“Do you think this will be the end of it?”
“No,” Bear says as he pulls back onto the right side of the road and takes off. “This was their only warning. And I’m gonna take this to the club. We might end up paying your foster dad a little visit.”
***
We pull back onto club property, and I’m acutely aware of how visible the building is, how many eyes pass over it without really seeing.
Inside, Rick barrels towards us the second he spots me, relief and anger warring openly on his face. “You good?”
“Yes,” I answer, and this time there’s no hesitation. “We’re good.”
He looks at Bear, searching for confirmation. Bear gives a single nod. “For now.”
Rick exhales hard, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I hate this.”
Something inside me snaps. I open the door and slip out before my brother or Bear can stop me. As I walk, they come up on either side, flanking me. I walk down the sidewalk and around the building to the back patio. When I find out no one is there, I start pacing. If someone asked me what I was doing, I wouldn’t be able to say. I have all this nervous energy churning inside me that I can’t seem to get out. I feel like I could run circles around the building.
Bear says, “Go get Patch. She’s having a panic attack. It all my fuckin’ fault.”
My brother takes off running and Bear comes over and pulls me into his arms. The next thing I know, I’m sitting on his lap with my head tucked under his chin as he rubs my back and whispers soothing things in my ear.
I don’t know how long I sit there, but it’s long enough to decide there’s no place in the entire world I’d rather be than in Bear’s arms. I bury my face in his chest and breathe in the masculine scent of his body mixed with the leather from his cut.
My brother shows up with their club doctor in tow. He takes my vitals and asks, “This happened before?”
I turn my head enough to look into the man’s face. “I’m like this sometimes after a long, hard, stressful day. I never told anyone or went to see a doctor.”
“Well, I’m gonna send your old man some information on techniques you can use when you feel a panic attack building.”
“Oh, we’re not together,” I say quickly, feeling embarrassed.
”You’re practically crawling on his lap,” Rick mutters coming over to see what all the fuss was about.
I tune out when they start squabbling like teenagers again.
Suddenly, a pretty blonde, not much older than myself, offers me a bottled water and sits beside me. “You’re Natalie, right?” she says, holding out her hand for me to shake. Something about the kind smile resonates with me. I shake her hand and say, “Yes. I’m Rick’s sister.”
“I’m Beth, Patch’s old lady,” she tells me as she opens her water.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
She rolls her eyes as Patch drags Rick and Bear further away because they are getting louder. “So, are you Bear’s old lady or not?” she asks, waggling her eyebrows.
She seems friendly enough, unlike some of the club girls, so I reply honestly. “I’d like to move in that direction, but Bear’s got it into his head that I’m too young, and that he can’t date his friend’s sister.”
She snorts a laugh. “Patch said I was too young as well. All you have to do is hang around being your amazing self. It’s obvious he cares about you.”
“I wish it were that easy. Bear is the most stubborn man on the planet.”
When the two of them get into another scuffle, she asks, “It looks like they’re going to be at a while. Do you want to come inside and have a drink with me?”
That’s when I decide to take myself out of the pressure cooker and have some girl time. The minute we sit down at the bar, she says, “Your brother is the problem. Don’t get me wrong, we love Rick, but he can’t seem to keep himself straight to save his ever-loving life.” Then she launches into some long, drawn-out story about how my brother kept flirting with her while she was wearing Patch’s cut until he literally broke Rick’s nose by accident when he punched him in the face.
About that time, Rick comes strolling in with a black eye and bloody tissues hanging out of his nose.
I jump up and run to him. “Oh my God, did Bear do that to you?”
He turns to Beth and points at her as he talks. “If your old man doesn’t stop fucking punching me in the nose, I’m gonna stop talking to him entirely. He’s supposed to be our fucking club doctor, not breaking us.”
