“Hey, Dom. Your brother going on this run?” Uncle Bull asks.
“Nah, he had some shit to do,” I respond. I haven’t spoken to Thomas. He told Mom he wasn’t going. He’s spent the last week at the house or crashing at Hawk’s. When I get back, my brother and I are going to have to have a talk—and not just about Gabby. I just hope he gives me the time of day.
“We’ll miss him. Get your shit sorted, and then you two meet us out at the garage. We leave in ten.”
“Okay, Dad.”
Uncle Bull walks off, and when I look over at Breaker, he’s giving me a big fucking smirk. He knows he has me. I flip him off. “Call your mommy, you son of a bitch,” I mutter, turning to walk away. His damn laughter follows me out. I’m going to have to find a way to get even with him…
Chapter 9
Dom
“I thought I’d find you out here, little brother,” I mutter as I walk to the picnic table that overlooks the Wolf Creek dam. This place is kind of a walking park that comes complete with a hot dog stand. Dad and Mom would take us here sometimes for our “family” Wednesdays.
For as long as I can remember, Dad and Mom marked off Wednesdays for family time. It was them, me, Thomas, and Kayden. Sometimes we would road trip, and other times we would just stay at home. It was just a tradition, and we all loved it—especially Dad. He used to say Mom taught him how to be normal. It makes us all laugh because Dragon ‘Detroit’ West will never be normal. For me, my favorite times were after Thomas and I got our bikes. We would all head out on them—Kayden usually on the back of mine or my brother’s and Mom riding with Dad.
“I like this place. We have g-g-good memories here.”
I nod because he’s not wrong.
“We do. We have a good family. We’re lucky sons of bitches,” I mutter, handing him one of the two beers I grabbed out of my saddlebag when I got here. He takes it, still looking out over the water and not at me. I figure that’s okay. He’s still working through shit in his head. Hell, I am, too. For now, I’m just glad he didn’t leave as soon as I got here.
I twist the top off my bottle while he does the same. I take a sip, working up my courage. If you had asked me a month ago, I would have said I’m not afraid of much in this world. Staring at my brother, worrying if I’m going to be able to fix this between us has me sweating bullets.
“I didn’t mean for shit to go down like this, Thomas. I need you to believe me.”
“Y-you knew I w-wanted her. Y-you even t-told me you w-weren’t g-going after h-her.”
“Yeah,” I admit, rubbing the back of my neck. “I didn’t plan on it. I swear I didn’t. I tried to resist. It’s just we were always around each other, and it just kind of happened.”
“Your dick just f-fell into her.”
“Damn it, Thomas. Just because you wanted her didn’t mean she felt the same.”
“She w-wanted m-me.”
“Jazz told Kayden you kissed Gabby. She shouldn’t have let that happen, but—”
“We more than k-kissed. L-looks like I’m n-not the only one she l-l-lied to.”
“Thomas—”
“I w-w-would h-have stepped away f-for you. If y-you had told m-me how you f-felt, I would have accept-ted it.”
“You probably would have. I should have, I suppose. The truth is, I just… Fuck, Thomas, I loved her. She told me that you knew she didn’t have feelings for you and I just…”
“You t-tell me this. G-Gabby says s-something completely different. Y-you’ve both b-been lying to m-me. Who d-do I b-believe, Dom?”
“What did she tell you?” I ask, my heart stopping midbeat. Thomas wouldn’t lie. How much has Gabby been playing me for a fool? How deep does it go?
“D-Doesn’t m-matter. Y-you lied. G-Gabby lied. There’s n-no w-way to g-go back.”
“I promise you, brother. I thought—”
“G-gotta go,” he says, not looking at me. He slides off the top of the picnic table and stands. He begins to walk away, and maybe I should let him, but I just don’t want to end it like this.
“Thomas, man…” I reach out and grab his shoulder. He instantly jerks away from me.
He turns to look at me, and there’s pain in his eyes, but it’s more than that. There’s a look in his eyes that just seems… lost and broken.
The fact that I helped put that look there kills me. Fuck, I’m the main reason it’s there. I betrayed him. I may have thought Gabby let him down easy, but motherfucker, I knew me having anything to do with Gabby would hurt him…