Choice of My Mind

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*Layla Carver, 23 years old, haven't expected anything bad to happen within her 2 and ½ years of dating Braiden Stanton. But, one night he lashes out and slaps her. She becomes horrified by his actions. Running off with one of her guy friends Norman Wynn and his biker gang, Layla begins to wonder if leaving Braiden was the right thing. Forgive Braiden and get back together with him, or ditch him for good? Is the question she asks herself repeatedly. However, over time Layla gradually realizes that Braiden was and never would’ve been her true love. She finds herself drawn to another man out of desperation, love, and hope in a future for them both together.*

## *Chapter 1*

Just a normal day walking down the streets of Abingdon, Virginia. It’s quite a nice town with a population of 8,206 people. My favorite thing about Abingdon? The scenery and Blue Ridge mountains. My least favorite thing? Two words: Braiden Stanton.

Oh sorry, I didn’t explain well enough. Braiden and I have been dating for 2 and ½ years. I wouldn't say our relationship is unhealthy, but I know for a fact Braiden would never intentionally harm me.

As I walked down the busy Sunday morning sidewalk, I stepped into my favorite coffee shop. My eyes observing the first booth to my right. Every Sunday they’d come roaring down on their bikes for some coffee and chit chat amongst one another. The Steele Brotherhood is what they go by. Initially, there are about 18 bikers in all, but only the four well-known ones are in the coffee shop together.

There’s Norman, Logan, Liam, & Isaac. Norman is the head lead biker of it all, not to mention full-on redneck. He’s about 31 years old with a small goatee on his chin. He almost always wears his black biker vest that has two angel wings on the back.

Then there’s Liam, Norman’s wingman & he is also a bodybuilder. I would think he’s at least 27 years old with a built frame. He has dirty blonde hair with hazel eyes. Norman has raven black hair that is somewhat parted down the middle, including long bangs that shield his baby blue eyes.

Then there’s Logan & Isaac. Logan is around 24 years old with black hair that’s a buzz cut. He has green eyes, while Isaac has dull blue eyes. Out of them all, Isaac is 26 years old with wavy blonde hair.

As I go sit in one of the stools near the center of the shop I can feel Norman’s eyes on me, seeming to try and burn a hole in the back of my head. Coffee placed in front of me I quietly take a sip from it as I see Norman slide out of the booth and stroll towards me from the corner of my eye.

I can hear his biker buddies whistling and laughing. I look over to my right to find him leaning against the counter, head cocked to the side as he observes me.

“Anythin’ happen between ya both?” Norman asks, referring to Braiden and I. “No, nothing like extreme or anything.” I reply, looking down at my coffee cup.

“Good, you know if ya need me you can talk to me ‘kay?” he says after a brief silence to which I nod. Just as Norman pushes himself up off the counter to rejoin his buddies Braiden walks in, spotting me in a flash.

But as he comes over with that smile on his face, it abruptly fades when he notices Norman standing a bit closer to me. I sigh, *here we go* I think as Braiden suddenly gets in Norman’s face thinking he can be intimidating. He totally fails at it, Norman being about 6’1’’ in height and basically muscle.

“Don’t you think you’re standing a bit too close to my girl?” Braiden asks, a cold look on his face. Norman begins walking back to his booth, his gang getting themselves ready to go back on their bikes.

He turns back to look over his shoulder, voice gruff as he answers “Then treat ‘er like a woman and not some damn possession,” I cover my mouth to suppress my laughter as Braiden stands dumbfounded.

All four men gather their stuff as Norman signals, they all follow and hop onto their bikes. Engines roaring to life, helmets on their heads they begin backing away and ready to hit the streets.

I watch as Norman lifts the face shield and winks, making me somewhat blush as he hollers “Let's move on out boys!” with that, they take off, and vanish down the streets of Abingdon.

Gone Braiden grabs hold of my arm, dragging me out of the coffee shop and into his car. Slamming the driver’s car door he jams his foot down on the gas as we peel away. I sigh. This is what kind of relationship I’m stuck in. Though how much worse could it be?

