Page 69 of Their Property
“You are.” I smiled back. “That sounds really beautiful, what you two had. Bash sounds like he was an amazing person.” Another pang of envy hit me. His relationship with Dyno and Grudge seemed so warm, wholesome, and supportive. And he’d had another relationship like that before them. It all seemed so romantic and like something out of a fairytale. Something I never had the chance to experience.
“He really was. He would have adored you.” T-Bone sighed, pausing for another few moments. “When we got you out of Blakeworth and were riding back home, it was like…I was seeing the sun for the first time in months. I felt the wind and the warmth on my skin like I was finally remembering how to be alive.” He met my eyes again. “All because of this beautiful girl who was having the time of her life on a motorcycle after spending a week locked up in a tower.”
My heart thundered in my chest and I found myself scooting closer, until my leg nearly brushed his. The pull to be near him, to be curled up in the safety of that broad chest, was nearly impossible to fight now. “That ridewasthe best time of my life. I felt alive too. It was…” I forced a shuddering, nervous breath from my chest. “It was the first and only time I felt actually free.”
“Kyrie...”
The way he said my name brought a rushing pulse of heat between my legs. I was so taken aback by how quickly I was aroused that I barely processed his arm sliding around my back, pulling me closer. Our legs were firmly in contact now, outer thighs pressed together while his hand stroked gently toward my far hip. It wasn’t until his rough cheek nudged against mine, lips barely grazing my face, that my mouth decided to ruin the moment.
“It hurt so badly when you guys left,” I confessed in a rushed whisper. “I thought I’d never see you again. And now that you’re here, I’m so scared you’re going to drop me off in Four Corners and leave me alone again.”
T-Bone pulled away, and I hated how the warmth of him dissipated. His face hovered in front of me, every beautifully rugged feature in crisp detail. He had a pale scar on his forehead and small tinges of green in his eyes that I’d never noticed before.
“Little lady, we never wanted to leave you.” His voice was rough. “We probably could have handled it better, but we felt like our hand was forced.” He rubbed a knuckle over my cheekbone. I didn’t even realize a tear had fallen until he wiped it away. He then kissed the same spot so tenderly, I felt another rush of moisture to my eyes. “Will you let me explain?”
I nodded, sitting a bit further away and sniffling to compose myself. Both of our hands became intertwined, resting on our legs between us.
“I won’t presume to know how you feel about the three of us,” T-Bone began. “But we all felt something for you back then. Speaking only for myself, it felt wrong to start falling for someone new so soon after Bash died. It felt wrong to feel…happy. And I’ve never…” His fingers squeezed around mine when he paused. “I’ve never developed feelings for a woman before. I didn’t know that I could. I was just…very confused about everything I was feeling and didn’t know how to handle it all.”
“I never imagined you guys thought twice about me,” I admitted with a sheepish laugh. “I was crushing madly on all three of you. I had no idea what any of you were going through, I just wished you noticed me more.”
“We absolutely did, little lady. We still do.” T-Bone looked down at our hands, his forehead almost touching mine. “The other reason we left was more for, let’s say, business reasons.”
“My father wasn’t fair to you when you worked for him,” I said flatly.
T-Bone lifted his gaze to me with an affectionate smile. “Should’ve known you’d read between the lines. I never wanted to talk shit about him to you.”
“It’s fine. I understand,” I sighed. “My whole life is defined by my father being unfair.”
“That’s not true,” T-Bone chided gently. “You are so smart and driven to do good. You can do anything you want.”
“Not if my dad gets his way.”
T-Bone growled, another sound I felt directly between my legs. “You are your own person, Kyrie. Only you get to decide what defines your life.”
“I just wish people would take me seriously,” I sighed. “Just because I’m a girl, or that I was sheltered my whole life, and not by my own choice, doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”
“I don’t think that,” T-Bone said. “None of us do.”
I frowned at him. “But you make fun of me when I sayfuck.”
His smile widened. “I do not. I just tell you it’s cute because it is.” I grunted in protest and he laughed, his smile turning sympathetic. “I’m sorry you didn’t get much of a chance to make waves in Sevier. Your time will come, little lady.”
“Thank you, T-Bone.”
I looked down at our joined hands and felt him brush a kiss on my forehead. He was being so sweet, making it so easy to melt into him, that it was overwhelming. If I tipped forward, he would surely catch me and hold me. As much as I wanted that, hesitation still pulled me back.
“So, at the memorial today…”
“Oh, right. Yeah.” T-Bone cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “I think it finally clicked for me that Bash is at peace, and he would want me to be happy. I have our memories. I’m the person I am because of him. But I can’t stay stuck in the past, can’t keep dwelling on how much losing him hurts.” He gave me a wobbly smile. “Not when I have three amazing people who are right here with me.”
“Still, I’m so sorry for what happened.” My hand itched to touch his face, to offer what little comfort I could to this man. “Can I ask, the fire… Was it an accident?”
His eyes closed, head shaking slowly from side to side. “No.”
A small gasp escaped me, and my hands squeezed tighter around his as if I could protect him from such a loss. “Fuck, I’m so sorry, T-Bone.”
“The people responsible were dealt with.” His tone hardened, making it clear he didn’t want to talk about it further. “But it didn’t help, you know. It didn’t make me feel better. Nothing did.” A crooked smile returned to his face. “Besides time, a little chat with Memory, and realizing I was a damned fool to turn down a kiss from a beautiful girl.”
