He nods once, not wanting to promise anything he can’t keep. “We’ll see you guys real soon.”
They walk out and I settle into the cushy booth seat trying not to think about what he’s walking into.
“Now that we’re alone and we actually have time to talk in this whirlwind. What’s the deal with you and Hunter? And why haven’t you ever mentioned him?” Sam asks.
“Well by now you know enough to piece together that I grew up with an alcoholic mom and an emotionally deficient dad that’s part of an MC.” She nods. “So ta-da that’s me in a nutshell, the unloved biker brat.”
“Don’t look so unloved to me,” she retorts.
I wave her off. “That’s different, Hunter has always been a part of my life regardless of the club or our families. Whenever I needed someone to run to, to make me feel safe, he was always there. His mom was like a second mom to me too.”
It hurts to think about Arlene since Hunter told me she’d passed away.
“Hunter’s dad is part of the club too?” She asks.
I nod. “Yeah, and his brother is wanting patched in.” She stares at me blankly. “Oh, it means he wants to be a member. Kind of like when guys pledge a frat, only it’s more serious and not as dumb.” She nods like she understands now and I tell her all about my mom leaving and how much I hated the club and wanted to get away from it. I tell her about Hunter asking me to be his Old Lady and me turning him down. And how my dad reacted when I told him I was leaving the club and wanted to move out permanently.
“So you want a go at makin’ it on your own?” He asks with narrowed eyes.
“Yeah, I don’t want anything to do with the club anymore. If I choose to leave it behind, that means I have to move out, right?”
I’m hoping he says yes and that’s that, but by the look on his face, that isn’t going to happen.
“Leaving the club is your decision, no more events for you. But you’re not leaving my house, I need help on meeting rent and you owe me for looking after you for eighteen years.”
We both know he doesn’t need help with rent, the brothers at the club live more than comfortably. He takes a gulp of his beer and I stand up, not quite believing what I’m hearing. “You’re unbelievable. You can’t force me to live with you.”
He laughs. “Damn well can, you’re my daughter.” I go to protest and he gets an evil glint in his eye. “Would hate for a certain member of the club to get in an accident all because you couldn’t follow one simple rule.”
I narrow my eyes at him, not quite believing to stoop so low as to threaten a fellow brother. “I knew turning eighteen would be too good to be true. What? You can’t just admit that you’d be lonely in this house by yourself? You have to make up some bullshit reason why and then threaten your best friends son.” I walk away not caring what he says anymore. “You’re going to grow into an old and lonely son of a bitch. You can’t keep me here forever.”
“Your dad threatened Hunter?”
I shrug. “Things are different in club life, no one’s afraid of using violence as a weapon.”
We order some food and my stomach rumbles at the thought of my favorite Mac’n’Cheese, I can almost taste it.
“Isn’t there some sort of… code or something that stops that from happening?” She asks innocently.
“No, unless they’re high up like my dad, if someone pisses you off then they’re fair game as long as they’re still breathing.”
Her eyes widen. “That’s barbaric.”
I laugh. “No, that’s club life.”
She shakes her head in disbelief. Sam has gone through a lot in her life, but she has no idea the things I’ve seen and heard because I was brought up a biker brat. And it was going to stay that way.
“So you and Hunter? What happened after you turned him down?”
I look out the window of the diner. “We grew a little distant for a while, but he couldn’t resist my girly charm and we snuck around the club’s back for about six months but it just wasn’t worth us getting caught. So we ended the whole ‘friends with benefits’ thing we had going on and tried being ‘just friends’ again.” I sigh. “Things were never the same though. I always caught him staring at me and I couldn’t stop thinking about him.”
I pause to think back to that time and Sam clears her throat. “So what happened?”
I chuckle. “Alright, eager beaver. Nothing exciting, I tried dating but nothing ever came of it and we stayed friends. Six months before my dad kicked me out things seemed off with him but he insisted everything was fine.”
“Would you just stop for a minute! You’re practically running away from me,” I shout.
He doesn’t stop but he does slow down. “Keeley, I’ve got places to be.”
I screw up my face. “More important than arranging your mom’s birthday gift with me?”
He tenses but carries on his fast pace. “It’s club business.”
“The club this, the club that. Hunter, we were in the middle of talking about something, you don’t have to be so rude. Fuck the club and talk to me for a minute.”