Page 11

Chapter Eleven

Summerville Bodie

B odie Hall’s leg bounces as he sits in Church. Things feel like they're at a standstill after Dani was taken and the club killed a good number of Kingsmen members. To be honest, it's a little unnerving that no one's made a move towards them for what happened. It feels like something imminent is about to happen, and he wants to get out of there and spend as much time as he can with Jolie before the war breaks out.

Ever since they got Dani back, Lex has been more present at the clubhouse. Normally, when it's not Church nights, Bodie and Jolie watch the kids while she spends time at the clubhouse with Colt in case Dax needs her again. He doesn't mind babysitting because he gets to hang out with their son, Noah, who is by far one of the coolest people on the planet. And after Noah and Calla go to bed, Jolie and Bodie make use of the spare room Bodie used to call home.

It was his home after he had to leave Black Valley when he found another man at his ex’s house. When she answered wearing his shirt, he wished he’d died instead of getting that heart transplant because she ripped his new heart right out of his chest by seeing that. Lex and Colt took him in and helped him heal.

Summerville proved to be a blessing in disguise. He may have saved Jolie's life three times, but it proved the universe had plans for them. That it wanted them together. Especially after learning Evie lied to him. She showed up out of the blue and told him that she'd been forced into a sexual relationship with her boss after she was caught stealing money for Bodie's medication before he disappeared to go off and die alone. Luckily, Lex got the club lawyer involved, and Evie was forced to confess that she made it all up.

Tonight, Bodie almost got out of the meeting to spend time with Jolie, but Lex's mom came to town and brought the kids to Griffin's Beach for a day or two. Jolie's coming in a little bit, and Bodie wants to bring her to the extra room before going back to their apartment. He has to run out to claim it before someone else does.

When he walks out of the Chapel, he sees Lex staring at him with wide eyes. Bodie opens his mouth to ask what happened, thinking maybe there was an accident with the kids or something, but Evie steps into his line of sight, catching him off-guard.

“Bodie!”

“What are you doing here?” he asks, knowing he sounds rude, but there's little he can control with his shock.

She stands before him with her blonde hair curled and a face full of too much makeup. Or maybe that's how she always wore her makeup, and he's just not used to it anymore. Her top comes down too low, showing off almost all of her b-cup chest with black skinny jeans and boots.

“I made a mistake, Bodie.”

“Starting with that outfit,” Everlee Banks says, giggling next to Lex.

She shoots them a glare but doesn't say anything.

“You've made a few mistakes, Evie,” Bodie says.

Her long legs move quickly to stand before him, and he hates how his mind immediately goes back to the times where he'd lie between them as she tugged on his hair and squeezed her thighs together as she came. How sweet she tasted, and how amazing her moans sounded.

“My first mistake was not coming after you sooner,” she says, her long fingers gently touching his face. “My second mistake was lying to you, and I'm so, so sorry about that.”

“Let me guess,” Lex says with a smirk, “the boss dumped you?”

Evie snaps her head up to look at her. “I dumped him. Not that it's any of your business.”

By now, a crowd has formed around them as all the men hope to see a chick fight. Bodie has yet to see Lex in action, but he's heard rumors, and Evie won't stand a chance.

Instead, Lex just chuckles and shakes her head. “Hunny, you stepped into my home and lied about being forced into a sexual relationship by your boss because you stole money for Bodie’s medication. When the truth is, you never stole money for his medication because Chicago was giving you money for it, and you were just whoring it up but needed to lay on the guilt for Bodie. Yeah, I'm making it my business.”

“This is between me and my boyfriend.”

“Bitch, he ain't your boyfriend anymore,” Lex says, crossing her arms over her chest. “And you sure as hell are no old lady, so back the fuck up with that attitude before I knock you on your ass.”

The more comfortable Lex gets here in Summerville, the more her sass comes out, and Bodie is here for it. “Lex is kind of a surrogate mother, you know, if she had me when she was like, three, but you really don't want to take her on. Pissing her off is probably the worst idea you can have in here.”

“She doesn't look that tough.”

Colt bursts out laughing. “Girl, our kids are with her parents, and Lex has no issues spending the night in county if necessary. And you are pushing her into that necessary boundary really fucking quick.”

“Bodie, can we go somewhere private to talk?” Evie asks, emphasizing the word 'private' as her eyes glance over to Lex.

“There's nothing to talk about.”

“I love you. I have always loved you, and you pushed me away. You broke my heart. Yeah, I lied, but you destroyed me. Can't we call it even?”

Knowing he has some fault in all of this weighs on him, and he feels guilty. He did push her away, and he essentially pushed her right into the arms of another man, but lying and saying she was assaulted while blaming him for the reason why reminds him just how manipulative she was. Something he never saw before.

“You could've caused me to kill your boss because of your lie. Lex talked me off that ledge more than once, and you're the reason it all happened. You made it all up in your little Evie land, and that's just a shitty thing to do on a human level. Especially when you tried to blame me.”

“Not to mention how it looks to other women who are actually put into those compromising positions,” Lex says. “I know women who have been assaulted, and women like you make it so easy for everyone to discredit them and say they're lying. All because you needed to spread lies to cover up why you were spreading your legs.”

“That was never my intention,” she says and looks at Bodie. “Please, Bodie, I love you. I thought you were dead, and to see you again... I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. Please, baby.”

