Chapter 2
***Present Day***
Sitting in the clubhouse, talking to Tara, Jax walks in. "Got some guys from Tacoma coming to help out for a while. Not sure how long they'll be here." he tells us and we just nod. Tara gets up and walks off with Jax and I just sit there in a daze knowing he's one of them. Sighing, I walk over to Gemma and she sees my face. "You don't know if he's one of them." she whispers. I look at her with a 'yeah right' look as she puts her arm around my shoulder. "When will they be here?" I ask. "Few more hours and you will be here to greet them." she tells me and I nod and say "Yes Ma'am."
A few hours later, I am sitting out at the playground on one of the swings when Lyla walks over. "You okay?" she asks. "Not even close." I tell her honestly. She takes the swing next to me and asks "You wanna talk about it?" Deciding that I need to talk to someone other than Gemma, I say "When I was in Tacoma, I was hanging out with one of the guys. We were spending a lot of time together but I would never sleep with him. A couple of days before I came home, I finally hooked up with him and he told me I was his and it actually made me happy. Well, the next morning, I went to the clubhouse to take the invite to my graduation and saw him with a sweetbutt straddling him and he was making out with her. I packed my shit and came home." I say. "And you think he's one of the ones coming today?" she asks. "Oh I know he is. He always is." I tell her. I sigh and say "My mom always told me that every girl has that one guy that makes them want to hide the wine. I never understood what she meant until him." I tell her. "Hide the wine?" she asks. "Yeah. That one guy that's your weakness. The one that you don't trust yourself around. The one that all it would take was a smile, a touch or a look and you're hooked on them again. Hell, only thing mom didn't tell me was what to do when I found that guy." I tell her. "Well, now you know it's to not hook up with him." she tells me and we both laugh. "What are you going to do?" she asks. "Just what my mom said. Hide the fucking wine." I tell her.
We sit for a little longer when we hear the roar of the bikes pulling in. Getting up, we head over to everyone else as the guys start getting off their bikes. I walk up and as soon as Lorca sees me, he picks me up in a hug and I can't help but laugh. "Hey short stuff." he says and I just laugh. "Hey Lorca. Welcome back." I tell him and he kisses my cheek before moving on to someone else. Same with Donut. Happy walks up and pulls me into a hug and picks me up. "Hey little girl." he rasps. "Hey Hap. I missed you." I tell him. "Missed you too." he says kissing the top of my head before heading to say hello to the rest of the guys. Then there he is. He walks up and pulls me into a hug. Holding me tight, he says "I missed you Raven." I feel my eyes start to tear up and I don't say anything. He pulls back to look at me and all I can say is "Welcome back." but I won't look at him. "Yeah. Thanks." he says before letting me go. "I...um...better head inside." I say before turning to walk away.
I get inside the clubhouse and Gemma and Lyla see me. I nod that I'm okay and head to the bathroom. Standing at the sink, I hear the door open and close and feel Lyla put her hand on my back. "It's Kozik?" she asks and I just nod my head yes. "What are you going to do?" she asks. "Only thing I can do is stay as far away as I can. I know that won't be easy so, Ly, you gotta help me make sure that I won't be alone with him. I don't trust myself alone with him." I tell her. "I got you." she tells me. We head back out to the main room and my brother says "Come on Raven." I walk over to the bar and Lorca pushes a shot my way. I look across the bar and see Koz watching me. Picking up the shot I say "Welcome Tacoma and God help the rest of us." They laugh and we down the shot before more are being poured.
Six shots later, It's just me, Koz and Lorca at the bar taking shots. "I think the last time I saw you drink this much you were having trouble with that boyfriend you had back in Tacoma. You having guy troubles again?" he asks smirking and nodding towards Koz. "You got no idea." I tell him before downing another shot. A few more shots later, I hear Lorca say "You little miss need to hit the bed before you hit the floor." I glare at him and say "I'm fine." as I down another shot. "Prospect, she's cut off." Tig says from behind me and he just nods. "Koz, pour me another." I tell him. "Nope. Big brother said you're cut off and I have to agree." he tells me. "Because you totally get a say right?" I ask and he just shakes his head. "I'll get her to bed." Koz says. "I'm fine on my own." I say and go to stand but my legs decide they aren't ready to work and I lose my balance. Koz catches me and carries me to a dorm for the night. Putting me in the bed, he kisses my temple and says "I'm sorry Raven." as I drift off to sleep and he slips out of the room.