My brother doesn’t seem bothered that he’s surrounded by a bunch of women.
Katy comes and chats with everyone when she shows up. I see her stealing glances at Stitch and smiling shyly at him. I wonder if something is happening between them or if something is in the works.
Since Stitch doesn’t make a move toward her, I have to guess that Katy likes him and he doesn’t like her or that he’s holding back for some reason.
To my relief, it seems that there is only family around. I don’t know how my parents would feel if there were club whores in plain sight giving blow jobs but I guess that because of the BBQ being a family thing with kids all over the place, club whores aren’t allowed. Hopefully it stays that way until we leave because I don’t want my family uncomfortable.
“Grandpa!” I hear a feminine voice shout. We all look over to see what’s going on.
“Demi?” an older biker shouts, looking shocked.
She runs up and hugs him.
“Damn that’s his granddaughter? He talks about her like she’s five years old,” Ella says with a light laugh.
“I wonder what she’s doing here. He said that his kids live a few hours away and that he rarely sees them,” Olivia says observing them.
They pull back from the hug. He is looking at her with a stern expression. She says something that has his face darkening.
“I wonder what that’s about,” Olivia says not really talking to anyone.
“She must be here for a reason, and we will probably find out eventually. Let’s just give them a moment,” Ella says, and we all take our eyes off of Blade and his granddaughter.
We spend the rest of the day talking, and my brother eventually gets lost in conversation with a couple bikers.
I’m glad my family is comfortable and having a good time.
It is dark out by the time we get home. My family chats the whole way home about what great people they were. I think they have made some new friends.
I smile at everyone’s obvious excitement.
After I have a shower and climb into bed, I hold the bear that Tyson gave me close.
That’s when I allow myself to let my thoughts drift to him.
I didn’t think that he was weirded out by me sending pictures of the bear he gave me, but the way he left without saying anything tells a different story.
Maybe he was just being polite and replied to me. He must feel some sort of obligation towards me because I saved his father, but I don’t want anyone in my life to feel that way.
I make the decision right then and there to stop texting him.
I have been sleeping better with this bear and the scent of his cologne, and that’s enough for now.
If he wanted to be a part of my life then he would have made an effort not to leave as soon as I got there.
Besides, I need to focus on me.
I need to learn to love myself again before I can think about a man.
I don’t know if I would ever trust a man with my heart or body again. I definitely don’t need to worry about one brush off.
I come first, and I still have a lot of healing to do.
Chapter Eight
Camilla
Three weeks later…
I have been more confident in who I am in these last few weeks.
I’ve been working on going out to do something on my own a few times a week with my family, and the panicky feeling is minimal now.
I still get the eerie feeling that someone is watching me, but I wonder if it’s just me being paranoid because there is a lot of talk about how I was missing for over five months and now I’m back, but I never gave anyone the full story but the police. I told them what I could, and what Derek had said that I should say.
I just shake it off and tell myself that I’m just making things up in my head.
The women from the club were coming today with a couple brothers because they never leave them unprotected. The club still has enemies and they aren’t taking any chances, which I don’t question. Shield and Stitch are coming along with Ella, Krista, Katy, Olivia, Sophie, Sasha, and Lily. Lily and Sasha wanted to come and spend some time with my mom and, when they heard what we were doing, they wasted no time in finalizing the plans.
I still haven’t texted Tyson and he hasn’t said anything back. I wonder if he even notices that I stopped sending him pictures. A part of me hopes that he does.
I try to ignore the feeling of disappointment it gives me every time that I think that he doesn’t care.
I had forced myself to focus on the person that I am becoming.
My therapist is very happy with the work I am doing and for that I am glad. I had been open and honest with her about everything.
I’ve spent a crazy amount of time working out and feel physically stronger with every passing day. Everyone seems impressed with the work I am doing and are asking me to join the next self-defence class. The idea made my palms sweat, but the instructor has said that I have made a lot of progress in the last few months. The instructor said that it would be good to see me with a group of people. I also liked the idea that I might be able to help other people.
I had thought about all those people who were taking the class because of an ex, parent, sibling, bully hurting them, or ones who just took