Evie wraps her slender arms around his neck, and Bodie doesn't even have time to react when his eyes land on Jolie as she walks through the front door, her mouth open.

“What the fuck is this?” Jolie asks, her arms crossing under her chest. “I should've known better. God, you're not better than Justin. I see you have your blonde again.”

Fuck you, Justin!

Justin Spalding, Jolie's dead fiancé, had a bad habit of screwing other women. Specifically blondes. Something Jolie didn't find out about until after he was dead, and it's a sore subject for the curvy brunette. And it doesn't help that Bodie's keeping the secret that the heart he got to save his life came from the cheating bastard.

Bodie peels Evie off him, much to her resistance, and he runs to Jolie. He gently takes her arm and stops her. “It's not what you think.”

“Who's the brunette with the fat ass?” Evie asks.

Has she always been this catty? Or is it a new development since he's been gone?

“Jealous because she has one?” Everlee asks from beside Lex.

Both women stand, arms crossed, and staring at Bodie's ex. Evie sneers. “I have an ass.”

“If by 'ass' you mean something as flat as a crepe, sure,” she responds.

“It's always the skinny bitches with no figure who hate on women who have curves. We all know you're jealous. Jolie's hot. You're... not so much,” Lex says.

Everlee looks at Lex. “Do you envy her figure?”

“Hell yeah,” she says. “Besides the fact that my tits aren't half of what they used to be, I wish I had an ass like hers. Or yours. I'm just glad I don't have an ass like Evie's.”

“Me, too,” Colt says with a wink. “But for the record, you're a hot mama.”

She blows him a kiss and looks back at Evie. “To answer your question. That's Jolie. Bodie's girlfriend. We like her. We don't like you.”

“Your what?” Evie asks, glaring at Bodie with disgust.

“The thing you were before you weren't, you shady bitch,” Everlee says.

Lex's sass seems to be rubbing off on everyone lately, and Bodie wishes his ex had never walked in here. Jolie, however, seems to love it.

“I have never done anything to either of you!” Evie shouts to Lex and Everlee. “What's your deal with me?”

“She's the reason blondes get the rap they do. We're not all that stupid,” Lex says.

Everlee smirks. “You hurt a man of this club. We take that shit personally, and while the men can't touch you, we sure as hell can. So, I fucking dare you to say one more thing to us, about us, or about Jolie. You're about thirty seconds away from an ass beating.”

“Evie, you need to leave,” Bodie says. “You're not going to win anything being here.”

Tears fill her eyes as she stares at him. “We have so much history. You're just going to throw it all away for her ? She's not even your type.”

That annoys him, and he storms over to her. “I finally have the chance to live for the future, and while I acknowledge the part I played in the position you and I are in, we're done. I gave up on us when I thought I was dying, but you had a chance to be honest and start over. You chose to lie. But I realized something after I left you in that hotel room.”

“What's that?”

“I can't live for the future if I'm stuck in the past. And your lie proves that we wouldn't have anything solid to build off of, even if I wanted to try. I can't trust you, and I know deep down, you can't trust me. Not after what I did, and I own that. That part is all my fault.”

“Bodie-”

“You gave up on me. That's on me. I disappeared when I thought I was dying, and you didn't have a say in the matter. But everything since the night I showed up at your house, healed and better, was your choice. You had months to come after me, and when you did, you lied about something so terrible I can't even wrap my mind around it. But even then, you haven't stepped foot back here since. You're only here now because you're alone, not because you love me.”

Jolie straightens against him rather than pull away from him. “Bodie's mine, Evie. You had a chance to be with him, and you lost him. He's not yours anymore.”

“This is what you really want?” Evie asks.

His arm wraps around Jolie's shoulders, and he places a kiss to her temple. “We can never trust each other, and Jolie's my girl. The biggest part of my world.”

“She's not even your type, Bodie.”

He smiles. “No, she's perfect.”

“And she's not a lying whore,” Lex adds, bending forward with her arms still crossed. “Just saying.”

“I've also come to learn that if I get Lex's stamp of approval, I've made a good decision,” Bodie says with a laugh. “Plus, she told me you were lying that night you came and, well, fucking lied. Her instincts are pretty spot on.”

Jolie smirks. “Lex, I think I fucking love you.”

“What is with all this 'think' bullshit?” she exclaims. “Doesn't anyone just, I don't know, fucking know whether they like or love me?”

“I do fucking love you,” she clarifies.

“Better,” Lex says and smiles.

Bodie looks at Jolie. “She's not the only one loved here.”

Her eyes look up at him. “What?”

“I love you, baby. Meeting you on the bridge that night was the single scariest moment of my life, but I'm so glad it happened.”

“You are so getting laid tonight,” she says, pulling his face down to kiss him. “Oh, and I love you, too.”

Evie lets out a disbelieving chuckle and walks to the door. “Have a great life, Bodie.”

“I wish you the best, Evie,” he says and shuts the door hard behind her. “But it ain't never gonna be with me.”

“Thank God!” Lex says. “Go get laid, dude. Somewhere that's not my house. For once.”

Smirking, Jolie sighs. “We really should listen to Lex more often.”

“I'll never say no to getting naked with you,” he says, pulling her towards the spare room. “Bye!”