Wind Therapy - A.J. Downey Page 0,64
go first…”
Holy shit did she have a story. One that could get her and her man in a whole lot of trouble!
“Why are you trusting me with this?” I asked quietly.
“Because I really can’t express hard enough how trustworthy these guys are otherwise,” she said.
I set my sandwich aside on the glass coffee table’s top and scrubbed my face with my hands.
“You know what they do?” I asked.
She wouldn’t look at me right away and finally said, “I have a really good idea, but I know better than to talk about it. It’s as much for their safety as for mine. Not that I think they would hurt me. They’ve done so much for me.”
I chewed my bottom lip, my thoughts racing and said finally, “I don’t know what to do or what to think. The only reason I’m here, the only reason I do anything is for Mateo. He’s the only family I have left as far as I’m concerned.”
Her brow wrinkled and I took a deep breath.
She would know anyway. I would rather she hears it from me than from her man like some fucked-up high school gossip game.
I was about to confess my shame when the door to the chapel opened and the men started filing out, all with grim expressions on their faces that made my heart sink.
Little Bird looked stricken and I simply felt defeated.
Even the universe wanted to keep things a secret, so it seemed.
I raised my eyes and met Maverick’s past leather-clad bodies across the great expanse of floor, and he met my look with a somber one of his own.
Just what had they decided in there?
“You ready to go home, baby?” he called out to me and I nodded, perhaps a little too rapidly as I caught their furtive looks of pity around me.
I felt as though I was falling, spiraling, and I’d completely lost control and I hated it. Hated every moment of it.
All I wanted was to get out from under their somber looks mixed with fury. All I wanted was for the shame burning my cheeks to go away.
Anger bubbled up to take its place and I took a deep breath, breathing carefully around it. I didn’t want to make a scene. I didn’t want to be seen at all… all I wanted was to become invisible and to sleep.
I got my boots on and picked up the sandwich, wrapping it up. It was too good not to finish later.
“Night, Marisol,” Major said as I walked by and I swallowed hard giving him a curt “Night,” back.
I swept past Maverick to the back door of the club and heard him sigh and say, “Night fellas,” as I took the steps off the little back porch to the cracked sidewalk below.
“Marisol,” Maverick called gently, and I looked up. “Slow down, baby. Ain’t going anywhere without me.”
I lashed out; I couldn’t help it. I was so helpless! I had no place to channel the absolute rage.
“I don’t really know if I’m going anywhere with you, either, to be honest…” I said and I walked briskly across the street to his waiting bike.
He stood silent, staring, and I couldn’t read his expression. He took his time stepping down and crossing the road. He stopped in front of me and cupped my cheek, but his expression was frosty at best. The chill radiated from him and I almost shivered despite the summer heat.
He stroked a thumb across my lips, and I jerked back. He smirked and there was nothing playful about it.
“I’m going to give you a pass right now. We’re going to go home and we’re going to sort this out,” he said evenly, his voice pleasant but for its menacing undertone. “Don’t ever make the mistake of disrespecting me in front of the boys,” he said, and his voice lost all pretense of pleasantry at all. “I mean it, babe. I’ll drop your ass like a bad habit.”
I stared up at him, mouth dry, and tears sprang to my eyes at the thought. His expression softened, though his jaw tightened at the glassy sheen that blurred my vision.
“I’m beginning to love you,” he said, and the confession was a stark one. I sniffed and didn’t say anything because I didn’t know what to say.
“I’m so angry,” I said, shaking with it. “I don’t know what to do or how to feel. I just want to punch something.” The confession felt both good and terrifying at the same time. I stared up