Page 10 of The Saviors: Part One

I can’t stop the laugh. “Who would have thought that I would have been the one getting laid last night?”

“Stop. I’m glad. You’re practically glowing, and from what you told me, he worshiped that body as a guy should.”

“He was nice.” I shrug. “That was lame. He was more than nice. He made me feel beautiful.”

“You are beautiful, Chels.” She grabs my hand. “I’ve been telling you that for two years.”

“I know. It’s just hard to get his voice out of my head sometimes.”

“Your ex? Girl, fuck him. He didn’t know what he had. Now that you’ve dipped your toes in the water, you can learn to swim.”

“That was a one-time thing, Amber.”

“Why?” she asks with a pout.

“Because it took a lot for me to put myself out there like that.”

“I get that. But what if it’s Sean?” She waggles her eyebrows, making me laugh.

“I don’t have his number, and he didn’t stick around this morning. It was a one-night stand.”

“So, what you’re saying is if you had his number, you would do this again?”

Of course, she would pick up on that. “No. That’s not what I said.”

“Whatever. I call bullshit. We’ll get you there sooner or later.”

Amber doesn’t know the full extent of what my ex did to me. I never could tell her. She knows he was mean to me verbally, but she doesn’t know about the physical abuse. I can’t take the pitying looks people give you when you tell them your ex used to beat the shit out of you on a regular basis. The sad part is the beatings were the least of my worries with him.

I was hurt and pissed when I started dating Brady. We had a whirlwind relationship and ended up married three months in. When we first started dating, he told me how much he loved me and how beautiful I was. I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. As soon as the wedding band slipped on my finger, he turned into a monster. Classic tale.

I was captivated by his blonde hair, blue eyes, model face, and his smooth talking mouth. Everything he loved about me when we were dating, he hated once we were married. He’s a judge’s son, so I always had to look the part. But I was always too big, my clothes too revealing, and my attitude needed adjusting. When I finally got away, I lived my life in fear for months waiting for him to come and drag me back. The son of a judge couldn’t have his wife leave him while he was at work. Except that day never came.

I felt stupid after it was all said and done. I was raised in gang life, for fucks sake. My stepdad was the leader of the Grizzlies, who were notorious in Forest Grove. He might have been a leering jackass, but he still showed me everything he knew. Fighting, shooting, and boosting cars. He even taught me how to drive the getaway car, which is how I ended up with the Hellcat. He always told me to have a fast car because I never knew when I would need to run. So, with Brady fresh in my mind, I bought it, and it’s still my favorite purchase.

Amber doesn’t know any of this. When I met her two years ago, she had just moved here for a job at our local hospital. I told her what she needed to know and kept the rest to myself. I always felt guilty about hiding the truth from her, but she didn’t need to know how Forest Grove used to be.

My stepdad was killed in a police stand off right after I turned nineteen. Fury, the other gang around here, disappeared shortly after. It’s been peaceful ever since. I’m not sure where my alcoholic mother is, and really don’t give a shit. She doesn’t have a maternal bone in her body which is part of the reason I landed myself in the mess I was in.

“I have a question.” I look at Amber from my place on the couch where we moved to watch Netflix. Our usual Saturday ritual if she isn’t working.

“Okay,” I say carefully.

“Hypothetically, if you were to run into Sean again, would you act like you didn’t know him, or would you invite him to your place again? You said he moved here, and Forest Grove isn’t that big.”

“I don’t know.” She doesn’t need to know that all I do is go to High Flyer and a small grocery store.

“You had fun last night, right?” I nod. “Then what the hell? Maybe it can turn into more.”

I snort. “He didn’t give me monogamous vibes.”

“I didn’t say you have to marry him. More like a regular fuck buddy.”

“He didn’t really scream repeats, either,” I laugh.

“Oh. My. God. You don’t know unless it happens,” she says, exasperated.

“I thought this was hypothetical.”