Pixie wouldn’t budge. “Are you ashamed of her?”
“Hell, no. What the fuck is your problem?”
“I’m trying to figure out why you don’t ask Teri out on a date, or tell her straight that you want her to belong to you, and to have lots of sex, and lots and lots and lots of babies. Or is it the other way around? A couple of kids, and a lifetime of sex.”
“You’re not going to leave me alone.”
“You can punch me, but then you’re going to have to admit you’ve got a serious anger problem. Speaking of anger problems, don’t you think Adonis should really think about his?”
“I’m not getting into this with you. None of us know what Adonis has been through.”
“Fine. Fine. The guy is a ticking time bomb. Everyone will be wishing they dealt with that sooner rather than later.”
“For fuck’s sake, Pixie, I don’t have all day.”
“While you’re not fucking Teri, you’ve got a lot of time.”
His hands clenched into fists at his sides. He was ready to pummel this bastard. He was done playing nice.
“Look, Teri isn’t the kind of woman to deal in vague responses or crap like that. She’s a woman who likes to be told exactly what the fuck is going on. It’s why I respect her. Tell her how you feel. Let her know what you want. Believe me, if you do, you’ll be having all kinds of crazy sex.”
“Why should I take advice from you?” Damon asked.
“Oh, please, I’m the living proof of a happily-ever-after. Just look at this hunk of goodness. I’m a daddy, Damon, and I don’t mean the kinky kind either.” With that, Pixie got to his feet and walked up the steps, leaving him alone.
He wanted to go shower, to clean the perspiration from his body, but now his thoughts were completely dominated by Teri.
It wasn’t that simple, not with Teri. She had a whole load of baggage right now.
Damon wasn’t after a quick fuck.
“Pixie’s right,” Dane said.
Damon got to his feet and spun around to see Dane at the top of the steps. “Are you listening to conversations now?”
“Not listening, but … I was busy when I heard what Pixie was saying. You’re in love with Teri?”
“That is none of your business.”
“I get it. I know I’ve got to earn back all of your guys’ trust. I’m going to do it.”
Damon stared at the large man. Since he came back, Dane was different, there was no denying that. Whatever he’d done while he was away, it had changed him.
The Dane from before had been the kind of man who went out chasing what he could find. He was a selfish bastard. It had always shocked him how the man ended up married with a couple of kids. The only person Dane had cared about was himself. That kind of man who didn’t deserve a good woman or kids.
“What you need to do is to stay away from Teri. She doesn’t need whatever kind of crap you get into.”
“I’m not here to hurt Teri, the club, Lucy, or my kids. I’m here to make up for all the stupid shit I did. You’re good for Teri. She deserves a man who won’t walk away, who won’t use her. I did wrong by her, and that’s on me.”
“What about your wife?”
“I’ve got a whole lot to make up for with Lucy, but I’m doing it, one day at a time.”
“What happened to you, Dane? What the fuck has turned you into this?” Damon asked.
Dane smiled. “Life did.” He turned on his heel and left.
That was no answer at all, but Damon figured he wasn’t going to get the real reason out of the brother.
Shaking his head, he made his way upstairs, going toward the shower.
Asking Teri seemed so simple, but Damon didn’t want to risk rejection. Could it really be that easy?
****
Teri wrinkled her nose at the list of ingredients in the baby food. Cole needed to start being weaned onto actual baby food, not breast milk, but some of the stuff sounded disgusting.
Anna had put down a few suggestions on the shopping list, and Teri didn’t want to pick up any of them.
The cart was full of good vegetables and some canned foods. Teri hated ready meals and buying baby food seemed very much like a ready meal.
“You’re looking really confused.”
Teri turned to see Lucy at her side. She had a trolley herself and wore a smile on her lips.
“Oh, hi, Lucy,” she said.
“Is there something going on?” Lucy asked. “No one told me you had a baby.”
Teri put a hand to her stomach with a frown. “No. No. I’m not pregnant, and I haven’t had a baby. My roommate, Anna. She has a baby, Cole.” She held out the list. “It’s his time to start weaning, but there are ingredients here that make no sense. I can’t even pronounce them. I don’t want to get him just anything, you know.”