“I should’ve never sent you up to King. I should have dragged you away right then and there and made you mine that night before King had his way with you.”
“King has never had his way with me,” I slurred. “His way or the highway, maybe.”
“No shit? Well that changes everything, baby,” Bear said. His smile reached all the way to his eyes which were shockingly bright and beautiful. I was pretty sure his beard hid even more of his good looks, and a very drunk part of me wanted to pull on it to see if it would come off.
“It changes nothing, Bear. I’m still leaving. He’s still with the brunette girl with the…” I cupped my hands in front of my chest. Bear laughed out loud, revealing a perfectly straight line of pearly white teeth.
“It changes everything, actually. Our bro code only goes so far. Seeing as how he’s not claimed you as his, as stupid as that is, my offer is still good. What’s fair is fair,” Bear said, again taking the bottle from my hands.
I looked over at him and half-expected to find him laughing at his own joke, but his lips were in a straight line.
He was dead serious.
He also wasn’t bad to look at. That night was the first time I’d seen his blonde hair pulled into a high bun on the back of his head.
“Listen,” Bear said. “King’s been my friend almost my entire life, but he knows the rules I live by. In my world, you’re fair game, and I would love to put you on your back in my bed.”
“You’re just saying that. The truth is that you’re not gonna want me when you find out that I don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to—” I darted my eyes to the bulge in his jeans. “—that.”
“Fuck,” Bear swore, biting his bottom lip. “Darlin’, I believe I want you even more now.”
“You’ve got freckles under your eyes,” I said, leaning toward him. He grabbed onto my shoulders before I fell forward.
“Yeah, kid. So I’ve been told.” He laughed. He also had a dimple on his left cheek, which was on it’s own a ridiculous contradiction when it came to the big biker man sitting next to me.
“Why did you send me to him?” I asked. “I would’ve gone with you. You’re nice. I needed a place to stay, and you’ve got freckles under your eyes, and I would’ve been a good biker whore for you.”
Bear’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh yeah?” he asked, a crooked smirk on his face. “I don’t really see you as the biker whore type. But I can definitely see you on the back of my bike.”
“But you said I don’t belong here. That I shouldn’t hang out with you. Or any of those—” I waved the bottle around behind me, missing Bear’s jaw by only an inch or two. “—people up there in the stupid house. Stupid people in the stupid house on stupid stilts.” My shoulders slumped. “Bear, my heart was just getting warm. Now, it’s all cold again.”
Bear grabbed the bottle from my hand and set it down on the dock.
“I said you didn’t belong here. I said you were too good to hang out with me. I didn’t say that I wouldn’t hang out with you. You may be too good for me, but I’m the kind of guy who can live with that.” Bear placed a hand against my cheek. I could see why they called him Bear. He was strong and warm and his hands were so big they reminded me of giant paws. I closed my eyes and swayed into him. He leaned in close, his lips only a breath away from mine.
“Will you come with me, baby girl? I don’t know if I can warm your heart, but I sure as shit can warm your body. I know for a fact that you can warm my bed. Then, maybe, we’ll work on that cold heart of yours. We’ll take it one day at a time.” He assured me.
Bear sounded sincere, and what he was offering was exactly what I was looking for weeks earlier.
It seemed like a lifetime ago.
A lifetime ago when King wasn’t in my life.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.
I couldn’t stay with King anymore; that much I was certain of. And all the liquid courage in the world wouldn’t be enough for me to convince myself that I could survive out on the streets again, scrounging for food and shelter.
Bear’s offer was all I had, but I couldn’t bring myself to say yes. Saying yes meant closing the door on King altogether. Was that something I was ready to do? I looked back up at the house. The light was now off in King’s studio.
I may not have been ready to close that door, but just as I’d thought he’d opened it, he’d slammed it in my face.
It was time for me to do the same.
“I guess I’m going to have to do a little more to convince you.” Bear wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his big warm body. Right before his lips touched mine, I felt it.
Or rather, I felt him.
“Get the fuck away from her, Bear,” King seethed. A clicking sound grabbed my attention, and I whipped my head around to where King stood behind us on the dock, his gun cocked and aimed at Bear.
“Done already?” I asked, all too aware of Bear’s arms still wrapped around my waist. I made no move to push him away. “She must be disappointed that the almighty Brantley King, The King of the stupid Causeway, couldn’t last longer.”
Bear chuckled.
I’ve spent so much time trying not to make King angry, and it’s never worked. I was tired of walking on eggshells around him. I wanted to make him angry. I wanted to fight with him more than I wanted anything. I wanted to scream.
I wanted to claw his fucking eyes out.
I wanted to hurt him the way he hurt me.
“Get the fuck away from her, Bear,” King repeated.
“We’re just talking man,” Bear said, no sign of fear in his voice. If anything, he was amused.
“Looks like you’re doing more than that. Get you’re fucking hands off her, and go fucking talk to someone else,” King warned. “She’s. Mine.”
“Oh yeah? Well, you may want to tell her that because you ain’t got her thinking the same thing.”
“The only reason you don’t have a bullet in your fucking skull is because we’ve got history. But in two fucking seconds, if you don’t get your dirty fucking hands off my girl, I will say fuck-all to our history and blow your mother fucking head off,” King said angrily through gritted teeth.
“Ain’t gotta get your pretty panties all up in a twist, brother.” Bear got up and brushed off his jeans. “Sorry darlin’. Maybe, some other time.” He winked at me and whispered, “Offer still stands. You need me, you come find me.”
I could feel the anger radiating off King when Bear walked past him, nudging his shoulder. “You might want to put your claim on that before the boys get wind that you haven’t,” Bear told him. “She’s fair game to the bikers in these parts, including me, so you best do it and do it soon. That is, if she still wants your dumb ass.”
Bear was one brave soul to talk to King while the look on his face screamed nothing but murderous rage. I half-expected King to go ape shit and make good on his promise to shoot Bear but the second he’d disappeared into the shadows, King stepped onto the dock.
“I hate the way you make me feel. Well, most of the time,” I spat. I was tired of dancing around the truth. “I hate the confusion you bring into my already confused life. I need this back and forth shit to end.” I took a deep breath. “I can’t take it anymore. You like me. You hate me. You like me. You want to kill me. You want to fuck me. You want me to stay. You want me to live. My head is fucking spinning over here.”
My buzz faded faster than the setting sun.
“You should leave. I don’t want you here,” I added.
“I know. I don’t care,” King said.
“Oh, I’m fully aware that you don’t care. That I know.”
“You don’t know shit, Pup,” King barked.
“Oh yeah? So you didn’t just spend the entire night at the carnival all over me, saying sweet shit to me, making me feel like this stupid thing between us is something more than just a stupid thing, only to whip out your dick with someone else the very first chance you got? Go back to the fucking house, King. Go back to that girl. I hope she’s everything you wanted.”