Chapter 8
1887 Words
Summer’s POV
I didn’t remember falling asleep.
One moment, we had been sitting on the couch in the corner of his office, talking in voices that had grown softer as the night stretched on. The conversation had wandered everywhere and nowhere. Childhood memories. Music. Road trips. Why he preferred old motorcycles to new ones. Why I hated whiskey but kept drinking it anyway.
Somewhere between one story and the next, exhaustion had finally caught up with me.
When I opened my eyes again…
The room was quiet.
Golden morning light slipped through the narrow gap between the curtains, painting long streaks across the hardwood floor.
For a few blissfully confusing seconds, I had no idea where I was.
Then I felt it.
A steady warmth behind me.
A strong arm draped loosely around my waist.
My heart skipped.
Right.
The clubhouse.
His office.
Him.
Carefully, I turned my head.
He was still asleep.
Without the confidence and quiet authority he carried downstairs, he looked…different.
Peaceful.
His breathing was slow and even.
One arm rested behind his head while the other still held me as though he’d unconsciously decided I wasn’t going anywhere.
I smiled before I could stop myself.
There was something unexpectedly comforting about seeing him like this.
No commands.
No members seeking his attention.
No mysterious President everyone instinctively made room for.
Just…
A man catching up on sleep after what had probably been a very long day.
My eyes drifted to the matte-black mask still covering the his face.
Curiosity immediately stirred.
Who are you?
The question had followed me almost from the moment I’d first seen him walk across the clubhouse.
My fingers twitched against the blanket.
It would be easy.
Just lift it a little.
Just enough to finally see the face he’d hidden all night.
He wouldn’t even know.
I reached out.
My fingertips stopped barely an inch away.
No.
I withdrew my hand.
That wasn’t fair.
He’d trusted me enough to bring me here.
He’d respected every boundary I’d set.
The least I could do was respect one of his.
Besides…
Knowing me…
The second I touched the mask, he’d wake up.
And then I’d die of embarrassment.
Quietly slipping from beneath his arm felt like trying to escape a sleeping lion.
Every tiny movement seemed impossibly loud.
His arm loosened.
I held my breath.
He shifted slightly, mumbling something completely unintelligible before settling again.
I couldn’t help smiling.
“So much for being terrifying,” I whispered under my breath.
Once I was finally free, I gathered my clothes from where we’d left them neatly folded over the arm of a nearby chair.
I changed as quietly as I could.
The burgundy top had dried overnight, though the faint whiskey stain was still visible if I looked closely.
Figures.
I folded the borrowed black shirt with more care than necessary and placed it neatly on the couch beside him.
For a second, I simply stood there.
Looking at him.
Should I wake him?
Leave a note?
Say goodbye?
Instead…
I quietly whispered, “Thank you.”
I wasn’t even sure if I meant for the shirt.
Or the conversation.
Or for somehow making me forget Ethan, if only for one night.
Maybe all of it.
Then I slipped out of the office.
The hallway felt different during daylight.
Less mysterious.
The music downstairs had been replaced by quieter conversations and the occasional burst of laughter.
When I stepped into the clubhouse, several heads turned.
Not dramatically.
Just…
Curiously.
A woman I’d never seen before walking out of the President’s private office first thing in the morning was probably enough to make anyone curious.
A couple of patched members exchanged quick glances.
One of them smiled politely.
“Morning.”
“Morning,” I replied, suddenly very aware of every step I took.
Another biker scratched his beard before asking, “You alright, miss?”
“I…”
Before I could answer, a familiar voice interrupted.
“She’s with me.”
Mason.
He walked over with an easy grin, coffee mug in hand.
The others immediately relaxed.
“Morning, Summer.”
“Morning.”
He looked between me and the office hallway before smiling knowingly.
“Lena told me to make sure you found your way back.”
The other members nodded as if that explained everything.
One of them chuckled.
“Good. Saves us guessing.”
Another lifted his coffee.
“Have a good morning.”
Just like that…
The attention disappeared.
I let out the breath I’d been holding.
Mason noticed.
“They’re curious.”
“I noticed.”
“But they know better than to pry.”
I smiled.
“Thanks for… rescuing me.”
“Anytime.”
He nodded toward the front entrance.
“Someone’s been waiting rather impatiently.”
“Lena?”
“She’s in the car.”
I blinked.
“She is?”
“Has been for about twenty minutes.”
“Oh.”
He laughed.
“I figured you’d eventually come out.”
I smiled sheepishly.
“Thanks again.”
“Drive safe.”
The morning air was cool against my skin as I stepped outside.
Lena’s car sat beneath the shade of a large oak tree.
