Page 29 of Craving Her
I shake those thoughts out of my head and grab the large white T-shirt hanging on the back of the bathroom door. The shirt belongs to Heavy. He’s an older guy in the club. His old lady died of a heart attack about six years ago. She was so young and had no history of illness. Yet, at thirty-four, she was gone. Apparently, she had some type of congenital heart defect that no one had discovered until it was too late. Heavy’s been grieving for her ever since. He gave me the tee the first time I ever stayed here. He told me to sleep in it. He was a good guy, probably a little younger than my dad, and said I reminded him of his own daughter that he lost. The shirt falls past my knees. The guy is even bigger than Torin. Of course, Torin is an asshole and Heavy is a sweetheart. It’s too damn bad I couldn’t fall in love with him. Sure, he’s older, but he is still hot. He may not have perfect abs, but he’s not what I’d call out of shape either. He’d also treat a woman right. Unlike the asshole I’ve decided to try to wrangle.
I’m an idiot.
I finish my business in the bathroom and, as I put my toothbrush and deodorant back in their original places, I take a deep breath. I don’t want to see Torin right now. Honestly, I’m not sure I want to see him ever again. Seeing Debbie climb all over him and the way it hurt, tells me he’s still too dangerous. I thought I had let him go and was ready to move on. After the pain I felt out there, I think I’m just plain stupid. I need to get some distance. I need to start dating again. I thought losing my virginity would be a turning point, but it’s clear I need to show my heart that I can love someone else. Mom once told me that the women in our family usually fall head over heels and go all in from day one. I thought she was crazy. Sure, I’ve heard the story about how she met my father. It’s a story that I wish I didn’t know, but for whatever reason, I was told about it. I mean, no one wants to hear that their father met their mother when he was being seen by her for a severe case of crabs. I scrunchmy face up in response to the ickiness just the thought of it brings. Still, Dad’s a great guy and he and Mom have the best relationship that I’ve ever witnessed. To me, that didn’t mean our entire family was like that. Then Dom and Thea began to work out. Dom went from a self-absorbed asshole to someone that was hopelessly devoted to my sister. Shit, you’d have to be insane not to see it. Now, she’s even knocked up and deliriously happy in a way I didn’t think was possible. I close my eyes.What if I’m always going to be in love with Torin?I’m starting to think Cincinnati isn’t far enough away. There are some great medical schools out west. I always wanted to visit Utah. Perhaps it’s time to look at schools there.
With a sigh, I walk away from the bathroom mirror. Staring at myself and going over my love life—or lack thereof—isn’t going to achieve anything. I’ll make some decisions tomorrow after I’m safely in my dorm and Torin is nowhere around. I unlock the bathroom door, take a deep breath, and head back into the room. I’m going to have to find a place to stay tonight. It’s not a big thing, but most of the empty rooms don’t have a bathroom. I always have to pee in the middle of the night. That means I’ll have to get out of my nice, warm, snuggly bed and drag my ass down the hall to a shared bathroom. It might sound like I’m being a prima donna here, but a shared bathroom with a bunch of drunk bikers isnota good thing. Regular men miss the toilet without an excuse. Drunk and high bikers aremuch worse.This is just one more thing to make me want to kick Torin in the junk.Bastard.
It doesn’t surprise me to find the asshole in question sitting on my bed, staring straight at me when I open the door. I give him the dirtiest look I can muster—which is pretty bad considering how mad I am.
“What the fuck do you have on?” he barks.
I can’t say that’s the first thing I imagined him saying, but then again, I can never figure the damn man out. “It’s called a T-shirt, or I suppose, in this case at least, it’s a gown to sleep in.” With that answer, I go around the bed and head toward the wide-open doorway. It appears Torin at least picked up the ruined door and leaned it against the wall outside. “Where are you going?” I hate to say he keeps barking out his questions, but that’s exactly what he reminds me of. A barking pit bull that wants to tear into you—he just hasn’t yet.
“Well, since some idiot knocked the door down to my room, I need to talk to Trudy about either fixing my door or finding a new room.”
“You’re going to sleep in my room.”
“Uh, no, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. You’re not going out there in that damn shirt either!”
Normally, an angry Torin would scare me—or at least make me cautious. Right now, it just pisses me off. “I am.”
