The Last Betrayal (3 page)

“Lauren...” Champ begins, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallows. “I wouldn’t have judged you. I’d never judge you. To me, you’re perfect, whether you are covered in scars or not. That doesn’t define a person. Lauren, you’re a survivor and shouldn’t be ashamed of yourself for being so.” He reaches over and grabs one of my hands, rubbing soothing strokes over my knuckles. The tears come down harder, a river of self-pity running down my face.

“I knew you wouldn’t understand. How could you? You’ve never seen them. They’re hideous,” I whimper, a loud sob escaping me.

“Show me then.” His voice is low, calming and compassionate, no pity.

Shall I show him? He’ll run for the hills once he has. Does that matter? I already left him high and dry with no explanation. I slowly lift my floral shirt up and expose my body and what I’ve kept hidden this past month. I squeeze my eyes shut, not wanting to see his disgusted expression.

“They’re not even that bad, Lauren.”

I open one eye a tiny bit and peek at him. His eyes are shining with desire, imploring me to come closer. I pull my shirt back down and wrap my arms around my middle in a protective embrace. Feeling a little self-conscious, I back away and turn to look out the kitchen window.

“Babe, you’re still as beautiful as you’ve always been,” Champ says from behind me, closer than he was before.

A shiver runs down my body from his husky, deep voice, and I take a shallow breath to calm my erratically beating heart. I swallow down the nervousness that’s overriding my body and turn to face him. “You’re just saying that.”

“No, Lauren, I’m not. You’re beautiful. You really have nothing to be ashamed of.” He half-smiles at me before moving closer and then placing his hands on my shoulders, he looks into my eyes and says in a quiet voice, “I love you, Lauren. You almost killed me when you left. Honestly, I’ve been an asshole to everyone. I need you, sweetheart.”

My body tenses at his declaration. “Really?” I whisper, eyes wide in shock.

“Really. Believe me, sweetheart, I didn’t know these alien feelings before it was already too late. I shouldn’t have let you go so easily.” Pain flashes in his eyes, guilt swirling in their depths.

I have words to say but they’re stuck in the hollow of my throat. I open and close my mouth like a fish out of water which makes Champ chuckle deep in his chest. My eyes flutter down to his tattoos adorning his left arm. His chest vibrates with his laughter, and I look up into his eyes.

“Like what you see?” He waggles his brows up and down, and the corners of his mouth lift up in a sly grin.

I smack him playfully on his muscled arm, and he grabs it in feigned pain. “Oh shut up, Champ. That was hardly painful.” I laugh, shaking my head at him. Sipping my coffee hides the smile on my face.

Champ returns to his seat on the other side of the breakfast bar, smiling from ear to ear.

“I thought you hated me?” I ask. Do I really want to know the answer to that? Not really, but it has to be discussed.

“I hate you for leaving me the way you did. Without an explanation. But, I can’t seem to stop loving you.” He lowers his head and stares at the marble counter.

“I’m sorry. I thought to myself, ‘Champ can do so much better than me,’ with my insecurities because of my scars, I thought it best to just leave.” I turn my head to look out my window at the blue sky, scattered lightly with fluff filled clouds.

I hear his audible sigh before he replies, “Look, I understand now why you ran, but you need to know you didn’t have to. I’m not that shallow.”

“Deep down, Champ, I know that.” I make a show of looking at my watch on my left wrist. “Champ, look, I need to get a move on. I don’t want to be late for work.”

“Okay, sweetheart. Thanks for the coffee.” He chugs down the rest of his coffee and places the mug in the sink. “One last thing…Please give us another shot?”

“Can we just take things slow?” I ask him, heat scorching my cheeks under his intense scrutiny.

“Sure, babe.” He leans down and brushes his lips over mine, a light but electrifying kiss all in one.

He pulls back and smiles down at me and strokes a hand down my cheek. “I’ll call you.”

“Okay,” I respond, walking him to my apartment door, wishing I didn’t have to work.

He swaggers out of my apartment, a spring in his step. Before he starts making his way down the stairs to leave my building, he turns, giving me an enormous, boyish grin and a wink.

I walk back into my apartment, locking the door behind me. That went better than what I had envisioned in my head. Maybe I was being stupid and silly after all.

That didn’t go as I’d expected. I was going to rant and scream at her. To be honest, I thought I was going to have to pry the answers out of her. How was it so easy to get an explanation? I won’t dwell on it, I have the answers I was looking for without a fight.

I pull into the courtyard of the MC clubhouse, hop off my bike and remove my helmet before I enter through the front double doors. As I walk into the main room, I hear Cobra. A smile forms on my face hearing his voice. I miss having that son of a bitch around here; it’s too quiet and uneventful.

