Fuck. Rage nodded and stood. “Okay. I need to shower.”
He walked out and didn’t talk to anyone. Once in his room, he locked his door and looked for the note from Harley.
He spotted it on the nightstand, opened it, sat, and read it.
Rage,
I’m so sorry I had to leave. My aunt is really sick. She was the only one in my life who was good to me, so I feel I need to be there to take care of her. We’re not sure about her cancer, so I can’t give you any timeline. I really enjoyed talking to you, and I wish we could have spent more time together. You not only saved me from my ex, but you also made me feel pretty and cared for, and I can’t thank you enough for that. It would be selfish to ask you to wait for me because I don’t even know if I’ll be able to come back. It all depends on my aunt. Don’t worry about me. My ex doesn’t know anything about her, so I am safe. I wish you the very best.
Take care, Harley
Rage folded the note, opened the nightstand, dropped it in, and shut the drawer. He tried to suppress the emotions racing through him. Goddamn. She was the first good thing in my life, and she’s gone. Fuck.
He’d deal with this the same way he did everything in his life that hurt him—shut it up inside. The problem was if it got bottled up, he tended to lose his temper, wreck things, and hurt people.
It had taken him years and help from some of the guys to figure out how to deal with his rage. It used to help that when anyone would say his name, it would remind him how far he’d come. This time he didn’t think that would work.
Chapter Three
Rage stood and stripped. Shit happened all the time, and he’d been disappointed and hurt more than he could count or remember, and life went on.
Keeping his anger in check was the problem. It had been a long time since he lost it, but Harley’s leaving might just push him over. He showered, dressed, and went back downstairs. Ax saw him and threw a beer at him.
“Let’s go out to the fire, man,” Ax said. “Bull said he has some stories.”
Rage nodded. This is what he needed. Time with his brothers. It was crazy that he felt so deeply about a woman he hardly knew, but he needed to get over it.
As the days and weeks passed, he thought less about Harley. He couldn’t believe it was taking this long to forget a woman he’d never fucked. The only thing that seemed to help with his aggression was spending more time in the gym working out or fighting in the ring.
“Come on, man,” Bear yelled.
“Jesus fucking Christ, I’m coming,” Rage said. He got on his bike and followed the small group out of the compound. They were headed into town to blow off some steam at a few of the local bars.
There wasn’t a wide selection of establishments they fit into, but they did fine with what they had. It was something to do so they could get away from the compound for a while. At the bars and strip joints, they drank, met women, and if they were lucky, they found dumbasses to fight with.
Partying with the guys took his mind off Harley.
They were having a good time when the door opened, and three women walked in. They weren’t dressed slutty and seemed out of place. His mouth dropped when one of them resembled Harley with her long brown hair and the same type of build. He knew it wasn’t, but it was enough like her to make his blood heat in his veins.
When they headed their way, he found it next to impossible to look away from her. She wasn’t as pretty as Harley and several inches taller. She didn’t look emaciated, but she was very thin.
Bear walked them over to the small group of men.
“Hey, guys, these lovely ladies are Theresa, Amy, and Dana.”
Dana was the one he wanted to talk to. He tipped his head at her, and she smiled and walked to him.
“Hey, my name is Rage. What are you guys doing in a place like this?” he asked. He almost snorted at the age-old pickup line.
She looked around and then back at him. “We’ve never been here before. We saw all the bikes out front and wanted to meet you guys.”
“Oh? Are you sweetbutts?” he asked.
Dana laughed. “No. Just regular girls.”
“How about a dance?” Rage asked.
“I’d love that.”