We’ve been at the party for a while now and I’ve just lost Cara. I think she’s gone off with that guy. She said his name was Josh. I’m about ready to just head on out when I get an eerie feeling wash over me. You know, the kind when you feel someone’s eyes are directed on you.
“Hey, Ember, right?” a familiar voice says from a few feet beside me. I look over to see that guy I met before. I think his name was Dex, but I’m not too certain.
“Uh, yeah. And you’re . . . Dex?” I ask, hoping for confirmation.
He nods with a beer in hand. “Yeah, that’s me. Josh left me to the sharks, but it looks like Cara did the same to you.” He chuckles lightly, obviously finding some amusement in all this.
“Um, yeah, I suppose she did,” I stammer, not sure what to say. I’ve never really seen a guy look like him. Well, if you don’t count the guys at the club back home. They’re my family. Though, Dex has to be well over six feet, considering he towers over me at my five-foot-nine self.
“Eh, I guess we’ll have to keep each other company. You excited for classes to start, or are you dreading it?”
“I guess I’m more nervous than anything.” I shrug, lifting my cup to my lips to take a sip of water.
“Don’t be. College is easy compared to life itself. Shit, I’m here for Agricultural Engineering. My class schedule looks like a mixture of design, general education requirements, and weird computer shit. I’m fucked and I know it. What’s your major?” Dex asks.
“I haven’t really figured out what my major will be yet. I want to either become a social worker that helps place kids in homes worth anything or work in the school system. Either way, they have the same basics for the first year,” I state, diverting my gaze. Something about Dex just makes my stomach feel as if it had butterflies and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just an insta-crush.
“That’s sick. A lot of my friends and family are adopted. Hell, my uncle, Zane, adopted my cousin Sydney. We knew her birth parents and whatnot, but they died and he took her in. The world needs a lot of people like you.” I don’t know if he realizes what he said was sweet as pie, but it was, and now it’s only making my butterflies turn into a full-blown swarm inside my body.
“Thank you. I’m sorry your cousin’s birth parents died, but glad to know she had someone to take her in. My uncles took me in and raised me after mine were killed in a house fire.” Why did I just tell him about my parents? I never talk about them. It hurts too much to bring up my mom and dad. Due to issues with not only the De Luca family but a rival club, my parents paid the ultimate price, as did my aunt when she was killed in a car accident. All because of the De Lucas.
“Oh, Jesus. I’m sorry. That’s got to be hard.” Dex looks at me with sadness in his eyes before he shakes his head. “That’s how Sydney’s birth mom died. She was trapped in a fire and couldn’t get out. We tried everything we could to get to her . . . but we couldn’t. We couldn’t get close and . . . well, you know. Fuck, you know more than anyone else would.”
“Wow, I’m so sorry. It sucks that you guys weren’t able to get her out. With my parents, there was no saving them either. They were trapped, windows locked from the outside, and the door was barred shut,” I mutter as a chill races down my spine at the memory. It pops back into my mind, flashing across it like a movie reel. Turning my head, I look at anything else but Dex as I try to regain composure. What was I thinking to bring up such a hideous subject? It’s probably just as hard for him to talk about.
God, I’m so stupid.
Dex’s eyes widen and he runs a hand over his mouth. “Saffron, Sydney’s mom . . . she was trapped too. Shit. Who would’ve thought two random strangers like us would have something so specific in common? Weird. You want a beer or anything?” I appreciate him trying to get me a drink, but I don’t trust anyone.
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Alright. I’m runnin’ low, so I’m gonna go get a refill. Mind if I come back in a couple minutes?”
4
Dex
The line to get refills is fuckin’ mind-blowing. At the club, it’s quick. We get our liquor and go back to hangin’ out, but here in college, it’s like everyone wants to dig and know everything about you. I think I’ve been standin’ here for at least five minutes at this point with my Solo cup in hand. I’m not lookin’ to get drunk, but hell if I don’t want to relax a bit. Shit. If I keep waiting, Ember might scurry off and I don’t want that to happen.
Turning, I walk a few feet and see a thin, petite brunette walkin’ right up to me. She’s got a nice pair of striking cyan blue eyes and her skin is really pale, but as she gets closer, I see a reddish tint to her hair. You know, kinda like the Irish girls have. “You’re Dex, right?” Her eyes light up, waiting for me to confirm or deny.
I cock a brow, never seeing this girl a day in my life. “Uh, yeah. Who’s asking?”
A smile crosses her face. “Harper. Harper Stonewall.” Shit. I didn’t know I had a cousin named Harper. Then again, I’m not really familiar with this side of the family. I know my uncle Jonathan has one son, but I wasn’t aware he had a daughter.
“Sorry, I didn’t know um . . . I don’t even know how to say this.” I scratch the back of my head, feelin’ awkward as hell. “I didn’t know I had another cousin. Thought Uncle Jonathan only had a son.” I chuckle embarrassingly.
She furrows her brows together and makes a displeased expression. “I’m not Uncle Jonathan’s daughter.”
I blink a few times, trying to process what she’s just said. She said uncle like he’s her uncle too. There are only two Stonewalls that I know of, my uncle, Jonathan, and my deadbeat trash mother, Adalind. “Well, now I’m the one who’s embarrassed. I thought you knew, but the way you’re going white kinda tells me you don’t know about me at all. I’m Harper, your sister.”
What?
There’s no fuckin’ way this is true. If it was, my uncle would’ve told me, right?
From the corner of my eye, I see the front door being shoved open and much to my surprise, Coyote from the Devil’s Riot MC charges through. “Sorry, I gotta go.” I dismiss Harper and head over to Coyote.
The club Coyote belongs to and the Reapers are good. We officially became allies not too long ago because of a deal we made with the Steele brothers. They’re the largest gunrunners in North America and need more help to discreetly transport their guns. While they’re trying to be legitimate in most of their businesses, the word on the street is that Jordan Steele oversees their darker business operations these days. I know the Steeles are paying the Reapers around a hundred thousand a month for our club’s services after I unintentionally overheard my dad and Zane talking, so I’m sure they’re paying the Devil’s Riot MC around the same amount.
I continue over to Coyote and put a hand on his shoulder. He turns back, ready to lay one into me before he realizes who I am. “Shit, man. You good?” I ask, obviously able to tell he isn’t good. His eyes are bloodshot and he’s on a manhunt.