From the corner of my eye, I watch Lane eat. I love to see people enjoy my food, and I love taking care of people that I care about. I also need to have a talk with Lane before I meet Tiffany.

He sets his plate on the coffee table, and I set mine beside it. I turn in my seat to face him. “Lane, I need to talk to you about something.”

He looks at me with his eyebrows raised. “Yeah?”

“Before I meet Tiffany, I want you to promise something. If we don’t work out for some unknown reason, and I hope that won’t ever happen, I want to always be a part of her life even if we aren’t a couple.”

He smiles at me and I am taken aback. “Doll, I would never take her from your life, but you aren’t fucking going anywhere. You try and I will kidnap your ass. So get comfy because you aren’t leaving.”

“That’s all I had to say. Now I don’t know about you, but I think dessert is upstairs in your bedroom.”

He gives me a shit-eating smile. “Oh yeah?”

I slide off the couch and walk toward the staircase. Did I mention his house is huge? Like mansion huge.

“Oh yeah? If you want it, come and get it.” I run out of the room laughing with him running up behind me.

I squeal when I am thrown over his shoulder, and he smacks my bare ass. I retaliate and smack his butt. Lane has the best butt I have ever seen on a man; it’s the perfect bubble butt.

“Brace yourself, Baby; it’s time for the fucking of your lifetime.”

My stomach flips with excitement. I cannot wait for what he has in store for me.

* * *

“God, why did I agree to this?” I ask Lane when he turns off his bike outside my parents’ house. He climbs off the bike and I sit still, not wanting to go.

My parents are hard to handle, because they have a habit of thinking they are better than everyone else. My biggest fear is my parents running Lane off.

“Doll, don’t look so worried.” He grips my chin gently.

I sigh and close my eyes. “I can’t help it, I worry they will run you off.”

He bursts out laughing. I stare in shock at his reaction.

“What is it?” I ask.

He gives me a soft look. “Nothing could take you away from me. Who gives a fuck about your parents’ opinion?”

I arch an eyebrow at his bluntness. I guess that settles that then. Can you blame me for being worried? Lane has become a huge part of my life, and I don’t want him to leave—not when I’ve finally had a taste of happiness.

Lane lifts his hand for me to take, I settle my hand in his, and we walk to the front door. I lift my hand to knock, but the door is pulled open and I am greeted by my mother.

“Hi, Mom.”

She looks me up and down; then she scrutinizes Lane. Her eyes widen when she sees his president patch.

Did I mention my mom has a thing for bad boys too? I got that from her, and she never could get the right kind of bad boy. She got douche bags and settled for my father, who does whatever he is asked.

She smiles at Lane widely, and I roll my eyes at her eagerness.

“Nice to see you, Lane.”

Lane nods. “Ma’am.”

Mom steps farther into the house and holds the door open for us. “Come on in! I just set the food on the table. Your sister is already here.”

I cringe at the mention of my sister. I love her because she is my sister, but we are not close. Lane stands closer to me when he notices my anxiety. Have I also mentioned I loathe her husband? Pretty boy to the core and has a habit of staring at my ass and tits too much.

We step inside the dining room, and all eyes turn to us. My sister purses her lips and looks at me almost in disgust, and then her eyes light up when she sees Lane.

Sister or not I will scratch her eyes out.

I am feeling gleeful. “Everyone, this is my man, Lane. Lane, meet my sister, Jackie, her husband, Kenneth, and my dad, Charles.”

“Hi Lane! I can’t believe my sister ended up with a catch like you. Sit down and tell us about yourself.” She pats the chair next to her, and my eye twitches. Bitch.

Lane pulls out the chair she was patting. “Here, Doll.”

I smother my smile and sit down beside my sister. I can almost feel the anger rolling off of her. Lane pulls out the seat next to me, and I can already feel Kenneth’s eyes on my tits, even though I’m not even showing any cleavage.

My mother comes back into the room and sits down beside my dad, leaving a seat open between my mom and Lane.

“Dig in!” My mom places a steak on a plate and hands it to my dad. The room is silent, and it’s eerie because I am used to constant chatter with them.

Once everyone has their plate filled, the silence is broken by my sister, of course. She smiles at Lane. “So, again how did my sister find a catch like you? She lives in a whole other town.”

Lane swoops my hair over my shoulder sweetly. “She didn’t catch me. I caught her. She had me sold the second I saw her.”

Swoon! I lean over and kiss his jaw. He is so getting some head tonight—not that I wouldn’t do it anyway, but I will make it worth his while.

“Aw how cute!” Jackie says.

“So, how is the practice doing?” my dad asks, and I set my water down on the table.

“It’s doing extremely well. I am looking to expand and add another vet.”

Dad smiles proudly. He is a doctor himself. He may not have any balls, but he has always been very kind to me.

“Yeah, a practice is good, but when are you going to settle down and have kids? You’re hitting thirty—don’t you think it’s time?” My sister says this in her sweet-as-sugar voice.

