Needles lives his dream, a member of the Broken Demons MC and runs the tattoo shop owned by the club. He's watched his brothers settle down and start families and he can't help but wonder when it'll be his turn.
Molly is the black sheep of the fami...
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Ah Lizzo, you're just what I need right now.
"You supposed to hold me down, but you holding me back, and that's the sound of me not calling you back." The song plays in my ears as I look out of the car window
"Get them headphones off when I'm talking to you." My dad yells as he drives my car.
"Sorry." I sigh, although it doesn't matter how many times I say that it doesn't seem to work and I'm still being banished to North Carolina.
"Now I don't want you giving your aunt any trouble you hear?" He says and I nod
"You stick to curfew, no boys, no night driving and no disappearing." He lists
"This is it Molly, you threw away the whole summer, all your friends have got jobs or gone to college. You need to figure out where your life is going, I don't care that you don't want to join up, Hell I don't even mind you not going to college, if you just find your future. You can't live off me and your mom forever." He sighs
"I did have a job." I reply, he makes me sound so damn lazy
"Yeah until you got fired."
"But that wasn't my..."
"I don't want to get into it again. You need to figure things out Molly." He cuts me off.
"And I don't want you embarrassing the Johnson family name any further." No one could be more embarrassed than me, trust me, I cringe at the thought.
"You made it." Aunt AJ beams as she runs from the front porch to the car
"AJ." She salutes my dad
"AJ." He salutes back before they hug. I have three uncles and an aunt all called AJ and they always greet each other that way, it's so stupid.
"I'm so glad you're here." She smiles before hugging me. I don't see my aunt much with her being in the army and working away all the time, but she and her fiancé come home to Texas for Christmas.
"Good to see you again Chris." My dad says as he shakes his hand
"You too." He says before giving me an awkward wave. Chris is really quiet, but super hot, the first time he came home for Christmas with aunt AJ he looked terrified of my whole family gathered at my grandmas. I heard my dad talking to my uncle about Chris, that he has PTSD from being in the army, so really he's the perfect fit for the family, because everyone is obsessed with the military. That's why I don't fit in, it's never interested me, my older brother left the day he finished high school for the army and my little brother is already talking about joining up when he finishes school.
"I'll show you to your room." Chris says as he pulls my cello out of the back seat of my car, I open the trunk and he takes my suitcase before I follow him inside.
"Sorry about the mess, this room is usually the gym, but make yourself comfortable." He says as he puts my suitcase and cello case on the small twin bed. So this is where I'm staying. A treadmill folded up against the wall next to a weight bench, I'm sure I'll fall over the gym equipment at some point, I'm just naturally clumsy.
I put my back pack next to my suitcase before sitting on the bed.
"You're sure you can't stay?" I hear my aunts voice getting closer
"No, I already ordered an Uber to the airport to fly back, but I'll bring Lindsey and Tuck with me when I come back and we'll spend the weekend." My dad says as they enter the room.
"Remember what I said, be good for your aunt and your mom and I will call to check up on you." My dad says before hugging me.
We stand on the front porch as my dad gets in his Uber and it drives away
"Ok, let's talk while Chris makes dinner." My aunt smiles as she wraps her arm over my shoulders. She guides me to sit on the couch while Chris works in the kitchen
"Ok you're dad told me all this stuff about a curfew and not going out without me and blah blah, but I see things a little differently." She says
"You're eighteen, when I was your age I was in basic training so I don't think you need me up your ass all the time. You have your own car, so I'll give you more freedom than your dad said, but I want you to text me and tell me where you are, if you make friends I want to meet them, other than that, you're old enough to take care of yourself." She explains and I nod
"But I won't stand for you trying to run around on me, ok? No more trouble." She adds and I nod again. Nothing I can say will make up for what I did, I feel so stupid.
"I'm sorry about this." I reply
"Relax Mol, we all make mistakes, hopefully you'll learn from it." She says patting my shoulder
"Now the club are having a barbecue on Saturday and I want you to come and meet everyone." I totally forgot about the motorcycle club, did I cause so much trouble that my dad thinks I'm safer with a bunch of outlaws? Maybe they aren't like Sons of Anarchy.
"I love your hair, when did you go silver?" She asks as she plays with the end of my braid
"A couple months ago." I reply, I feel so awkward, I'm guessing my dad told her everything, does Chris know too? Oh god that would kill me. My family can barely look at me, I lost all my friends, maybe I can make a fresh start here where no one knows, apart from my aunt and her fiancé. Oh god, has she told her club what happened
"Have you told...?"
"No, just me, I didn't even tell Chris the full story, so don't worry." She whispers "blank canvas, you can start fresh."
Thank god, I couldn't leave the house in Texas without snickers and pointing.
"Have you thought about what you want to do while you're here? Do you want to study or get a job? I mean I told your dad you can stay as long as you like." She says
"I don't know, I'll look around for a job." I shrug.
"Ok, but no rush, I'm looking forward to spending time with my niece." She says before pulling me in for a hug
"Dinners ready." Chris calls from the kitchen.
Aunt AJ is a lot more laid back than my dad and uncles, so maybe being sent here was for the best, I'm sure my dad was pretty close to corporal punishment. I just wish I knew what I wanted to do, in my family if they aren't joining the army, they're joining the navy, two of my uncles are navy seals. My cousin Bobby wants to join the Air Force and be a pilot, he's the only different one in the family. Apart from me, the black sheep. I just can't seem to find a career I want, nothing excites me. All my ex friends have gone to college to pursue their dreams, but even if I did go to college I don't know what I'd study.
I roll over in bed and grab my cell to check the time, five am. I've not been sleeping much lately, there's too much on my mind.
"Oh fuck, Chris." Oh my god, am I really going to have to listen to my aunt having sex while I stay here?
"Shh, Molly will hear you." I hear Chris say
"I can't help it if you're so good at..."
I try to block out the moaning noises as I grab my headphones, slipping them over my ears and turning up my music to drown them out.
A few hours later I find myself staring at my bowl of cereal to avoid making eye contact
"Did you sleep ok?" Aunt AJ asks as she sits as the kitchen table beside me, I still can't get used to seeing her fake leg.
"Mhmm." I mumble with a mouth full of Cheerios
"I thought I could show you around town today, let you get your bearings before you go out on your own." She smiles
"I gotta get to the clinic, but I'll see you later." Chris says before leaning down and kissing her and I immediately look back to my cereal.
