Rafe—
I drop Tori off at her car in the morning, intending to follow her to the mill.
We’re standing at the open door of her car, kissing like we’ll never see each other again. Kissing and grinning. There’s been a lot of that this morning, too.
Finally, I break away from her delicious mouth, moaning. “When’s your first class?”
“Nine.”
I check my watch.
“But you’re going to be late for work,” she says, watching me.
My phone chimes, and I look at it.
“What is it?” Tori asks.
“Nothing. Just need to swing by the clubhouse. You go on, and I’ll be right behind you.”
“All right.” She gives me another peck, then climbs behind the wheel. “I’ll see you soon. Be careful.”
“You too, babe.” I close her door and watch until she pulls away, then swing my leg over my bike and head in the other direction.
When I get to the clubhouse, there are only three bikes there, which is a lot for this hour of the morning. I know every bike that every brother rides, so I know before I push through the door that Cole, Crash, and Green are here.
They’re at the bar, nursing mugs of coffee, a bottle of Bailey’s next to Green’s mug. A bottle of whiskey sits between Cole and Crash.
“Mornin’, brothers. What’s up?” I ask, taking a seat at the corner with Cole and Crash at the end, and Green on my other side.
Green grins. “Nothing. Just thought we’d fuck with you and drag you out of bed and away from the girl we hear you took home last night.”
“That girl? It was Tori,” I say.
“We know. We want to hear all about it.” Crash says.
I glance around. “I’m surprised my father isn’t here.”
“He don’t want to hear about your sex life, boy. Gross,” Green says.
“But you do?”
Cole shrugs. “Nothing better to do this morning.”
“Yeah, we’re waiting for it to warm up so we can go riding. Thought, how can we kill time? Then we thought of you.” Crash hits my arm with the back of his hand.
“You realize you didn’t drag me out of bed. I was headed to work.”
Green rears back. “You mean to tell me you had that sweet thing you been chasin’ all this time finally in your bed, and you got up to go to fucking work?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, her dad’s the boss.”
Cole takes a sip of his coffee. “He know about this, brother?”
“About what?”
Green stands and starts thrusting his hips like he’s fucking someone. “You and his daughter doin’ the chucka chucka wow wow .” He sings the last words, and I wince.
“No, he doesn’t know. Not that it’s anyone’s business.”
“We’re your brothers. We make it our business.”
“No, you don’t,” I say, waving Cody over and pointing to the bar top.
He brings me a mug of coffee, and I sip it.
“So, is this thing with the boss’s daughter serious?” Cole asks.
“Boss’s daughter,” Green mimics. “Damn, that sounds hot. You been sneakin’ around behind her old man’s back? You been slippin’ her the salami at work?”
“Shut up, Green,” I snap.
“Sounds like she means more to you than just a good time, Rafe,” Cole says.
“She does,” I reply, staring at the bar. “How do I know I’m the one?”
“You gotta be the one. You gotta prove yourself to her,” Green replies.
“Only way you’re gonna prove yourself to her it by leading with consistency, with confidence, and with calm,” Cole says.
Crash point at me. “That last one is key, brother.”
Cole reaches under the bar and grabs four shot glasses in his fingers. Then tilts the bottle of whiskey and fills them. “It’s in how you hold her heart, not just how you touch her body, kid.”
“Though, ya better be good at that, too.” Green looks at Cole’s frustrated glare. “What? Am I lyin’?”
“You want to let me talk, or you gonna keep interrupting?”
Green puts his hands up.
Cole turns to me. “You gotta show her your love is staying; you gotta show her you’re gonna be there to carry her when life gets too much.”
“You protect her, but you don’t control her. Understand the difference?” Crash adds.
“I feel all that, but how the hell do I show her all that?” I ask.
“It’s not about what you say or flowery words, it’s the kind of love she feels when you walk into the room.
The way you look at her, the way you press your chest to her back and kiss her neck.
You gotta be her safe space, and when she feels that, when she knows it down to her bones?
Brother, you’ll reap it back one-hundred-fold.
The love she’ll show you will be amazing. ”
Green points at me. “Trust the overthinker who says they love you; they’ve thought of every reason not to and still do.”
“Is Sara an overthinker, Green?” I ask.
“Yup. And here I am, livin’ my best life because of it.”
Cole passes me a shot. “Look at Crash. He treats Shannon like a princess, but it’s not about him buying her stuff. It’s about listening to her, holding her without words when all she needs is to be held. It’s how he protects her, how he makes her feel safe in any room they walk into.”
Crash points a finger at me. “You don’t let her go to sleep crying or upset. You never make her feel like she’s hard to love. You become her peace in all this chaos.”
“She wants emotional safety, brother,” Cole adds.
“Do you love this girl, Rafe?” Green asks.
“Yeah, I do.”
“How do you know you love her, Rafe?” Cole asks.
I think about it for a long minute. “She sees me. Not the me the world sees, but the man underneath. It’s an incredible feeling.
But it's more than that. It’s the feeling that takes over me when she leans her head on my chest. For the first time last night, it was like my heart remembered what it was like to feel safe to share the shit of my past. Ya know? ”
“Amen, brother,” Crash downs his shot.
Cole nods. “Sex is great, and when it’s a new relationship, that shit is off the fucking charts, but it’s not about the fireworks. It’s about the quiet times in each other’s arms.”
Crash refills his shot glass. “For me, it’s the brush of her fingertips on the back of my neck while we’re riding. That little gesture that says she’s with me, and she trusts me. God, that gets me every time.”
Cole nods. “For me, it’s Angel barefoot in my shirt, dancing in the kitchen, no makeup, laughing like she doesn’t even know how fucking lovely she is. So lovely it hurts my heart to look at her. The morning sun shimmering over her. That right there is heaven, brothers.” He tosses back his shot.
“She’s your light, your joy, your fire,” Crash murmurs, staring into space.
Cole turns to meet my eyes. “She’s your anchor, your peace, your home.” He smacks his hand on the bar. “That’s fucking love, brother.”
Crash lifts his glass. “To ol’ ladies. They make our world go round.”