Page 5

FOUR

DREW

Every moment in life is a chance at an unexpected gift.

Business done. This is an easy day. This is the trip home. By the time we shower and load up to leave, I’m itching to check in on her again.

I tell Toon I’m gonna gas up while he grabs snacks for the road. I mean that is my plan, but I have a pit stop in mind.

Rather than go for food first, I head across the parking lot to her room.

I knock twice on the door and wait.

She answers after a few seconds, hoodie still on, eyes wide with surprise. “You again.”

“You disappointed?”

“Disappointed, no.” She shrugs. “Didn’t expect you back.”

“I can’t deny this pull. I told you if I come to Arkansas I don’t leave without seeing you. I gotta head to Carolina but wanted to see you once more.”

“You say a lot of things.”

I lean against the doorframe. “I don’t say anything I don’t mean.” She steps back, and to my surprise, lets me in.

The room is dark, lit only by the flicker of the old TV. Her mom’s passed out on the bed, half covered by a threadbare blanket. Cambria sits on the edge of the second bed, arms crossed over her chest like armor.

“I didn’t clean,” she says, a warning. “Wasn’t expecting company.” She pauses, “don’t get much company.”

“I didn’t come for the ambiance.”

We sit in silence for a minute. I look around—empty wrappers, bottles, the faint smell of smoke and sadness. The weight of her world presses in from every angle.

“You ever think about leaving?” I ask.

She blinks weighing her answer. “Every damn day.”

“Then why haven’t you?” I challenge. Yes, she is young in years, but what she’s been through has aged her. I may not be well-studied in school, focus wasn’t my thing, but I read people. And some people have been educated and raised by the trials of life. Cambria is one of those people.

I didn’t have anything hard in life. Seriously, my parents love each other in a freaking romance movie kind of way. Never holding back from affection with each other or my siblings. I come from a household where me and my brothers and sisters came first, even now as we become adults, there isn’t a moment where I can’t call my mom or dad and they will drop everything for me.

Cambria doesn’t have a support system, this much is obvious.

“My mom. She’s not... well. I can’t leave her.”

I nod understanding why she thinks this way, but absolutely not agreeing with her. “Yeah, you can.”

She scowls. “Easy for you to say.”

I hit a nerve which is not my intention here. “No. It’s not something I have to live. But hear me out, that woman in that very bed, that ain’t your momma, Cambria. That woman is an addict and she’s going to put her next hit above everything and everyone. You aren’t safe until she gets help.”

She looks at me again, something shifting behind her eyes. “I don’t think that is your business. What are you really doing here?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “But I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

She exhales, like she’s been holding her breath since I knocked. And in this moment, I make a decision I didn’t plan for.

I’m not going back to Catawba alone.

Not this time.

“This is going to sound crazy. I know you love your mom, that is evident. But when do you live life for Cambria? When do you get to see what the world has to offer you?”

She avoids my stare. I reach out, cupping her chin to make her look up at me. “I gotta load up. Cambria, don’t have much time. What I got is a family that will help you no matter what happens with us. Give it some thought. You wanna take a chance that will make your life better, then pack up. I’ll be back in ten minutes. You wanna ride home with me, I’ll get you set up for school, whatever you want. Take a chance on me, on this. No pressure, no obligation. Just a chance at a different life.”

“And if I don’t, what then? This, whatever it is,” she waves her hands around, “goes away before it can start? I have to leave right here, right now with you or never see you again?”

“Trust is hard. I promise you, if you take this chance, I’ll be your ride or die no matter what happens with this spark we have. You are a beautiful woman and you deserve more out of life than picking up pennies in a parking lot to eat.”

She shakes her head, “you’re crazy.”

“I can be impulsive,” I tell her as I open my phone and dial my sister. “Drea,” I greet the video call.

“Drew, you good?”

I smile, “I’m fine. I got a situation.”

“Oh Lord, what now? I got bail money, bro, but I don’t wanna tell mom. I swear you’re the favorite and if you’re locked up she’s gonna be devastated.”

I laugh because really she isn’t wrong. My mom would be devastated if I was locked up, but not because I’m the favorite. Truly, she loves all her kids equally. “I met someone.”

Andrea is my twin sister and knows me better than anyone. We have that uncanny twin connection that I can’t explain. She gasps and then squeals. “I knew it when you didn’t text last night!”

“Her name is Cambria,” I explain and my sister’s expression turns serious.

“Wait, you’re on a transport. You aren’t home. Drew, you can’t up and leave. I still have to finish dental school.”

