Page 53 of Entangled By You
Yeah, I get it. I’m not much to look at these days. Damn, he sure knows how to make a woman feel good about herself.
I can’t help it, not tonight, the tears fall.
“Ahh, hell. Don’t go startin’ up with ‘em tears, now. I hate seeing women cry. Makes my skin itch.”
“I’m sorry.” I sniffle. “I was just… kinda hoping I could… maybe stay here for the night.”
His eyes bulge at my request. The other guy I don’t recognize looks a little too interested in the prospect, but I doubt he’d be stupid enough to try anything.
“You want to stay here? Without Pierce? I don’t think he’d like that, Lexi.”
He’s not pointing out anything I don’t already know. But I don’t want to go home. I’m not ready to see him, and know this thing that was starting to bud back into life is already ending. And I sure as hell can’t fathom facing my brother now that he knows the truth.
“Just for tonight, please, Tank. I have nowhere else to go.”
“Fuck me.” He sighs, throwing up his arms. “You can stay in one of the free rooms. But just for tonight.”
I nod because I’m not going to argue with the man. I need some sleep, and in the morning, with a clear head, I can make a plan.
MISSED CALL
PIERCE
“What doyou mean she’s at the clubhouse, Tank?” I growl into the phone at my brother.
It’s not his fault that my mood’s terrible. Lexi didn’t falter for a second as she walked out of the house with a look of defeat on her face. I wanted to go after her. Watch her the way I used to, but Harlow made it clear that she needed time to process.
Lexi isn’t like the rest of us. She’s good in every sense of the word. Her revealing what she did didn’t change anything for me.
Am I pissed that’s why she broke my heart all those years ago? Hell, yes! But is it enough for me to walk away from the woman I love? Not in the slightest.
“Maybe we’re too broken to repair.”
Her words gutted me. Because if that’s what she thinks, I’m terrified I’ll never get her back.
Tank’s words filter back in, “She just showed up. Then she started crying and asked if she could stay. You know how I am with women, especially when they’re all emotional and shit. What was I supposed to do?”
I want to yell, “Send her home!” but she wouldn’t have listened. She wasn’t coming back while I’m still here.
I should pack up my shit, trade her spots, and let her come home. She shouldn’t be at the clubhouse. It’s no place for a woman like her. The guys are… well, they’re guys. And while I trust them with my life and my brother’s would never do anything to cross that line with her, I don’t know who else is there.
“Who’s all there tonight?”
“Just me and a few brothers, no outsiders, and we’re locked down for the night. I gave her your old room, and she shut herself in there. I made sure it was locked.”
“Thanks, man. Just let her rest. I’ll handle it.”
“You got it.”
The line goes silent, and I continue pacing across the living room floor. If time and space are what she needs, I’ll give it to her, but only for so long. She let us lose six years of life together. I won’t let that happen again.
She’s at the clubhouse.
Tank says she’s good for the night, but send Harlow to get her in the morning.
I’ll be out of the house by the time she gets home.
I don’t expect a response from Silas; it’s nearing four in the morning, and they only just left an hour or so ago after we dealt with the mess I made. But I should have known better when it comes to his baby sister.
