Page 7 of Bring Me Back
“He doesn’t need a wingman, honey. Helo knows what he wants. He’s just gotta make it happen.” Magnolia winks at me, and I scoff.
As if what I really want is anywhere near attainable. Willow has made it crystal clear that she won’t let anyone close enough to cause her anymore pain. I know she’s been hurt, physically and emotionally. I’ve seen the scars and the hollow look in her eyes from time to time. She’s given me snippets of her past, but never the full picture. I know she’s got a thousand stories waiting to be told, and she's barely keeping them inside. I want to be the one she feels safe with, the one she trusts with the deepest, darkest, ugliest parts of her soul.
I’ve asked Breaker about her past, but he shrugs me off every time. We all know she’s running. If she’d open up just a little bit, this family would protect her with everything we’ve got. We’ve done it time and time again to keep each other safe. There’s no one I trust with the ugly truth more than these people.
The night I tried to end it all, I remember my mom calling Everett. I can still hear the sound of her sobbing quietly into the phone as I rolled in and out of consciousness in a hospital bed. Whiskey and motorcycles don’t mix, but I knew what I was doing. After nearly 8 years in the Corps, I had nothing left to live for without it, no purpose worth keeping me on this earth. Icould barely live with the things I’d done for a country that couldn’t give a shit about the broken men and women they send home. They just expect you to fall right back into a normal life, but it’s not that easy.
It’s taken everything I have to crawl back from the darkest hole I’ve ever been in. It was, and still is, a gradual process that took emotional, mental, and physical recovery from the war I was still fighting in my own mind. I had to rebuild my strength and forgive myself for the sins of my past. I’m damn proud of the life I’ve built. No, the days aren’t all sunshine and fucking rainbows. But they’re worth living for again. We all find ways to cope with the things we’ve done. For me, it’s the work I do for Grovewood Ink, keeping the legitimate businesses running and the less legitimate ones hidden.
Clean money, dirty money, it all spends the same. I know the character of the men I work with and at the end of the day, we would lay our lives on the line for each other. Hell, we all have at some point or another. We’ve never hurt anyone who didn’t have it coming.
Eli laughs loudly, pulling me back to the present. As much as I love my friends, I don’t want to be in this fucking bar tonight. At least that’s what I think until I hear her. Her soft voice is like rain across the sand after a decade-long drought. It seeps into the cracks of my soul, warming the coldest parts of me.
“Well, look who decided to grace us with her presence!” Kelsea says, winking at me across the table.
Anybody with eyes knows I’m so far gone for Willow. I couldn’t hide it even if I wanted to. Ember and Magnolia joke about how one day we’ll turn into a friends-to-lovers story, whatever the fuck that means.
I know I’d love her if she gave me the chance. I’d love the shit out of that woman. I’d love her like she’s never been loved before. Whatever she’s running from doesn’t matter to me. She could’ve killed a man in cold blood and I’d never tell a soul. But I know she didn’t. She couldn’t. Her soul is pure, no matter what she thinks. She radiates light and goodness through every inch of her perfect body. She’s an incredible mother and an amazing friend. There’s not an ounce of evil in that woman’s blood.
“Happy Birthday, Beck.” She says, placing the softest kiss on my cheek. My fingers flex against the wide flare of her hips as she leans in to me. I hear the faintest catch in her breath as my fingers graze the exposed skin where her cropped Pink Floyd t-shirt sits just above the top of her black jean shorts.
This woman is the embodiment of flawless beauty and grace. I know she’s critical of her appearance. I’ve heard her say more than once that she feels uncomfortable in her skin since having Jaxon. I just don’t get the inner workings of a woman’s mind. As far as I can see, her body is perfection. She carries a quiet but noticeable tension in her presence everywhere she goes. Her curvy, petite frame is all a man could ever dream of holding.Yeah, she’s thick and perfectly stacked in all the right places. But she’s fragile, that much is obvious if you look close enough. Under all the avoidance and distance she tries to force between herself and the world, she’s resilient. Like a wildflower growing through the snow in the middle of winter. She’s gorgeous and pure despite the harshest conditions. Her brown hair, almost always pulled back into a messy bun, is down tonight. It grazes her shoulders in soft waves, the purple highlights teasing the untamed energy I know she has under the surface, as if every facet of her being reflects the restlessness inside her.
The wildflower tattoos running down her right arm, delicate yet intricate, are not just art. They’re fragments of a story she’s tried to leave behind, symbols of moments in her life she hasn’t been able to fully escape. Each one holds a piece of her history. As beautiful as they are, I know they’re just armor, protecting her from the ghosts that haunt her.
“Dude, quit staring at her like that. Any minute now, we’re all gonna drown in the drool pouring out of your mouth,” Iris says, elbowing me in the ribs.
Reluctantly, I drag my attention away from her, scoffing at his insinuation.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I tell him, chugging the water in front of me. He rolls his eyes, both of us knowing I’m full of shit.
“Come on, I wanna dance!” Magnolia says, grabbingEmber’s hand as all the girls make their way onto the wide wooden dance floor together. They move in sync to a song about selling moonshine and running from the cops. It’s nice to see Willow this way, all smiles and full of energy. Sometimes I wonder if she ever fully relaxes.
“God, that is the most beautiful woman,” Eli says. I nod, never taking my eyes off Willow, and she spins around the floor.
He laughs, a cocky smirk on his face as he bumps into my shoulder.
“I was talking about my wife, bud. That lovesick look you’ve got there isn’t for Ember, though, is it?” He says jokingly, and I turn away. Taking a seat at the table, I focus my attention anywhere but on the dance floor.
“Never gonna happen. Just let it go.” My white-knuckle grip on the edge of the table is all that’s keeping me from stalking across this room and stealing the breath from her lips.
“Whatever you say. I’m just sayin…” I shoot Eli a look that warns him not to finish that sentence, and he holds up his hands in defeat. All our friends know this is a sore spot for me.
The song ends, and the girls dissolve in a fit of laughter. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a man standing at the edge of the dance floor, his eyes fixed on my girl.
My girl.
We all watch as he walks up to her, an air of cocky confidence around him. Anger boils under my skin. If Ican’t have her, I’ll be damned if some douchebag cowboy is going to. He says something that makes her laugh, and my control slips further and further away. I’ve never imagined so many ways to kill a man in such a short period of time. A slow country song starts to play, and he gestures towards the floor. I can see the hesitation in her eyes. As if she can feel my gaze burning a hole through her, her brown eyes collide with mine. Rage and jealousy roll off me in waves, and I don’t do a damn thing to conceal it. My head jerks to the side, a nearly indiscernible shake of my head telling her not to tempt the fates this way.
She turns back to the man, her soft smile in place as she tells him no to whatever his request must have been. She turns to walk away, but before she can get too far, he snags her wrist, pulling her back towards him. I see the tension immediately flood her body, her joints stiffening as her body goes rigid. She doesn’t like to be touched, especially by strangers.
Before I can stop myself, I’m halfway across the bar. I hear someone mumble something that sounds likeoh shit,but I couldn’t stop myself if I wanted to. I’ve got a solid 4 inches on the guy who’s still holding her by the wrist. Panic and anger radiate from her, and I don’t even need to see her face to know it.
“I may not have been close enough to hear, but I’m pretty sure the lady said no.”
six
I feltthe fury pouring off of Beckett from across the bar. The man in front of me isn’t bad to look at, but I’m not interested. He laid on the compliments the moment he walked up to me, but I don’t fall for that kind of slick bullshit. Being married to Cooper heightened every single instinct I possessed when it comes to seeing through people’s bullshit. I knew this man was looking for more than just the dance he asked for.