## *Chapter 2*

Braiden jumped out of the car as we pulled into the driveway and didn't bother to open my door. A real gentleman right? I followed behind him more slowly and as soon as I closed the door he was just standing there, staring with that cold look again.

"Lay-lay, come and sit by me so we can talk," he says, sitting on the loveseat and patting the spot by him. Hesitantly I walked over and sat. He suddenly had his arms around me, nuzzling my neck as if to make sure I wasn't touched by another man.

Braiden lifted his eyes to look at me, and when it spoke it sounded pained. "Layla, I won't want you to ever leave me ya hear? It would kill me to lose you. So please, don't go, I promise I'll try and be better with my behavior though I know it's never been the best."

I studied his eyes as I sighed, defeated I replied in a whisper, "Okay... I won't leave you."

"Good, now I'm heading out, I'll be back whenever." and when Braiden says *whenever* he means a day or two, which leaves me alone with my thoughts again. In one swift motion, he's grabbing his coat, the car keys, and is out the door.

As the sound of the car engine disappears I get off the loveseat and look at the clock. Only 1:20 p.m.? I thought, shrugging I got out my phone. Luckily I haven't given Braiden a reason to snoop through it yet, so I still had Norman's number. I sat down at the kitchen table and began typing.

Layla text: You busy?

I then sat, waiting about five minutes before he answered.

Norman text: Just with the guys y?

Layla text: Braiden was pissed, took the car and left. He won’t be back for like a day or two

Norman text: Good. Has it ever occurred to ya that he’s an ass?

Layla text: On occasion, but Braiden closer bad once you get to know him

Norman text: Ya do realize if he ever finds ya hanging with me he’d wanna murder me?

Layla text: Yeah but idc. You're a big bad muscular biker dude while he’s a twig

Norman text: Damn it.. alright where are ya?

Layla text: My house, where else?

Norman text: ‘Kay, the guys and I will come get ya

Layla text: Good, btw just curious but you gotta girlfriend I should be concerned of?

Norman text: Nah, single as rain on this end

Layla text: Ok good

Norman text: See ya in 5 Layla-Boo

Layla text: Cya, I can't believe u still remember that nickname ya gave me when we were playing that one game

Norman text: Mhm, I remembered

Layla text: Kk see ya

I set the phone down, smiling at the texting conversation we had. Rushing upstairs I quickly changed into something more comfortable, just as I finished I heard the familiar roaring of motorcycle engines.

Grabbing my phone I stepped outside into the sunlight, smiling as all four men were taking off their helmets. The afternoon rays of sun reflecting off my red hair. I guess I forgot to mention I’m a redhead. As I walked down the last step Norman had hopped off his bike and was holding out a teal colored motorcycle helmet.

“Just as a precaution,” Norman said with a grin on his face, placing the helmet on my small head. Well, it fit pretty good. “You remembered my favorite color?” I answered dumbfounded.

“Mhm, it ain’t hard to remember,” he replied as he tightened the strap under my chin. I looked out through the face shield noticing Logan giving me a ridiculous thumbs up making me laugh.

Liam was leaning against his bike, arms crossed over his chest as he smiled at me. As Isaac was still on his bike, observing us. Norman gestured and they all climbed onto their bikes as he led me over to his. Norman owned what I quickly recognized as a dark red Cruiser. Liam and Isaac both had Dual-Sport motorcycles, Isaac’s was a dark blue as Liam’s was an orange one. I noticed how Logan also owned a Cruiser but it was pure gray.

Norman climbed on first and I followed suit, situating myself behind him. Face shield open Norman somewhat hollered over the roar of the engines to me, “Ya care where we go?”

“Anywhere’s fine!” I yelled back as he nodded, revving his bike we all took off. I smiled underneath my face shield, enjoying the feel of the breeze against myself as I tightened my grasp around Norman’s waist. So, we went zooming through the streets, laughing. Liam was even taking a video of us all as we rode on, hollering “While Norman’s gotta woman on the back of his bike!” making everyone laugh.

We continued on a dusk setting in. So this must be what it's like to be on a bike. Free of problems, of pain, and of the stupidity of Braiden. I never wanted to go back after tonight.

