Two hours later, Lee is drunk with bandaged feed, and I’m in a pair of dry clothes. Bobby gave him some Oxy that he scored from his ol’ lady, and Lee isn’t feeling a thing but bliss right now. He’s on my bed, half asleep.
Standing in the doorway, I watch him closely, confused why he would hurt himself for me. It’s all surreal.
“You know, you’re going to have to tell him everything, right?” Mom says, standing next to me.
Biting my nail, I sigh. My big secret. Not even Piper knows about it.
“Yeah, I know.”
I’ll tell him everything tomorrow. I mean, if he cares about me to the point of walking across glass, then what I’m about to tell him wouldn’t make him think less of me, right?
Speaking of Piper, I need to send her a text and let her know I’m back in town. She’s going to kick my ass knowing I’ve been in town and she’s missed all this drama go down.
Tomorrow.
I’ll tell Lee everything and call Piper tomorrow. Everything is starting to come together. Yeah, there’s light at the end of the tunnel and I can finally breathe a little easier.
22
Delilah
The Next Day
Sitting outside with a cigarette in my hand, I hold the phone my mom gave me and call Piper. I don’t normally smoke, only when I’m stressed or under extreme anxiety. You’d think I’d become addicted to smoking but I never have. I can choose to smoke when I want and stop whenever.
“Hello?” she answers with an unsure voice, the number unfamiliar, probably throwing her off.
“Hey bitch, it’s me.”
“Hey! Why are you calling from a different number?”
“Girl, I have a story for you,” I say with an exhale.
Taking a drag from the cigarette, I tell her everything that happened in Georgia, to the hotel, to Lee walking across glass.
She curses a lot, and gasps, but lets me do all the talking.
“Saint has been gone a lot, so I figured some shit was going down at the club, but I didn’t know it involved you! So, you’re back home? Is it for good?”
“Yeah.” I flick the cig to the parking lot and sit back in the chair that’s out front.
“You bitch! You have to come see Nellie, or I can bring her to the club!”
My stomach knots thinking about that cute baby. I want to see her but babies make me feel uncomfortable. But this isn’t just any baby, it’s Piper’s.
“I’ll come see you.” I don’t want to stress her out of having to dress the baby, get the diaper bag ready, and haul Nellie here. Especially if something else goes down, my dad is on a fucking war path right now.
“When you coming? The house is a mess right now.” She sighs into the phone, I can’t see her but I know she’s looking around the place feeling like shit that she let it get so bad. But she just had a baby, who in the world has a clean house after they just had a baby?
“Bitch, please, I didn’t have a baby and my room is always trashed.”
She laughs, and it feels good to hear it. I miss her. It makes me wonder how my other club sister, Addie, has been. Probably working like crazy, and madly in love with my brother, Zane.
“Today or tomorrow, I’ll stop by.”
The sound of Nellie crying in the background has my heart seizing. It’s so cute and small, it instantly makes me want to reach through the phone and hold her; to protect her.
“I gotta go,” I tell her quickly, scared baby fever might jump through the line and plant itself in my uterus.
“Yeah, I gotta go, she’s puking again.” Panic in her voice right before the line goes dead.
I set the phone on my lap. Hearing Nellie, I know I have to go tell Lee what happened between me and Thane. I have to. After what he did for me, it only seems right. Besides, it’s a secret I’ve been hiding for so long that I’m ready to reveal it and fucking breathe.
Standing up, I head inside the club, passing the bar where a couple of the guys sit and go to my room where Lee was sleeping this morning.
Opening the door as gently as I can, I surprisingly find him awake and sitting up on my bed.
“Hey, how are you feeling?”
“Not too bad, but I haven’t tried to walk yet.” He holds his left leg up, the bandage wrapped around his foot still looking good.
“We should probably change the dressings and stay on top of the pain meds,” I mutter under my breath, sitting on the mattress, I observe his feet for any tears or loose spots.
Satisfied that there’s no bleeding seeping through, and the bandages are holding, I sit closer to him, and look to the floor.