“There’s no reason to. There’s nothing left to salvage. Garrett and I were never the closest of friends in the club.”
“And?” I said, diving into territory that I knew I probably shouldn’t be. “How many times have skirmishes broken out with the Bandits since that day? How many times have attacks happened when you weren’t there?”
“When I wasn’t there?” Mason said. “Once.”
“And how many overall? How many came when you or Garrett weren’t there?”
Mason’s silence at that point said it all. The Bandits weren’t stupid. They may not have known the exact nature of their fight, but they knew there was division in the club.
“How many members in the Black Reapers are there now?”
“Why do you care so much about the club?”
“I care because it’s the closest thing we have to family.”
For some reason, that seemed to trigger an unexpectedly strong response from Mason.
“They are not our fucking family,” he said. “You are my family. Our parents were our family. But right now, you and I are the only living family we have.”
“By birth, sure,” I said. “But does that mean we have to stop there? If you’re going to hound Garrett until he quits, that’s going to fuck my child over, Mason. Is that what you want?”
Mason bit his lip.
“You’re just afraid that Garrett and I will get so serious that I’ll choose to be with him forever.”
I hadn’t said the statement quite believing it to the fullest extent. But now that I had, and I could see the reaction in Mason’s eyes, I knew it was true.
“You’re afraid of that, aren’t you?”
“No, don’t be ridiculous.”
But while his words could lie, his face could not.
“I knew it,” I said. “You’re so scared about him and I becoming serious that you’ll do whatever it takes to push him away. You’re afraid that our family would grow. Maybe because you want our family to remain small. So it’s controllable.”
Mason pursed his lips and groaned, but he didn’t say anything yet.
“You don’t think Garrett would be a valuable part of this literal family?” I said. “Even though you’ve spent more time with him than you have me? Look past the party animal. Look past the facade of player. He’s a good guy who got hurt badly in his last relationship, and he’s been putting up a mask ever since. You think that somehow means that he’s going to be terrible?”
My brother still said nothing.Then I’ll keep speaking until you get it.
“You know, right after I found out I was pregnant, we went on a date to try and see if we could fall for each other. And to be frank, it didn’t go very well. We both had our guards up for different reasons. But the one thing that stuck with me that night was even after we both acknowledged it probably wouldn’t work, even as we both agreed to go separate ways romantically, he vowed to be a good father to my child. And those words made me feel for him, Mason.”
“Don’t,” he said.
“What? Don’t say I care for him? Because I do.”
Mason sighed and bowed his head.
“This isn’t just a case of a one-night stand that went horribly wrong. Sure, it’s not ideal, but we’ve gotten to know each other. I’d say I know him better than you do.”
I wanted to say, “and he knows me better than you,” but I feared such words would drive Mason away, and I’d be in the same place, just with a different guy close to me.
“You don’t have to like him, but as far as guys to hate? As far as guys whose ass you need to kick? Garrett is not one. Garrett will be a great father, and if you give us space, he might even make a great partner.”
“I just…I can’t, Hannah, please stop.”
But his words didn’t contain as much anger and vitriol as they had in the months prior. My only regret was that I hadn’t brought this to light sooner, this “revelation” that Garrett wasn’t just the father of my child, but a guy that I really had feelings for.
