So much for therapy.
“No, the lorry jackknifed, and he smashed right into it.” He gives me a probing look as though I didn’t manage to hide my loathing of his uncle as well as I thought.So, what?It doesn’t matter if he guesses I detested Viper. Ty and I aren’t together, the Bastards are no longer a part of my life, and this time next week I’ll be back in Florida.
“I’m sorry you miss him.” That’s true enough. I could never understand the bond between them, when Ty was everything Viper could never be, but I guess blood runs deep. Ty was always destined to join the Bastards, and the chains of the brotherhood are everything.
He doesn’t respond right away, and it’s obvious my choice of words is unexpected. I tuck my legs under me and hug a cushion because no matter how much I’d rather wrap my arms around him and lay my head on his chest the way I used to after we’d had sex, those days have gone.
Instead of playing by the rules he laid down, that tonight is all about the sex and nothing else, he hooks his arm along the back of the couch and winds a length of my hair around his finger.
“You don’t sound sorry he’s gone.” There’s no accusation, but the question’s there all the same. I could easily shrug it off, change the subject. Hell, I could probably just climb all over him again and he’d forget he even told me about Viper.
I would’ve done that once. I never used to let Ty know how much the contempt from his mom or the slights from others in the brotherhood used to hurt me. I ignored it, or laughed it off, and truth is I don’t think he ever realized how low my status was when it came to his family.
Ten years is a long time. I’ve secrets I’ll never tell, but I’m done running away from the truth just to ease Ty’s conscience.
Get a grip, Jas.He doesn’t care about my wounded feelings anymore. He’s just making conversation.
“I’m not sorry.” I sound like I don’t care. Good. “I never liked him. He gave me the creeps.”
The shock on Ty’s face would be priceless if not for the lowlife we’re talking about.
“You—” He cuts himself off as though unsure what to say. “I didn’t know that. You never told me.”
I shrug like it’s no big deal. “Why would I? I didn’t tell you everything.”
“You should’ve said something. I would’ve told him to back off.”
I know he would. But I kept it to myself, not wanting to create a rift between him and his family, and I was always careful not to criticize anything connected to the MC. Walking on eggshells was an understatement. Would things have turned out differently if I hadn’t been such a timid little mouse?
Somehow, I don’t think so. Viper turned up that evening to put me in my place, to remind me that when it came to the hierarchy of the Viking Bastards I was nothing but shit on their collective boot.
“It doesn’t matter. I moved on. Do you want coffee?”
For a second he simply stares at me as though my abrupt shift in topic doesn’t make sense. I guess it doesn’t, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend the short time we have together going over things that can’t be changed.
It’s a small personal victory to let Ty know his uncle wasn’t the universal god he’s always imagined, but I won’t let Viper poison the present the way he did my past.
“Sure,” he says at last, releasing my hair. “I don’t plan on sleeping tonight.”
…
Ty
Cramped muscles wake me, and I stretch, oddly uncomfortable although I can’t figure out why. A soft, warm body, curved against my chest and groin, pulls me fully awake, and last night floods through my brain.
Jas.
I ease my arm around her waist. There’s hardly enough room to turn over in her single bed, but it seemed like a good idea to end up here in the early hours of the morning. Didn’t mean to stay all night.
Yeah, right.
She sighs, and her ass cradles my erection. An early morning screw is exactly what I need, except I don’t have any more condoms.
Unlike earlier, when we fell into bed and the darkness surrounded us, light streams in through the window, and I brace my weight on my elbow and drink in her profile.
Her hair’s tangled and hides half of her face, but I can’t drag my gaze away. It’s not often I spend all night with a chick, and if I do the only thing I want when I wake up is a repeat performance of the night before. That I’m out of rubbers is no problem. Jas always gave great hand jobs.
I still don’t wake her, though. It’s enough just looking at her, having her naked in my arms. A strange kind of peace sinks through me, an elusive familiarity I’d all but forgotten. It’s Saturday, and I should be working, but who’s going to call me out on it if I don’t go in?