## *Chapter 3*

After a few fun-filled hours of riding, Norman agreed to take me back as long as Braiden hadn’t returned home. We came to a stop, engines still going as I lifted my face shield, peeking out through it. Though the smile I had only moments ago turned to a frown. Braiden was back, sitting on the porch swing while smoking a cigarette.

It quickly dawned on me that I never actually told Braiden of my breathing condition. The only person I’d ever told was Norman. He and I exchanged a glance through our helmet face shields before looking back at Braiden who stood and was walking towards us slowly.

He stopped two feet away, that cold look on his face had returned. I slowly unstrapped the motorcycle helmet, handing it to Norman as I stared up at Braiden who looked pissed.

“Get inside the damn house, we gotta talk.” was all Braiden said before storming up the porch steps and yanking the door open, slamming it behind him.

I looked at Norman, a nervous look on my face. He had taken his helmet off and was fixing his hair a bit. “You mind staying a bit?” I asked, my green eyes darting between the four bikers.

“Mhm, guys like him-” Norman paused, pointing in the direction Braiden went, “are bad news.”

Grateful, I climbed off the Cruiser and made my way inside. Shutting the door I heard the motorcycle engines had stopped. Braiden was standing in the living room, staring me down with that cold look.

I folded my arms over my chest, not wanting to talk. Braiden spoke first, “Why the hell were you with those guys?” he began pacing the room.

“Because I can, and they’re nice guys,” I replied, watching him continue to pace.

“Ya know they don’t give a damn about others? About girls like you?” he retorted as he stopped pacing, glaring at me in full on rage.

“The hell is your problem?!” my voice had risen, irritated by his behavior and temper. “I can hang out with whoever I please, man or not, you don’t get to control my life!”

I was suddenly pinned to the nearest wall, his hands gripping my wrists tightly so I couldn’t try getting away. I tried kneeing him in the balls but that didn’t work since he forced my legs apart.

“You will hang out with no other man because you’re mine and only mine. If I dumped you right now, not another living soul would date you because they would see how worthless you are.” Braiden’s voice was deep and filled with anger as I watched him try and keep his temper in check.

Then, out of nowhere, he slapped me across the face. Hard, making me cry out though his hand went over my mouth to shush me. His other hand was sliding up my shirt, feeling my skin which made me shudder.

Braiden and I suddenly snapped our heads in the direction of the door, hearing the commotion outside. My guess is they’re trying to keep a pissed off Norman from breaking down the door. My eyes quickly darted back to Braiden, who was nipping at my bottom lip. I looked down, realizing he must’ve taken his shirt off while I was distracted.

I gave him my most innocent smile which only spurred Braiden on as he was tearing my shirt off in a flash. I beckoned with my finger for him to come closer which he did. “Screw you,” I said before smacking my forehead against his which forced him to let go of me and stumble back in shock.

Taking the chance I bolted out the door, Braiden, having recovered from the blow was after me. Norman and his buddies all looked in the direction of us, seeing me they jumped on their bikes.

I leaped on Norman’s bike as the engines awoke, and we quickly sped off, leaving Braiden in the dust and cursing angrily. I looked back to see him shoot us the bird as Braiden disappeared from view in the darkness of the night sky.

## *Chapter 4*

We kept on riding till about 11:30 p.m. before we parked at a local gas station downtown. Norman hopped off his bike, immediately examining my injuries carefully. I flinched when his fingertip lightly went along the bruise on my cheek. Frowning, he took off his helmet and shook out his hair.

“We ain’t goin’ back there. Anywhere else we can go?” Norman asked, looking down at me.

“Yeah, my parent’s house, they’d probably wanna know what happened,” I replied, fiddling with my shirt that Braiden had somewhat ripped.

“A’right let's go,” he said, putting his helmet back on and climbing onto the bike again. Signaling, we all took off once again.

After about fifteen minutes of getting lost we finally all came to a stop in front of my parent’s driveway. Shutting the engines off, Norman helped me climb off his bike as the others were already waiting for us at the front door. I sighed, ringing the doorbell.

Norman had his arm wrapped around my waist securely, making me blush.

