“Okay.”
“Hell of a fire,” he comments as the flames dance in front of our faces.
“Yeah, it really is. I’m glad it’s gone. I’m gladhe’sgone.”
“Me too. For what it’s worth, I think you’re doin’ a good job. I gotta imagine there’s a lot goin’ on for you, but being there for her is just as important,” he scolds me softly.
I wish I didn’t need the kick in the ass, but I do. I’ve gotta get over all this bullshit and hateful rhetoric I have in my head.
“I know.”
“You’re a fuckin’ brick wall, man,” he says with a laugh.
“I’m workin’ on it,” I promise, and I mean it.
I’m tired of keeping secrets and telling half-truths. I know I’ll have to be completely honest with Lily. If she wants to bond with me, I won’t have a choice in the matter, anyway.
I pull a beer from the cooler and hand it over to him. The top fizzes slightly when he opens it, and he quickly downs a quarter of it.
We spend a few moments just sitting in silence and looking at the fire. Maybe being in a pack with this asshole won’t be as bad as I thought.
That thought quickly leaves me as soon as Lily walks around the fire and Axel starts acting like a complete asshole.
“Got a spot for you right here,” Axel calls out, tapping his thigh.
“I thought you said you weren’t here to crash my date,” I glare over at him.
“That’s right, totally forgot,” he jokes as he stands up, kissing Lily on the side of her head before going off on his merry-fuckin’-way.
That Beta is going to drive me fuckin’ crazy. But I can’t deny he’s as annoying as he is loyal.
“You sure you wanna stay married to him?” I ask Lily as she takes his seat.
“Very sure. Maybe we should take his last name as our pack name?” she taunts with a smirk.
I narrow my eyes at her, and she just starts laughing her ass off.
“You should see your face.”
“I think we should come up with our own pack name,” I tell her honestly.
I don’t think any of us have true ties to the family names we carry. I certainly don’t like the idea of carrying on my father’s; Axel never talks about his family and neither does Cash. The idea of starting fresh, just like the club soothes something inside of me.
“I’d like that. We need to come up with something strong,” she muses, thinking out loud.
“Stone,” I throw out, looking over at her, and she scrunches her nose. “Valor?” I try, and she tilts her head.
“I like it. We’ll have to talk to Axel and Cash about it. You came up with that pretty quick.”
“I guess it’s all the road name shit.”
“How’d you get your road name? I mean, Cash is great with finances and Axel works on bikes, so those made sense. I always wondered about yours.”
Fuck. Awesome, what a great way to start this date.
I take a sip of my beer, realizing I didn’t offer her the drink I brought her. I pull out this overly feminine-looking pink glass bottle, taking the lid off, and handing it to her. She takes a sip and makes a noise of delight that goes straight to my dick.
Giving her food or drink provides me an amount of pleasure I didn’t expect, and I make a note to do it as often as possible.
