Page 55 of Brother In Arms

“Dude, it’s just… fuck, I don’t know, it’s just right, me and her. Hell, both of you know.”

Archer looked thoughtful. All of a sudden he was taking great interest in peeling the label off his bottle of beer. He sighed finally and it was heavy.

“And the pendulum swings,” he muttered darkly.

“And just what the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

Nox hung his head and raked a hand back through his black hair. “If I had to guess, it means she sure as fuck won’t be into you for money but dude… How many bitches back in AZ get with us because of the bad boy image and how well did that end for any of us?” he asked.

“I don’t think it’s like that,” I said. “Bailey’s different.”

“Yeah, we’ve heard that song and dance outta you before,” Arch said skeptically. He wasn’t wrong, but this time I could feel it, down to my fuckin’ bones.

I looked my twin in the eye and told him the fuckin’ truth, “I’m pretty sure I feel the way I do about Bailey the way you do about Maren. Fate’s cruel joke, man. If I recall we just threw down over that shit not long ago.

“Yeah, yeah we did…”

“I’d really fuckin’ hate to repeat that experience, bro. It was so not one of my favorite things.”

“Jesus,” Arch said, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline. “You’re fuckin’ balls deep into this chick and then some, ain’t yah.”

“Not ready to make her my ol’ lady or anything yet, but yeah, bro; I dig her. I dig her the way I’ve never dug another chick in my life.”

Nox and Arch exchanged a worried look, and Arch nodded finally, “Just be careful, Rush. We all know you like to leap before you really look and it’s burned you but good in the past.”

He had me there. I nodded and sighed, saying, “I promise you, I got both eyes wide open this time and it seriously feels like the stakes have never been higher.”

“Do you at least got a good feeling about this?” Nox asked, grimacing. I looked my brother in the eye.

“When we’re together, I ain’t got a fuckin’ doubt in my mind that if it weren’t for all the extra bullshit, she and I would be totally cool.”

“But?” Arch said.

“I don’t think it would be money that fuckin tore us apart. If anything, it’ll be her rich mamma or the club that’ll do it and that scares me. It really does.”

Archer squinted at me, “Are you seriously sayin’ what I think you’re sayin’?” he demanded and I jerked back and asked, “What the fuck you think I’m sayin’?”

Nox blew out his cheeks and said, “It seriously sounds like you’re saying you’d leave the club over this girl if it came down to a choice between them.”

“No, man. I would never leave the club over pussy. I’d stay, but what I am sayin’ is it would hurt way worse than a case of road rash. The scars would be the same kind of forever, too.”

“You sure she feels the same way?” Archer asked me.

I nodded, I’d seen it in her eyes that night, the words, cheesy as they were, echoing faintly through my brain… One… two… I think I love you.

“Yeah, man, I really do.”

“Then you’ll figure it out,” Nox said, “If you guys are meant to be, the club will rally, man. They did with Maren.”

“And either her family will get on board or they’ll lose her.”

“You haven’t even met her, what makes you so sure?” I demanded.

“I’ve met Dray, and she comes from his mamma’s stock, don’t she?”

“She’s his cousin, yeah.”

“’nuff said, that kind of ornery don’t skip a generation. It’s solid in the bloodline.”

“God, we are so fucked when it comes to Noah and Chandler,” Nox said, rolling his eyes and the look on Archer’s face had us both busting up laughing.

“Yeah, don’t I know it?” he asked, and killed his beer.

There wasn’t enough beer in the world.

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