Stay or go?
I stared up at him—his thick beard, those brown eyes, his furrowed brow. He was handsome, but he never used it as a weapon. It wasn’t a mask he hid behind. What I saw was what I got.
He noticed you, whispered the voice in my head.
It was then when it struck me. Rather than shout across the distance which separated us, Benson saw me and sought me out. Rather than demand my presence, he reminded me of who he was and offered me a choice.
A choice, I realized, I already made. Not that afternoon or even in the wee hours of the morning. I made my choice days ago. Maybe even weeks ago.
Stay or go?
Shit.
Shit. Fuck.
I was doing this.
Wewere doing this.
“When they ask, should I say it was your big dick?” I muttered with a straight face.
He laughed then moved to wrap his arm around my shoulders, pulling me against his side. “You ain’t lyin’.” As he began to lead me toward the crowd, he asked, “You hungry?”
Thinking a plate full of food would offer a great distraction, I nodded and followed his lead. Instinctively, I avoided eye contact with just about everyone. When we approached the grill station, I noticed Wrangler and Dog were overseeing the cooking. Alexia stood by her man, holding a platter he filled with chicken and corn on the cob.
When she glanced our way, she did a double take, then offered me a smile and a warm, “Hey.”
“Hi,” I replied politely.
Not surprisingly, our quick exchange drew Wrangler’s attention. He, too, did a double take. Rather than speak his greeting, he smirked and dipped his chin, watching us as we continued on our way.
The main doors to the clubhouse were propped open, the food station spread out across the bar on the right side of the room. Winnie was inside, directing those with helping hands tofinish set-up. We hadn’t taken two steps into the building when I saw Lyla as she came from the opposite side of the main room, her hands holding a large box full of plastic silverware.
I jerked to a stop. Not two minutes ago, I was ready to turn on my heel and go. Now, even underneath Twister’s arm, the temptation was back. I didn’t like drama—a trait she and I didnotshare.
“Hey. Look at me,” demanded Twister, tightening his hold around my shoulders.
I obeyed automatically and found him peering down at me with a raised brow.
“Not your problem. It’s been handled. She knows if she so much as breathes your name, there’s not a brother in this state who will touch her.”
I let this news sink in then shifted my gaze across the room. Lyla was looking right at us. For a second, I thought she might have appeared sad—but the expression was there and gone again in an instant, replaced by a mask of bitterness. When she noticed me staring, she huffed out a breath, turned her back on us, and headed for the opposite side of the room.
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the moment. The threat hanging over her head. The fact that it was made on my behalf. The reality of Ben’s promise playing out in front of me.
I didn’t have time to process it all before Winnie was headed our way.
“You came!” she greeted with a smile. “Thanks for being here. Grab a plate and come join us outside. I’m going to let everyone know there’s food ready.”
As she passed by us, she gave my arm an affectionate squeeze, and I freed a sigh I didn’t know I was holding.
Twister was right. Even under his arm, I wasn’t on parade. His brothers were taking my presence in stride—and something told me that said as much about him as it did about me. He hada title and a reputation which granted him power and respect, as did I. People didn’t give me shit when I was behind the bar. I suppose it made sense that wouldn’t change just because I was tucked against Twister’s side.
But more than that, in spite of all they didn’t know about me and all the ways I tried to keep them at arm’s length, I could no longer deny these people didn’t merely make my home a real place by simply existing. These peoplewerehome.
I belonged here.
It was a dangerous if not devastating reality.
