However, I was starting to get sick and tired of hiding.
As I glanced around at the brothers while sitting at the bar in the compound, I wondered just how much they’d care if I was with a guy. Would they accept my happiness over the fact it was because of a dude? I hoped so because I needed them to. I wanted to stay within the club and have Lucas at my side at the same time. I knew the prez and VP would accept it, so really the others could go fuck themselves if they had a problem.
The worst one would be Saint. Not because he wouldn’t like Lucas in a relationship. If anything, it would be because Lucas was with me and that I’d never been with a guy before. Saint would worry I wasn’t fully in this with Lucas and just messing around, just testing the waters, but he didn’t know how much I cared for Lucas.
My phone chimed. I pulled it out and smiled when I saw Lucas’s name on there.
Lucas: Just picked up Mom and Dad from the airport and dropping them at our aunt’s. I think Zion is heading to the compound after.
Me: What are you trying to tell me?
Lucas: Well, that you can come over… if you want to that is. You might be busy and I didn’t even ask. Wait, are you working tonight and I forgot about it?
Hell, I loved his ramblings.
Me: Never busy for you. I’ll be by in a couple of hours. Unless you have studying to do? You said you’ve got a test tomorrow.
Lucas: I do have a test, but I’m all studied out. I just want to see you.
My chest expanded.
Me: Then I’ll be there.
Lucas: xoxoxo
Christ, he was a goof, but I loved him for it. He was my sanity, my calm. I couldn’t see my days without him in them. Fuck me, but I was a goner for the man.
Shit… I loved him.
I fucking loved him.
Realizing it and accepting it just felt right. Over the past month, we’d got to know each other on all levels. I knew what he hated, what he liked, what made him smile, laugh, and stammer in shyness. He was also the only one who knew all of me.
One night we’d been lying in bed, and I’d told him about my shit parents. How when I’d turned eighteen, they threw me out because they were sick of taking care of me. When they’d died a year later in a car crash, I couldn’t find it in me to cry. No emotion had struck me by the news because they’d treated me like I was nothing but a pain in their asses. Why they even had me in the first place, I didn’t know. The one good thing about my parents giving me life was that I molded my own existence into something I was proud of. Even though I lived in the compound, I wasn’t hurting for cash. Shit, I was already looking for a place that I could call home instead of a room. A place I could take Lucas to and we could be ourselves without worrying about Saint catching us. Then again, it was getting to the time Saint had to know.
“Wreck, what’s happenin’, brother?” Country asked as he took the stool next to me.
“Not much, Prez. Same old shit.”
He tapped the bar and the prospect, or as Lucas called him, Kylo, put a beer on the counter for him. Prez took a drag and then turned to me. “Gotta say, brother, never seen you more yourself than I have in the last month. Shit, it’s like a weight has been lifted off you, and you’re damn happy all the time. Who has you happy?”
Fuck.
“Just someone.”
“Brother, you know the club. You know that when a brother gets in close with someone, we gotta do a background check on them to see if there’s anythin’ in their past we need to worry about. Anythin’ that can cause shit for the club. We’ve held off outta respect, hopin’ you would come to us, but you haven’t.”
Fucking hell. I knew the rules, but I’d wanted to keep Lucas a secret a while longer and that really was only because of Saint.
I scrubbed a hand over my face and nodded. “You won’t need a background check on this person.”
He eyed me and eventually nodded. “I believe you, but I still gotta know. It’s okay if you don’t tell the others yet, but why all the secrecy over this?”
Leaning in, I said, “Lucas Storey.” I moved back and witnessed when the name hit Country. His eyes widened, his head swung my way, and then he whistled.
“Saint’s gonna kill you.”
“And that’s why we haven’t said anythin’ yet. We wanted time to ourselves, get to know one another first before the shit hit the fan.”
He chuckled. “Good luck to you, brother.” He held his hand out, and I shook it. He pulled me close and whispered, “Stay strong. People will give you shit, but like I said, I ain’t seen you this happy in a fuckin’ long time. You deserve it, no matter who you’re with. Shit, I’m proud you found your fuckin’ one.”
I nodded, knowing I would take on the fucking world to make sure Lucas stayed at my side and in my life. He dropped my hand and patted my back.
“Baby,” Isla cooed from Country’s other side. Country had been seeing this younger woman for a few weeks. I wasn’t sure if it would last, but he seemed happy to see her.
“Hey, darlin’,” he said, curling his arm around her. “Where’s your girl at?”
“She’s talking with State at the other end of the bar.”
We all looked down there to see State grinning down at a woman who was waving her hand around as
