Like right now.
The woman Hound loved who he waited twenty years to have wasat home with the kid they made and where was Hound?
Right there.
“No,” Jagger answered his question.
“Boy,” Hound said with disapproval.
“I’ll get a run in tomorrow morning and a stretch in after,”Jagger promised.
Hound nodded.
“And this girl?”he prompted.
Jag shook his head.“I can’t go there unless I know I’mgonnago there.”
“Yeah, that’s why she’s pissed.”
Jagger blinked.“Say what?”
“Because you’re fuckin’ around and you either need to stopfuckin’ around or cut her loose.”
Jag said nothing.
Hound did.
“And justsayin’, son, she doesn’twannabe loose.I don’t know what’shappenin’ with you two, but no woman gets pissed at a manshe wants loose from.She gets pissed at a man she’s tight with, or wants to betight with, or wants to betighterwith.You got years under your beltwith this one and only asked her name today, however the fuck that works, onething I know, however it works, it means you’rejackin’around.She needs you to stop jacking around, Jagger.She needs you all in orto get the fuck out.That’s your decision.That’s why I’msittin’here across the bar with you.To figure that out.Are you all in, or are youtapping out?”
Annnnnnnnd…
Thiswas why Hound was right there, and not Dutch.
Because Dutch was a together dude.Smart.Wiser than hisyears.
But he might not get there, to what Hound just said.
And if he did, if Dutch laid it out like that, it’d getunder Jag’s skin and Jag wouldn’t get where he needed to go.
Because Hound was right.
That was why they were both there.
“I want in,” he said quietly.
“What’s holding you back?”Hound asked, but before Jaggercould answer, Hound went on, “And don’t give me more of that imposter shit.She’s the one, right?”
Fuckingfuck.
It wasn’t like Hound ever delayed cutting to the chase.
But Jesus.
“Hound—”
“You knew that when you were visiting with your dad and sawher across the way.And it wasn’t about your dadbein’dead and her mombein’ the same.You just knew.”
That was crazy.
