Page 78 of Their Property
Ah, that was easy enough to answer. I jerked my chin at T-Bone, indicating he should talk for me.
“They are one and the same,” he said solemnly. “Grudge didn’t have a legal name before the Sons found him. Obviously, he didn’t say a word when we brought him in. One of the prospects was unnerved by this and said something like, ‘Damn, that guy holds a hell of a grudge.’ And the name stuck.”
“Well, that just begs more questions.” Kyrie grew bolder as she played with my beard, her fingers running lightly over my cheek now. “Did youwantto be called Grudge?”
“Eh.” I shrugged. It made our enemies fear me and was too late to change now. And it was better than no name at all. Joining the Sons and receiving my name made me a person for the first time. Asomeone, worthy of an identity.
“I take it your life before the Sons wasn’t a very happy one,” Kyrie mused, her brow furrowing slightly as she looked at me.
Understatement of the century,I thought. Outwardly, I scoffed and shook my head.
Her fingers danced on my cheek some more, running lightly toward my neck and jaw. “I’ll ask about it another day then.” Her head turned on my chest to look at T-Bone. “Right now, I’m more interested in what you were saying earlier.”
His eyes lit up, a grin spreading over his face. “Oh yeah? Name it, little lady.” He reached for her legs that were still on the chair between us, running a touch up her calf muscle. “What do you want to play?”
She lifted up from my chest, and I hated the loss of warmth and slight pressure of her resting on me. Still, I dropped my arms from her sides to let her move. She pulled her legs from the middle chair and my heart completely stopped when she sat on my thigh, her legs draping between mine.
I could only stare at her in shock.She’s sitting in my lap.
She’s sitting inmyfucking lap.
And she was looking back at me. And sosoclose.
“Don’t have a heart attack now, Grudge,” T-Bone cracked. “I don’t know that CPR shit like D does.”
Kyrie must have mistook my shock for discomfort. She brought a hand to my cheek, where she had been touching me earlier. “Is this okay, Grudge?”
My limited voice refused to work, so I just nodded stiffly.
“You’re sure?”
“Mmm,” was all I could get out. I leaned my cheek into her palm, seeking more of that softness I craved. I realized too late that it brought my forehead close to nudging hers.
She brought both hands to my face then, fingers stroking lightly over my beard. As if on instinct, my arms went around her. I told myself it was to keep her from falling again but really, the crook of my arm just felt right nestled into the curve of her waist.
“Can I kiss you, Grudge?” She was so close, I felt her breath fan over my mouth. Her lips were so pink and pretty. Yes, I absolutely wanted to taste them…
My brain processed her question a beat too slow, and everything shut down in an instant.No, she can’t!
I grabbed her wrists and pushed her hands away from my face, panic sending my pulse into overdrive. My chest felt tight, and I struggled to breathe.
But none of it was worse than the shock of hurt flashing across her face.
You stupid son of a bitch, look what you did.
Kyrie was gone, no longer in my lap but several feet away. T-Bone’s hands wrapped around her shoulders while he tried to soothe her.
“Hey, it’s okay. He wasn’t rejecting you, alright? Grudge isn’t a dumbass like me.” His hands ran up and down her arms. “Kissing someone new is just…tricky for him. I’m sorry, I should have mentioned it earlier. My bad, Grudge. I didn’t tell her about…”
I turned away, fully facing the bar now and wishing I could tune them out. If she wasn’t put off by me before, she definitely was now. I never should have bothered getting my hopes up. Dyno was right about one thing. What right did I have to think I was good enough for her?
A hand came to my shoulder, smaller and lighter than T-Bone’s. “I’m sorry, Grudge,” Kyrie said. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
I shook my head at nothing, an indignant huff of air leaving my mouth.Whydid she have to be so good, so sweet? Why was she so insistent on making me believe she could want me? The sooner she realized how fucked up I was, the better off she’d be.
Except not having her around would make T-Bone and Dyno mope like sad sacks. And dropping her off at her father’s place would guarantee her misery. At least with us, she had fun.
Fuck, why did everything have to be intertwined and complicated?
