Roomies ✔

19 - Make Love, Not War

Hey all! I heard from a few people they didn't get the notification of chapter 18, so make sure you've read the previous chapter too. ;) 

. . .

They were sitting against the wall across from the one they had painted. Esai was leaning with his back against the stone, Jamie was sitting between his legs, her back against his chest. An empty pizza box was lying in her lap. Her fingers were covered in black paint, but luckily most of the graffiti had ended up on the wall. Esai had wrapped his arms around her and was pressing kisses to her shoulder, where her sleeve had glided down. 

It had been a while since they had spoken to each other, but Jamie didn't feel the urge to break the silence. It felt amazing to be just held by him. 

She glanced at the drawing they had made. It looked good. On some some spots the paint had dripped down, but the symbols were clearly visible. It was a beautiful design, with an even more beautiful meaning. 

Her fingers glided across his hands. There were healing wounds on his knuckles, and she caressed them with her thumb. "How did you get those?"

In silence he sat up a little straighter. "I beat someone up," he said. "Last Wednesday, when you were at the clubhouse. They had stolen some shit from us, something worth a lot of money, and it was my job to find out where they were hiding it and who had told 'em where to find it."

She felt a nasty sting in her stomach. "You mean... you tortured someone?"

He didn't answer immediately, and she looked over her shoulder. 

"Maybe," he muttered. "If you put it like that. He was in a gang tho."

She looked into his blue eyes. At least he was honest. She thought about the gun he had shown her the last time they had been here, and which he was undoubtedly carrying now too. "Did you ever kill someone?"

He hesitated, his glance slid away and returned to her eyes. "Two men, a year and half ago during a gunfight. We were at war, it was our crew against another. I had no choice." Lifting his hand, he stroked her face. "I know how to protect the people I care about. My family, you. But I would never hurt an innocent person, Jamie. That's not me. But our club... well, we're involved in violence sometimes. Just like the Sons, by the way. I'm sure Juice has pointed a gun at someone else too."

She tensed. "You ever shot at him?"

"At Juice?" He shook his head. "No. I only fired one bullet at a Son from another charter, years ago."

Quietly she turned away her face. All that violence... it was hard to imagine. She had never expected it from Esai, nor from Juice. "The other day Juice asked me when you come to my place."

He was silent again. Jamie looked over her shoulder and caught him staring past her, deep in thoughts. 

"What did you answer?" he asked eventually. 

She shrugged her shoulders. "That I would ask you. We can't hide this from him forever."

"I know," he muttered, rubbing his face. "It's just... I know he's gonna try to reason with you once he knows. He's gonna talk shit about me to convince you to dump me. I just... want to show you more of the real me before you have to listen to all that crap. So you – so you won't forget who I really am."

There was a vulnerable look in his eyes, one that made her glow on the inside. Was he really telling her that he was afraid to lose her? She turned a little, slipping one arm around his waist and snuggling up to him. "It's impossible to forget how amazing you are, Esai."