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He glanced over at my dad

“I still can’t believe our girl is old enough for this”

Ugh I hated it when they did this, especially in front of Ruger Everyone seemed to think I was a baby, but I was fourteen now In less than two years I’d be driving Well, driving legally I’d been driving on the property for years

“Appreciate you corab soive you a ride to school thisI don’t want to be late”

Mynoise

“We?” I whispered, hoping I’d heard wrong

“All of us,” Dad said, offeringinto a young woht not be a bad idea to remind those little pricks at your school who your faht from the start”

I actually felt dizzy

“Daddy, you can’t be serious!” Kit burst out “If all of you guys show up, you’ll scare the crap out of the boys! Hoill Eet a date that way?”

Dad’s smile turned feral

“Any boy who can’t handle E her”

I sed This couldn’t be happening My h his hair, and he pulled her down into his lap They were always like that—all over each other Still, Moot crazy protective Unlike Dad, she had a clue what it irl

“Moed to squeak out She shook her head sadly

“Sorry, baby Your father is set on this,” she said “I’ with your uncle Duck and the brothers”

“Those little pricks at your school need to knoho they’re dealing with if they fk you over,” Dad added, his voice dark “I don’t want to e boy They think with their cocks, so they need to realize they’ll lose those cocks if they don’t treat you right Nothing quite like a show of force to put a kid on notice”

“That’s bullshit, Daddy, and you know it,” Kit said, co to my defense Thank God, because I’d lost the ability to think or move “And it’s sexist! Eht to humiliate her like this”

“I have every right,” he replied, and I knew from his tone that it was all over “I’oal to embarrass you, Em, but I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe”

“Nobody wants to hurt ed to say

He snorted

“They’ll want to fk you, though”

I felt ht red and I kept er or any of the others

“You want me to treat you like an adult?” Dad asked “Pretty hard when justsex makes you blush If you can’t talk about it, you sure as shit aren’t ready to do it This way nobody will pressure you to, either Now grab so soon”

I felt sick My high school life was over before it even began, and he wanted me to eat cereal?

“I’ll just have a granola bar,” I ed and I saw his hand slide between s

Ugh My life sucked

• • •

I usually love riding with my dad

There’s nothing better than sitting behind hihway Kit ot his passion for the road I’d been saving for my own bike since I was six years old, and I saw the pride in his eyes every tied him to take me with him

Today, thoughFor the first time in my life, I hated it

We pulled up to the school in a roar, er, who’d probably slept with half the girls there before he graduated) Dad stopped right out in front, in a no-parking zone, and the brothers all backed their rides in next to his, forht’ve had about a quick, quiet entrance on one

One of the teachers—a woman as probably in hernervous, but as the guys swung off she didn’t ask theaped at us, which would’ve been funny if I hadn’t been fairly sure I was in one of her classes I recognized her froered over to her She blushed brightly

Shit, was there anyone at this school he hadn’t had sex with? Maybe I should rethink those wedding plans

“Okay, well, thanks for the ride,” I told o now”

“Show me your locker,” he said, obviously deter the next four years I looked up at hiirl lip bite, a hitch in my breath Usually I could even squeeze out a tear or two, but that took more prep time

“Daddy, can you just letwhisper “You made your point”

He shook his head, ruthless

“Don’t even try,” he said “I’ve seen it all before, and co inside because I want every kid here to understand you belong to the Reapers MC, and they’ll be answering to us if they fk with you”

I don’t knohy I bothered trying

Dad was a force of nature—a tidal wave determined to destroy h the doors and down the hallway Quinn caught ed, resigned, and looked for number 1125, which was on the first floor near the boys’ locker room

The locker roo to wander out after an early- practice

Perfect

My life was fking perfect

I looked up to see Quinn’s brother, Jason, a junior and one of the tea us I’d always had a crush on hi he’d finally noticefriend Seriously—if I wanted a guy like Ruger to call ht?

“Reed,” Dad said casually, jerking his chin toward Jason “Great season last year How are things looking so far with the team?”