Page 1 of When You Stayed
PROLOGUE
Connor
Age 19
If I weren’t marchingtoward the end of something I’d wanted my entire life, I might actually enjoy this little walk. I might even take a second to tip my head and bask in the beauty of the stars, and how this really was the perfect place to pop the biggest question I’d ever ask anyone. Ironically, if I had a choice in any of this, it would have been right here that I laid down the blanket, propped the pillows, and made sure her favorite song was playing.
I’d been in love with Royce Quinn as long as I could remember. She was supposed to be who I ended up with, so asking her to marry me shouldn’t be a big deal. But every time I pictured it, my stomach tensed, and I had the strangest urge to throw up.
I wasn’t ready, and I knew she sure as hell wasn’t. Which was exactly what I told her father when he’d approached me three days ago with a velvet box and a ring.
I’m counting on you, Connor. She needs to get out of Rose Ridge, and theonly way she’ll go is if you put a ring on her finger and explain how serious you are. Don’t give her the option to do long distance. She needs to move with you.
We were all leaving. Or trying to.
Silas and Natty had fled to Italy, taking Rook and Ryle with them. My best friend Ford was headed to some fancy school to become a mechanical engineer, and his little sister Ellie was going to an art school for dance. My sister was on her way to an academy up north, which meant the only two kids left were the Quinn sisters.
Royce and Taryn.
Killian was the president of the Stone Riders, the motorcycle club that our lives all revolved around. He couldn’t leave, and I assumed his heart would just stop beating if his wife, Laura, took his daughters and left him behind, so this was his big plan. At least for his eldest daughter, who had recently graduated from high school and had no plans at all to leave town.
None of this was mine to fix, and yet I was walking toward the abandoned cabin as slowly as if I were headed to my final meal on death row. Not only had Royce and I been arguing more than we ever had in the past, but I found out something rather major I had yet to share with anyone.
Not even my parents.
It was the sort of life-altering information that had me changing my plans from attending college to packing a bag tonight and leaving while everyone was asleep.
Beyond any of that, I knew Royce well enough to know she’d turn me down. Royce had her own dreams, and while she loved me, I would never compare to them. I’d hung around for a year past graduation to appease my family and to see Royce graduate, but it was my turn to leave.
It was my chance to figure out which pieces of the past fit into my future.
The light from inside the small, one-bedroom cabin came into view, making my heart race. The tiny structure sat on over ten acres of land, sandwiched between the massive motorcycle club that was well over four thousand square feet, and on the opposite end of the property wasRoyce’s two-story house. Originally it was divided into two separate properties, but the club had purchased the house years ago, which was where Killian had raised his kids. The entire acreage was protected with fences, security cameras, and guards.
Royce was already waiting inside, which I knew was going to piss her off. Royce hated this cabin. I wasn’t sure if it was because of what happened when we were kids, or if it was something else, but she hadn’t set foot inside it after that Christmas we were attacked. The same holiday that seemed to shape this very moment.
We were warned years ago that the man responsible for the attack would return. That he was coming for the club, and for anyone still loyal to the Stone Riders. It was why our parents were so desperate to get us out of here. It all happened nine years ago, when I was ten, and now it seemed like an invisible clock seemed to hang over our heads for when he’d be back.
Max was his name. He was my friend Rook and Ryle’s uncle apparently. He was also a crazed man with a vendetta against the original leader of the club, Simon Stone. It extended to Simon’s offspring, and whoever was still a part of the club whenever Max decided to enact his revenge.
My unwavering loyalty seemed to tighten around my chest like a cable wire as I drew closer. I would do this because Killian asked me to. I would do this because I’d do anything to keep Royce safe, even if it meant sacrificing our futures.
With a deep breath, I pushed the door open and found Royce sitting at the small table, her arms crossed and an angry scowl on her pretty face.
“Connor King, you better tell me what the hell I’m doing here right now!”
I was going to miss her. Many people underestimated Royce because she walked around with her head in a cloud and wore pink to every single event in her life, even funerals. What they didn’t see was her quiet resilience, or her ability to adapt to things out of her control. My heart warmed as I watched her anger flush against her chest, and it took me back to when I’d realized how badly I wanted to marry her.
“Sorry, Roy.”
She scowled, and I felt bad because she’d asked me to stop calling her that, but old habits were hard to stop. “Sorry.”
With a shake of her golden hair, she shot to her feet. “I want to know why you texted me to meet you here. If you’re breaking up with me, you could have just texted that like a normal person.”
I stepped closer. “I’m not breaking up with you.”
Her blue eyes were dim under the single light fixture over the table, but they were frenzied too.
Words seemed to die on my tongue. If I opened my mouth, I’d explain all of it to her, and she’d hate her father, and Royce loved her dad. She thought he hung the damn sky, moon and stars…all of it. There was no way I could turn her against her favorite person.
