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I turn my back on him, making my way towards my truck. “Aww, look, boys, he’s not as dumb as he seems. He knows when he’s lost. The prize is mine, man. It’s always been mine.”

I turn back around. “You ain’t got shit, man. Just a woman who will never give you her heart because she gave it to me fucking years ago. You keep thinking your shit, Croy. Keep playing the big man, but she’ll never love you, motherfucker, because Tessa Reese loves me, and I promise you this: it might not happen now, but it will happen. And you, my friend, will be shit out of luck.”

“I won’t allow it,” he yells from behind me as I continue making my way to my truck.

“It’s not your choice,” I say to myself, not giving him another second of my time.

Tessa

I stare at my phone, willing a text from Hawk to appear. He left my apartment five days ago and since then nothing. I’ve texted him, and Sam has called and left messages, but no response. As much as I want to fault him for being a cruel person, I know that I hurt him just as much as he hurt me. We’re both responsible for this situation. I drop my phone into the front pocket of my scrubs. Pushing up from the table, I grab my empty lunch sack to toss it in the garbage.

“You’re done with your break?” Martha asks from behind me.

“Almost. I’m going to head outside for a few minutes.”

She grabs my arm. “You gonna tell me what’s going on with you?”

“Nothing to tell.”

“Tessa–” She starts to talk, but I brush past her. I’m not in the mood to hear any of her mothering. I don’t know what anyone expects from me. Rose isn’t here anymore, and Hawk is probably back in New Mexico. My life needs to get back to the way it was before he showed up here. I couldn’t choose him, and he couldn’t choose me.

There isn’t anything more left to be said.

* * *

“I’m done with my homework!” Sam yells from his room while I move around the kitchen, finishing up dinner.

“Come set the table, baby,” I call after him as I pull the sheet from the stove. Fish sticks and mac n cheese are on tonight’s menu. Three times a week I allow Sam to pick what we eat. His choices are usually cheap and easy fixes, so I save them for the nights when I’m exhausted, and tonight would count as one of those nights.

“Just two?” he asks when he walks in. It’s the same question he’s asked for the past seven nights.

“Yeah, baby. Just two.”

Sam shrugs before he pulls the silverware from the drawer. “Is he ever coming back?”

“I’m not sure, baby. His home is in New Mexico.”

“But your home used to be there too, but now it’s here, so why can’t his be here too?”

He takes the plates that I placed on the counter over to the table. I bite my lip because the pain always helps to keep the tears at bay. I save those for the times when I know he’s asleep and I’m in my bed. That’s where I allow myself to feel the pain of my broken heart.

“Sometimes it’s not simple.” I brush his hair back and drop a kiss on the top of his head.

“I think we should call him again.”

“I think we should give him the time he needs, baby.”

I couldn’t choose him, and he couldn’t choose me.

Hawk

The Fallen are a particular group of women who have always been there to keep our beds warm and our dicks wet. The problem is that their reality sometimes plays tricks on them and they begin to fantasize about becoming more than a quick fuck. They start seeing themselves on the backs of our bikes with our name adorned across the back of their own cuts. They think if they fuck enough of us frogs, that one day they’ll find themselves a biker prince with that a fucking castle.

I ain’t ever seen that fairytale come true.

That's the reason why there are times when we go out to bars that aren’t associated with us and find us some grade a, not worn out pussy, and that’s where Lick and I are right now. Two weeks since I’ve been back. Three weeks since I’ve sunk my dick into a pussy, and it’s about damn time I fuck Tessa out of my mine.

That’s where Gillian comes in.