BRIGGS POV:
I get back to my bike just minutes after parking and tuck my tags deep inside my shirt, riding back out through the gravel lot, onto the dark road.
On the ride to Jess's I push the bike just over sixty, carving through the wind, pressing out my frustrations, getting faster and faster through each curve to straight way... thoughts racing.
Bella in the backyard, on the back of my bike, in that dress.
Images roll through my mind, flashing forward to the images of her against that wall just seconds ago and it turns me inside out.
Before now, I'd thought it was soon enough to save her.
What she's done now, is just dug herself deeper into a hole that I can't get her out of.
He's claimed her now, and he'll ruin her in the end.
I'm not gonna get all salty about it, though.
We weren't together.
Were we headed there? Not by a long shot, but by our last conversation, we were headed for something.
I know she means a lot to Jess too, another reason why I had intended to get her out of there the minute she came back. Keep her from coming back there and find a way to get across to her that The Clubhouse isn't the safest place for her. Unfortunately, I had business instead.
The call-outs have been non-stop lately with the fire all around now. So, I stepped up, I had a job to do.
Guess it's just as much my fault.
I knew she was drinking. I knew what she would be coming back to. I took the chance.
But, I also know what it's like to be intoxicated and need a warm body... I get all that. It's not always love. It's not always even like. Sometimes, it's just sex.
But if I know Jake, he won't stop there. She's different. If he paid the least bit of attention, he picked up on that too. He won't let her go so easy. And I can't blame him. Neither would I.
There's a part of me that wants to give her the benefit of the doubt. The doubt being, she's naive as fuck by even hanging around a place like that, and alcohol. Put those two together and bad decisions are the most likely outcome.
There's another part of me that wants to grab her by the arms and tell her how stupid she's being. How she's fucked it all up now. For me anyway.
I can't touch her now. She's off limits.
I could've kept her safe.
If she stays with him after tonight, she'll be anything but.
Am I hatin'? I toss that thought aside. I'm a realist.
I know Jake and how naive he can be when it comes to the girls. He has this idea that he can keep them all safe.
There is no safe where this crew is concerned.
I slow down as I think of all the ways that I could keep her safe.
When I reach the drive, I pull to the side, get in, and get out, before heading to the gym. I could press out dead lifts all night long.
I just hope she's not still at The Clubhouse when I get back. I don't even want to look at her right now... especially not with him.
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The next day when I get home, she's sitting on the steps with Jess. And fuck. She looks cute.
Her tired eyes brighten when I approach and she tells me hi.
I want to tell her hi back, but something in me, maybe the abandoned sixteen year old, doesn't want to give that to her. So I ignore them both and tap Jess's head on my way by instead.
Shit.
I'm being ridiculous.
Pissed at myself, I slam the door and head upstairs... hoping I can sleep.
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A/N: Thank you. Next pov tomorrow :0)