Loved my man.
But I was right.
Like any man blinded by loyalty to a brother, about this shit he was so dumb.
“Has it occurred to you that a biker-hating woman would be nowhere near Wild Bill’s field no matter what she might need unless what she needs is what she needs?” I asked.
“Nothin’ occurs to me except takin’ my brother’s back, Tyra,” he returned. “And you need to listen to this, baby, and let it sink way the fuck in. Every brother is gonna do the same and you do not wanna go against Chaos on shit like this. The ones who didn’t live that with him will hear about it and we’ll be all in in a way you’ve experienced once. When we all put our asses on the line to save your life.”
I drew in a sharp breath.
He heard me do that and muttered, “You get me.”
“Tack—”
“Let it go.”
“Tack!”
“Red.” He got super close. “Let... it... go.”
He stared into my eyes.
I stared into his.
Neither of us said a word.
Tack broke the silence.
“You gonna let it go?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” I snapped.
He drew back a bit and grinned.
“Take your mind off it.”
I rolled my eyes.
He came back in and brushed my mouth with his. “Still riding the high of the Trench, baby. Now wantin’ to ride something else.”
It sucked but even after a decade with this man, I knew he was a very good rider, so even ticked at him, that did it for me.
I reached out and grabbed his hand, declaring, “We’ll talk more about it later.”
“No, we won’t.”
“We so will.”
He shook his head, turned, and tugging my hand, grinning again, he led me to our tent.
We got in it and my husband took my mind off High and a woman called Millie Cross.
He did it thoroughly.
But even so, I was me.
So it was only temporarily.
Millie
Twenty-three years earlier...
“Five?” I asked incredulously.
“Five,” he answered, grinning up at me.
I was naked on top of Logan in his bed in the two-bedroom apartment he shared with some guy who was not Chaos.
But, since Logan figured his time as a recruit was coming to an end, and his pay at work would increase, this meant he was planning to move into a different place that was only his.
He’d just made love to me after taking me to a fancy steak dinner at the Buckhorn Exchange.
It was fantastic. I got to dress up. I got to see Logan’s version of dressed up (nice shirt, not-too-faded jeans, the ever-present Chaos cut).
He’d not blinked an eye when I got carded after I ordered a beer and showed my fake ID (though he’d teased me about getting away with it when the waiter was gone).
He’d talked me into trying Rocky Mountain oysters (not my favorite) and elk (delicious).
We’d laughed, talked, held hands over the table, and played footsie under it.
In other words, this, our fourth date, was just as good as all three preceding it.
Now we were in his bed and Logan had just told me he wanted five kids.
Five.
My “Seriously?” was again incredulous.
He shrugged against the mattress, still grinning up at me, and explained, “Only got a sister and we’re close. All a’ us. Don’t know why my parents didn’t have more. They didn’t share. Maybe by the time they made their own, they were worn out from the ones their folks had made. Though I think in the beginning it was money and not bein’ able to afford havin’ more. But my folks both came from big families. My dad’s got two brothers and a sister. Ma’s got two brothers and two sisters.”
His arms wrapped tighter and he kept talking.
“Love my family, Millie. Love spendin’ time with them. And I got a lot of that growin’ up. The best times were holidays. Nearly all Dad and Ma’s kin still lived around Durango and we’d get together all the time. Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Lots of food. Loud. Wild. All the kids would go trick-or-treatin’ together, big brood, terrorizin’ the neighborhoods. Huge graduation parties. Big sweet-sixteen parties. We were tight and it was a blast.”
I was no longer incredulous.
I was deeper in love.
“You miss it,” I said softly.
“Yeah,” he replied. “Think, later, my folks wished they didn’t stop. All except for two of their brothers, the rest went whole hog with makin’ babies and not many have moved away, so they still got that in Durango. Same goodness, gettin’ bigger all the time. Fuck, my uncle had to put up a tent last Thanksgiving and heat it so he could put tables out there ’cause there was no room in the house. Which meant, all a’ us out there got to be even louder and rowdier and he didn’t give a fuck. Loved it. We all do.”
I smiled at him. “Sounds like fun.”
His arms around me gave me a squeeze. “Take you there next Thanksgiving.”
That was a future date I was very much looking forward to.
Then again, four days, four dates, and I looked forward more and more to every one.
“I just have a sister,” I told him, changing the subject because I didn’t want to scare him with showing just how much that was true. “Always wanted a brother too.”
He lifted a hand and touched his finger to my temple, trailing it down and back, over my ear until he cupped his hand around the back of my neck.