“Cobra, my man!” I exclaim, walking up to the bar where he is.

“Champ!” We do our complicated handshake and man hug before ordering drinks. “Dude, how the hell are you?”

“I’m better now that I’ve finally spoken to Lauren,” I say, grabbing my cold Bud off the bar and taking a long swig, moaning as the cold liquid runs down my throat.

“Really?” Cobra raises a questioning brow at me. “How’d it go?”

“Better than I thought it would,” I answer, a small smile playing at the corners of my lips.

“The last I heard, you hated her guts?” He poses this like a question.

“Yeah, I did, still do a little. But, she has explained to me why she ran from us and I get it.” I shrug nonchalantly at him, not daring to allow him to pull me out of my newfound happiness.

“I’m glad you finally pulled your head out your ass to listen to her.” Cobra laughs.

I glare at him before finishing my beer. “Wanna go out for a smoke?”

“Why the hell not?” He stands from his stool and leads the way to the backyard. I’ve missed him, I just wouldn’t tell him that. He’d tease me for days calling me a pussy if he found this out.

We step out onto the patio in the fresh mid-morning air, lighting up our cigarettes and heading toward the small pond that’s situated further down the yard. I love the area; it’s my go-to place for reflecting and to think about shit.

“You okay, man?” Cobra asks me.

“I will be. She took my heart and ripped it to shreds. I don’t think I’ve ever hated someone as much, that right there makes me feel like shit.” I shake my head. I would never hurt a woman, or bring them harm, but she boiled my blood when she left with no explanation. If she had just talked to me, explained, I would have understood. I mean, fuck, who gives a shit about scars? They don’t define a person. They show how strong she is. But she doesn’t see it like that. She thinks she’s a monster, damaged goods. Lauren is far from it. To me, she’s a Goddess and she always will be.

“Do you still love her?” Cobra stops at the edge of the pond, turning to me with questioning eyes.

“Yeah, man. I can’t stop thinking about her.” I lower my head and watch the fish flapping in the dirty water.

“You’re a sensitive dude, aren’t you?” he says. “I never knew you were such a softy.”

“Meaning?” This shit is what gets me angry the easiest. I know he’s just riling me up, but still. I may be a badass biker, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings. “You’re just as pussy-whipped as I am, brother.”

Cobra chuckles, his chest shaking with the vibration. “Touché, dude.”

The corner of my lips lift in amusement, I do love when I get the last word in which doesn’t happen very often with Cobra.

“You coming to the party tonight with Alexis?” I inquire. If Alexis comes, Lauren might as well. The thought itself makes my chest warm and my heart beat faster.

“Yep. Alexis loves a good party, and she misses everyone. Work’s been crazy for her,” he explains, eyes alight with love at talking about his Old Lady.

“Do you think she’ll bring Lauren?” I try to act disinterested, kicking at a pebble by my feet.

“I can plant the seed in her head, if you want?” he laughs, the corners of his mouth lifting. It’s fucking scary how well he can read me, even though I school my facial features as much as humanly possible.

“Feel free. I don’t care either way.” I lift my head high; shoulders back and shove my hands in my jacket pockets.

“You can’t fool me, brother. I know you better than you know yourself.” He shakes his head, chuckling, slapping my back as he walks past to go back inside.

I stand by myself, contemplating life. Sometimes I wish Lauren never entered my life, shit was easier when my heart was shrouded in ice. I never thought about having a life partner, someone to share everything with, before. Never had I speculated having an Old Lady, a lover, but with Lauren...I want her to be my everything. Can I get past her leaving me? Can I really get over the fact she left without as much as a goodbye? I fucking hope so. Man, do I hope so.

The incessant ringing of my cell wakes me from my nap, its annoying tone making me reach across the couch to grab it from the coffee table.

“Hello?” I mumble.

Alexis’ laughter on the line has me grumble unladylike curses into my couch cushions.

“Did I wake you?” she asks, still laughing, though I can tell she’s trying not to.

“What do you think?” I say sarcastically. Ugh, I hate people that wake me up, especially from a dream I was enjoying.

“No need to be rude, chick. Look, there’s a party tonight at the clubhouse. Will you come with me?” she asks in a sickly sweet voice that she knows grates on my nerves and has me agreeing just to make it stop.

“Do I have a choice?” I sigh, pushing myself up into a sitting position.

“Not really. I’ll pick you up in a cab at seven. Don’t be late!” With that, she hangs up.

I throw my cell back onto the glass coffee table before getting up and heading straight for the coffee machine. Coffee, my first love, the only thing that gets me out of bed, or off the couch on this occasion.