Storm (Storm MC) (7 page)

“Let’s get something straight.  He isn’t my man,” I said, as I finished packing my bag.

“Why did you two break up?” she asked.

I sighed and sat down on the bed next to her.  “There were a lot of reasons we broke up, but he was the one who ended it when I accused him of cheating on me.  When I found out later that he didn’t cheat I thought we might have had a chance at getting back together but stuff happened, and he told me to get out of the club, to leave town.  He was done with me.”

“Fucker,” she rocked a dirty look; best friends were the shit.  I loved that Serena never pressured me for more information than I was willing to give.  Even though we had been best friends for two years now, she had never pushed me to talk about this stuff from my past.  She knew I had been through something that I didn’t like to talk about, and knew that I had had a messy breakup, but was happy enough to leave it at that.

“Yeah, fucker,” I grinned and hugged her.  “God, I am going to miss you.”

She hugged me hard and then pulled away.  “I know. Me too.  Maybe I could come and visit soon,” she said.

I shook my head.  “I don’t think you should, honey.  From what J and Scott have told me it is pretty messed up at the moment.  I don’t want you getting mixed up in all of that.”

“Fuck that.  I can’t leave my best girl alone when she needs me.  I am sure that J and his boys can look out for both of us.”

I laughed out loud.  “You’ve got no clue but I do love you. Now, get your ass off the bed and help me carry my stuff out of here.”

We carried my bag out to the living room and ran into Blake who had just walked through the front door.  He pulled me into a hug and we stayed like that for a moment.  It would be tough leaving him as I had come to depend upon him over the last two years.  He was my voice of reason when my level of crazy hit epic proportions, and he was the steady influence in my life.

“You know where I am if you need me, baby girl,” he murmured in my ear and then let me go.

My eyes met his and I smiled at him, “Absolutely.  You’d better keep your phone close all the time because I’m sure I’ll be calling you often.  I’ll need you to talk some sense into me when I lose my shit. Okay?”

He nodded and grabbed my hand and squeezed it.  “I mean it, Maddy, if you need me, I am there.”

A phone started ringing and I looked around to catch J staring intently at Blake and I.  He was standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, and I had not heard him come in.  It was his phone ringing but he wasn’t rushing to answer it.

“Are you going to get that?” I snapped.

He scowled at me and stabbed at his phone to answer it.  “What?” he barked into it and walked back into the kitchen, away from us.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to Blake and Serena.  “Are Rowan and Faith able to come and say goodbye?” I asked Blake.

“No, they are busy, but I think they will both give you a call later on,” Blake answered.  He jerked his head towards J, and asked, “What was that all about?” 

I shrugged.  “I have no idea.” And I really didn’t.  J could be a moody bastard and I figured he was just in one of his moods, especially because of what was happening with Nix and the club.

“Are you sure you want him to take you back home?  I could drive you,” he offered. 

“No, I’ll go with J,” I said quickly and Blake raised his eyebrows at me.

Shit.  That was pretty eager of me.  Fuck, this wasn’t good.  I needed to keep my distance from J.

“No, maybe you could drive me,” I changed my mind and looked to Blake who was nodding in agreement.

“Madison is with me,” J growled, and I turned around to find him almost right behind me.  He caught me by surprise and I stumbled back a little, and his hand shot out to catch me from falling.  His arm snaked around my waist and he held me firmly.  I looked up at him as he stepped closer to me; our breath mingled and I felt my stomach clench with that feeling of anticipation that I hadn’t known since we broke up.  “You’ll ride with me, it’s safer,” he ordered.

“I think Madison can make her own mind up,” Blake retorted.

J tore his eyes from mine to glare at Blake.  “Did you not fucking hear me the first time?  She rides with me.”

“You’re joking aren’t you?” Blake snorted, “Madison is a grown woman and can make her own decisions.”

“Do I look like I am fucking joking?” J challenged Blake, and I realised it was time to cut in before this got out of hand.  Blake was still being polite, probably for my sake, but if push came to shove, Blake wouldn’t hesitate to take J on.