My sister is studying to be a dental hygienist, after getting a history degree and deciding she didn’t want to work in a school or a library after all. I think she just likes to learn. Me, on the other hand, I can’t slow my mind down enough to continue my education.

“I want Cambria to come back to Catawba.”

“Don’t ya think this is a little fast?” Dre asks and Cambria smiles like she’s saying ‘duh’.

“I don’t have time to get into details. Just want you to meet her and tell her she’s welcome to crash with you and that I will support her getting on her feet even if things don’t work out between us.”

“Andrew Jenkins, you are whackadoodle, bro. I love you, but as a supporter of all woman, this is not smart for any female. She doesn’t know you. Hell, she doesn’t know me. Granted I won’t harm a fly, but she doesn’t know that! You can’t expect her to move from God knows where you are, to this small town in North Carolina all to chase your dick. You may be cute but no way you got enough moves or a big enough dick to pull this off.”

“Oh my God!” Cambria mutters and Dre covers her face on the video screen.

“You failed to mention she’s right there, Drew!”

I turn the phone and then place it in Cambria’s hand, she’s trembling as she rights the screen to see my sister’s face. “I’m so sorry,” Dre begins.

“No, I appreciate the honesty.”

“Do you want to leave your life?” Dre asks her genuinely.

Cambria shrugs, “don’t have much of a life here to leave or to stay for. I survive.” Cambria is honest and as hard as that is to fight the pride to protect yourself, I find it attractive. She is okay with who she is even if she’s at her rock bottom.

“I know this sounds nuts, but if you knew all of us, you would understand. We grew up in a house where if you feel it, you feel it bone deep. If Drew feels something for you and he says he’s going to lay the world at your feet, he means it. If for any reason you get here and you want to go home, I will personally make sure you get back to your life safely and with a cushion. But yes, if you want to take a chance and possibly experience a crazy, wild ride, my brother will protect you while doing it.”

“Um,” Cambria begins and Dre holds up her hand.

“No, honey. You think on this. I’ll have Drew give me your number, I’ll text you mine. If at any point you change your mind, I promise on my mom you will be safe with him, with all of us, and we will get you home if you want to go back.”

“This is overwhelming. You don’t know me.”

“No, I don’t. But I know my brother, he only reacts when he cares. Whatever he sees in you, matters more than you know. It’s whether you wanna be brazen enough to give it a shot. Gotta go, chat with you soon, Cambria.” Dre ends the call without saying goodbye because that is how she always is.

She hates goodbyes of any kind.

My phone instantly pings with a text of her requesting Cambria’s number.

“I’m gonna go finish prepping for the road trip home. You think on all this. If you want to come then pack what you want to take or pack nothing at all and I’ll buy you what you need or want. Either way, I got ten minutes before I have to be pulling out of here. If you want to wait, I’ll come back for you, but Cambria, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried. The state your momma is in, it’s dangerous for her and for you.”

I walk away before she has a chance to respond wondering what the hell I’m doing.

Toon raises an eyebrow when I toss my duffel into the back of the truck with a little more edge than usual.

“You good?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“You sure? You look like you’ve been chewing nails all morning.”

I hesitate, then say, “I’m thinking about bringing someone back with us.”

Toon straightens. “Wait. What?”

I glance back at the motel, my eyes flicking toward her room. “The girl from the other night. Cambria.”

“You serious?”

“She needs an out. And I’m giving it to her.”

Toon whistles low. “Little Foot, I’m your boy, but are you sure this is smart? I mean, you know the club ain’t gonna roll out a welcome mat.”

“They will see. She’s not coming as a stray. She’s coming as my old lady.”

Toon stares like I just spoke another language. “You mean?—?”

I cut him off, “Yeah, I’m saying she’s mine. I introduce her that way, they don’t ask questions. She’s claimed.”

“You know Axel’s gonna flip. He trusts no outsiders.”

“Let him flip. I’m fully patched. I know the rules, I know the deal. She’s mine. They can’t and won’t deny her.”

He shakes his head slowly. “This ain’t about her. This is about you making a move.”

“It’s both. This is me, feeling something other than doubt. This is me trusting my gut.”

Toon studies me for a long moment, then nods. “Alright. You sure about her?”

“I’m not sure about anything. But I’m not leaving her in that hellhole.”

He sighs, grabs his pack. “Well, shit. Let’s hope she’s as tough as you think.”

Back at her door, I knock again. Nervous energy consumes me. Will she take a risk on me?

This time when Cambria opens the door, she already has her bag packed.

I blink. “You knew I was coming back.”

