Let It Ride (Hell's Tribe MC Series) [Book 3]

Chapter 10: Promise?

Song for this chapter: If I Could Turn Back Time by Cher & Right Here Waiting By: Richard Marx

LAST CHAPTER!! There will be an epilogue posted next week! I hope you've all enjoyed getting a little glimpse into Mick's past with Val and how things turned out the way they did.

~Val~

August 29th, 1989

I was already awake when the alarm clock on the bedside table went off. Mick groaned next to me, protesting the loud sound as he buried himself underneath the covers.

"Sorry," I mumbled, reaching over to stop the deafening sound.

I placed a kiss on Mick's lips, but he was too tired to even react. He had been at the truck stop nearly all night meaning there was a fat chance I was getting a ride to work this morning. He was hard enough to wake up on a normal morning but he hadn't come back home until past four so I already knew I would be walking.

Thankfully, I had prepared myself for it and set my alarm half an hour early to account for my walk.

I managed to quietly get myself ready and make breakfast without waking Mick or Bear—or even Mack who was passed out on the sofa.

I gathered my things and managed to sneak out the front door without making Mack even stir. I had become an expert at not waking Mick's roommates when I left for work in only a week.

I smiled to myself as I stepped onto the front porch, only to realize seconds later that it was pouring rain.

"Fuck," I cursed.

I looked to the driveway and peered over at the three motorcycles parked there— realizing I really had no other choice. Mick would drive me if I woke him, but we would get wet on his bike anyways. I stuck my head back in the front door, pulling the half-broken umbrella Mick had leaning against the wall since the first time I had been here.

I let out a breath that it even opened up all the way, but the thin metal on one side of it was bent, making half the umbrella collapse at even the slightest gust of wind.

I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best as I set off to the diner, knowing full well that Sheila would be pissed if I was even a few minutes late.

I had only been working there for about a week, but she hated me on account of the fact that I was Mick's girlfriend. I wasn't sure why she hated him so much, but she transferred that hate to me and felt it her personal duty to make my life at work very difficult. She started me off on the worst shift, gave me the bare minimum pay, and told me that new girls were required to share their tips with the kitchen—which I knew they weren't.

Even still, I accepted it and I let her treat me like shit, for the simple fact that I needed a job. I couldn't mooch off Mick forever, and if I wanted to get out of this town and ever get a chance at college, I would need to save up a shit ton of money.

I didn't make much at the diner, but every little bit helped.

I repeated that mantra what felt like a million times in the last week, and it was the only thing keeping me from completely breaking down.

I hated working there. I hated being a waitress in general.

The men were all pigs, and the woman looked down to you as if you were the gum on the bottom of their shoes. Some of them I even knew as ladies my mother organized fundraisers with. Their smug glares and the way the spoke to me as if I was completely inferior was degrading, to say the least. Even still, I forced myself to try and make the best of it, at least until I found something better.