Page 68 of Between Brothers

I needed to put my feet firmly on the ground and figure shit out. I couldn’t do that on the run. And I couldn’t start over and never speak to my family again. That wasn’t me.

“Well, I’m not letting you go back alone.” He sniffed.

I shot into a sitting position as I was suddenly flooded with emotion. Relief. Surprise. The joy of knowing I finally had a person of my own. Bootsie was my very best friend, but she was starting a life of her own and would naturally be focusing on her own family.

“I can’t ask you to do that,” I whispered, even if I loved him for offering.

“You didn’t, and I’m not here to discuss it.” He winked, rocking to his feet.

He dusted his hands off on his pants and nodded toward the car, “Come on, I’ll take us back to my mom’s house. We can get a plan together once we touch down.”

He made it three or four paces before my brain finally caught up with reality and accepted that he wasn’t joking. I sprinted toward my side of the car and tried not to show how exuberant I was when he started the vehicle and put us back on the road.

Penny’s disappointment and surprise were painted on her face when she noticed our vehicle coasting down her street. It made me feel a little guilty that my decision was the reason for it. She didn’t go inside, or yell when we climbed out and started for the door, she just followed us inside and patiently waited for an explanation.

When it wasn’t forthcoming, she nodded, “Birdman wanted me to tell you to call if I see you.”

“Of course, he does,” Roy huffed, teasing his fingers down my wrist and taking my hand in his.

I followed him to the kitchen and helped myself to a bowl of cereal, when he laid the box between us.

“Did you hear me?” Penny somberly asked, as she paused beside the dry eraser style calendar that appeared to have her monthly bills and appointments scribbled on it.

Roy patiently nodded. “Birdman wants something. He always does.”

“He’s never showed up at my doorstep to demand I involve myself in MC business. Not ever. Not even when I was his.”

Roy stiffened and met my gaze.

“He knows something is up,” I quietly predicted.

Roy shook his head and sucked his teeth, “No, he just doesn’t like wild cards. I let him think I was all fucked up about it, so he probably just wants to rope me back in. He isn’t happy unless everyone is under his thumb.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Penny sighed.

“I’m going to park the car in the shed. Then we’re going to shower and nap on something softer than lime rock. When I have my head on right, and can put on another performance, I’ll reach out to him.”

“Roy,” she urgently began, when he ran his thumb over the outside of mine and began to lead me onward.

“Mom.” He dropped his head, her name coming in a warning before he softened his tone and continued, “I need you to let me handle this.”

She remained at the entrance of her kitchen, watching on as he took me to a plain, but neatly organized, bedroom.

“This is yours?” I guessed.

He absently bobbed his head in confirmation, snatched some clothes out of a drawer and turned back around. I wasn’t expecting it, so we ended up nose to nose.

“Wh–?”

“Shower,” he mumbled, pointing behind me.

I tried to loosen my fingers from his, but he adjusted his hold on my hand, and led me along with him. Once we were alone with the bathroom door tightly shut behind us, and the shower drowning out any chance of our conversation being overheard, he relaxed.

“We can handle this. I just need time to figure out if Birdman has support beyond Kingston. Hopefully, the club treachery doesn’t extend beyond the pair of them,” he explained, while peeling off his shirt.

My heart hammered in my chest. What had been natural under the stars now felt a little more baring. Maybe it was the light, maybe it was the reality of everything crashing down around us?

Before I had time to figure it out, he took me in his arms and planted a kiss on the top of my head.