Motown
Drifter is sitting on the small leather couch along the far wall, while Hawk leans back on his desk with his ass on the edge and his arms crossed over his chest.Hawk led me back to his office and hasn’t said a word since, letting me pace from one end of the room to the other.Drifter crosses one leg over the other, leaning back to get comfortable.
“This is going to take a while,” Drifter says to Hawk.
“Give him time,” Hawk replies.
I look from one to the other.“I saw Bronson this morning.”
Hawk’s eyes narrow, turning dark.“Is he causing problems?”
“Yeah.But not the ones you’re thinking.”I rake my fingers through my hair.
Drifter sits up, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.“What’s that mean, brother?”
“He was in Tessa’s shop, bringing her roses,” I grind out.Hawk and Drifter look at each other, silently asking if either of them knows who Tessa is.
“You’re going to have to give us more than that,” Hawk urges.“Who’s Tessa?”
“She’s…” I sigh.“She’s… Fuck I don’t know!”
“Man, we want to understand, but you’re not making a whole hell of a lot of sense,” Drifter cuts in, coming to his feet and moving next to Hawk.
“I met her a couple of months ago.We had one night.I left and told myself I was done.”
“But it’s not done, is it?”Hawk asks.
“I’ve been watching her.Every morning, I wait for her to go into her shop, you know, to make sure she’s okay.It’s like she knows I’m there, because she looks around like she’s waiting for me.”
“Go on,” Hawk says.
“Today, I was about to leave, like I usually do, when Bronson showed up with flowers.I don’t know what the fuck came over me.Tessa has a right to see whoever she wants.I’ve got no claim on her.Shit, the night we were together, I left her sleeping in her bed and walked out the door.We were done.We’re supposed to be done,” I rant.
“Obviously, you’re not done,” Drifter states with a smirk.
“What did you do?”Hawk asks.
“I busted through the door, told Tessa I was picking her up at eight tonight, kissed her, and left,” I say, dropping into the chair in front of Hawk and Drifter.
“What did Tessa say?”Drifter asks.
I throw my hands up.“I didn’t give her a chance to say a damn thing.I made sure Bronson was gone, and I took off.”
“Let me get this straight,” Hawk begins.“You met a woman.You like her, and you ended up liking her enough to sleep with her, then left her in bed and disappeared for two months.Then, because you saw Bronson sniffing around, you lost your shit and claimed her as your own?”
“I didn’t claim her.”
“Yeah, you fucking did,” Hawk insists.“You did it in front of Bronson, which makes things more complicated because he’s going to have eyes on Tessa and will be waiting for his shot at her.He’ll do it to fuck with you and because he hates our club.Bronson will want to bag Tessa just to prove that he can.”
Drifter gets up and takes a step and, in a serious tone, asks, “Do you like this woman?I mean, seriously.”
“Yeah.I do.A lot,” I confess, putting my head in my hands.
“Then what’s the problem, brother?”Drifter says.
“You know my past.I’m not good enough for a woman like her.”
“That’s bullshit!”Hawk swears loudly.“You’re one of the best men I know, for fuck’s sake.”
