Cotton: Satan's Fury MC (12 page)

She gave my hand a light squeeze before she turned and left, giving me no chance to respond. I stared at the empty doorway for a moment, thinking of what I actually needed to do ‘to play my cards right.’ I grabbed my phone and made a call to Guardrail. It was time for me to make a statement with Cass, one she wouldn’t be able to ignore, and I was going to need some help from my brothers to pull it off.

After work, Sydney and I went to grab a bite for dinner, and by the time we were done, I was beyond exhausted. I felt like I hadn’t slept in days, and my body ached everywhere—my head was pounding, and my neck had a terrible crick in it. Hell, even my butt hurt. I just wanted to take a hot bath and crawl into bed. Unfortunately, before I could go home, I had to make a run by the grocery store. It was the last thing I wanted to do after a long day, but I managed to get in and out of the store without much of a hassle. By the time I finally made it home, I was so tired I almost missed the large vase of roses sitting by my apartment door. The minute I saw them, I knew they were from him, which made my heart immediately start pounding against my chest. I quickly dropped my bags to the floor and reached for the card, eagerly opening it. My eyes scanned over it, again and again, until his words began to sink in.

Give me a chance to make this right.

Answer the phone.

Cotton

Unable to resist
,
I lifted the vase up to my nose and inhaled the delicate fragrance of the pink roses. And just like that, a little bit of hope snuck in, and I found myself smiling. I unlocked the door to my apartment, and as soon as it swung open, I was stunned by what I saw. Every inch of my apartment was covered with vases filled with roses, daisies, wildflowers, and lilies. Everywhere I looked, there was a different arrangement of flowers, each containing the same little white card nestled in the center. I rushed inside and grabbed several of the cards, impatiently opening each one to see what was written inside. Every card had the exact same message as the first. Damn. He was getting to me. As much as I tried to make myself believe I could forget about him and move on, deep down I’ve always known he had stolen my heart that first night we were together. I hadn’t had many experiences with men, but I knew what we’d shared was something different… something I’d never get enough of.

The guys were in need of some wind therapy as they called it, and Cotton asked if I’d like to tag along. And of course, I jumped at the chance. I loved riding with him, feeling the vibration of the powerful engine beneath me as I snuggled up close to him. It was always fun, but there was something different about that day. There was a hungry look in Cotton’s eyes when he looked at me, which only got more intense as the day progressed. When the rest of the brothers started back toward the clubhouse, he waved them off, taking me down a long, winding road nestled deep in the woods. He pulled up to an old, secluded cabin and cut off the engine. When I saw the Satan’s Fury emblem on the front door, I knew we were at the club’s hunting lodge, a place where none of the other women had ever been before. He stepped off the bike and extended his hand out to me. He didn’t have to ask. He knew from the way I’d been holding him close, letting my hands wander a little more than usual, that I was feeling the same way. Without saying a word, I laid my hand in his and followed him up the steps.

Once we were inside, he released my hand and headed over to the fireplace. He glanced over to me and smiled as he started sorting through all the firewood stacked beside the hearth. While he got the fire ready, I stole a few glimpses around the large cabin. The rooms were simply decorated with just a bed and a TV—a perfect getaway for the guys at the club. When Cotton finally finished with the fire, the room quickly filled with a warm, incandescent glow. He took a step toward me with a look that made my breath instantly catch in my throat. I’d dreamed of being with him a thousand times and couldn’t imagine wanting anything more. He brought his hands to my face, gently cupping his palms along my jaw as he lowered his lips to mine, kissing me with a passion I’d never even known was possible. Our hunger for each other took over, causing the kiss to become wild and heated. In a matter of seconds, our clothes were tossed to the side, and Cotton was lowering me to the floor. What started as rushed and filled with carnal desire slowly slipped into something soft and tender. I felt so safe in his arms, like nothing in the world could harm me as long as he was holding me close. We spent the entire night making love by that fireplace, and neither of us could get enough of each other.

I brought my hand up to my neck, remembering the thrill I got whenever he kissed me there, and I didn’t even notice when Henley walked up behind me.

