"What was the deal, Poppy?" he asked.
"Dad—"
"The deal," he growled.
"I’m an adult—"
"Goddammit, Poppy, what was the deal?"
"Watch your tone, Hatch," Devon warned.
Hatch ignored him, continuing to stare daggers at .
"I wouldn’t drive more than an hour in any direction alone, especially at night."
"That deal wasn’t made based on whether or not you’re an adult, Poppy. It also wasn’t made based on the fact that we don’t trust you or think you’re not capable of absolutely everything you decide to do. It was made based on the fact that I’m not close, Devon’s not close, the club’s not close." He stared at for a few tense seconds. "Poppy, you’re a beautiful woman any psychopath would love to find alone and vulnerable."
I stared at my feet. "I know."
"Eyes, Poppy." I looked up at him and his expression had softened. "You made the deal, baby girl. No one put a gun to your head, but you went back on that deal and that’s not cool."
He was right. I sighed. "I know. I’m sorry."
He pulled in for a bear hug and kissed my head. "Fuckin’ scared to death, and I’m not sure I’m ready to tell your mom yet, ’cause she’s gonna lose her mind."
Goddammit, he was right again. "We don’t need to tell her... do we?" I was only half-joking.
"Never lied to your mom, baby girl. Won’t start now."
"I’m really sorry I went back on our deal."
"’Preciate that, Poppy." He released and ran the back of his knuckles over my cheek. "If anything happened to you, I’d end up in jail from the rage, so let’s not do this again, yeah?"
I nodded, but I secretly knew I’d need to renegotiate the terms of our ’deal’ when we got ho.
"And if you’re gonna stay, you’re locked down here, get ? Willow’s comin’ too, so you two can fuckin’ squawk about whatever the fuck you’re mad about, but you’ll do it here while we have ard n guarding you."
I nodded again. "I got you."
He hugged again, then kissed my forehead and walked out the door. Devon flipped the lock behind him and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.
"At least he didn’t kick out," I admitted, and sighed.
"Poppy, we’re at war. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t send you back out there. Doesn’t an you’re off the hook though."
"Oh, hell, no. I’m mad at you. You don’t get to be mad at . You caused all of this."
"Two wrongs don’t make a right," he said, pushing away from the wall and further into the room. "Nice try."
He snagged his towel off the end of the bed and ran it over his head, then looped it around his neck.
"Are you really at war?" I asked.
"Yeah." After chucking the towel into the corner of the room, he pulled on a clean T-shirt.
"With another club?"
"No."
"Are you really not going to tell anything?"
He frowned. "I told you I will... when this is over."
"No, you told you’d tell when you saw . You’re seeing ."
"Poppy. Give a fuckin’ break, huh?"
I sighed. It was a little unfair that I was arguing semantics with him right now, so I closed the distance between us, needing to touch him, and slid my hands under his T-shirt. "I don’t want to be mad at you anymore."
"Didn’t realize it was a choice."
"Okay, you can stop being surly now," I ground out.
"Yeah? Can I? That’s big of you, Poppy."
"Are you seriously choosing to be a dick right now?"
He slid his hands to either side of my neck and scowled down at . "You fuckin’ drove through the shittiest part of town at three in the morning, Poppy. Alone. You’re gonna need to give so ti for the images of what could have happened to you to go away. In answer to your question, I’m not choosing to do anything, I just happen to be really pissed off at you. It doesn’t change how I feel about you, but you’re gonna have to give a minute to calm the fuck down."
I bit my lip.
"Not to ntion, you have graduation in five days, which begs the question, why the fuck are you wasting your ti here, instead of getting ready to celebrate sothing you’ve worked so hard to accomplish?"
"If you’re not going to be at my graduation, I’m not going to be either."
"Are you fuckin’ high?" he snapped.
"It’s not like I won’t get my diploma. It’s pomp... I’ve never cared about the pomp."
"Do your parents feel the sa way?"
I shrugged. "I haven’t asked them."
Before he could say anything further, my cell phone buzzed and I grabbed it off the nightstand. "It’s Mum."
Devon nodded. "Take it."
"Hi, Mummy."
"What the fuck is this about you driving overnight to Savannah?" she hissed.
Devon raised an eyebrow in a "told you so" expression and I sighed.
"Sid’s already read the riot act... so has Devon."
"Devon doesn’t count," she said.
"Why doesn’t he count?"
"Because you can get around him with sex."
"If only that were true," I breathed out.
"God, I can’t believe you were so reckless!" she seethed.
"Mum, I’m here, I’m safe. It’s all good."
"Do not quip at , young lady. You made a deal."
I ground my teeth together in frustration. "Yes, Mum, I know I made a deal. I’m sorry. I don’t really know what else to say."
"You say you’ll never do it again."
"I can’t say that," I admitted. "If soone I love more than life itself is struggling, I will go where they are. Period. However I have to get there."
"I really shouldn’t have raised you to have an opinion," Mum grumbled.
I bit back a giggle. "Sucks to be you right about now, huh?"
"The boys and I are flying to Atlanta in four days. Are you going to be there?"
Devon squeezed my arm and gave a silent challenge. I sighed. "Yes. I’ll be there."
"Don’t make divert to Savannah, poppet. I get that you’re an adult, but I pushed you out of my vagina, so I will always own you."
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