Page 36 of Savage Bond

“No, babe, I can’t do that,” he says calmly.

“Why not!” I scream as tears stream down my face.

I feel like I finally had the life I’ve always wanted at the tip of my fingers and now it’s being taken away from me. I want to hit something and right now my entire focus is on Dad.

“Because I won't let you do something you’re going to regret later on. I won't let you destroy your relationship with your dad because of this.”

“He doesn’t care about me!” I whimper, spinning in his arms to face him.

“He does, baby. He loves you more than anything and wants what’s best for you.”

“You’re what’s best for me. I need to be with you.” I meet his gaze and find so much pain staring back at me. This is killing him. All he wants is to make Dad happy, but he’s not willing to walk away from me.

“I know. We’ll figure it out. Let’s just stay calm and we can figure this out. Ok?” He loosens his hold on me and swipes the tears from my cheek. “I'm not walking away, Rox. I'm right here and I'm not leaving you. Do you understand me?”

I nod my head as more tears fall. I really thought Chopper was worried over nothing. I thought Dad would be thrilled I was dating one of his favorite members. He’s always viewed Storm and Chopper as sons and he was so chill when he found out Storm was dating Dixie. I thought he’d be happy for us… I couldn’t be more wrong.

“You’re not moving because Chopper isn’t moving,” Dad says firmly.

“What?” Chopper’s brows tug together and he stares over my shoulder at Dad.

“You’re not leaving the club and you’re not moving. I needed to make sure my daughter was important enough that you’d be willing to walk away from all of this for her.” Dad motions around like we can see the entire club from inside Chopper’s apartment.

“So, this was all a test?” I shriek, anger boiling up inside of me even faster than before.

“Don’t move from my lap,” Chopper growls in my ear. Dad watches us with amusement.

“Sometimes I forget that you’re the only person who can calm down my Roxy. It’s like you have this magical switch that you can flip, but no one else can even find.”

“Wow, so you’re saying he’s the only person who can control me?” I fold my arms across my chest and glare at him.

“Control you? Never. I'm not sure anyone could ever control you, Roxy. But Chopper’s always been this calming presence in your life. The one person you can fall to pieces around and you aren’t worried about how you’ll pick yourself up and put yourself back together. You trust him unlike anyone else. You’ve always let him see little glimpses of the real you, glimpses I'm not sure you’ve even let me or your sisters see. You might not want to admit it, even to yourself, but you’ve always known Chopper was your person.”

“If you knew all of that, why would you ever make Chopper promise to stay away from me?”

“Well, I knew it was a promise he wouldn’t be able to keep, but I had no doubt he’d make sure you were the one before he took a chance if he was risking more than his heart. I was protecting you, Roxy. It might not seem like I was, but that’s what I was doing. It’s what I’ve been doing all along. By saying you’re off limits, I knew only men who really cared would even dare come near you. Only the strong and fearless men would go toe to toe with me and have the guts to pursue you.”

“That’s…” Chopper shakes his head.

“Stupid,” I finish for him.

“Nah, that’s ingenious. He knew only men worthy of your heart would put in that sort of effort. He didn’t have to tell you not to date someone like Darren, because that kid never would’ve challenged him. Never would’ve fought for you.” Chopper stares at Dad with new found respect.

“Whatever. I'm still moving in with Chopper and you can’t stop me,” I huff out.

“After you get married,” Dad corrects me.

“Seriously?”

“Oh, please! A few hours ago, you wanted to go get married today. I was the one who had to convince you to wait a little bit.” Chopper rolls his eyes.

“And if you keep up this attitude, I’ll go ask Jasper to marry me.” I smirk, loving the dark look that passes his expression. Chopper’s a jealous man and I love seeing that side of him make an appearance.

“Don’t go making threats like that, sweetheart. You might end an innocent man’s life if you do.”

“Stop it!” I swat at his chest as I let my head fall back and a laugh slips from my lips. “Leave Jasper alone. He’s the sweetest prospect we’ve ever had. He’s like having a little brother.”

“I'm pretty sure he’s older than you.” Dad smooths down his beard, tilting his head to the side in thought.