"He walked out on his own after we were done," he explained. "All we did was have a little talk with him."
"Oh yeah?" I raised both my eyebrows in disbelief.
Friggin’Dex cracked a grin that seemed to crack my chest in half. "We might've told him he wouldn't be intact if we didn't get every single cent back he stole within a week but you know, that's all, babe."
Ahh. Owed money. A story every motorcycle club that I knew of—a whopping two—were familiar with. Well, at least they were giving him a week. "Will you promise me something?"
"Depends."
"If he doesn't pay you guys back, don't do anything to his family," I whispered.
The smile on his face transformed into a stony expression that made his jaw clench. Dex tilted his face downward, reminding me that our position was a terrible idea. Terrible because it made me want to close the distance between us. His forehead touched the edge of mine. "Baby, I won't let anythin' happen to you, you gotta know that." Warm breath wafted over my cheek. "Don't worry about it."
"I know." It was the truth. My bones knew it. "But not everyone has a Sonny or a Dex to keep them safe, Charlie."
He nodded slowly, his eyes understanding. "All right."
Good gracious. Calm, sweet Dex was like a tranquilizer straight to my neck. I shared a little smile with him and dropped my gaze back down to the counter, knowing there was nothing left to tell him. "I wanted to go to the Y before work. Were you planning on going to the bar or should I drive myself?"
I had no idea why I even bothered asking.
His answer was always the same: "I'll take you."
"Okay."
“Finish your food, and then we’ll get going. Yeah?” he asked me from somewhere several feet away.
“Sure.”
Maybe he was onboard with me and the not-bringing-shit-up game. That would work. It would also work if neither one of us spoke to each other, period, to avoid dipping into an awkward conversationthatI wasn't sure I was ready to have. Today or ever.
The sound of my cell phone ringing from the living room had me bolting. No one called me. Ever. Ever. I knew who it was.
I sprinted over the back of the coach like a track champion, reaching for my purse as if touching it would save the world. When the “unavailable” popped up on the screen, I shrieked and pressed the answer button with the strength of Hercules.
I panted. “Will?”
“Ris, it’s me,” my brother’s calm, baritone voice came over the receiver.
A weight I shouldered so often I forgot it was there, levitated off of me. It was one thing to know that my brother was off on the other side of the world in a decently safe area, but it was an altogether different experience to box those worries up and try not to deal with them. It made the worries stew beneath my skin, beneath my heart, under all of the fibers and the tissues that protected me.
“I was worried you were dead."
Will laughed in his own reserved way. “Sorry I haven’t called in so long, but you know how it is.”
I didn't though. Hearing the sound of his voice kind of made me a little bit mad since it'd been months from the last time I'd heard from him. Months! It wasn't like I emailed him daily, or asked for him to call me weekly, but the length of multiple months crossed the line—and it pissed me off.
“How you been? How’s work? Austin okay?” my little brother asked quickly.
My stomach churned in frustration. So he'd read my emails and just decided not to write me back?
I had to hold back the shuddering sigh that had built up in my chest at the realization and calmdown. "Pretty good. You got my emails I guess?”
Will paused before making a grumbling noise in his throat. “I read them before I called. I figured I’d get all caught up so we wouldn’t waste time."
Maybe I was just being too sensitive but his comment about wasting time scratched at me. Like writing me an email or talking to me for five minutes longer once every other month was a hassle. Like what Sonny was doing—taking time off from work and traveling around the country—wasn't a waste in its own way. I bit back the smartass comment that floated into my vocal chords and tried to appreciate the fact that I had him on the phone finally.
“Are you still staying with Sonny?”
