She didn’t kiss him back nor did she try to bite him. The last time she’d done that, it had ended badly for her, and she was a fast learner. She had no reason to do something that would cause her pain.
“You see, Robin, when the time comes, you’re going to always come to me because I’m never going to wear a condom with you, and you’re going to have my kid.”
****
Present day
“We don’t have to do anything,” Bishop said. “We can just hang out and get to know each other again.”
Robin stared at her husband and waited for the feeling of anticipation to wash over her. It didn’t happen. She was nervous and she didn’t know why. Whenever she was near Bishop, she had this weird sense to run, to get as far away from him as possible. It was crazy.
“Er, sure, it sounds like fun.” Bear had to go to an emergency meeting with the club and Bishop had arrived as her father was leaving.
Now, they were heading out to have some fun. Her cast had been removed, and the bones were healed. She still had some aches and pains, but the doctor had advised her to take it easy and explained she’d need to keep walking and using it. Only when the pain got too bad was she to give herself a break and ease up.
This was her easing up.
“I can’t ride on a bike.”
“I brought my car.”
“Ah, you did. Okay. Yes. Let’s go and have some dinner and dance. I like that.” She grabbed her cell phone and jacket, locking up the house and following him to his car.
He held open the passenger side and she climbed in. She’d buckled up her seatbelt as he started the car, leaving the safety of her father’s driveway.
You’re fine.
“How have you been?”
“Oh, you know, boring my dad. He’s taken me around town and I’ve had some memory recall or vague recollections. Nothing big. My foot has been the biggest improvement. I’m healing up nicely.”
“I imagine it was staying in the hospital for all that time. It helped.”
“Yeah, I bet.” She looked out of the window. “Was it always weird for us like this?”
He laughed. “There would have been a time you wouldn’t have pointed out the obvious.”
“I guess.”
“No, it wasn’t always like this. We’re, you know, different.” He reached out, touching her wrists. “Like this.”
When her bandage came off from her hand, she’d seen the tattoo encircling the second wrist.
“Yeah, it has been a whole big change.” What she tried not to do was show Bear, Preacher, or anyone else how scared she was. She’d flick through the photograph albums and try desperately to conjure up an image or a memory.
It was useless.
She was useless.
Nothing worked.
Even driving around town didn’t spark anything.
The only place she hadn’t gone to was the room she had at Preacher’s. Being around Preacher was even scarier. Where she felt awkward and nervous with Bishop, with Preacher, she felt this overwhelming attraction that hadn’t diminished. It sparked within her and refused to go away for even a moment. She would find herself staring at Preacher’s hands and imagining them on her body. What unnerved her was the way she could picture them on her stomach, holding her. Then of course there were his lips. She found herself aching for him to kiss her. To have those lips between her thighs, and she’d woken up many times wet, shaking, and filled with a hunger for him.
Again, whenever they were together, she never brought it up. The very thought of her cheating on her husband with his dad scared her. Was she the kind of girl who cheated? Was that why Bishop didn’t come around all that often? That deep down, he despised her and didn’t want to show it?
Was she overthinking everything once again? She seemed to do it a lot, and there was no reason to do so.
“We had comfortable silences. I’d spend a lot of time complaining about my dad. You’d listen, and we’d move on. It was kind of our thing to do, you know, moving on. Talking.”
“So we were really close?”
“We used to share a crib together, and I married you, so yeah, it’s easy to assume we were very close.”
“Only assume?”
“We were really close, Robin. I hope we can be again.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against the knuckles.
“I’d like that as well. I … I missed you.” The lie fell easily from her lips.
“I missed you too.”
“I’ve been looking at pictures of you and the two of us together. I find it a bit weird having my own ultrasound picture, but you know, I guess I must have had some narcissistic tendencies.”
“Ultrasound photo?”
“You know, of me in my mom’s stomach. Do they have another name?”
“No, it’s fine. Yes, it’s you. I guess your mom was going to throw it out.” Bishop let go of her hand and she watched as he gripped the steering wheel tighter.