Page 96 of Beating Heart
King
Of course, he hasn’t. That would be too logical. Maybe you could write it on a sticky note?
I hope you get stung in the dick by a bee today, King.
Hayes
If this is the real deal, you better fight, brother. There are no second chances.
Let’s talk at the gym today when we have lunch. I need to get to work.
River
Remember, brother, we’ve got your back.
Hayes
Ride or die.
King
Brothers till the end.
Romeo
Loyalty always.
River
Forever my friend.
I shook my head at the words tattooed on my shoulder. The words we’d always lived by. I knew they had my back, and it settled me.
I set my phone down and got back to hanging shiplap on the large wall of the dining room, which we were painting in a black satin finish.
I thought about what the guys had said, and I knew they were right. We were spending a ridiculous amount of time together. But Emerson had made it clear that she wasn’t staying. She wanted a fresh start in a new city.
I was the interim guy.
A pit stop on the way to her next destination.
And I’d been fine with that because I wasn’t looking for anything serious either.
But now I wasn’t so sure. She fit perfectly into my life. Into my son’s life.
The three of us just worked in a way I’d never experienced.
It hadn’t been like this with Tara—ever.
She’d been miserable after Cutler was born.
Resentful and unhappy.
And I’d found my footing on my own, and I’d liked it that way. No room to be let down.
But I’d opened this door, and she’d surprised me.
Everything was better with Emerson in our world. And that scared the shit out of me because getting attached to her was dangerous.
