Unbeloved (Undeniable #4)(73)

“My boy—” Hawk started and Ripper immediately shook his head.

“You don’t gotta ask,” he said. “Dude, you know I got you.”

Then Hawk handed Ripper his crutches, and after awkwardly shrugging out of his cut, took back his crutches and handed over his vest.

“You’re gonna be wearin’ this again,” Ripper said. “You f*ckin’ will, brother.”

“Damn straight,” was Hawk’s answer. And as Ripper pulled him into a hug, Hawk might have hugged the man a little tighter than he’d hugged the others.

And lastly, were Deuce and Eva. Standing side by side near the door, Eva gestured for him to come to her. As she wrapped her arms around his middle, Hawk rested his chin on top of her head, keeping his eyes on Deuce.

“Keep an eye on that old man of yours,” he said softly. “I want him bossin’ my ass around the second I get outta there.”

“I promise,” she whispered, sniffing as she pulled away.

With Deuce by his side, Hawk turned around to look at the club and the boys one last time. He took it all in, the building he called home, the faces of the men he called brothers, before his gaze stopped on Christopher, and the tears running down the boy’s cheeks. When he couldn’t take another f*cking second of it, seeing all that love and sadness—especially from his son—and all of it for him, he turned around and walked the f*ck out.

“I’ll be in the truck,” Deuce muttered, storming past him. “Take as long as you need.”

Hawk took a moment to look around the parking lot, searching out Dorothy. The past few weeks had brought along a wave of unseasonably warm weather that melted most of the snow in the lot, but it was still damn cold. So when he found her leaning against her vehicle without a warm coat on, staring off at nothing for f*ck only knew how long, he grew instantly pissed off.

“Woman,” he growled, hopping as fast as he could in her direction.

Startled, she turned toward him, and even from this distance he could see the tears rolling down her cheeks. Judging by the red blotches covering her usually ivory skin, and her bloodshot and puffy eyes, she’d obviously been crying for a while now.

“I’m sorry,” she said, hiccupping. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t do this. I thought I could, that I could be strong, but who was I kidding? I’ve never been strong! And I can’t be strong now!”

He reached her just as she was about to continue, dropped his crutches, and used his body to push her back against the car door. Standing on one leg, balancing himself with one hand on the vehicle’s roof, he bore down on her with a frown.

“You are strong,” he said forcefully. “You are one of the strongest females I’ve ever f*ckin’ met. And before you start spoutin’ off more of your usual bullshit at me, I’m gonna repeat myself. Dorothy Kelley, you are strong. Look at all the shit you’ve lived through. All that pain, D, that would have killed most people. You aren’t most people, you’re f*ckin’ special, knew that shit from the moment I saw you. Young and stupid, not havin’ a clue about life, but once life started smacking you around, what the f*ck did you do? Did you lay down and die?”

Staring up at him, still crying, Dorothy shook her head. “No,” she whispered tearfully.

“And you ain’t gonna lay down and die now, are you?”

Her body seemed to deflate, her pinched features relaxed, and with a large exhalation of air, she shook her head again. “No,” she whispered. “No, I’m not.”

“Good,” he said softly. Sliding his free arm around her back, he pulled her up against him.

“Good,” he said soothingly. “Now say good-bye to your man.”

Her trembling lips exploded in a tear-filled, snot-filled breath, and just like that she was sobbing uncontrollably again.

Shaking his head, Hawk tried to situate his body in a more comfortable position against the car in a way that allowed him to both hold her and kiss her at the same time. Once he’d gotten that out of the way, snot and tears be dammed, he bent his head and body and covered her mouth with his.

He’d planned on kissing her slowly, thinking that was what she wanted, a good-bye that was soft and sweet, but Dorothy had different plans. With a muffled cry, she grabbed his jacket collar and practically scaled his body. As he fought for his footing, she was already clinging to him, kissing him hard and fast, messy and wet, full of tongue and full of desperation.

Clutching at whatever he could and only standing on one foot, he used all his strength to swing her around, slamming her into the car window. Her leg wound around his hip, his hand gripped her hair, and he kissed her back, every bit as hard as she was giving it to him.

And he didn’t want to stop; he didn’t want to f*cking let her go.

He didn’t ever want to let her go.

Until he had to let her go.

“Save that ride for me, D,” he said softly, letting her drop to the ground.

“No,” she cried, grasping for him. “No, Hawk, don’t you leave!”

Clenching his jaw, Hawk reached for his crutches while she continued to grab at his clothing.

“Cage!” he bellowed, trying to hold her still, hoping like hell someone inside the clubhouse would hear him. “Cage!”

And then Cage was there, pulling her off him, and Dorothy was sobbing in Cage’s arms, struggling to free herself while she screamed his name over and over again. Feeling like the biggest piece of shit to ever grace the earth, Hawk gave her one last long look before gritting his teeth and turning away.