“You knew about that?” Charity asked.
“You didn’t try to hide it. You know, I had a crush on you as well. Stevie saw it.”
“You said, earlier.”
“Yeah, and I feel like a fucking dick for not … acting on it.”
She put her palm against his cheek. “Don’t do that. We can all tell ourselves what we would do in hindsight. We did what we had to do. There’s nothing else that we can do.”
Bad turned and kissed her palm. “You’ll call me if you ever get in trouble?” Bad asked.
“Of course.” She’d never call him.
After tonight, it was over. They both knew it. There was no going back. Only forward.
This was their last time together.
****
Early the next morning, Bad arrived at the shitty motel his club was staying at.
A couple of the guys were passed out in the parking lot. The fires they’d set in trash cans were slowly fading away while some had already died out. There were a few women semi-naked as they hung off the club brothers.
He took a seat in one of the chairs and stared at the old trash can, one that had been burnt out. Smoke rose into the air.
Don’t think about her.
Don’t think about her.
If he kept repeating the same mantra, it might make sense and help him.
He couldn’t keep her.
“You’re back late,” Colonel said, lowering himself into the chair beside him.
There was no sign of Piper, which meant she had probably already snuck out to go get them breakfast.
Piper and Charlotte had proven to be great road buddies. Sure, they occasionally were judgmental about the way the guys treated the women, but that was to be expected. Like they would often say, they were women as well, and they had no choice but to call them out on it.
He adored them. They were a lot of fun to be around.
“Yeah, had some things to do.”
“You always look moody as fuck after one of those visits. Today, you look like your whole world has … ended.”
“Nah, it hasn’t ended. New beginnings and all that.” He gave Colonel a slap on the shoulder.
“She worth walking away from?” Colonel asked.
He only told Colonel, one night, many months ago, who he went to see. He’d been drinking. It was the only way he was ever going to voice his feelings out loud.
Colonel had been the one he told.
Damn. Just thinking about it now made him feel like a freaking pussy.
“She deserves more.”
Charity was heading out on the road. A journey that he knew would be dangerous. There was no happy ending this way.