Page 39 of Love is Blind

“She’s blind, Leftie. Her life is hard enough as it is without adding me and my baggage. We had one night, and it was good, but I’m not capable of more than that.”

It wasn’t just good—it was fucking great.

The best I ever had.

“I ain’t telling you to marry her, but you were a dick this morning. You didn’t even say goodbye to the poor thing.” He shakes his head. “You can’t leave it like that.”

Sure I can. He’s seems to forget I have a talent for making people hate me. Right now everything is still fresh, so I’m a little soft for the taking. But as soon as I get my head straight and change the sheets on my bed, purge myself of her scent and the memory of how she felt around my cock and in my arms, I’ll be back on my A-game. I’ll push Birdie so far away I’ll forget she exists, and the girl will wish she never met me.

Nudging my mostly full plate to the center of the table, I reach for my coffee and decide now is the perfect time to change the subject.

“So how come I never met this Gertie character?” I ask.

“Nice try, kid,” Leftie says, but after a moment he gives in. “Lost her before you stole that bike from my yard.”

I lower the mug and swallow, watching as his eyes dart across the room. He focuses on the counter and a faint smile spreads across his lips. Then it disappears and he turns back to me.

“I told you I apologized and that she and I became friends, but a man and a woman can’t ever be friends without blurring the lines. We caught feelings for one another. A woman heals you like Gertie healed me, it’s impossible not to. But I couldn’t let myself go down that road again and she deserved better than I had to give. A man who wasn’t afraid to love her. She hung in there for a while, told me she would take what I could give and that would be enough for her, but she was just kidding herself. Eventually she got shot of the whole friends with benefits thing and gave me my walking papers. By the time I pulled my head out of my ass, she had met someone new.” He takes a sip of his coffee and points his mug at me. “Sound familiar?”

“No,” I grunt. “You and Gertie had a foundation. Birdie and I have sex.”

“An apology can go a long way, kid, and a spitfire like that one you had last night…” His voice trails, and he smiles. “I got a kick out of her calling you out on being anti-social.”

“I bet you did.”

“Girl like that can fill the matter, Ghost.”

Yeah, that’s the problem.

The waitress appears with the check, placing it on the table between us. Before Leftie can reach for it, I grab it and slide out of the booth.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he questions.

I dig into my pocket and pull out some bills. Lifting my chin, I meet Leftie’s gaze.

“Buying the man who talked me off the ledge today some Danish. Let’s go, old man. Theo probably has Maverick tied to his bike by now.”

~*~

I didn’t followLeftie back to the clubhouse, a decision I’m regretting now as I hike the brown paper bag of groceries into my arms and make my way up the walkway to my dad’s house. Right before Abigail was born, I moved me and Bianca into the house. I couldn’t bring a baby to the clubhouse and my old man had plenty of room. Besides, if I didn’t take on the mortgage, the damn bank would’ve foreclosed on the place.

I pause at the bottom step of the porch, recalling the nights after I buried Abigail and how I would sit on these rickety steps with a loaded gun.

The screen door screeches open pulling me away from the memory and I lift my head to meet my father’s gaze.

“What are you doing here?” he barks, stumbling onto the porch. I guess he has every right to be shocked. Since I decided to stay at the clubhouse permanently, I haven’t visited much. I don’t even call.

I lift the bag and climb the steps.

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

He glances at the bag of groceries before bringing his gaze back to me.

“You usually send one of your lackeys to do that.”

“Yeah, well, today you get me.”

He doesn’t say anything, and I watch as he sinks down into one of the Adirondack chairs. Such a simple task seems to exhaust him but that’s no surprise. Recently, he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. All the years of boozing after Linda’s death had finally caught up to the man.

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