Chapter 32

AVERY

Two weeks after her world blew up, Avery was almost done processing.

She was hiding from her family, only giving them simple answers to their inquiries of how she was doing. She never answered her phone when they called, not even Tina.

She just wanted to decide how to continue, what she wanted her life to look like.

Justin had sent flowers twice while he was gone. He hadn’t added a card, but they were replicas of arrangements he had given her previously, so he knew they were from him.

She loved him, but didn’t know how this was going to work. She had to figure out a way to get the rest of his officers to believe her and had no idea how to approach that, especially now.

Avery sat on the edge of her tub, looking at the stick in her hand, and knew she was going to have to talk to him and let him know. That was the most responsible thing to do.

Then maybe they could figure out something.

She twirled the stick in her hand, trying to absorb what this actually meant.

She was pregnant. She was going to have a baby with the leader of a motorcycle club.

And while what he did didn’t bother her, the club’s inability to trust her was what she was worried about. She didn’t want her child to be treated differently because of her.

She sighed and knew she needed to talk to Justin—and soon. From what she overheard Alexis and Ryan saying, Justin would be back tonight.

She thought about going to see him the next morning and let him know. She decided that would be the best course of action.

She had a week of school left and had a meeting scheduled with the principal to see if they were going to give her a long-term contract. She hoped they did; she liked Middleton Academy and most of the staff.

Lily was a great friend and they had fun together. Avery still giggled when she thought about Lily’s first MC party and how wide her eyes got.

She had dated a few of the guys, but she found the chaos of the environment too much. Avery didn’t mind, and they stayed friends.

Avery stood up, then grabbed the counter when the room started spinning a little. She took a few deep breaths, then looked in the mirror. “Well, shit, pregnancy symptoms kinda suck!”

Avery took a few sips of water, then went about her morning. Avery was tired and feeling off the whole day, but she didn’t sleep worth a damn that night. She was up early, nursing a cup of tea.

She slowly got dressed in yoga pants and a sweatshirt, feeling a bit chilly. She drove over to his house and rang the doorbell. No one answered, so she went to the clubhouse.

She saw his bike up front and got out. She took a few deep breaths and waved to a few people who were outside.

She walked in, ignoring everyone around her, and went straight to Justin’s room and office. She stopped outside, took a cleansing breath, then opened the door.

Justin jumped when he heard the door open, and his jaw dropped when he saw Avery standing there. “Avery…”

Avery looked at him, feeling her heart clench as she took in his form.

He was standing in the office area in just shorts that were hanging low on his hips. His hair was wet like he had just taken a shower. He grabbed his shirt off the couch and quickly put it on.

“How are you doing, ba—Avery?” he asked, coming a little closer to her.

“I need to talk to you,” Avery said quietly.

“Okay,” he said, and moved closer to her and rubbed her arm, noticing how pale and tired she looked. “Are you okay?”

Avery nodded. “Yeah, I just—”

“Hey, Justin? Do you have any more— Oh, sorry…” A beautiful, dark-haired woman came out of Justin’s bathroom in nothing but a towel.

Avery’s eyes went wide taking in the sight before her, then she turned to look at Justin.

“Couldn’t wait, could you? I didn’t reach out after the flowers, so you moved on?! How many were there on the run? Lots of time to make up for, right?!”

“No, Avery, it’s not what you think!” Justin pleaded.

“No, it’s not!” the woman added.

“SHUT THE HELL UP!” Avery yelled, then started crying. “I can’t believe I was going to figure out a way to get you back. I can’t believe I thought this would work. I am so stupid!”

“Avery, baby, please, let me explain!” Justin pleaded, grabbing her hand.

“Don’t touch me! You don’t deserve to know!” she yelled, still crying, and yanked her hand from his.

“Please don’t leave!” Justin begged, and reached out one more time.

Avery’s temper and emotions snapped, and she reached out and slapped him. “Stay the fuck away from me!”

She turned and ran out of the room and down the hallway, running into Mikey.

She looked at him and sneered through her tears, “You got what you wanted, Mikey! Now go fuck yourself!”

Mikey was stunned and could do nothing but watch her leave. Justin came running out, but Mikey stopped him.

“She is too upset to talk now, Prez. Wait a little bit. What the hell happened?” Mikey asked.

“She was in my office when Gabi came out of the bathroom. She assumed the wrong thing since I came out of your room after my shower. She saw my wet hair and went nuts,” Justin explained.

“Now what the hell do I do?”

“Let’s let her cool down. Then we will figure something out,” Mikey suggested.

Justin nodded. “Can you put a prospect on her, please? She didn’t look so good…”

Mikey nodded, pulled out his phone, and called someone as Justin looked longingly out the window at where she was driving away.