I smiled and stretched my arms up high over my head, feeling the muscles, sore from disuse, protest the movement.
I couldn’t stop the groan of deliciousness that rolled through me at the movement.
Needing to pee in the worst way, I got up and took care of business, then swiped my fingers through my hair, brushed my teeth, and contemplated what to do.
It was six in the morning. I was, and always would be, an early riser.
But there was no reason to make the man in bed be an early riser with me.
But there was one thing I could do…
After finalizing the decision in my head, I made my way out to the living room, tiptoeing so I didn’t wake Lindy, then froze and listened to the quiet house.
Nothing stirred, and I continued on into the kitchen, surprised when I found Bram leaning up against the kitchen counter, a bottle of water in his hand. His backside was leaning against the granite countertop while his feet extended out in front of him crossed at the ankles.
“Hey,” I said, walking inside farther. “You okay?”
He didn’t look okay.
He looked… horrible. Ragged. Broken.
He looked up with bloodshot eyes and shrugged. “Been better.”
I imagined he had.
“Is that because of the hangover?” I teased.
He looked up then, and I saw the look of desolation in his eyes.
“I wish it was because of a hangover.” He rubbed his chest over where his aching heart would be. “But it’s not.”
I frowned. “Can I help?”
He laughed bitterly. “No, doll. I don’t think that you can. But thank you for the offer.”
I walked over and started to make coffee beside him, trying to be super careful and quiet because of the she-dragon asleep.
Once the coffee was on and brewing, I leaned against the counter and said, “I’ve had my share of bad boyfriends.”
Bram didn’t say anything to that.
“I also think that there are people in this world meant for others—soul mates, if you will—and what I saw last night between you and Mimi? That was powerful stuff.” I paused. “Even drunk off your ass and ignoring the hell out of her, you were drawn to her. Just as she was you.” I paused. “And I watched your wife walk away because she saw the same.”
Bram sighed. “There’s a long story there.”
I waited, and eventually he started talking.
“When I was fourteen years old, I met Mimi,” he mumbled. “I was eighteen, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was going to be the one I married.” He hesitated. “What do you know about the Battle Crows MC?”
There was a moment of silence on my end before I said, “Not much. I’ve heard a little about you from town, but remember, I’m not from here. I just know that you and your brothers are part of an MC.”
“Brothers, a few cousins, uncles, and now Easton,” he confirmed.
“Not your dad?” I questioned.
He hesitated. “No, Dad doesn’t ride.”
I reached forward, high above my head, and pulled down a mug.
When I had it on the edge, it started to teeter precariously on the lip, and Bram reached over me and pulled it the rest of the way down before setting it before me on the counter. He then did the same with another mug, and another, before stepping away.
“When Mimi and I were in high school, there was this boy who, let’s just say, did some things to her that were really bad. When I found out, I didn’t take it well. I made the kid’s life miserable who did it and didn’t fucking care that I was doing it. At least, not until I found out that kid had a little sister that literally was being hurt by my actions against her brother.” He hesitated.
“Let me guess,” I said carefully. “Dorcas?”
He grunted. “Dorcas.”
“So what, you traded Mimi, who you loved with all your heart, for Dorcas?” I asked.
I wasn’t sure where he was going with this.
“This isn’t my story to tell. Just… there’s so much there. So much more than even my brothers know.” Bram shook his head. “I’ve done a lot of bad things.”
“Do you love Dorcas?” I wondered.
There was a long pause and then, “Not like I should.”
“Then you need to divorce Dorcas,” I told him. “You need to cut her loose and go after the one you love. And give Dorcas a chance with another man. A chance at a life that’ll make her happy.”
“It’s really not that simple,” Bram grumbled. “Don’t you think, if it was, that I would’ve left by now?”
“Honestly? Since you’ve been hiding this shit for the last five years? No. But I feel like Mimi is your one. And she’s slowly dying inside now that she’s back and can’t hide her head in the sand,” Callum admitted.
Bram downed the rest of his coffee, walked over to the sink, then rinsed it out, washed it, dried it, and then put it away.
We both watched him as he said, “I’ve filed for divorce eight separate times.”
There was a long moment of silence and then, “And why aren’t you divorced yet?”
“Because each time I do, Dorcas… I can’t say,” Bram replied, voice utterly emotionless. “I need time.”
There was a moment of silence from Callum before he said, “Then you have it. You name it, I’m there.”
Bram sighed. “I just might take you up on that.”
And without another word, he left, leaving Callum and me staring at his departing back, then the door that didn’t slam behind him.
“How’s he getting home?” I wondered.
Callum shrugged and held his hand out to me.
“Walk, maybe,” he answered.
I took his proffered hand.
“There’s more to that story than we will ever know,” Callum said as he tugged me into his side and led me back to his bedroom. “But he’s right. I don’t know everything. Nor do I know what I would’ve done in his situation.”
“Do you think he killed someone?” I whispered, waiting until the door closed solidly behind us before I turned to survey Callum. “Would you kill someone?”
“Bram? Maybe. As for your other question… if it was in protection of my family? You? In a heartbeat,” he confirmed.
No hesitation. No dilating of his eyes. Just straight facts.
And there was something in the way he said it that made me realize that he was one-hundred-percent serious. And that he’d done it before, in defense of his family.
I opened my mouth to ask, to confirm my suspicions, but he stilled my lips with his.
I was surprised by how quick he moved, so it was a surprise when he pulled back and said, “There are things that I’ll tell you… eventually. If you stay. But not yet.”
I licked my lips.
“If I stay?” I asked.
“If you stay,” he confirmed. “If you let me know that I’m yours, and you’re mine. When you carry my name, and my baby. When I know that what I tell you won’t sway your judgment of me? Then I’ll tell you.”
His words scared the crap out of me.
But they also kind of thrilled me.
Those were some pretty intense words, and they were words that made me think he wasn’t just thinking ‘now.’ He was thinking long term.