I issued him the bird. “Don’t fuck with my woman.”
Boxer elbowed me. “I’d never touch a brother’s woman.”
Track and Boxer burst out laughing. Damn, it was good being with my brothers again. Track headed to where Ire was training.
When there weren’t any threats to our livelihood or family, my brothers and I lived uneventful lives. Well, if you can call partying, screwing around on our hogs and fucking kittens uneventful. We had it damn good here in Minnesota.
Boxer cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders. “So whatcha doing here and not with Roja?”
I twisted my lips. “She’s a responsible woman who takes her job seriously.” I raised my hands.
“Bummer. Someone who doesn’t play hooky, aye? She sounds too good for you.” The asshole snorted, then fake punched me in the gut.
“Fuck, if that ain’t the honest truth.” I jerked my chin toward Ire. “How’s he doing?”
Boxer put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “All he does is work, sleep, train. He doesn’t hang in the bar anymore. Libby told me he only lets Rhonda into his room twice a week. The brother’s not doing so hot.”
“Sounds like it.” Jesus, from the outside, Ire appeared normal. But it was easy to tell when one of us was off when we stopped doing our normal activities.
“How’s he in the cage?”
“Distracted. I’m worried he’s going to get the crap beat out of him on Black Friday.”
I watched Ire and Track talking, or more like Track talking to Ire. I understood my brother’s pain. When you fail to protect someone—in his case, the young server who was raped—guilt ate at you from the inside out. It didn’t give you a chance to breathe or get your head straight. No matter how many people tried to tell you it wasn’t your fault or whatever shit they said, you were utterly destroyed over the suffering the victim experienced. To ease our burdens, we found a numbing agent. Mine used to be drugs. Ire’s was the cage.
The longer I watched him, the more I saw the man I used to be. The man I was no longer. The man that I had transformed away from.
Sadness didn’t ravage me from the inside out anymore. I’d never stop missing Monica and my son. After seven years of hating myself for my stupid mistakes, I learned to deal with my failures in a healthier way.
But once an addict, always an addict. When your demons come out to play, you’ll crave the high. Need it like your life depends on it.
No! Not anymore. I’ve changed.
Finally, my dark, arid life had new meaning and purpose, thanks to a crimson haired, magical mermaid who brightened my anguished soul. I was happy. Wanted to live more than anything else… with Roja by my side.
The flicker of heaviness in my chest faded, my mind focusing on the good instead of the sad. A stirring in my lower region had me shifting from one foot to the other. Just like that, I’d moved past the angst when I thought of Roja. I couldn’t wait to get my girl and take her home, then fuck her until we both passed out.
22
Tara
I WAS SURE we wouldn’t last long. The second he saw me at school, he’d mouthed,I need you.It was the sweetest thing ever, but of course, he meant, need you to fuck. Nothing else. I didn’t care. I needed him too.
Hero’s finger rubbed the top of my hand the whole way home. Tingles worked through me with each motion. I wondered if he knew how much the little gesture turned me on. He raised my hand to his lips and kissed it. I sighed softly, the hunger building for his touch all over my skin.
“Only a few more minutes,mi vida. Then I’ll take you into your bedroom and have my way with you.”
I shivered at the confidence in his voice. “O-kay.”
He chuckled, all sexy and mischievously. “You don’t sound as excited as I do.”
“No, no. I am,” I moved my head up and down like a bobblehead. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”
He grinned. “Yeah? What’d you think about?” He parked his big, honking truck behind my car. Putting it in park, he killed the lights and engine, then leaned toward me. His almost black eyes overflowed with lust. “Roooja.” He rolled the R, drawing out my name. It made me clench my thighs, feeling his word at the base of my spine until it glided all the way up to my neck.
“How about I show you instead?”
His hand brushed over my cheek, burying his fingers in my hair. He pulled me toward his lips. I inhaled a deep breath, heart fluttering like a lovestruck girl meeting her Hollywood idol… herhero.