“Holy moly. Your man definitely knows how to make a statement,” she laughed. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she was wearing sweats with a t-shirt that said, ‘How about… NO.’ Without skipping a beat, she tossed her duffle bag on the sofa and asked, “What does the card say?”

I handed one to her and said, “He wants me to answer the phone when he calls. I’ve kind of been ignoring him.”

“Why have you been ignoring him?”

“I don’t know… maybe because he crushed my heart and soul when he kicked me out of his hospital room and told me I could never be his Ol’ Lady if I couldn’t follow basic freaking orders. Remember any of that?” I sassed.

She rolled her eyes and asked, “So… you’re saying you don’t want to be with him anymore?”

“
No
… I didn’t say that.”

“Well, you’d be lying if you did. I know you’re crazy over the man. He acted like an asshole, but can you blame him? He was about to have major surgery, and he was scared he might never walk again. He was freaking out, and he took it out on you.”

“I know all of that,” I mumbled. “He still didn’t have to go about it like he did.”

“No, but in his mind, he was probably thinking he was protecting you or something. You know how stupid men can be sometimes. You should just forget about what he said and call him,” she smiled.

“Call him?
No
… I’ll just wait for him to call me.”

She grabbed my purse and started sifting through it until she found my phone. Once she’d found it, she handed it to me and said, “Suck it up, Buttercup. Time to call your man and get this thing sorted.”

I took the phone from her hand and nervously pressed the button for Cotton’s number. My stomach twisted into knots as I listened to it ring over and over again. After the fifth ring, a woman’s voice came through the line, “Hello.” My heart sank. When I didn’t respond, she spoke again, “Hello?... Cassidy? Are you there?” Even though I’d never heard her voice, I knew it was Sara, and just before I hung up the phone, I heard Cotton shout, “Sara, hand me the damn phone!”

I quickly hung up, and after I turned off my ringer, I slipped my phone into my back pocket. I looked over to Henley and said, “He didn’t answer. I’m sure he’s busy.”

“Yeah, Maverick said he spends most of the day working with some spinal therapist. Apparently, they think she’s trying to kill him,” she laughed.

“I bet Cotton’s loving that,” I told her as I forced a smile, trying my best to disguise the fact I just wanted to crawl into my bed and hide. Luckily, she was too busy gawking at all the flowers to notice the tears that threatened to fill my eyes. Before she figured out I was about to cry, I turned toward my bedroom and said, “I’m gonna take a bath. Go put your stuff away and I’ll be out in a little bit.”

“Okay,” she answered. Before I closed the door, she shouted, “I’ll order us a couple of pizzas for dinner. We can catch up on our shows tonight.”

Without answering, I shut my door and fell face first onto my bed, burying my head into one of my pillows. I tried to block out all the thoughts racing through my head, but it was impossible to stop thinking about Sara’s voice on Cotton’s phone. A part of me knew I was being irrational. Cotton had never given me any reason to be jealous where other women were concerned. From the beginning, he’d made no advances towards anyone, and even when the club girls would throw themselves at him, he’d turn them away. When I asked him about it, he’d laugh it off and say he only had eyes for me. But things were different with Sara. For whatever reason, he’d pushed me away and allowed
her
to stay there with him. I couldn’t help but feel jealous about that. I’d always tried to be there for the people I cared about, doing whatever I could to help, but Cotton wouldn’t let me do that for him. The day I went to the hospital, I had all intentions of supporting him, helping him… just being there for him, but he turned me away—basically banishing the very part of me that made me the person I am. He didn’t want that from me, and that left me wondering what I was supposed to do.

It was pitch black in my room when I heard Henley shouting for me from the living room, “Pizza’s here, hooker!”

I rolled over, quickly wiping the sleep from my eyes and said, “Coming!”

“I may have gone a little overboard with the pizzas. My eyes were bigger than my stomach,” she yelled.

I opened my bedroom door, and when I found her standing in the kitchen, staring at four large pizza boxes, I said, “Yeah, you definitely went overboard, Lee Bug. There’s no way we can eat all this,” I laughed.