I laid a hand on J’s chest and said to Blake, “It’s okay, I’ll ride with J.  He’s right.  With Nix off their radar it will be safer for me to stick with him.”

Blake and J continued glaring at each other, and I pushed on J’s chest and pulled myself out of his hold.  “Are we going?” I asked him, impatiently. 

He looked away from Blake to me and nodded.  “Yeah, I’ll get our stuff and meet you outside.”  With that, he gathered up our belongings and headed out to his bike, shooting Blake one last glare before he left.

“Like I said, moody,” Serena stated and looped her arm through mine as we followed him out.  She turned her head to me with a wicked glint, “I bet he’s fucking intense in bed, right?”

“Oh my god!  We are not going there,” I shook my head in exasperation.  Serena had a one track mind most days and today was no exception.

She laughed and I couldn’t help but join her; she really was the sunshine in my life.

***

I
grabbed Blake and Serena in a group hug.  “I’ll call you once we are there.  Will be in about four or five hours.”

J was waiting for me on his bike and I could sense his impatience so I finished my goodbyes and climbed on behind him.  Apart from the other night, it had been years since I’d been on the back of a bike and it felt good.  I had missed it.  Wrapping my arms around J’s waist, I tried to wipe away the thoughts of just how good it felt to be on
his
bike.  He pulled my hands so that I was holding him tighter and pleasure shot through my body at his touch.  I wondered if he felt it too, but quickly dismissed that thought because, let’s be honest, he was the one who had ended it all those years ago.

We took off and I settled in for a long trip.  It would give me some time to try and get my thoughts and feelings about J, and going home sorted out.  As much as it thrilled my body to be close to him, my head and heart weren’t thrilled.  He had been the love of my life; breaking up with him had devastated me.  We had many nasty run-ins after we separated, and it had crushed me to watch him go through woman after woman.  After I moved, I’d never heard from him, and had not intended to see him again.  My heart was still fragile; I hadn’t given it away since he shattered it and I wasn’t sure it could cope with being near him again.  The heart wants what it wants.  Often we have no say over who it chooses, and I was just trusting and hoping like hell that my heart knew that J had the power to break me again.

J
ason

I leaned into the doorframe of the clubhouse bar, crossed my arms in front of me and settled back to watch the duel between Scott and Madison.  We had arrived back not fifteen minutes ago and they were already at it.

“I don’t want you going to see Crystal now because I can’t go with you.  Gotta be somewhere else.” Scott was getting really pissed off, but then again, when wasn’t he pissed off with Madison.

Madison shot back, “I’m quite capable of going by myself.” 

My eyes wandered down to her hips where she had placed her hands.  She had on the tightest fucking jeans and all the assholes in here were mentally undressing her.  I wanted to tell them to all fuck off, but I had no right to those thoughts anymore.

Scott was pacing now.  Jesus Christ, if he was like this with his sister, what the fuck would he be like with an old lady?  He didn’t do relationships and that was probably a good thing because his over protectiveness wouldn’t be appreciated by many women.  I should fucking know.  I had those tendencies too, and it had caused no end of fucking problems between Madison and I when we were together. 

“Fuck it,” Scott swore, and tipped his chin in my direction, “J will go with you then.”

I pushed off from my leaning spot and walked towards them.  Madison swung around to face me; she wasn’t pleased.

“J doesn’t have to go with me.” She looked wildly around the room until her gaze stopped on Stoney who was sitting in the corner.  She jabbed a finger towards him, “Stoney can go with me.”

“I will go with you, Madison.” I growled.  “Get your stuff and we can leave now.”

“Madison.”  We all stopped and turned at the voice of our President.  Marcus Cole was a commanding presence and I watched Madison shrink a little.  She had always had a difficult relationship with her father.  He was a man used to being in control and unfortunately for him, had raised a daughter who was too much like him, so they were constantly arguing. 

She composed herself.  “Dad.”

“Go with J for fuck’s sake.  Not sure why you have to always fucking argue with everything.”  He could be a bastard sometimes and I squeezed my fists, itching to punch him for being so harsh to her.

“Nice to see you too,” she seethed. 

