Page 68 of Their Property
“Jandro, then.”
She scoffed again and rolled her eyes.
“Mariposa,” I piped up with Mari’s full name.
The woman’s eyebrows shot up at that, her gaze landing heavily on me. “I haven’t heard that name in a long-ass time.” She released the barrel of her rifle to touch low on her stomach, her fingers drifting out toward her hip.
“Gretchen!” she barked, slinging her weapon over her shoulder. “Get these folks set up with food and somethin’ to drink.” She held up an index finger and hovered it in front of T-Bone’s nose. “The girls aren’t for sale. You get one chance to keep your hands to yourself. That goes for all of you.”
“Got it.”
“I’m Kitty. Come to me if you need anything.” She was more relaxed from moments before but kept her eyes sharply on us as she turned away. “I’ll show you to your rooms. Then you can come back down to eat.”
“Thank you, Kitty,” I said as we all moved to follow her.
Her eyes lingered on me before facing forward to lead us up a set of stairs. She looked curious, maybe even a little judgmental about someone like me hanging out with bikers. But whatever thoughts she had, she kept to herself.
We took up three rooms—Chris and Tiff together, the trio in another room, and I had a room to myself. It was sweet of them to consider my privacy, but I couldn’t fully ignore the stab of loneliness. Everyone had a bed partner, except me. I’d slept alone in big bedrooms my whole life, and I was sick of it.
Still, I accepted the room key from Kitty with a smile and no complaints. I had only been in my room for a few minutes, putting away my borrowed changes of clothes into dresser drawers, when a gentle knock came to my door.
“Come in,” I called, smoothing out one of Tiff’s shirts on the bed so it wouldn’t wrinkle. My door creaked open, and I froze in shock at seeing T-Bone on the other side.
“Hey,” he said softly. “Can we talk for a minute?”
“Uh, yeah! Yeah, of course.” I moved my things off the bed and smoothed out the duvet cover while my heart raced and I tried to compose myself.What does he want? Oh shit, this talk is gonna suck.
T-Bone closed my door and sat a few feet away from me on the edge of the bed. He moved slowly, as though he didn’t want to spook me. He looked thoughtful for a few moments before opening his mouth to speak, but my flustered nerves beat him to the punch.
“I’m really sorry I misunderstood things. It won’t happen again.” I stuck my hands between my thighs so I wouldn’t wring them. “I’d love to keep you on as my bodyguard. If you want to, that is. Fuck, I’m rambling. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make this weird.”
I stared down at my legs, my face burning while wishing I could hide under the bed. T-Bone only laughed that soft, dry chuckle of his.
“I swear, hearing you sayfuckis the cutest fuckin’ thing I’ve ever heard.”
My confusion only mounted, and I slid a wary glance toward him. He scratched his beard with a soft smile, whiskey-colored eyes bright from the window light. The bed was big and he was just sitting on the edge, but he looked big enough to take over the whole thing. He didn’t look angry, but I’d never seen T-Bone so quiet before.
“You didn’t misunderstand anything, Kyrie,” he said with a thick swallow. “I was just a dick, and I’m sorry.”
“You…you don’t have to say that to make me feel better.” I was still confused, but I offered a strained smile. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay.” His mouth hardened with the firmness of his tone. “I was pushing down my own feelings and I hurt you in the process.”
My stupid heart dared to lift with hope. “Your…feelings?”
T-Bone nodded. “When the guys and I first met you years ago, it was a few months after Bash died. After,” he paused to swallow again, “everyonedied.”
I scooted closer to him on instinct, my hand reaching for his forearm. “T-Bone, you don’t have to—“
“Yes, I do.” His hand covered mine, eyes blazing with intensity. “I’m not good with words, but please let me get this out, Kyrie.”
It was painful for him, I could see that plainly. I wondered for a second if the kiss wasn’t a misunderstanding after all, if I should kiss him now as a distraction. But my confidence was still bruised from my first attempt, and telling me this story was clearly important to him. So I nodded and squeezed his forearm in support, running my thumb over the tattoos there.
“So, obviously, I was still in a dark place when we went out to get you. Externally, I was running on autopilot, just going through the motions. But inside, I was a fucking mess. All of us were, but mostly me because…”
“You and Bash were lovers,” I said softly. No one had told me that explicitly, but I gathered it from how important visiting the burn site was to T-Bone.
“We were, and more,” he affirmed with a nod. “He was…like a mentor and best friend too. He taught me how to be a better person. A better lover to them.” T-Bone angled his head toward the door, referring to Dyno and Grudge. “Bash and I weren’t sexually or even emotionally exclusive. His primary partner was the mother of his children. I never slept with her though.” T-Bone coughed, his face reddening. “Shit, this is probably too much information, but what I’m getting at is that Bash and I had a closeness that was beyond romantic or sexual.” He smiled, sheepish and adorable. “Am I making a lick of sense?”