“The fuck you are.” I shake my head and keep walking. I make it out into the hall just as he grabs my hand, jerking my body back against him. He’s not exactly gentle either. I cry out in surprise and the pain I feel from the sudden attack. I find myself trapped against a very angry man, before I can say one word. He’s like a hard wall of fury. I can admit that I’m a little intimidated, but I’m also mad as hell. I look at him, facing his fury without blinking, and matching it with my own.
“Let. Me. Go.” I enunciate every single word, letting each syllable fill with my rage.
“I won’t allowmy womanto go out there dressed like you are,” he growls.
I feel like I’m about to explode. “Did you seriously just say you would notallowme to do something?” I hiss.
“I not only said it, Peaches, I’m going to back it up. It’s time you learn what kind of man you’ve got. I’m not someone you can play with.”
“I’m not playing with you, Torin. I don’t want a damn thing from you except for you to leave me the hell alone!” I’m screaming so loud that it shouldn’t surprise me when people start gathering in the hall. I don’t turn to look at them, but I hear them.
“That’s not happening, so you need to suck it up.”
“Suck it up?” I whisper, not quite believing he had the balls to say that to me.
“Exactly.”
“She’s going to cut his dick off,” I hear Trudy mutter.
“He’ll be lucky if that’s all she does,” Wheeler responds.
“How the fuck is he lucky if she cuts off his dick?” Freeze asks.
“Freeze has a point. Not sure I care what else is done to me if someone cuts off my dick,” Archie agrees.
I hold my head down as I hear them all. The last thing I want is to be surrounded by the whole club. Maybe I’ll call my brother and let him handle Torin. I’m pretty sure that will get rid of the asshole. With that thought in mind, I decide to just let shit go for now. I don’t normally want my brother to fight my battles, but right now, I think it’d be safer. I need Torin gone permanently. It’s clear that my brain doesn’t function around him, and I can’t be trusted. Hell, even now, I’m slightly turned-on—which is bad.Very bad.Just because Dom turned into a decent guy for my sister doesn’t mean the same will happen between me and Torin. It has been three years. If it was going to happen, it would have happened before now. Lord knows that I’ve made it clear to him I was more than willing over the years. I’m done and I’m going to just walk away now. The only problem is the minute I come to this conclusion—I hearher.
“If she doesn’t want you, Joker, I’m more than willing, baby.”
When I look up, I notice that he's distracted looking at that cunt. I draw my hand back and punch him in the throat. I have strength behind me. I work out daily in the gym and my brother and daddy trained me relentlessly. It might not hurt him, but it will distract him while he tries to get his breath, and that’s all I need. His hands loosen on me instantly. He looks down at me in shock, and I turn to walk away. Right now, I just want to be away from him. Before I get more than a couple of steps away, Torin’s arms wrap around my waist. I don’t think, I just react, using the lesson that not only my family taught me, and reinforced in my jujitsu classes. I grab each of his arms with my hands, digging my nails into his skin. I use that hold to pull myself into his body. Next, I swing my hips out to the left, while releasing my grip with my right hand. I quickly make a fist and swing it backward into Torin’s groin. His body jerks, but he doesn’t let go. I have too much adrenaline firing through my system, so I don’t stop. I repeatedly slam into his groin. On the third hit, he staggers backward, and I use my hold on his arm to rip it away from me. I whirl, reaching up to put my hands on his shoulders for some leverage. Then I bend my leg, bringing my knee up to hit him in the groin. I pull a little of my strength again, but it’s still a good hit. I should feel sorry for him, but I don’t. I’m actually not inflicting as much damage as I’ve been trained to. I am, however, taking pleasure in the fact that he won’t be able to touch Debbie tonight. After my knee is jammed into his balls, he goes down. I can hear the men commiserating with his pain, while Trudy is laughing her ass off.
“You bitch! My poor Joker,” Debbie cries, as I turn around and face everyone.
She starts to go to him, but I catch her by her stringy hair, pulling her backward. She screams as if in pain, but she doesn’t know pain yet. I know that I’m just reacting at this point. I’mnot using common sense. If I were, I definitely wouldn’t touch Debbie. I’d let her go to Torin and say good riddance to both. That’s really what I should do. It would probably be the smartest thing to do, but like I said, I’ve never been smart when Torin is involved. I pull her away from the idiot in question. He’s still holding his junk, but at least he’s sitting up now.