The second she spotted me, she rolled down the passenger window.
“There you are!”
I climbed into the seat.
“You’ve been waiting?”
She looked me over from head to toe.
“I have approximately nine hundred questions.”
I groaned dramatically.
“I knew it.”
She laughed.
“But…”
She leaned closer.
“…I’ll start with one.”
I buckled my seatbelt.
“How did you know I was still here?”
She started the engine before answering.
“I saw you.”
“Saw me?”
She nodded.
“Last night.”
“When?”
“When you asked the President if you two could go somewhere quieter.”
My eyes widened.
“You saw that?”
“I wasn’t eavesdropping.”
She laughed.
“I was coming out of the meeting.”
“I saw you both head toward the private hallway.”
Heat rushed straight into my face.
“You… did?”
“Mhm.”
“And then?”
“And then I did what any decent best friend would do.”
I looked at her suspiciously.
“You left me alone.”
“I left you alone.”
She grinned.
“You didn’t look uncomfortable.”
“No.”
“You weren’t trying to get away.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“And he looked…”
She searched for the right word.
“…careful.”
I looked out the window.
“He was.”
“So I figured interrupting would have been rude.”
I laughed despite myself.
“You really just abandoned me.”
“I trusted him.”
That made me turn back to her.
“You trust him that much?”
Without hesitation, she nodded.
“I do.”
“Why?”
She pulled onto the road before answering.
“Because I’ve known him for a while.”
A while.
The word settled in my mind.
“I’ve never seen him misuse the respect people give him.”
She glanced at me briefly.
“If he took you upstairs, I knew you’d be safe.”
A small smile found its way onto my face.
“I was.”
Lena caught it instantly.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“That smile.”
I frowned.
“What smile?”
“The one you definitely didn’t have yesterday.”
I tried to hide it.
Failed miserably.
She laughed.
“I knew it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, please.”
She reached over and nudged my shoulder.
“You walked into that clubhouse looking like your world had ended.”
She paused.
“This morning…”
Another knowing smile.
“…you look like someone who’s finally breathing again.”
I stared out the window as the clubhouse disappeared in the rearview mirror.
She wasn’t wrong.
For the first time since the airport…
The ache in my chest wasn’t the first thing I felt when I woke up.
And somehow, that frightened me almost as much as it thrilled me.
I stared out the passenger window as the clubhouse disappeared behind us.
The morning sun had climbed higher into the sky, washing everything in soft gold. Cars passed us in the opposite direction, people went about their morning routines, cafés were beginning to fill, and somewhere, life carried on exactly as it had yesterday.
Mine didn’t.
Mine had been turned completely upside down in less than twenty-four hours.
Lena drove in comfortable silence for several minutes. She knew me well enough to understand that when I got quiet, it wasn’t because I didn’t have anything to say.
It was because I had too much.
I rested my forehead against the cool glass.
“You know,” Lena said eventually, glancing at me before returning her eyes to the road, “we don’t have to decide anything this second.”
“Hm?”
She gave me a small smile.
“Do you want me to take you home…”
She let the word linger.
“…or would you rather come to my place first?”
I frowned slightly.
“Your place?”
“You can shower.”
She shrugged casually.
“Borrow some clothes if you want.”
“Sleep a little more.”
“Eat.”
“Think.”
“You don’t have to walk into whatever is waiting for you until you’re ready.”
Her words settled somewhere deep inside me.
Home.
The word didn’t even feel right anymore.
Was it still home if the person waiting there had shattered every promise he’d ever made to me?
I swallowed.
“I don’t think…”
My voice caught.
“I don’t think I can face him yet.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
I closed my eyes briefly.
“If I go home now…”
I exhaled slowly.
“…I’ll probably either scream…”
“…or cry.”
Lena nodded as though she’d expected exactly that answer.
“So…”
I looked over at her.
“Can I come to yours?”
She laughed softly.
“You really thought you had to ask?”
“I don’t want to impose.”
“Summer.”
She reached over and squeezed my hand.
“My house is your house.”
“You know that.”
Emotion tightened my throat.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not making me go through this alone.”
“You never will.”
The lump in my throat grew bigger.
I quickly looked back out the window before I embarrassed myself.
After a few quiet moments, another thought surfaced.
One that had been growing louder since I’d left the airport.
“Lena?”
“Hm?”
“Do you know any lawyers?”
She blinked.
“…Lawyers?”
I nodded.
“Good ones.”
She was quiet for a moment.
Then…
“What do you need a lawyer for?”
I laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because somehow saying it out loud felt surreal.
“I want to start the divorce.”
- Writer
