Page 55 of Reaper

A tear slips down her cheek, and she quickly wipes it away. Scooting over, I pat the seat beside me. She gets up and sits down next to me on the same bench.

Mae leans against my shoulder, and on instinct, my muscles tense. I force myself to breathe slowly and will my muscles torelax. It takes a few moments, but eventually, my body finally responds and relaxes.

“For the record, Reaper, I don’t see you any differently because of your scars. In fact, they make me feel safer with you.”

I scoff as I shake my head. Memories of the grocery store once again bombard me and I angrily ball up a piece of paper, throwing it into the fire with my left hand to not disturb Mae who is still leaning her head against my right shoulder.

“Safer? How? People have always given me a wide berth before, but now it’s even worse. I mean, they take one look at me and run the other way.”

She shifts and stares up at me in disbelief before her face morphs in anger. She hastily stands up in front of me, apparently forcing herself to ignore the twinge of pain that I saw briefly contorting her face before she puts her fists on her hips as she stares down at me.

“Then fuck them all! You don’t need people like that in your life. To me, I know I’m safe with you. And not just because you’re a badass biker who’s a mountain of a man with arms that look like if you squeezed someone’s neck, you could pop their head off.”

I huff as I roll my eyes and try to keep the smile off my face at the mental image she just painted.

“Your scars tell me you’re the toughest and most dangerous person in the room. You know why?”

Warily, I eye her and the nervous pit in my stomach grows. “Why?”

“Because they tell people that you will go toanylength to protect those you care about. Even if that means you’re hurt in the process.”

She steps forward and cups my cheeks in her hands. I flinch as her thumb caresses my scar, but if she notices it, she doesn’t mention it.

“If those people don’t take the time to look past your skin, then they aren’t worth knowing. They’re judging a book by its cover when, in fact, there’s an amazing story hidden in those pages. You are Reaper, the President of the Junction Creek Steel Archangel’s MC. You are Tony Leyton, an amazing man who deserves to be loved, just as he is.”

In shock, I stare at her, not able to get anything out past the lump in my throat.

She gives me a small smile before leaning down and kissing my cheek again, right over my scar before retaking her seat next to me. Once again, she rests her head on my shoulder and continues to rip up her pages, balling them up and throwing them into the fire.

For a few minutes, it’s like I can hardly breathe.

Is that how she really sees me?

Does she really mean that?

Shaking myself internally, I realize I already know the answer to that. Mae doesn’t say stuff she doesn’t mean. Even in the little time I’ve been around her, I know that’s a fact.

Gripping the pages I’d ripped out earlier tightly, I feel as if everything’s been blown wide open and I’m struggling to piece things back together.

However, one thing remains clear.

Iwillget my head on straight and at the same time, try to mend the bridge I’ve caused with Lark.

Making a decision, I rip all the pages up into smaller pieces, letting them rest in my lap. Lifting my arm, I put it over Mae’s shoulders and carefully pull her closer. With my left hand, I pick up a piece of paper, ball it up and toss it into the fire.

For a few hours, we chat more and get to know each other better. As I’d previously thought, Julia, my sister, eventually comes up.

“My nephew, Chris, was visiting me two years ago. He was fifteen at the time and looking forward to getting a car. I had a bike all lined up for him, too.”

Her body tenses against mine, but she doesn’t say anything, so I continue.

“He loves cars and bikes and wanted to go to the garage to work with the guys. I got him all suited up, and he rode behind me on my bike. We’ve ridden together hundreds of times before. He knows he always had to wear his gear, and he knew what not to do and what to do. Julia’s ridden with us a lot, too.

“On the way, someone clipped me, and we went down. Hard. As soon as I looked up from where I landed, I knew it wasn’t good.”

I pause, taking a few deep breaths as the memories wash over me.

“Chris ended up being paralyzed from the waist down. Julia blames me for hurting him and won’t let me see him anymore. After the first few times that Chris and I talked in public and her reaming me out afterward, I stopped talking to him publicly. We text, but we can’t do more than that anymore. I know he doesn’t blame me, but it kills me that she’s cut my nephew out of my life because of someone else’s actions. Especially with him being right under my nose and not being able to spend time with him.She takes my money since I’ve been helping them for years even before the accident, but yeah. Can’t see him anymore.”