Marcus ignored her and turned to me, “Take her to see Crystal and then bring her back here.  I want her staying at the clubhouse until we find where Nix is at.”  With that he strode out of the room without a backwards glance at Madison.  She looked hurt, and I fought the urge to pull her close and wrap my arms around her.  Instead, I silently stayed where I was, waiting for her to make the next move.

“Nothing much changes around here, does it?” she asked no one in particular and threw her hands in the air.  “Fuck!  Is it any wonder I didn’t want to come home?” She directed this one at me. 

Shit, I didn’t want to get into family fucking politics right now.  It had been a long day and it wasn’t over yet.  I pointed at the front door, “Time to go,” I said, walking towards it and then looked back over my shoulder at Scott, “I’ll check in with you later, see where we’re at.”

He nodded.  “Yeah. Later, brother.”

*****

M
adison

Well, my father hadn’t changed much since I last saw him; still as controlling as ever.  He and Scott were the same; how the hell was I going to get through this visit?  And J.  Well, that was a whole other headache.  I was so confused about him right now, and he was giving me mixed signals.  One minute he was bossing me around and the next he was looking at me like he used to. 

I followed him outside and walked to his bike while he stopped and spoke with a guy I had never seen before.  They discussed something in hushed tones and I could tell from J’s facial expressions that he wasn’t happy with whatever was being said.  He muttered something at the guy before shaking his head at him in disgust.  This couldn’t be good. 

“What was that all about?”I asked as he approached me.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” he dismissed me. 

I felt my blood boil.  “Why do you, Scott and Dad do that?  Why can’t you just answer my questions and tell me what is happening?”

J turned his angry eyes to me, “Not everything is about you, Madison.  Seems to be something you still haven’t figured out.”

“Yes, I know that, but with what is happening at the moment, I figured it might be about Nix.  And that is about me,” I had raised my voice and was breathless with rage.  I didn’t know if this anger was coming from my current frustrations or whether it was old hurt resurfacing.  J had cut me deep and I had buried it for so long, not allowing myself to really feel it because I knew the power it held over me.  The power to break me again.

“Yeah, baby, that fucking is about you,” J snapped back at me, “But this isn’t. Now get on the back of the bike and let’s go.”

Oh, no he didn’t.  “What the fuck does that mean, J?  The bit about that being about me.”  There had been an ugly tone to his words that I didn’t like and I didn’t know where they were coming from.

He leant down into my face and I was stunned at the anger emanating from him, “Perhaps if you hadn’t dated Nix, all of this shit wouldn’t be happening.”

Tears threatened my eyes, “I can’t believe you just said that,” I breathed out on a whisper, staring at him in shock and confusion.  He stayed bent and in my face, just glaring at me.  We stayed like that for a minute or so, the hurt feelings and unsaid things from years ago swirling around us.

Finally he stood back and broke eye contact.  “Crystal’s staying with Brooke, so be prepared for that.” He changed the subject just like that; just like he always used to do and it hurt just as much now as it had then.

***

B
rooke was J’s sister, and we had a long, hard history.  Back in school we had been close, but the year after we finished school a misunderstanding had come between us.  It was a silly misunderstanding, about a guy, and she had hated me ever since.  Bec, however, had remained friends with Brooke, so she had continued to be a presence in my life.  We just did our best to keep out of each other’s way.  When I started dating J, she had been pissed off and had done her best to break us up.  Brooke was the only family J had left after both his parents had died in a car accident and he was very close to her; she was his younger sister and he looked out for her and made sure she was always okay.  When she began her campaign against us it had almost worked because J always made excuses for her behaviour.  I had often felt like I came second to her and had threatened to walk away from the relationship a couple of times.  It all came to a head about a year into our relationship and J had been forced to take a stance.  He had chosen me but it was always clear just how much he loved Brooke, and from then on I had tried hard not to put him in the middle again.  I think Brooke did the same because she had stopped trying to separate us.

We pulled up at Brooke’s house about fifteen minutes later.  J was still shitty, and stalked into the house ahead of me.  I watched as he entered the house and greeted Brooke.  She looked past him at me, her face a blank mask.  I was surprised when she gave me a tight smile and gestured for me to come in.