I’d seen it come up for sale one day and knew it was the house for us when I finally was able to have Cara as mine. A two-story open plan downstairs with four bedrooms, three baths, garage, and an inground pool in the back yard. It was perfect. Only thing I bought so far for the house is a bed set and TV for the master bedroom.
Pulling the keys out of my pocket, I figure once we get inside, I could text a prospect to swing into the Mexican restaurant in town for us.
With my free hand I take Cara’s and guide her up the stairs. Neither of us speak as I unlock and open the door. Right inside the entrance, I put the security code in to turn the alarm off.
I’m sure Tracker and Stoney got alerts on their phones when the system came on. I have it wired to do that with everyone’s houses. If it’s one of my brothers, then they get an alert, as well, sent to them. Since this is my place and not once have I stayed here, I expect a call in the next minute or so from my Prez or VP asking why I’m here. That or one of them to show up.
“Nick,” Cara calls my name nervously as she steps around me. “Um, where’s all your furniture?”
“Haven’t picked any out yet. Figure tomorrow we can go see what we can find,” I shrug and head into the kitchen where I toss my keys and empty my pockets. “You hungry? I’m going to get someone to go pick up Mexican.”
“I could eat,” she whispers as she glances around the open space.
I open my mouth to answer her when my phone rings, peering down at the screen seeing Stoney’s name pop up. Sighing, I swipe my finger across the glass and put it to my ear. “Prez.”
“See you finally went to your house. You wanna tell me why you drove all the way to Franklin in the middle of the night and are now back?” Nothing gets past Stoney, not even if you tried to, he’d call you out on it.
“Went to get my girl and bring her home,” I say, speaking the truth.
There’s a pause on the other end of the line and I check to make sure I didn’t lose him when he finally speaks. “Good. She needs to be here with family and I’m taking it you’re claiming her,” he states rather than asks me this.
“Yeah, Prez. Gonna talk to Coyote tomorrow. Give her the evening to relax and settle into the house,” I inform him as I lift my gaze to Cara and watch her as she walks around the bare house.
“Alright, need anything for tonight? Know you don’t got shit in that house, considering since you bought it, you ain’t even stayed there.” Like I said, can’t keep anything from Stoney.
“Was gonna get one of the prospects to pick up some Mexican for us. Maybe go into the store and grab some drinks. Gotta go to the store tomorrow and get that shit after we go look at furniture,” I mutter.
“I’ll get Rachel to go. She’ll be happy to do this,” Stoney states taking charge.
“Thanks, Prez.” And I meant it. Out of all the ol’ ladies from the club besides Momma B, she’s the one I like most. Raven follows close behind. Not that I don’t like them all but Rachel is the one I’ve talked to most.
“No problem, make sure when you confront Coyote, you do it here at the clubhouse,” he commands.
“Don’t think I can, Prez. Not going against you on this but what I mean is Cara’s not ready to be around a ton of people,” I grunt. At the sound of her name my girl looks in my direction.
“Alright, I get it. But when you talk to him it will be with a few of us there to make sure it goes smoothly, and no one gets hurt.”
“Got it, I’ll let you know when I call him.” Disconnecting I toss the phone back on the counter and hold my hand out to Cara. “Come on, I’ll show you around our house.”
Eyes on my outstretched hand, my girl seems to debate taking it for a brief moment before placing her hand gingerly into mine. Sending a silent thank you to whoever needs it, I begin the tour making sure to end it in the bedroom where we’d be able to sit and talk comfortably rather than on the floor.
Plus, this gives Cara a chance to get used to being in a bed with me, since I have no intention of sleeping anywhere else but with her in my arms. Never again. Having her there wrapped around me this morning was something I will cherish for the rest of my life. The way she relaxed against me after finally drifting off I knew I was able to keep the demons at bay for her to finally rest.
Chapter Nine
Cara
My heart races within my chest as I followed Nerd throughout the house. First, he showed me the entire downstairs. Including the garage and back yard. I immediately fell in love with the pool. Clean and pure. I’m sure it would be amazing to dive into once it’s warm enough to be enjoyed. With it being March, it won’t be long now before that happens.
Since everything happened, and I was stupid and stubborn to not come home at Thanksgiving, I also missed Christmas with my family. Now I’m home. A home Nerd bought and wants to furnish with me. One close enough to my brother but still will give me the space I need from him.
Once we finished our tour downstairs Nerd took me to the second floor and showed me each room. By the time we got to the last room I was starting to wonder if we’d need to go buy an air mattress to sleep on. However, when he opened the door to the master bedroom, that’s when my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. In the middle of the room was a king size bed on a beautiful yet simple frame. Across from it was a TV mounted to the wall. Those were the only two things in the room. No dressers, nothing.
“Nick,” I whisper turning on my heel to face him, I find he was standing directly behind me. Now our fronts were nearly touching as I meet his gaze.
“Yeah, babygirl,” he rasps.
“There’s only one bed and a TV,” I state the obvious.
“Told you when we got here, we’ll go tomorrow and pick out stuff for the house. I’ll also take you by the home and houseware store to pick out some other shit we need. One will be a coffeemaker,” Nerd grunts, his hands coming to my waist.
“Nick.” Nerd stops me yet again by lifting a hand to cover my mouth.
“Gotta get used to this, Cara. And one way to get you there is by you being in my arms at night where I can protect you from the nightmares.” How is it that Nerd can be sweet and meaningful while I’m conflicted and scared by his actions? “That being said, babygirl, we’re taking everything at your pace. I’m not going to force you into anything you’re not ready for. We’ll get you there and when we do you will get to make that choice in taking the next step.”
And that right there is the very reason he holds my heart. It’s also why I can’t let myself have him. Not really. It’s not fair to him when I won’t be able to give him what he wants. I’m ruined and he’s perfect.
Damnit, why did those monsters have to do this to me?
All I wanted to do was go to school, get my degree, come home, and finally be able to approach Nerd and show him that I’m not just a girl, but I was his girl.
“What do you mean you prefer the Chucky movies over the Jason ones? They’re corny as fuck,” Nerd chuckles.
We’d been stretched out on the bed enjoying a spread of delicious Mexican food Rachel brought by. I thought it would be weird seeing her again, but she made it easy by giving me a hug, telling me she’s happy to see me and that she’d gotten me my favorite along with my tea that I can’t survive without.