and got her some cheese fries and a Coke. There’s no quicker way to my girl’s heart.
“You have no idea how good this tastes,” she groans in the back of her throat. It’s guttural, almost like when I go down on her.
“I’ve got a pretty good idea, given the sounds you’re making over there.”
She laughs, but when I glance over at her, red is creeping up her cheeks.
“Didn’t mean for it to sound that bad, but when you’ve had basically what amounts to school food for every meal - for months - you just don’t know.”
I don’t ever wanna know either.
I made a vow a long time ago nothing would keep me from my family.
To be a different man than my father was. I’ve tried hard, and mostly succeeded, but in that triumph, I’ve not looked out for the woman sitting next to me.
“I love you.” I grab her hand, bringing it up to my lips. “It’s occurred to me maybe I didn’t tell you enough.”
She takes a drink from her straw before looking over at me. “I love you too, and it’s occurred to me maybe I didn’t tell you enough either. What we have to do is stop putting others in front of our relationship and our family. If we make this a priority,” she holds up our clasped hands, “then nothing is going to break us apart again.”
“I’m willing.”
“I am too.” She smiles.
It’s one of those smiles I haven’t seen in years. The shy, almost bashful one she used to give me when I’d meet her at my locker in high school. The way she’d open the door and hide behind it to give me a kiss, hoping no one would see. It made me so hot for her, and the look she throws me now affects me the same way as it did then.
She lifts my hand up to her mouth, pressing her lips against my skin. “And Walker. I have a lot to do, to make up what I’ve put Walker through. God, how is he ever going to forgive me?”
“He loves you,” I remind her.
“Love shouldn’t be the end all, be all though, Dalton. I don’t want him to forgive me because I’m his mother and he should honor his parents. I want him to say he forgives me because he believes I’ve changed and I’ve gained his respect back. I really need to atone for the shit I’ve done. I always promised myself he’d have a better childhood than I did, and the past few months?” She shrugs. “He’s had a worse childhood than I ever thought about having. I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Be honest with him, that’s all he’s ever wanted.”
She nods, squaring her shoulders. “Where are we going? The house or the clubhouse.”
“We’ve been living at the clubhouse, but we can go back to the house if you want.”
She finishes up her cheese fries, putting them in the empty bag. Turning in the seat so she can half-way face me while still keeping her seatbelt on, she puts her drink in the console, moving her head this way and that to stretch out her neck. A sign what she’s about to say is important. “I’ve thought a lot about what I want to do in regards to where to live.”
“Okay, I’m open to anything you have to say, babe. You know that. I’m sure Walker has some thoughts about it too.”
“While there are so many good memories there - our field, getting married, bringing Walker home from the hospital - there are just as many bad memories there. I don’t want to make a decision right now. Anything I do won’t be because I’ve thought it over, it’ll be because I feel like I need to make one.”
“We can stay at the clubhouse for as long as we need to, you know that. If you decide you don’t want the house anymore, we’ll put it up for sale and find someplace all of us love. Closer to the crew, if that’s what you want.”
“I don’t know what I did to deserve you, D, but I’m a very lucky woman. Don’t think I don’t realize it, because I do. A lot of other men would have left and stayed gone. It would have been easier.”
“I’ve never done the easy thing, Mandy, and you know that. You’re the other half of my heart, and without you, there’s no sense in even trying to go on. Easy doesn’t always mean it’s best