Wrong Move

19 - Amber

Taylor

Wren held the door open to the clubhouse and thanks to Jade hollering from behind the bar,

"My babe is back!" The entire club swiveled their heads to look at me. There was a pause where you could have heard a pin drop before a raucous cheer ripped through the crowd, aunty coral pushing through the burly bikers with watery eyes.

"Oh, Taylor!" she sobbed into my shoulder, and I wrapped my arms around her, ducking my head into her neck. A rush of emotion caught me off guard. The familiarity of her floral perfume knocked me sideways and my heart squeezed in my chest. I'd made the right decision. I hadn't been entirely sure until this moment, wondering if the stone in my gut might disappear if I just pushed harder to make Greenich Bay my home.

The therapy center had helped me excavate more than my trauma around Hunt. It had taken me right down, deep into the loss of my parents, and I was so much more aware of how the loss of them changed me. The gray of their absence had wrapped around me, some part of me attributing their deaths to something I had done. Like I deserved to have no-one. I'd carried that weight for years, unconsciously letting it color my interactions with almost every person in my life. It had crushed me under its bulk, and I hadn't even noticed until I had worked through it enough for the load to lighten.

In the past, I might have cringed that so many people were coming to say hello. I would have wondered what the ulterior motive was. What did they want from me?

Never would I have considered that they greeted me because they liked me or valued me.

But I had come a long way and now the stream of people who gripped my shoulder, leaned down to kiss my cheek and welcome me felt real and made my heart expand with thankfulness. Aunty disentangled herself from me, sniffing and wiping her eyes.

"Alright, alright, I'll let you go for now, but I want more hugs later." She wagged a finger at me.

I slid Wren a wry smile before I even realized I was doing it and he lit up with a lopsided one of his own. He'd been standing silently behind me, like a bodyguard. My lips tingled from our kissing, and I jammed my hands in my pocket to prevent me from running my fingers over them. A small part of me had wondered if I had asked too much, that I was being too selfish taking this time for myself. That broken, beat down part of me expected Wren to toss me to the side as soon I wouldn't promise him anything.

But that part of me was quieter, easier to reason with after therapy.

And Wren was still here. Still smiling at me like I was the only one he could see.

"Tay-Tay," a set of bulky arms engulfed me, hauling me into a bear hug. "Couldn't be happier to see you, girl."

"Hey, Prez," I squeaked, and Iron chuckled, his entire chest rumbling.

"Come and sit with me a bit?" he asked, and I fought the urge to snort with incredulity. I don't think there would ever be a part of me that could accept that Iron wanted to talk to me. Wren must have heard my thoughts because he pinched my waist softly, giving me a wink.

"I'll get you drink." He distracted and loped off to the bar.

Iron held court in his booth, and I perched on the other side, habit having me look at the wall. I prepared for the ache of seeing the thing that they had denied me for so long, but in the madness of being welcomed, I hadn't realized.

It was gone.

The wall that was normally crammed with a random assortment of memorabilia collected over the years was bare. There were posters of bikes instead, some with half naked ladies sprawled over them. I made a strangled noise of surprise, my eyes flying to Iron, who just shrugged.