Avery (The Phoenix Club Girl Diaries #3) - Addison Jane Page 0,90

Avery’s face was obvious, but she wouldn’t say a single fucking word, her only mission to soothe the broken girl in her arms.

“Thayleah, this is Shotgun.” She turned toward me, her eyes sparkling, the same color as Emma’s. “I promised her she wouldn’t be alone when we escaped. That I wouldn’t let her end up with no one.”

Avery thought she was subtle, but I could already see the bond these two had formed, and I knew it was only going to get stronger.

Avery was born to be a mother figure. She was born to care, to protect, and to love harder than I’d ever seen someone fucking love.

It was why I needed her by my side.

It was why the club needed her.

Why Gage and Thayleah needed her.

And God help it if another motherfucker tries to take her from me.

From us.

“Well, Thayleah,” I rasped with a grin. “Welcome to the family.”

The tightness in her body eased, and she sank into Avery’s arms, the smile on my old lady’s face bright and warm.

“And by family, I mean shitshow.”

AVERY

One Month Later

Watching Shotgun and Gage lay sleeping in bed together in the mornings had quickly become my favorite thing, the two of them becoming more and more like twins each and every damn day. And today, I needed that vision of them more so than ever.

I thought maybe I’d feel differently this time. Maybe now I’d found people who cared about me and loved me just like Micah did, that it wouldn’t hurt so much not having her here with me. And yet, I still woke up today feeling like there was a piece of me missing. A chip in my heart that I could live the rest of my life without, but that I still kept trying to fill.

Would my birthday always be this way?

A day I’m not sure I’ll ever claim back for me. How could I? Me getting older every year wasn’t exactly something to be celebrated when my beautiful big sister will never get that same experience ever again.

Forever stuck there.

This weird limbo.

Tears trickled silently down my cheeks as I tied my shoes.

“Happy birthday.”

I should have known better than to try and escape him, try to hide my bullshit from the one person in this entire place that had already known just exactly what this day of the year does to me. I looked up, this gorgeous specimen of a man standing over me, beautiful, sexy, strong, and loyal. And to top it off—he loved me.

I got to my feet, our bodies a mere few inches apart, and my throat so clogged with emotion I’m not sure the words I wanted to say would even come out. “If I’m still broken now, at a point in my life when I have more love surrounding me than ever before… am I ever really going to feel fixed?”

“What needs fixing?”

“The pain,” I murmur. “This pain I feel in my chest when I think of her. It’s my birthday. I should be happy. I should be celebrating, but it just hurts.”

Shotgun reached out, brushing my hair back from my face and swiping at the tears that just wouldn’t stop coming. “Who the hell said we need to fix being sad about the people we miss?” He cupped my face in his hands and pulled me in, the warmth of his skin seeping through my thin shirt, this comforting heat that radiated off him, instantly sweeping me up and wrapping me tightly.

“Let it hurt. Think about her. Remember her. And just feel the fucking pain that comes with missing the hell out of someone who meant so fucking much to you because the second your heart stops aching when you think of her, it means she doesn’t matter anymore.”

“She’ll always matter.”

“Exactly,” he answered, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Now, if you still want to run away and mope and feel fucking sorry for yourself… can that part of the day be postponed until later? Because we have somewhere to be this morning.”

I raised my brow. “I’m going to ignore the mocking of my emotions and cut straight to… where do we have to be?”

“Somewhere,” he replied, the definitive tone leaving no room to argue. “There’s a dress on the bed upstairs. We’ve got about an hour to get ready and get into town.”

“Where’s Gage?”

“Less questions, more action.” He placed his hands on my shoulders and turned my body toward the stairs, tapping my ass hard and making me jump before pointing, silently telling