Page 61 of Truck Up
“He’s not high.” Chase barks. He pushes Liam off him and holds his angry glare on me. “He’s just an asshole.”
That part is true. I am an asshole for running away. A real man would’ve stayed and dealt with the aftermath of the bomb that dropped on this town two weeks ago. What’s done is done, and I’ll have to pay the consequences. Whatever they may be.
He shakes his head and tosses his arm out in an angry wave before he turns around and walks away. Lina is waiting for him in the shadows not too far from where we’re standing. She wraps her arm around him in comfort as they walk back to his apartment that he built over the barn behind the main house.
I scan my brothers. They’re all staring at me with differing levels of emotion. Anger. Concern. Hurt. Confusion. I see it all in their expressions.
“Anyone else want to take a swing?” I ask as I push off the building and brace myself. “I’ll take it if that’s what you need.”
“Where’ve you been?” Liam crosses his arms over his chest and glares at me.
“Out,” is all I offer.
“No shit,” he growls. “You’re gonna have to give us more than that.”
I shake my head. “Can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Ash asks.
“Can’t.” I repeat. I hate doing this to them because I know they worry. But I can’t jeopardize Edge’s operation. The work he does is too important.
When my brothers don’t say anything else, I push past them and start toward the house. “If you don’t mind, I need a shower before I leave.”
“Where are you going now?” Liam yells.
“To see Lia,” I say. “Thanks for not kicking my ass. I’m gonna need my energy for Lia’s brothers.”
“She’s not at home,” Mac calls out.
I stop dead in my tracks and slowly turn to face him. “Where is she?”
He shrugs. “She was staying with Nova, but I heard she disappeared two days ago. She hasn’t even been to work.”
“Fuck,” I whisper. The flower shop is important to her, and I’ll never forgive myself if I cause her to lose it.
I pull out my phone and reread the last few messages from her. Not once did she tell me where she was staying. But in her last message from yesterday, she said she was waiting for me. She didn’t say where, but she also doesn’t have to. I know where she is.
“I’ll find her,” I say before I continue walking toward the house.
“How?” Liam calls out, but I don’t answer him.
I need to clean up and go get my girl before I lose her forever. It’s time I man up. My life is no longer just about me. I’ve got two other people who are depending on me now.
And I can’t let either of them down.
A calmnessI haven’t felt in weeks settles over me the second Amelia’s car comes into view. My gut instincts were right. She’s hiding out in my cabin, waiting for me to return.
I park my bike by her car, and half expect her to come running out. If for no other reason than to give me shit for disappearing on her. But there’s no movement from inside the cabin.
It’s a little after eight in the morning. Either she’s still asleep or really pissed at me. My bike is loud, and I can’t imagine her sleeping through that rumble.
If I were her, I’d be pissed.
I pull off my helmet and stare at the front door. An image of Amelia standing on the porch holding a baby pops into my head. Her smile is so bright it’s almost blinding. A warmth fills my insides and makes my heart beat faster. So fast, in fact, I can hardly breathe.
Pushing the dream out of my head, I slide off my bike and head inside. It’s too quiet for this time of morning. She should be up and getting ready for work. But my brothers said she hasn’t gone to work for the past two days.
I shouldn’t have left her. I should have stayed and been the man she needed me to be, even if I had to fake it. Pretend tohave it all under control. That’s what she needed from me. Not a chickenshit that runs away to hide from his problems.