Page 12 of Drax (Iron Thunder MC 3)
“You think you can actually put an end to all this? Somehow change your brother’s mind?” he asked.
I looked away from him.
“And you think I would be an idiot for even trying.”
“I think you don’t know your brother at all, MB. Or at least not anymore. You don’t know the man he has now become.”
I didn’t want to know the man my brother had evidently become. I didn’t even want to believe what Drax was saying about him. But my faith in my brother was wavering. I had a feeling about this. Would Drax really go to all this trouble to prove me wrong? To make me think Crash started this war? To perpetuate some lie?
I wanted to tell Drax I suddenly felt very helpless.
If I was wrong about Crash all along, then what else was I wrong about? How off was my judgement in other things?
He was looking at me intently, maybe expecting me to admit my mistake. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t tell him what he wanted to hear. It stung me to be openly disloyal to my brother. After all, did I owe any loyalty to Drax? We weren’t together anymore. Maybe he didn’t even think about me these days.
My phone rang in my jeans out of the blue, startling me out of those thoughts. It was so silent and dark inside the store otherwise, and the screen shone bright when I pulled my phone out.
It was Crash calling and I looked up guiltily at Drax. He couldn’t have seen the screen and I didn’t want him to know who it was.
“I have to take this,” I said and quickly strode out of the store. It was cool outside, and the night breeze blew my hair. I answered the phone in a hush.
“Hi.”
“Sis, where are you?” Crash asked.
I looked over my shoulder to make sure Drax was still out of earshot. He was moving some wooden planks around in the store. Not only would Drax be annoyed if he knew I was speaking to my brother; Crash would lose his shit if he knew where I was right now.
“Umm. Out. You know. With a friend. What’s up, Danny?” I tried to sound as casual as I possibly could. When I spoke to my brother in person, he was always Danny to me. Crash was his adopted name and even though I knew it was the name he preferred; I couldn’t actually call him that. Not when I’d grown up calling him Danny.
“Nothing. Just making sure you’re good. I stopped by your place and you weren’t home.”
I chuckled nervously at that. “You know I do have a life, right? I’m not always home.”
“I didn’t say you were,” he replied. I was afraid he would hear it in my voice that I was trying desperately to hide something.
“Yeah, okay, I should go now. Bye.”
I ended the call quickly because I saw Drax heading out of the store toward me. He eyed me suspiciously, glancing at the phone in my hand. I was worried he’d know who I was speaking to.
“Can you take me back to my car?” I asked before he could say anything. He crossed his brows and then shrugged.
“Sure, whatever.”
“Okay, good, thanks.”
We went over to his bike and he helped me up. He didn’t ask me what I thought anymore, or if I believed Crash or him now. It was almost like Drax had decided to give up on me.5DraxBack at the Clubhouse, we got off the bike and I watched Mary-Beth making her way to the back where her car was parked.
A part of me just wanted to let her go. I knew it would be for the best if we didn’t see each other again. This was where our road ended. Every time we happened to be together, we fought. We were at each other’s throats. And no matter how hard I tried to convince her to see the truth, she wouldn’t believe me. She was going to be loyal to her brother.
I kept my distance as she beeped her car open and then she turned to me. It was dark. There was a dim yellow light filtering out through one of the back windows of the Clubhouse. I could pretty much only see her silhouette, not the expression on her face. So, I had no idea what she could be thinking.
“I guess I should thank you,” she said. Her voice was crisply firm. Those were the last words I was expecting to hear from her.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, don’t act so surprised, Drax! I’m grateful to you for not kicking me to the curb or being cruel to me or refusing to speak to me. Etc.”
I took a few steps toward her. She had a hand on the car door, just seconds from going into the car.
