry. What we had was good, really good for a real long time, but that was all I was looking for. You're a really good friend, one that I don't deserve, but I don't love you the way that you need. The way that you should be loved. I got myself an ol' lady now…Sophie. She's it for me…I love her. I'm sorry."

I saw tears instantly well up in her eyes. I hated hurting her this way, but what else was I to do? She wanted what I couldn't give her...me. How had I not seen this coming? I was such a clueless piece of shit.

We never talked about the future. I never made her any promises, but I thought she understood what we had…what we were doing.

I guess I was wrong.

Kat grabbed a tissue from the box next to the bed. I hadn't even realized Sophie had put some there. She carefully dried her tears as not to mess up her make-up. That's when she finally looked back at me. "Are you happy, Daryl?"

I had to tell her the truth. "More than I ever thought possible."

"Then that will have to be enough for me."

Kat stood up straightening her dress while trying to put on a brave face. I got up off the bed and pulled her into my arms. This was a place she had been many times, but no longer belonged.

But I had to say good-bye. She hadn't done anything wrong. She just wasn't Sophie.

I hugged her to my chest for a good long time as she quietly sobbed. When I felt her start to calm down, I released my hold on her so I could look into her sad brown eyes. I tried to wipe her tears away with the pads of my thumbs. "You deserve a man that will love you and make you his priority. That's not me. I know he's out there for you, Kat. You need to let someone else in besides me. You deserve to be happy."

She didn't say anything but pressed her red lips to mine. What I thought was going to be a quick goodbye kiss lingered, before deepening for a few moments. I briefly lost myself, before quickly breaking it off. "We can't," I murmured to her as her arms continued to hold me tight. "Go find your happiness, Kat. It's just not with me."

This woman had been a good friend for a very long time. Harshly kicking her to the curb was something that she didn't deserve. I had hurt her enough as it was.

"You could have been a dick to me, Daryl but you weren't. I think I always knew how this would end, but I still hoped otherwise. Thank you for being the good guy I always knew you were." Her sad eyes tried to smile at me as we headed toward the door. "Does she know what a great guy you are?"

I couldn't answer that. I wasn't a great guy, not even a good one, but somehow I needed up with two incredible women caring about me. Except, I only loved one of them. "I could never purposely hurt you, Kat. I hate that I had to do it now. You're a good woman…a good friend. I'd hate to lose that."

"You won't. I'm going to need time to sort this through, but you can always count on me to be there whenever you need me. That will never change."

Her eyes were filled with sorrow, but also understanding. The fact that she wasn't screaming at me or making a huge scene showed the class I always knew she had. She'd make some guy happy one day, it just wasn't going to be me.

"Want me to walk you out?"

"No, I'm good, Daryl." Her hand patted me lightly on the chest before she pushed the ajar door all the way open. It closed quietly behind her.

I went back to the bed and sat on the edge. I ran my hands over my face in frustration. How had I been so stupid? I cared about Kat. I had for years, but I never knew she had developed feelings for me past the fun we'd have together. The showed how clueless I was when I came to women. Lucky for me, Sophie was able to put up with my sorry ass.

Finding her, was the best thing that ever happened to me. Even though I was sad that I had to hurt Kat, I was happy that I had Sophie in my life. I was also happy that I wouldn't have to explain why Kat was in our room. That would be something she needed to know, just not right now.

I picked my phone up off the nightstand and saw it was after three. I didn't think the house-hunting was going to take that ling, but what did I know. I popped her off a quick text before lying back down on the bed. I shouldn't have closed my eyes, because within a few minutes I had fallen back asleep.

An hour later, I woke up and quickly realized that Sophie wasn't in the room. I swung my legs to the said edge of the bed faster than I should have. A few choice curses flew out as I grabbed for my phone. Sophie had never responded to the text I had sent earlier. So I quickly sent her another asking when she was coming back.

By the time I put on a shirt and my cut, she still hadn't responded. Now I was getting nervous. I knew I was probably overreacting, but she always answered my texts. If she was at work, it may be delayed if she was with a customer, but otherwise, she answered me right away.

Not today.

I managed to somehow get my socks on and my feet into my boots. Tying them was not an option. It was time to get Stitch to take these staples out. They were in long enough and pulled like a son-of-a-bitch. Except, he was on the ride too, so I'd have to wait until everyone was back for that.

