“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a promise. You fuck with my wife or try to play me again I’ll fucking end you. You’ll pray for mercy, but none will be given. You had my dick in your mouth for five minutes tops and that’s the only taste you’ll ever get. We understood?”
Hound and Sandman enter before she can reply. “Well Goddamn,” Hound gripes, getting a look at her face. “You break a bra strap and get slapped in the face with your titties?”
Sandman grins while shaking his head. “You ain’t right, man.”
Danika drops her bag of veggies in the sink and storms out.
“Hound, do me a solid and see that she gets the first ticket out of town.”
He straightens up. “All right. I got you.” We bump fists and he follows the bitch.
I take a hearty bite of my sandwich and grab a can of pop from the cooler. The heat of Sandman’s gaze warms the back of my neck. “What?” I turn to face him.
“Viking said your Old Lady raised ten kinds of hell upstairs.”
“What of it?”
“Know it’s not my place to say shit but most of us would kill to have a woman like Pam to have our back. You’re fucking it up.”
“You’re right, it’s not your place,” I warn. “Know what I got at home. Intend to keep it that way.”
“Good because I’m just sayin’ if you two get divorced there’s a line wanting to tap that.”
I drop my sandwich and sling my pop can across the room. Dark liquid spills out on the floor. “The fuck did you just say?” I take a step toward him, bumping my chest with his.
The prick smirks at me all smug. “Take that fight home. Go remind your wife how much ya love her.”
I want to wipe the floor with his face. Bastard has a point though. I should be at home with my wife and kid.
Sandman continues to laugh.
“What the fuck are you laughing at?” I growl, pissed off I lost my cool and dropped my sandwich. I’m still starving.
“Do you realize you just delivered Hound to Danika on a silver platter. That romantic fuck can’t resist a woman in peril. He’s probably already offered her his apartment and vowed to see her on her feet.”
“Christ.” I shake my head.
“She gets her hooks in him...your Old Lady won’t be too damn happy. Way I see it.”
“Way you see it,” I mutter. “Go put her ass on a bus.”
He shrugs. “I could, but I’d rather watch you squirm for the shit you did to Pam. We all love her. Your Old Lady has been feeding us and looking out for us for years.” He punches me in the shoulder. “And Hound. If he’s dumb enough to wrap himself up in that gash then fucker will get what he deserves.”
“Thought he was your boy?”
“He is. Don’t mean I don’t want to watch the damn show.”
I’m surrounded by cocksuckers. “I’m out of here.”
“Tell Pam I said hey and if she doesn’t mind we’d sure love it if she made some of that good hot dog chili again. Fight Night is coming. Heard Birds of Hell Prez is paying a visit with his golden boy.”
There’s only one thing that could mean and I’m nowhere near prepared.
Neither is my wife.
**
Back at the house my shit is still in the grass and my wife isn’t here. I stare at the empty living room missing the scent of her. Smoky with a hint of vanilla and cinnamon and the sound of my boy’s giggles and babbling. No toys scattered across the floor. No cartoons playing on the Tv. Everything is all wrong. This house isn’t a home without them. I flop down on the couch and prop my boots on the coffee table knowing it’d piss my Old Lady off. I can hear her nagging in the back of my mind telling me if I want to keep legs, I’ll get my feet off her damn table.
I dig out my phone and try my wife. It rings three times then cuts to her voicemail. I dial Zoe next. Sis answers on the second ring. “Yo.”
“Pam been by or called?”
“Jules called and offered to get the baby. I told her he was good here. What the hell is going on, Brant?”
I cap a palm to the back of my neck. Zoe being disappointed in me fucking blows. I can already hear it in her tone. She knows whatever this is that I’ve fucked up without being told. “Did something stupid.”
“I’m not going to ask what you did, but was it worth it?”
I close my eyes. How do I tell her no. That I’m just like our father. A piece of shit who couldn’t keep it in his pants. The one thing I swore I’d never be.
“I take your silence as a no. You’re my brother and I love you. We all make mistakes. It’s how we right them that counts.”
I suck in a breath. “Don’t know how to fix this, Zoe. I think I’ve lost her. She kicked me out. Threatened to take Connor from me.”
“Pam loves you.”
“I’ve gone too far this time.”
“Sounds like you’ve given up and that’s not the man I know. You gotta fight for her.”
“Maybe I’m tired of being the only one trying. Seems like the only time she gives a fuck about me is when she’s worried someone else is getting my attention.” The truth and weight of my confession settles on my shoulders. I’ve been holding on for a long damn time. Desperate for shit to get better. Since we let Nickel into our bed Pam has been different. I knew it was a mistake, but I wanted to give her a kid. A real family. We both came from broken homes.
“Don’t forget it’s not just about you and your hurt feelings. There’s a little boy sitting in my lap who is counting on both of you. Do what you need to. I’ll keep Connor until you figure out your next steps.”
“Appreciate it. Call you soon.” I end the call and toss my phone aside. I need a damn drink and a smoke. I nab a bottle of my old pal Jim Beam, my tin box with my weed stash, and go to the back deck. Loneliness is nothing a little puff puff pass and liquor can’t cure.
I sit out on the deck drinking and smoking contemplating where we go from here. Do we separate? Divorce? Split custody of the kid? Pam deserves better than me. I’m doing to her the same shit my old man pulled with my mother. Stepping out on her while claiming to love her. Making promises he never intended to keep. I grew up watching my mother destroy herself chasing after that bastard. Only Pam isn’t chasing after me. She’s washed her hands. I think she gave up on me way before I cheated.
I drink until I can’t think any more.
I doze off a while and when I wake, I am no closer to getting my shit together. I straggle into the house, kicking my boots off and undressing as I go. I get my jeans off and slide into bed at the sound of the back door opening.
Chapter Eight
Against my sister’s wishes Roane drove me home. The second I spotted Link’s motorcycle I immediately regretted the decision. I’m not ready to face him, but I can’t run from him or our problems. At least if he’s here I know he’s not with someone else as pathetic as it sounds. I can’t bear the thought of him with another woman even if all I want to do is cut off his balls and feed him to him whenever I look at him.
“You need me to walk in?” Roane offers as the truck idles.