Where We Started (Stone Riders MC, #1)

by Ashley Munoz

I don’t love you… I’ve only ever pitied you.

He was my first love. He was once my protector, my savior…and then he ruined me.

He chose the club and that life over me. The pain from seven years ago burned fresh as I tried to take a calming breath.

What if she didn’t come? What if she never came back and I never saw her again?

“Does Peter love Wendy?” Callie suddenly asked, the sound of sleep heavy on her voice.

“I think he did love her.” Callie waited a second. “Why?”

“I think he loved her because she wasn’t lost, she just wanted an adventure. She was always sure of who she was. She knew what her role was in Neverland…and with Peter.”

“Sometimes rescuing someone can lead to a pretty fun adventure. I bet Peter enjoyed it.”

“I think Wendy loved Peter more.”

You need to know that you were my sun, Callie. Everything since has just been cloud cover and rain. I’ve learned how to live with it, but I’ve been miserable every day since.

I love you my beautiful girl, and I wish I would have done better by you. Allow me, in death, to correct some wrongs. -Dad.

I was jealous of the boy I once loved, who used to rescue me from the chaos of the club. I still could not figure out why he had continued to stay with the Stone Riders.

“My dad left me ten acres of property, his clubhouse, and a letter where he basically apologized for the past twenty-eight years of my life.” Her blue eyes rounded. “Damn.”

Her long hair hung down her back in a slick sheet of silk, and a horrifying realization settled in my chest: she was breathtakingly beautiful.

How had I not noticed it before, how stunning she was? It was like I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Perhaps that was why I didn’t care if the other girls wore shorts, because Callie was all I could see.

I’d never been in a fight before, didn’t even know how to throw a punch, but all I knew was that he needed to remember this moment. He needed to remember me, and never go near her again.

“Why did you come, Wes? Why did you hit Logan like you couldn’t stop?”

“I came because I didn’t want to wait to see you. I hit him because he was touching you, and he made you cry.”

With one hand, the girl I couldn’t stop thinking about hung on, and with the other, I felt the ache of a battle I knew I’d rage again if anyone else ever tried to hurt her.

I hadn’t laid eyes on the clubhouse in seven years,

when Wes joined it was the final straw for me.

I was the one who had missed out on nearly a decade of memories, and now I was the one who was the stranger in my own home.

He understood my past, and it felt like he was just throwing it all in my face.

“If it isn’t our Little Fox, finally back home, with a pixie and a horse in tow.”

while I knew Wes didn’t want me anymore, it didn’t stop my nipples from hardening under my shirt, or that my body felt like liquid moonlight

was suddenly thrumming under my skin. This was the effect Wes had always had over me. He was sunshine, and I was always the sleepy flower, waking up to bask in his warmth.

“I’m not his girl.” Sasha paused and threw me a look over her shoulder. “Yes, you are, honey. The sooner you accept that, the easier all of this will be.”

“All my allegiance to this club was buried with Simon. The only other person on this planet that could summon any more from me is this girl right here.”

It’s been seven years, and it was fucking high time to get over my first love.

and our innocent kisses started turning much less innocent.

Since then, we’d done a lot of kissing and exploring with our hands, but there was a part of me that wanted to do more. Feel more.

“Killian says you fight like you have nothing to lose, like you can’t stop.” He lifted his chin in my direction. “That true?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You don’t want me to see it…what are you afraid of? Do you think I’ll judge you?”

“I’m afraid of losing you because of it. Like it will be too much for you, and you’ll cut me loose like one of those fish you’re always catching.”

I kissed her forehead, then wrapped my arms around her. Fuck, she had no clue, did she? No idea how embedded in my life she’d become. “I got you something today.

I pressed the key into her palm,

“Right now, it doesn’t go to anything, but I was thinking maybe one day we can get it made for our house⁠—”

“You think I want to get rid of you, or throw you back.” I shook my head. “Callie, if you want to use a fishing metaphor, then you’d be the river, not the fish inside it. You cut a path through me, filled it, and now it’s always shifting and moving. I can’t wait to see what our life will look like someday, but for now, I’m happy taking it one day at a time.”

“I love

you too, and one day, when I have a house for us, that key will be the one to open it.”

“I’d never choose anything over you.”

“Why do you care if I’m safe? You want me out of your life, remember? Wouldn’t it move faster if the Death Raiders found me? You’d get your clubhouse then.”

“How could you even ask that?”

“You hurt me, Callie. Broke my fucking heart seven years ago, and sure, it took a while to get over you, but rest assured, I did

get over you. But I also promised your dad if you were to ever come back, I’d ensure you were safe. I don’t owe you a place in town, or anything else, but I will always be sure you’re protected.”

Wes was pushing me back toward the wall until he was towering over me, pinning my hands above my head.

“Or is it that you’re remembering our time here together…maybe that night I first fucked you?”

Of course I didn’t want to think of any of our nights together. But he was wrong—I wasn’t thinking of our first time here; I was still thinking of our last.

“Do you remember what you would say to me when my head would disappear between your legs?”