Chapter Two
Angel
Two Years Later
“Surprise! Happy birthday, Angel!” everyone shouted when I walked into the club after almost two years of running away from it.
“There’s my baby.” My dad’s voice boomed over the crowd.
His leathers creaked as he stretched his arms out for me. I ran into his outstretched arms and fell into his embrace. He smelled like motor oil, cigars, and whiskey. I inhaled deeply. My dad always smelled like home, like safety. He was my favorite man on the planet.
“Daddy, you didn’t have to do all this.” My voice was muffled against his vest, but his chuckle meant he heard me.
I should’ve known my parents had something planned for my birthday. Especially, when my dad declined a trip to get ice cream after dinner. Instead, he insisted we meet him back at the clubhouse, he never turned down sweets. My palms went clammy when my mom pulled into the club’s parking lot.
For two years, I’d been able to avoid the club since the disaster of my going away party. Leave it to my parents to bring me back to the heart of my humiliation. My cheeks heated as I thought about Demon’s face after our kiss. How it didn’t affect him at all, while I felt like my whole world had changed. I remembered the mortifying way he told me he would never see me as more than the kid of his second.
I couldn’t believe I jumped on him like some motorcycle groupie in heat. I grew up around that type of women, and swore I’d never be like one of them. I used to internally judge them as they allowed their man to cheat on them. Pay no attention to them after they’re done getting what they wanted. Or worse, treat them like they were some lesser species. Yet, I jumped on the worst one of them all. The dirtiest of all the bikers. And I was so close to escaping. It was the night before leaving it all behind, and I messed it all up by jumping Demon.
Dumbass.
I can’t believe he rejected me the way he did, but I’m relieved he did. Being away from the club and learning how to live without the protection of Hell’s Army showed me how nice it was to be normal. Thank you, Demon for mortifying me into sanity.
Now in the safety of my dad’s arms I could only hope Demon wasn’t around. Demon used to avoid me like the plague when I followed him around like a lovesick dumbass, now it was me avoiding him. And, if things hadn’t changed in the two years I’d been gone, I should be safe until I could once again escape the club. With both of us avoiding each other, there should be no reason for me not to get through tonight unscathed.
“It’s my baby girl’s twenty-first birthday. Of course I’m going to throw her a party. And what’s my rule?” My dad fit me under his arm as he turned me around the club. I did a quick search, glad Demon didn’t seem to be around.
“If you’re going to drink, drink with family.” I repeated the motto he’s drilled in my head since he caught me sneaking Jack Daniels in my room at sixteen.
“That’s my girl. What’s your poison, Jack and Coke?” My dad smiled wide. His green eyes, that matched mine, sparkled with mischief.
Reflexively, I swallowed the bile that crept up my throat. Even the mere thought of Jack Daniels made me want to puke. When my dad caught me drinking, without family, he made me drink as much as I thought I could handle from the pilfered bottle. I’ll never be able to be in the vicinity of a Jack Daniels’ bottle because of that night, and he knew it.
“I’ll stick with Vodka and orange juice, daddy.”
My dad laughed, kissing me on the top of the head. “What about you, Sexy?” My dad took my mom’s hand, kissing her knuckles with a gentleness a bearded giant shouldn’t possess.
I watched my mom’s cheeks turn a healthy shade of pink and my heart soared. She finished her Chemo six months ago and she’d been getting stronger every day.
“I’ll take water, handsome.”
My dad winked at her, making her giggle. Listening as my mom giggled like a schoolgirl made this club trip worth it. I would’ve relived my embarrassment a hundred times to see them flirt like they were still on their honeymoon.
My parents were a real-life motorcycle romance. And as much as I loved listening to them retell their story, I wondered if their relationship screwed me from the start. They set me up for disappointment with their perfect romance.
Why didn’t they tell me their love was a one and a billion? Why didn’t they tell me to stop looking for what would never be?
When I was sixteen, I decided Demon was my prince. He was the one that was going to give me the same love my parents had. I knew he couldn’t see me as his princess until I was legal, but that didn’t stop me from daydreaming about our future. I had done my best to keep my decision to myself, but some of the prospects had no problem telling me I was being obvious.
That was the night I snuck a bottle of Jack into my room. I wanted to drown my sixteen-year-old dreams, but instead I ended up with a healthy aversion to Jack. I retreated until after I was eighteen, wanting him to see me as an adult. And in my mind that meant being out of high school, then I’d be an adult.
A sexy adult.
A sexy adult, that’s when his eyes would land on me, after graduating of course, he would know. He would recognize how desperately he needed me in his life. Hell, I even had my associate’s degree when I graduated high school. Very mature.
That didn’t work out so well. Just like all my plans that involved Demon.
“Happy birthday.” My dad handed us our drinks, kissing my mom on the cheek. “Here’s to my baby girl on her twenty-first birthday.” My dad’s booming voice had the attention of everybody in the club.