“I came to your room to tell you somethin’ and I ended up workin’,” Tye says as he steps back to look at me. “I can’t lose ye,” he confesses with a smile. “I’ve always felt as though ye were home. And ye need to know before we go out there and have the rest of them all fawnin’ over you. I lo—”
“Wait,” I stop him before he can say it. Even though I want to hear it, we should wait. I can’t help but giggle at his confusion. “I doubt there’ll be fawning. But we can talk about our feelings a bit later,” I admit. “There has never been a day in my life since we met that I haven’t wanted more from you, but patience will make it even better, once we get there.”
There’s shock written all over Tye’s face, which makes me smile. I had never made it obvious to him how I felt. Mainly because I always thought I wasn’t pretty enough or popular enough.
He was the bad boy who was just out of reach. So, I kept him close as his friend, hoping that one day I’d be able to see him happy. Even if it meant it wasn’t with me.
“Why didn’t ye ever tell me?”
Shrugging, I say, “It doesn’t matter. Our friendship meant more to me than anything else. And if I had you like that, I didn’t want to lose you over a stupid thing like feelings.”
“Ach, that’s hardly stupid is it?” His expression tells me everything I need to know. He isn’t happy I didn’t tell him.
“Aye, but you didn’t tell me either,” I throw back, swatting him on the chest. “Anyways, it’s done now. I know, andyouknow.”
I hug him once more before leaning back to look into those cocoa eyes. Then, I rise up on my tiptoes to quickly press a kiss to his lips, which is too fast and we bash our teeth together. The awkward moment causes us both to laugh. It’s the first time in years I can laugh with true happiness filling my heart.
“Let’s get out there,” Tye says, and I’m about to move when he captures my face in his hands and leans in. His lips find mine. It’s a soft, gentle kiss. While his tongue sweeps along mine, every nerve ending in my body sparks to life. A reminder of our first kiss we shared on the beach comes to mind, and I smile against his mouth.
We finally make our way to the lounge where we find most of the guys and a few of the women and children. Miren is sitting beside Monster, while Callia is on a beanbag, watching Rebel and Racer.
“I’m Sully.” A tall, tattooed man steps up to us. “It’s nice to meet ye,” he tells me. His dark hair is a mess of waves that hang to the nape of his neck, and his green speckled eyes shimmer.
“It’s nice to meet you as well,” I say while shaking his hand.
Every part of him that’s exposed is inked, which brings my thoughts back to Tye and his tattoo.
“Brute, but you can call me Hades,” another of the men says when he stops to greet me. “And that’s Hadrian, or Rev.” He points to a man who looks just like him. Twins. Hades and Rev are inked as well, from their necks down to their hands.
We settle in for a while. Everyone is chatting, drinking, and having a good time. Miren makes me feel welcome, and I find I’m feeling more comfortable than I was yesterday, or even earlier.
Eventually, the men head into an adjoining room to meet, or as they like to call it, church, while I get to know Miren and Callia. The rest of the women move around the house, some in the kitchen, others outside.
I help Miren set the table, while Callia ensures all the kids are seated at the smaller table as we get ready for lunch. I’m starving. I realise the last time I ate was last night when Tye brought me soup and a wee toastie.
Once the doors of the church open, the men file out and make their way straight to the table. Everyone is in high spirits. There’s music filtering through the speakers as we all take our seats. I’m between Rev and Tye, feeling rather tiny since all these men are tall, broad-shouldered, and dangerous-looking.
I’m thankful I’m here. As I watch them all chatter, I can’t help but feel a sense of ease. These were all strangers who have now come together to form a family. I grew up with Ma. It was always the two of us. There was no extended family, because when Ma fell pregnant at sixteen, her folks told her to leave. She met Da on the bus out of the small town she grew up in. He talked her into going further north, and she did. They fell in love quickly. Ma told me she lost the baby, but Da married her and told her one day they’d have a family. He still loved her then.
When I came along, it was a surprise, but something inside my da changed. Ma told me he would be out all night drinking while she was away all day working. And then, he left. They kept in touch through letters, but there was no longer love between them.
I glance at Tye, thankful he took so long to tell me he wants me. In my mind, I had convinced myself if we admitted our feelings too soon, I could’ve ended up alone like Ma.
“Ye all right?” Tye asks as we tuck into our food.
“Yes.” I smile.
Hearing him say those three words will be a dream come true. I can’t deny my teenage heart would have leapt from my chest if he’d said it back then. But it was worth the wait. It made being home, being here, so much better.
All the food is delicious. There’s quite a spread. But having these men here to devour everything, I can see why the women have made so much. The banter is good fun, and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.
“What’d ye get fer Miren?” Sully asks Monster.
“A baby,” Racer throws out with a chuckle and receives a glare from his President. “What? It’s true.”
“Aye,” Rebel chirps. “Bang on. It’s because they can’t stay out of the feckin’ bedroom.”
“Ye’re a real charmer. Aren’t ye, Racer?” Monster asks, his voice a deep rumble. But the rest of the men laugh out loud. There’s love here. They may be teasing each other, but it’s done with good intentions.