Quincy doesn’t look annoyed. No, she’s enthralled.
“She’s not pretending,” Cowboy says it with a hint of surprise in his voice, clearly taking in the same sight I am.
I glance at my friend, my brother, and snarl, “Careful.”
He looks at me for a long moment, his eyebrows arching up toward his hairline. “Damn,” he shakes his head, “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“I’m probably going to fuck it up,” it comes out as a joke, but it’s not. Not at all.
It’s my biggest fear.
Because I am so damn sure she’s the only woman for me. If I fuck it up, if I chase her off, if I can’t manage to keep her—what then? What the fuck will I do then?
The thought of it makes it feel like a band is tightening around my chest. And tightening. And tightening.
“You might fuck it up,” Cowboy agrees. I glare at the man, but he holds his hands up in surrender. “She’s going to fuck it up too,” he starts and I see fucking red.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I growl out the question.
Wanting to beat the shit out of one of my brothers isn’t a feeling I’m used to at all. But right now, I’m seriously considering it.
But I don’t want to scare Rian. Or Quincy.
“You’re human and you’re in a relationship. It’s not going to be perfect all the time. You’ll both have to compromise about some things. It’s impossible to get it right all the time,” he explains.
I’m still on edge, but what he’s saying penetrates.
“No, that’s not what I mean,” my voice takes on an insistence I don’t particularly like hearing coming from me. “Other than the club, I never had a family. I’ve never been in a relationship. Not really.” My voice drops to an almost-whisper, “She already thinks I’m too young for her.”
“Are you with her because you want to bang a movie star?”
My lip curls and I bark, “I will kick your fucking ass, Cowboy.”
Henods once, one side of his mouth twitching. “I’ll take that as a no. As long as you make her the priority, listen to her, and give her everything of yourself you can, you’ll be fine.”
“You make it sound easy,” I grumble. I still kind of want to kick his ass.
Laughter coming from the bar area has both of us looking in that direction. My heart warms completely and I’m a fucking goner for my woman.
“It’s not easy,” Cowboy mumbles, “but it’s worth it.”
“I’m getting that completely,” I tell him with a sigh. “She’s mine.”
“Isn’t she just here for the tournament?” I glare at him and he sighs. “I’m not trying to rain on your parade or anything, but I think the question has to be asked.”
“I’m going to get her to stay,” I insist.
“How the fuck are you going to do that? She has a whole life in LA. Not just a job, but an entire career her life is wrapped up in,” he points out.
“If we need to commute now and then, I’m good with it. I’ll happily go to LA with my woman whenever she needs me to. But she’s looking for something more out of life. She hasn’t been happy in LA for a while. It’s one of the reasons she agreed to the tournament.” I explain, “It gave her a reason to get out of there and go somewhere new, even if only for a short time.”
“You’d go back to LA with her?” He sounds surprised, but I just shrug.
“Of course I will.” There’s no room for argument in my tone; none that I’ll entertain at least. “I’ll follow her anywhere with a smile on my face.”
“You think she’ll be able to handle this life?”
I nod toward where she’s chatting with Brielle. Nothing about her posture tells me she’s uncomfortable. Brielle looks at ease with her and Rian is looking at her like she’s a princess.
