Cocky's Fight (Devils Rejects MC 6)

Melissa belongs with me.

I’m going to make her mine.

She’ll see.

So will he.

Everything will work out the way it is supposed to. He’ll go to Texas and start his new life and Melissa will continue hers with me.

Chapter 2

—Melissa

I promised myself I wouldn’t fall but I fell for a man I shouldn’t have. The man I want is still in love with another woman. I met Justin when I left Indiana to start over in Webb Hollow. I didn’t plan on falling for him, but it just sort of happened. Too bad for me that he came with a lot of baggage—namely an ex-wife named Stephanie. A woman he’s not over. A woman he is going back to. I can’t compete with their history. I can’t compete with the child he has always dreamed of growing in her womb. I can’t even be mad about it. The situation sucks. Damn does it ever but I have a child of my own to take care of. Jimmy counts on me to make good choices and giving up on a relationship with Justin, though hard is the right thing to do. I need to focus on being a mother and starting our new life. I can’t depend on a man to make me happy. I have tried that one too many times only to be left with a bitter taste in my mouth.

I take a deep breath then another, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans. The door to the hospital room is ajar. I peer inside to see Justin resting comfortably with oxygen tubes up his nose. I let out a sigh of relief. He looks good for a man who nearly died days ago. He overdid it after being shot but he is expected to make a full recovery. I was scared he was going to die without knowing how I feel about him. Without me getting to say the things that I need to say so that I can have closure in this brief part of my life. I made sure to come while Stephanie is gone to Drag Creek. I don’t want to upset her or cause Justin any trouble there.

Sara insisted I drop Jimmy off with her. I hated to leave him there, but she said he would keep CT busy while she tends to the girls. She recently gave birth to twins. Kara and Marie. She said she named them after her grandmother, a woman who went by the name Gypsy Red. Justin spots me by the door and winks at me. He waves his hand, motioning for me to enter his hospital room. I hesitate but I know this is what I came here for.

I place the Christmas card Jimmy made him in his hand. He scans the front, looking at the hand drawn Christmas tree, then opens it to the inside. He chuckles then squeezes my hand. “Thank you. Tell him I am going to put it on the fridge when I get home.”

“He’ll like that.” I take a seat in the chair that sits next to his bed. “How are you, really?”

A faint smile flickers on his face. “Be a lot better when they let me out of this place. I’m sorry about Stephanie and the house. I hadn’t talked to her about it and that falls on me.”

I shake my head. “It’s fine. Honestly the apartment I moved into is great. It’s close to work and there’s other kids around for Jimmy to play with. A couple of the girls from the club live there too.”

“You still dancin’?”

“I gotta take care of me and Jimmy. I came here because I wanted to tell you that it’s okay. I’m not upset or even mad. A little hurt, but I’ll get over it. I always do. Shawn told me that you’re all set to go to Texas, that you’re patching over to a new club. I’m happy for you. I know how much you want to be a dad. And I have a feeling you’ll be a great one.”

“If things were different, you and me…” he looks off as though he is imagining the life we might have had. Him, Jimmy, and me. It’s a pretty picture, but it isn’t real. “I’m glad you came by. Just so you know, Steph and me—we aren’t together. I’m going to Texas because it’s the right choice for me. I did some shit in my past that I’m not proud of and I need to put Tennessee behind me. And there is the baby to think about. I gotta be close to my kid. I am getting a second chance to do things right. I don’t want to fuck it up.”

“Then don’t.”

He brings my hand to his mouth and kisses my knuckles. “You’re a real class act.”

“Now there’s a first.” I grin and pull my hand back. “I should go.” I stand up and lean down to kiss his cheek, but he turns into me and kisses me hard and deep. His tongue strokes mine in goodbye. Briefly, I allow myself to get lost in his kiss. To forget that he’s not mine and he never will be.

His heart rate spikes on the monitor as he grabs my butt, reminding me of where I am and what I came here for. I break away, feeling bittersweet. “I’m going to miss you. Promise me that you’ll take better care of yourself down there. No more getting shot or hospital stays.”

“You know I can’t make any promises. But I’ll do my best. Promise me that you’ll find the happiness you deserve. Someone to treat you right and teach Jimmy how to be a man.”

I nod. “I will. Goodbye, Justin.” I rush from the room not wanting to break down in his presence. Not wanting him to see how much I care that he’s leaving or how deeply his words affect me. I thought that he was going to be the man who would treat me right. That he’d be teaching Jimmy how to be a man, but that was all a fantasy.

My tears don’t fall until I get into my car. Not because of what I

have lost but for what could have been. We could have been something great together. For once I thought I was going to be first. That I was going to have someone in my corner. I’m back to where I started from again. Taking off my clothes for money. I won’t make the same mistakes again. I won’t put my heart on the line. From here on out it’s just me and my little man. My boy is all I need.

I lay my head down on the steering wheel and allow myself five minutes of grief. Five minutes is all I need. Five minutes to fall apart and put myself back together because I am a single mom and there is no time for anything more.

When I arrive at Sara’s her and the girls are asleep. Hades has Jimmy and CT in the living room watching cartoons and playing cars. I tell him to give Sara my thanks and we quietly slip out the door as to be mindful not wake the twins. I get Jimmy strapped in his seat.

“Did you have fun?”

“Guess so.” I can’t see his face, but I still hear the sadness in his voice as I start down the road.

“What’s wrong, Jim Jam?” I question him during the drive home. He remains silent, ignoring the question. He’s probably too tired from playing. CT always exhausts him. My plan when we get home is to get him a bath and into his PJ’s. When I pull up at the apartment the last person that I expect to see is Shawn, my stepbrother. I thought we agreed that I need space, but he must have missed the memo. I’m not much in the mood for company right now, but I find I don’t have the heart to send him away. He says that he still loves me. That he has always loved me, but I’m not that naïve girl he once knew. I’m grown now, and I have adult problems.