Hide The Wine

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Waking up the next morning and I have a headache. I look at the night stand and see a bottled water and some aspirin. Thank fuck. I down the pills and the water and get up and head to the bar for coffee. Getting my coffee, I walk outside and see Tara and Lyla sitting at a picnic table alone. I walk over and take a seat with them. "Morning." I say. "Morning." they both say. I see Lyla look at me and asks "What happened to hiding the wine?" she asks and I glare at her. "Where were you to stop me?" I ask and Lyla starts laughing. Tara looks at me and asks "Am I missing something?" I shake my head and say "When I was in Tacoma, I hooked up with this guy and was stupid enough to believe that when he said I was his that he actually meant it. The day after I finally hooked up with him, I walked into the clubhouse to see him with a sweetbutt. I went home, packed my shit and came home." I tell her. "And he's one of the ones here?" she asks. "Yep. Kozik." I tell her. "Shit. But what's this about hide the wine?" she asks. "My mom always said that every woman had one man that made them want to hide the wine. One man that was their weakness and would fall for every time." I tell her and she nods her head. "Yeah, well Lyla here was supposed to help me not be alone with him and stop me when I was drinking but last thing I remember was him carrying me to bed and leaving." I tell them. I look down at my coffee and don't say anything else while we sit and just enjoy the warm morning.

A little later, I get up to leave and feel a hand on my arm. I turn to find Kozik. "Can we talk?" he asks. "I can't Koz." I say as I pull my arm from his. "Please?" he asks. Sighing I say "Fine. Meet me at the park. We'll talk." I tell him and turn to walk away. He follows me on his bike and I get out of my car and walk to the picnic table and sit on top. He follows me and sits beside me. "I miss you." he tells me. "Don't do that. You said you wanted to talk, talk." I tell him. We sit in silence for a minute before I go to get up and he grabs my hand. "I'm sorry." he says. I sit back down but pull my hand from his. "I'm sorry." he says again. "Nothing to be sorry for. We both knew me being in Tacoma was temporary. We weren't together and you made no promises to me. You have nothing to be sorry for." I tell him before standing up and walking away. I make it to my car and pull off the parking lot before the tears start to fall.

I get home to the house that I share with my brother. Walking in, I see Tig and Happy sitting there and a few seconds later, Kozik walks in. I walk to my room and Tig follows me. "Hap and Koz are crashing here while they're in town." he tells me. "Okay. Where are they sleeping?" I ask. "One of them will take the couch but the other will have to crash with you." he tells me. "Which one?" I ask. "Me." Koz says as he walks up to the door. "What if Hap wants to?" I ask Koz, trying to be a bitch. "He offered to take the couch." he tells me as he sits his bag down in my room. "Fine." I say before walking out of my room and out onto the back deck. A few minutes later, Hap walks out the back door and sits beside me. "Talk." he says. "Nothing to talk about." I tell him. "Bull shit. You forget it's me you're talking to." he tells me. "Just don't want to be around Koz." I say. I stand up and walk into my room and grab my overnight bag and start putting clothes in it. "Where are you going?" Koz asks. "Going to see if I can stay with a friend so you can have my room." I tell him. "You don't have to do that." he tells me. "You need a place to sleep. Not a big deal." I tell him as I keep putting things in my bag. He stops me. "You can stay with me." he says. I shake my head. "I can't Koz." I tell him and the tears start falling. He pulls me to him and I just melt into him. "I know but please stay. Let me make it up to you." he tells me. I shake my head no and see the hurt in his eyes. I grab my bag and head out the door. "Where are you going?" my brother asks. "To stay with a friend." I tell him. "Who?" he asks. "Gonna see if I can stay with Lyla. Help her with the kids" I tell him and he nods. I turn towards the door and walk out.

Pulling up at Lyla's, I knock on the door. Opie opens the door and asks "Raven? What's wrong?" when he sees I have tears in my eyes. "Can I stay here a while?" I ask. "Yeah." he says as he lets me in the house. "Lyla, Raven's here." he says and when she comes out, she sees me and Opie tells the kids "Let's go get get some ice cream and let Lyla and Aunt Raven talk." They all hug me before walking out the door. Lyla pulls out a bottle of wine and pours us a glass. I scoff. "Wine. Shit." I say and she asks "What happened?" I look at her and say "My brother told Hap and Koz they could stay with us and guess who he thought I would want to share a bed with?" I ask. "Shit. Seriously?" she asks and I nod. "He fed me this bull shit that he's sorry and that he wants to make things right. Wanted me to stay with him." I tell her. "Why don't you let him?" she asks. "What? Really Ly?" I ask. "Hear me out. Let him see what he messed up. Talk to him. Let him make things right but don't stop your life. Go out on a date. I'll set you up with one of the guys from work." she tells me and I look at her like she's insane. "You want to see if he's serious? Let him see you going out with another guy. I bet he becomes real devoted real quick. And you can't tell me you don't miss sleeping next to him." she tells me. "Can I stay the night and think about it?" I tell her. "Yeah." she tells me.

A little later, Opie comes back with the kids and we see a bag in his hand. "Brought you two some ice cream. You look like you need it Rave." he says. "You have no idea." I tell him. Sitting at the table eating my ice cream, while Lyla puts the kids to bed, Opie asks "What's up with you? I haven't seen you like this since you came back from....shit." he says and I nod. "When I was in Tacoma, Koz and I were hanging out. I finally gave in and slept with him and the next day I found him with a sweetbutt making out so I came home." I tell him. "And now your brother has him crashing at your house." he says and I nod. "What are you going to do?" he asks and I look at him. "I'm not asking as his brother. I'm asking as your best friend." he says. "Lyla thinks I should let him make things right, share my bed with him but she wants to set me up with one of the guys she works with to make him jealous and see just how serious he is." I tell him. "Not a bad idea." he tells me and I look at him shocked. "Look, all I'm saying is it will serve him with and it will show you if he's serious or not before you make any decisions about him." he tells me. "Maybe I will." I say, standing up. "Where are you going?" Lyla asks as she walks back into the room. "Home." I say and her and Opie both smile.