I shuffled myself down to the bar, doing my best not to trip on the long laces from my boots. The room was as empty as I expected with everyone gone except the prospects. Only when they patched in could they join the club on these types of rides.

Cage and Dutch were watching the TV, so I assumed Brick was on guard duty.

I put a boot next to Dutch and simply said, "Tie 'em." He did one then the other without question. Smart kid. "Hey, you guys haven't seen Sophie come back, have you?"

"Yeah, a couple of hours ago. She came in but left pretty quick, right Cage?"

I had to wait for the prospect to finish chewing the big bite of sandwich he had just taken. Damn, who taught this kid to eat? Finally, he said, "Yeah, it was weird though. She came in all smiling and ran up the stairs, but it was a minute or two later she ran back down and looked like she was crying. I was just in from guard duty and asked her if she was okay, but she pushed past me without a word. Did she have a fight with Kat again?"

Wait.

What?

"What do you mean fuckin' fight with Kat again? When the hell did they fight before?" I demanded.

I saw Cage look nervously at Dutch. "Ummm…"

What the hell was going on and why didn't I know any of this? "Prospect! Talk before I rip your throat out!"

"Okay, okay! Kat showed up at the hospital when you were still in that coma. I knew she was part of the extended RDMC family so I let her into the room to see you. Sophie and Raven had gone to get some lunch in the cafeteria. When Sophie got back to the room, Kat was still there and they kinda had words."

Sophie knew about Kat? Why hadn't she said anything? Could today get any worse?

"What happened?"

"Not totally sure, man, but it sounded like Kat wanted Sophie to leave the room. She didn't know who she was. Sophie wanted Kat gone, but she wouldn't leave. Things got heated and Raven stepped in straightening Kat out that Sophie was your ol' lady and everything. Seemed like it was a big surprise to her."

What the fuck? Kat already knew about Sophie when she came time today? She never gave me any idea that she already knew I had taken an ol' lady. Did she think I was going to change my mind with her declaration?

Now I was a little pissed off at her. I didn't like being put in the position that she had me in. Coming to my room, saying what she did when she knew I was with Sophie.

They had met. Yet, Sophie had never said anything to me. Why not?

"Did Kat leave after Sophie?"

"Yep and she didn't look none too happy either," Dutch said.

Fuck, Sophie must have seen Kat.

And me.

What did she see? How could she have seen anything? She never opened the door and I didn't hear them talking in the hallway when Kat left. What the fuck was going on?

That's when I remembered the door was ajar when Kat left. I knew I had closed it when I had gone in to take a nap because I hung my cut on the back of it, but I didn't lock it. Kat must have not closed it all the way when she came in.

Sophie must have seen me and Kat.

Everything that had happened was purely innocent. I was comforting a friend who's heart I had just torn apart. Except, to anyone looking in it may not have been that obvious.

Especially the kiss.

Sophie must have seen the kiss and freaked. I fucked up letting that kiss go on longer than it should have. That fell completely on me. It meant nothing to me except "goodbye" but she doesn't know that.

I made my way back to the room as quickly as I could. I kept texting her nonstop in between leaving her voice mails saying that I needed to talk to her. I told her I loved here each time.

I need to go find her. Even though I wasn't supposed to drive until the staples came out, I knew I had to. I threw my wallet into my back pocket and quickly hooked the chain to a belt loop. My phone went into a pocket inside my cut. I was back down in the main room as quickly as I could.

"Are the keys inside the van?"

"Should be," Cage answered getting up from the sofa. "You need help?"

"Naw, I got it." When I found her I didn't need a prospect in the way of us talking this out.

I drove out of the compound and headed toward the only place I knew she would be able to hang out at Chrissy and Diesel's place. They had gone on the ride, but I knew she most likely still had a key to their house.

Except, she wasn't there. I drove all over looking for her and came up empty-handed. The bakery was even closed so she couldn't be there. Over an hour late, I returned to a full clubhouse. Everyone was back from the ride and getting ready to have a barbeque.

I quickly searched out Chrissy who had no idea what was going on. Diesel asked me if I fucked up and all I could say was "yes."

I sat back up in our room as the party went on below me. She hadn't answered one text or voice mail, but I still sent her another.

ME:

Babe, where are you? You're scaring me. Call me, please. I love you.

She never responded.