She shrugs. “You don’t strike me as a liar.”

“I’m a lot of things, a liar isn’t one of them,” I smile. “You ready?”

“I don’t know.” She glances at her mom—still passed out—and for a second, I see the war in her eyes. Guilt. Fear. Hope. All crashing into each other.

“You talk to your mom?”

She nods, “She told me not to come back,” she says quietly. “Said this life’s gonna eat me alive if I stay.”

“Then don’t stay.”

“I don’t know anything but this.”

“You like this life? You feel safe, comfortable?”

She shakes her head. “Momma said this is my only chance, don’t let her down. Make a life for myself like she never had.” She lifts her bag onto her shoulder taking a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

I get her bag loaded and she climbs into the rig, tucking herself into the sleeper area. We don’t speak much on the road. We don’t have to.

It’s not until we’re halfway through Tennessee that I glance back and see her face—eyes closed, relaxed into the bed, a soft, content smile on her lips.

It’s the first time I’ve seen her look like she wasn’t carrying the weight of the world.

And that’s when I know—bringing her back isn’t just about making a statement. It’s about giving her something she never had.

A fucking chance.

We pull into the edge of Catawba close to midnight. I can feel the weight of it as we near the compound—my past, my future, everything crashing together. Cambria clutches my hand tighter, nervous now, as we park the truck and move to my bike. I can feel it in the way her hand trembles in mine.

“You okay?” I ask genuinely concerned. I don’t want her to have regret already.

“I don’t know anyone,” she says.

“You’re mine. You’re family. They will get to know you.”

“You make it sound easy. What if I’m not what your family expects?

“They don’t need to expect you. They just need to accept you.”

“And if they don’t?”

“They will. It’s the code and life we live by.” And if they don’t—then I’ve got a whole new reason to burn this place down. “Let’s go home, shower and sleep. You can meet everyone when it’s a more reasonable hour.”

The door clicks shut behind us, the soft sound swallowed up by the quiet of my place. Cambria lingers just inside, her fingers brushing the hem of her t-shirt, eyes moving across the room like she’s memorizing the layout. Or maybe gauging the escape routes. She’s unreadable like that sometimes—still and beautiful, like a painting right before it tells you its story

“I know it’s not much,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck, suddenly hyper-aware of every smudge on the wall, every corner that never quite gets enough light. “But it’s home.

She glances over her shoulder and smiles. “It’s you. That’s enough.

Something about the way she says it hits low in my stomach. I look away before it shows on my face, motioning toward the bathroom. “Shower’s yours first if you want it.

“Are you sure?

“Ladies first,” I say, half-teasing. “I’ve got towels in the cabinet. Help yourself.”

She nods, disappearing down the hallway, and I stand there for a minute, listening to the soft sound of her footsteps, the quiet clink of the door shutting behind her.

It’s strange, how something so ordinary—someone using your bathroom—can make your chest feel too small. I don’t know what this is between us yet, but it’s building. Quietly. Powerfully. Like a storm that doesn't start with thunder, but with stillness.

I shower after her, water running hot as I try to keep my thoughts in line. But she’s there, in every corner of my mind—Cambria with her damp hair and that oversized sweatshirt I tossed to her for the night, the one that hits her mid-thigh and makes her look like trouble I’d gladly get into.

When I step out, towel slung around my waist, she’s curled up on the far side of the bed, legs tucked under her, hair still damp at the ends. My sweatshirt, wrapped around her.

I hesitate in the doorway. “You sure you’re comfortable?”

She looks up at me like I’ve said something ridiculous. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“It’s a lot to take in.”

She nods then whispers, “come to bed.”

So I do.

The sheets are cool, the room dim. I slide in beside her, careful not to make it weird, but then she shifts—just enough that her back presses lightly against my chest. My arm goes around her like it belongs there, like it’s always been waiting for this moment. She exhales. Settles.

It’s quiet for a while. Her breathing evens out, and I can feel it, the rise and fall of her against me. My hand is on her waist, thumb moving slow against the soft cotton of my shirt. I don’t move to kiss her. I don’t even try. Not yet.

But her fingers find mine under the covers, lacing through like it’s nothing.

Like it’s everything.

And that’s how we fall asleep—two hearts beating in the dark, not touching lips, but sharing something deeper. Something that hums beneath the skin. Something that says this runs deeper than either of us are prepared for. It’s just not time for more.

Not yet.

Not tonight.

This is mine. Not club related. Not about my brother, my mother, my father, or even my damn twin sister. It’s about me and chasing what I feel.

Tonight is just this.

And it’s enough.