The door was opened, and my mother stood there. “Can I help you men?” she asked, head cocked to the side.

Her eyes landed on me, and not giving the guys a chance to respond I felt her grab my arm and haul me inside. I slightly shrieked at the force of her grip, the bikers walked in after us. I watched my mother eye each of them, seeming weary.

“Who are these guys Lay?” my mom asked her attention now on me.

So, I started pointing at each of them as I replied, “That’s Norman, Liam, Logan, and Isaac. They’re part of a biker gang called The Steel Brotherhood, Norman leads it.”

“I see…” my mom answered, trailing off as she observed the four bikers.

“Well, I’m Jasmine, Layla’s mother,” she said, shaking each of their hands briefly.

I still felt Norman’s arm around my waist, knowing he wasn’t going to release me anytime soon. My mom noticed it also, her eyebrow raised as she hollered “Honey Layla’s home!”

I heard the hurried footsteps descending down the steps as I saw my dad appear. Seeing me he smiled, before looking at Norman with narrowed eyes.

“Daddy it’s fine, Norman hasn’t done anything wrong to me,” I said before my dad could intervene. I heard Norman clear his throat which had me looking back at him.

“With all due respect Mr. Carver, I would never do anything intentional that would cause harm to your daughter. Though we came here for a specific reason,” Norman spoke before going mute again.

My parents exchanged a glance from Norman to the other three men, then to me. “Kiddo what’s he talking about?” my father asked, hands jammed in his pockets.

“Braiden hit me earlier tonight daddy, he told me how I was too worthless that nobody else would wanna date me,” I replied, shivering somewhat as I recalled the moment his hand collided with my cheek.

I saw my mother come closer, seeing the bruise I heard her gasp. She backed off, mouth agape. “He’s never acted like that in the 2 and ½ years you both were dating,” she said, concern glistening in her eyes.

“Well, he sure as hell ain’t coming near this house again,” my father replied, fists clenching at his sides.

I looked at them both before my gaze found Norman’s. His eyes softened as he looked down at me. I smiled, reaching over I grasped onto his large hand, fingers laced.

My father eyed our intertwined fingers before shrugging.

“Can Norman and the guys stay tonight? Just in case Braiden would be trying to find me,” I asked, showing them my biggest puppy dog eyes.

“Alright, but for you too. No sex, keep clothing on, and for god’s sake no make out sessions of any types.” my dad said, a slight grin on his face.

I threw myself forward and hugged them both, smiling. They returned the embrace as my mom released me, going to figure out sleeping arrangements regarding four bikers.

Thirty minutes later with sleeping arrangements made I dragged Norman along to my room.

Throwing a random t-shirt and shorts on I turned around to see him in only boxers. “Well that was quick,” I said with a smirk.

“It ain’t hard, now, why don’t we hit the sack?” he replied pulling back the covers of my bedspread.

“You think we can fit two reasonable sized people in my bed?” I asked eyebrow raised.

Norman lifted his head, grinning “I think two reasonable sized people can fit on a reasonably sized bed.”

I walked to the other side of the bed, “And what if two reasonable sized people of the opposite gender slept in said bed together with two other reasonable sized adults down the hall?”

He climbed in the bed efficiently “Well, let's find out,” I smiled and hopped in with him. Pulling the covers over us, I rested my head on his chest. His arms wrapped around my petite frame tightly.

I sighed, snuggling closer. “Goodnight Layla-Boo,” I felt the words rumble in Norman’s chest as I smiled. “Goodnight Norman,” so, we slowly fell asleep. I knew neither of my parents would enjoy I was sleeping with a redneck biker but who cares? It’s worth it.

## *Chapter 5*

The sunlight had crept through the blinds of my window that morning, making me squint and open my eyes. I looked around the room before my emerald eyes landed on Norman, and I couldn't help b chuckle. His arms were securely wrapped around me, apparently, has no intention of releasing his hold. And, his face was buried in the crook of my neck.

I heard a knock on my door and it slightly opened, my mom's head poking through. Her surprised yet disapproved look on her face makes me laugh quietly. She made a beckoning motion with her finger, then closed the door behind her.

WIP