But the pain in those five words in that text…
He could practically see the tears in her lovely eyes, streaking down her pale cheeks. Caused by him.
His immediate reaction was to call her. Fuck, to get to her. But he doubted he’d fit in on any fancy college campus. He was a scruffy, rough biker. He doubted anyone at MIT looked like he did.
Stunner resisted the urge to text her back. For about five seconds.
Sry. Ridin.
There. That would satisfy her. And keep him from having to interact with her.
She didn’t text back. At first, he was relieved. His blowing her off had discouraged her from continuing to call or text. But when she hadn’t called back that night, or the next day, he realized he was going to have to make the first move. Because he was a fucking idiot.
* * *
“Stunner!” Vicious, of Salvation’s Bane, called to him across the common room. As with Bones, that was where they all hung out when not working or riding. It doubled as a party room, and there was a party planned that night. Shadow, a man he’d prospected with and taken his oath as a patched member of Bones alongside, had told him once that he needed to get laid. Desperately. Stunner had planned on it tonight. The party would have plenty of women to choose from, and all of them willing and eager to fuck the biggest, baddest biker among them. Stunner qualified on all counts. “Cain called. Asked you to give him a call when you got the chance.”
Fuck. Cain had to have known calling Stunner’s cell would get him nowhere. Instead of swearing out loud, however, Stunner nodded at Vicious, acknowledging the man without actually agreeing to anything. Not that he’d ignore his president.
With a sigh, he took out his phone and stabbed Cain’s name. His president picked up on the first ring.
“You talked to Suzie lately?”
“No.”
When there was no answer, Cain sighed. “I know you ain’t big on talkin’ much, brother, but I need you to this time.”
“Ain’t talked to ‘er. Texted ‘er when I first got here.”
“When was that?”
“Yesterday.”
That seemed to satisfy Cain. “Good. She was anxious to talk to you. I think she misses you.”
He grunted, not saying more.
“Well, since you’ve been in touch with her… Good. That’s all I wanted.” Cain sounded like he wanted to say more, but was hesitating. Stunner knew the man well enough to not hang up the phone. He wanted to, but didn’t want the other man disappointed in him.
“You tell her about your fight?”
“No.”
“Well, I did. You need to talk to her, Stunner.”
Stunner winced. He didn’t want to talk to her about that. Angel had already let her feelings be known about Suzie and him, and Cain hadn’t indicated he felt any differently about Stunner dating his daughter.
“She’ll be fine. Best I just leave it at that.”
Again, silence.
“Wait.” Stunner could all but hear Cain narrowing his eyes as he worked out everything Stunner refused to say. It was one of the reasons Stunner didn’t talk much. He’d learned early on in life that people could read a lot into a person’s words. Even things best kept hidden. That was especially true around Cain. “This was more than Pig insulting Suzie. Wasn’t it?” When Stunner still didn’t say anything -- what could he say? -- Cain sighed. “Goddammit, Stunner. I can’t help if you don’t tell me what the fuck’s going on.”
“Nothin’ goin’ on. If Suzie needs me, you know where to find me.”
“Yeah. But does she?”
“You didn’t tell her?” He knew Cain would have told Suzie where he was. He was just calling out the other man, reminding him that, despite what everyone thought, Stunner wasn’t stupid.
“You know I did,” Cain snapped. “And stop trying to deflect. This is about you and Suzie…” Cain trailed off. “You…” Stunner heard Cain’s indrawn breath. “And Suzie?”
“No,” was all Stunner said. There was no “him and Suzie.” Not in the way Cain thought.
“But you want it that way.”
“No.”
“Fuck! Stunner, just… Goddamn! Would you stop being so fuckin’ closed mouthed? Fuckin’ talk to me!”
“Nothin’ to talk about.”
“If this is about what Angel said, she had no idea you felt that way about Suzie. You know neither of us would be against you testing the waters with her. Hell, that girl hasn’t looked at you like a brother in a long fuckin’ time. I know for Goddamned sure you’re the best person in the fuckin’ world to protect her.” Cain was silent for a while. “You know, Stunner, this is hurting her.”
Yeah. He got that.
“You need to talk to her. Figure out what she wants and see if it’s what you want.”
“You orderin’ me to come back home?”
“No. Ain’t no one can make this decision for you. You do what you feel like you need to do. I just hope you know what you’re fuckin’ doin’.”
Stunner thought about staying silent, but he owed Cain more than the other man knew. An explanation on this didn’t seem too much to give. He’d never tell Cain all of it, but he’d at least give him something.
“Angel’s right. Suzie don’t need a killer in her life, Cain. I’m a killer. Have been since I was thirteen. Don’t want my past to touch her. Kept it all a secret and hid. But we both know a man can only run so long. Past’ll catch up with me someday, and Suzie would be the collateral damage.”
Cain was silent for so long, Stunner thought he might have finally gotten his point across. Then Cain spoke again. “We all have pasts, man. Every fuckin’ one of us. And we’ve all killed. You have something hangin’ over you,