She shrugged her shoulders and said, “I wasn’t thinking. Usually, the guys will finish up whatever I don’t eat.”

She made her plate and walked over to the couch, plopping down in my spot as she reached for the remote. Once she was settled, she said, “Dad’s called a couple of times. He said he tried calling, but he hadn’t been able to reach you.”

“Yeah. I need to call him. I’ve just been busy with work and stuff,” I explained.

“Just give him a quick call to let him know you’re alright. You know how he worries,” Henley fussed. We were both close to our father, and neither of us liked letting him down. He’s never said the words, but I knew he worried about me working at the club.

“I will. First thing tomorrow,” I assured her.

“Good,” she said as she flipped through several channels, searching for our favorite show. “Hey, what happened to that picture of you and me that was beside my bed? You know… the one taken on the day Maverick gave me my property patch.”

“No idea. Are you sure you didn’t take it with you?”

She shook her head as she took a big bite of pizza, and with her mouth full, she said, “Nope. Left it on the table.”

I grabbed a couple of slices of cheese pizza and as I sat down beside her, I said, “I don’t know. It’ll show up.”

“I hope so. I loved that picture of us,” she told me as she reached for the remote. “So, what do you wanna watch?”

We continued to chat and gorge ourselves on pizza while we watched the latest episodes of
The
Black List.
It felt good to have Henley back at home. Her smile and carefree demeanor made me feel like maybe everything would be okay. During the middle of the third episode, Henley fell asleep on the sofa. I covered her up with a blanket and turned off the TV before I went back to my room and went to bed. I woke up way too early in the morning to a loud banging on my front door. Reluctantly, I pulled myself out of bed and answered the door. I found Smokey standing on the other side, holding a box of donuts and smiling like the Cheshire cat. He was wearing a thick, black t-shirt with his Satan’s Fury leather jacket and a pair of old beat-up jeans. Looking more like a rock star than a biker, he wore several leather bracelets on his wrists, and his long, jet black hair only enhanced those beautiful green eyes of his. Handsome or not, it was too damn early in the morning for me to put on a friendly smile.

“Smokey, it’s six fifteen in the morning! What the hell are you doing here?” I groaned.

“Just checkin’ on my girls. Cotton wanted an update,” he smiled. “Brought you some warm donuts.”

Of course, Cotton wanted an update. He wouldn’t need a damn update if he hadn’t been such an asshole. I let out a deep sigh as I opened the door and motioned for him to come inside. Once he sat the box on the counter, I said, “I’ve gotta get ready for work.”

“Go on and do your thing. I’ll make some coffee,” he offered. “Is Henley still in bed?”

I looked over to the sofa, and when I noticed she was gone, I answered, “Yeah. She’s been able to sleep a little later now that she’s doing her last two classes online.”

“Gotcha. No coffee for her.”

“Nope. It’s not good for the baby anyway,” I explained.

He nodded and said, “Oh, yeah. I didn’t think about that.”

“I’ll be back in a minute,” I told him as I walked into my room. After I was showered and dressed, I went back out to check on Smokey and found him sound asleep on the sofa. I decided not to wake him and left for work. When I got down to my car, I reached for my keys so I could open the door, but before I found them, I noticed the door was already unlocked. It wasn’t like me to not lock my door, so I stood there, staring at the unlocked door as I tried to think back through my steps from the night before. I couldn’t even remember parking my car, much less locking the dumb doors. It was just another crazy thing I’d done since I’d come back from Anchorage. I eased the driver’s side door open and peered cautiously inside, but didn’t find anything that looked suspicious. After thinking about it for a second, I convinced myself I’d been distracted and just hadn’t locked it. I’d had a lot on my mind over the past couple of weeks, and I’d just forgotten to do it. Doing my best to shake off my nerves, I got in the car and headed to work. The entire way there, I berated myself for being such a damn mess. I needed to pull it together. I was tired of spending all of my time trudging through the swamps, worrying over Cotton. It was time for me to think about myself and try to find a way to make myself happy, even if that meant finding a way to move on without him.