Page 35 of Matlock
The door clicked shut, and the lock engaged.
My instinct was to wait until he fell asleep before I picked the lock and crawled into bed with him. But doubts swirled in my head.
Should I let him go?
Should I give him what he wants and let him build a life with someone who would be proud to call him his?
I was fucking proud to call him mine. I knew I didn’t deserve him. He was too fucking young. Almost twenty years younger than me, but what the fuck did age matter?
Simon was clearly more mature than I was. I might have eighteen years on him, but I hadn’t learned a damn thing, other than how to fucking hide who I was.
I didn’t know what to do.
For the first time in my life, I wasn’t sure how to proceed. I couldn’t give Simon what he wanted. But I couldn’t let him go either.
He was mine.
He belonged to me.
I stepped out onto the back patio and lit a cigarette. Then I sat in the chair and smoked for fifteen minutes, trying to calm the rage inside me, before I picked up the phone.
“What are you doing?” I said when Nav answered.
“Hello to you too.”
“Stop whatever the fuck you’re doing and dig through the cameras in town.”
The growl in my voice must have alerted him because the sarcasm left his tone and he asked, “What am I looking for?”
“Simon.”
“He isn’t with you?”
“He is now. He had a few appointments at the salon, and when he was done, he left without me.”
“Why?” Nav asked over the clicking of his keyboard.
“We argued, and he stormed off.”
Silence met my words as I leaned back in my chair, broughtthe cigarette up to my mouth, and inhaled. I held the nicotine in my lungs, waiting for it to calm me. I would have died waiting, so I blew out the smoke and tried again.
“What did you argue about?”
“What the fuck does it matter? He was gone for three hours and came home busted up.”
“WHAT?” Nav shouted. The noise of his keyboard grew louder as his fingers slammed against the keys. The whole time he muttered about assholes and their fucked-up ideals and intolerance.
I couldn’t help but smile. The club might not know anything about Simon and me, but they all loved him. His flirting had taken a little getting used to, and I still fucking hated the way he put his hands on Gunner any chance he had, but I trusted my brothers.
I trusted Simon.
“Got him.”
“What the fuck happened?”
I sat forward and crushed out the cigarette on the patio floor.
I need a fucking ashtray.