“I will have kids when it’s time for me to have kids. My practice is always going to be a part of my life. I can hire on more help and be more of a stay-at-home mom.”

My sister nods. “Well, of course! I just couldn’t bear the thought of being away from my babies.”

I smile at the mention of my niece and nephew. “Of course not! Every person has a different way of going about things.”

I barely have time to take a bite of my food. “Oh, I like your hair today, Amelia! Having it pulled back halfway makes your face look slimmer,” my mom pipes in.

There it goes with the complimenting and insulting at the same time thing. Lane stiffens beside me, and I know he noticed it too. He squeezes my leg under the table.

“Thanks, Mom.”

She waves her hand around. “No problem!”

I reach forward and grab a roll.

“Oh Amelia, should you be eating any more carbs?”

Now this irks me. “Mom.” I stop and smile sweetly. Lane strokes my arm, soothing my anger. “I can eat whatever I want. I have curves, yes, but don’t forget I get that from Aunt Ellen and your mom.”

She squints at the mention of Aunt Ellen. She is an older me—we’re practically identical. She is a lawyer and settled down with her very own bad boy a couple of towns over.

“Ellen Fitzpatrick?” Lane asks.

“Yeah, that’s my aunt.”

My mom narrows her eyes. “Why? Do you know her?”

“She is one of the lawyers for our club’s businesses. She’s damn good at her job and very driven. I guess that’s a family trait.”

My mom’s mouth pops open slightly, and she shuts it quickly. I press my lips together to contain my laughter. Lane just made my life.

We stay in silence for the rest of the dinner, because I can see my mother fuming. She hates my aunt, but it’s my guess she is jealous. I so need to call Ellen later and talk to her about what happened today. She will get a kick out of it.

“Let’s all head to the family room, shall we?” my dad asks and we follow him out of the room. I look at the clock and see I’ve only been here for forty minutes. Why is it going by so slowly?

My sister’s husband plops down beside me, and I move closer to Lane. “You’re looking really good, Amelia,” Kenneth whispers.

“She does look nice, but she needs to start watching her weight. A man like Lane won’t stick around for a slob,” Jackie says.

Oh my god.

Lane jumps up off the couch and pulls me with him. “I am so fucking done with you worthless pieces of shit. I will not allow you to insult her anymore.”

My sister and mother gape at him.

“She is fucking beautiful, and so beautiful ya’ll are so fucked up in the head with jealousy.”

Kenneth raises his hand. “Man, don’t talk to my wife like that.”

Lane laughs darkly. “Oh shall I tell your wife how you’ve stared at Amelia’s ass and tits the whole time tonight?”

My sister gasps and smacks Kenneth. “You would look at that slob?”

“I don’t blame him one bit for looking at her. If I had to fuck such an uptight bitch every night…”

Oh my godddd! I snort with laughter because this is epic. I don’t care what is being said to my family at this point, because tonight was the last straw and they went too far. It’s time to cut the negativity out of my life.

“I will not have you speak like that in my house to my family,” Dad says.

Lane whips his head around and glares at him. “Speak to your family that way? Did you forget that Amelia is your family? You allowed her to be spoken down to, and you sat there with your thumb up your ass.”

“Amelia, you’re not welcome here anymore,” Mom says. “It’s time for you to go. I hope you have a happy life—but I doubt you will, because look at you. You know how embarrassing it is to have a daughter who’s fat and isn’t married?”

Now that fucking hurt. “That’s okay, Mom, I know you haven’t liked me for a very long time, and that’s okay. I am extremely happy with my life. I can support myself and I have a family, but it’s not you. Blood isn’t family. Lane is my family, and you will regret treating me this way one day. You continue living your life with your shiny things. I will be enjoying my life.”

She just stares at me with dead eyes. “I won’t regret it.”

Yeah, she will.

Jackie tries to get in the last word in.

I raise both of my hands, flipping her off. She gasps again and I laugh at that. Lane puts his hand on the small of my back. “Let’s get out of here, Doll.”

“He won’t stay with you forever, and what will you do then?” My sister cackles, and I turn around, smiling for the first time tonight.

“I am an independent woman, Jackie. I don’t need a man to be in my life to make it complete. Lane makes my life better, but I can take care of myself with or without him.”

At that I turn around and walk out of the house. The house I grew up in and will probably never see again. I bite my lip to hold my tears and my sadness and longing for what I could have had.

I am better off without them; I will be happier. It will suck but I have people that I care about. My family hasn’t been my family for a very long time. They just tried to bring me down.

Ellen is the only person I can call family now that I am without a father, mother, and sister.

“Doll, I am so fucking proud of you for standing up for yourself, and you got some damn good self-control. Something I lack.” He slips the helmet on my head, giving me a sly smile.

“Thank you for standing up for me. I just can’t believe I stood for that kind of treatment for so long.”

“They are your parents and I understand trying to find the good in people, but these people can’t be helped. What matters is you are finally free.” He kisses my forehead tenderly, and it’s like all my worries just wash away.

Now to start my life fresh.