AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You live here?”
“It’s the clubhouse, so yeah.”
Unease twists my stomach into knots. “Why would you bring me here?” I swivel my head and take in all the other motorcycles and vehicles parked in the gravel lot and yard. “This is too much, Journey. I can’t do this. What if I…”
“What if you what?” he asks gently.
I sigh dramatically. “What if I switch?”
“Do you trust me?”
“No. I don’t fucking know you!”
“Aw, c’mon, Wren,” he cajoles. “Have I let you down yet?”
“Well… no. But that doesn’t mean you won’t.”
He reaches for my hand and flattens it over his chest. “I will not let anyone do or say anything to hurt you, okay? You have my word.”
And there’s the rub. Words are just words. Actions are a true measure of the man.
And you’ll never know if Journey is a man of his word if you don’t give him a chance to show you with his actions.
“Stupid voices,” I mutter.
“Wait, you can hear them?” he asks, his eyes wide.
Taking a step back, I wave my hand dismissively. “Yeah, sometimes.”
“What’s it like?”
The curiosity in his tone strikes a chord, and my heart melts a little. “I don’t know. It’s normal to me, I guess. If I had to compare it to something, I’d say it’s like I have a dozen different podcasts playing in my head, trying to compete for my attention. Rarely is it all of them at once, but you get the idea.”
“That’s gotta be hard.”
I snort. “Ya think?”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t you get it? I struggle enough, but if I’m thrust into the middle of a crowd, all hell could break loose.”
“You go to Ballinger’s,” he points out. “They get crowded.”
“But Ballinger’s is familiar. It took me a while to be able to go without freaking out or switching. And even though it’s a safe place for me, the alters still take over sometimes.”
“The clubhouse can become a safe place, too.”
It would be nice to expand my zone of comfort. What Journey’s offering could give me a life I thought I was incapable of having, one I never thought I deserved.
But at what cost?
Deciding to throw caution to the wind, at least for tonight, I nod. “Fine. I’ll go in. But you better not leave my side.”
Journey throws an arm around my shoulder, and warmth spreads throughout my body.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Journey leads me inside, and I’m immediately hit with what feels like a solid wall of music and smoke. I must tense under his arm because he leads me to the opposite wall where there’s a jukebox, and he yanks the cord from the wall.
