Storm lets me go without another word but he doesn’t get out of the truck.
“I did for the moment. But you couldn’t honestly think we could just get back together like nothing happened! I’ve got to talk about it. I just have to understand why you broke my heart in the first place. It didn’t make any sense to me. It still doesn’t!” The four others stand around the truck and I’m sure they can hear me. I guess I got an audience anyway.
“I told you. I’ll tell you a thousand times if I have to. You may never understand and that’s okay. I’ll live with it the rest of my life. I’ll live with how I broke your heart, how I broke my own. But life moves on Ashley. We still love each other. It’s never gonna go away. Just deal with it. Just be my old lady and forget all that other shit.” He grabs my shoulders and hauls me across the truck bench. “There hasn’t been a moment in the past five years that I didn’t think about you. I know I made a mistake and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make it right. But you’re gonna be here for me to do that.” He places his forehead against mine and looks deep into my eyes. “You and me are forever. End. Of. Fuckin’. Story.” Then we’re kissing and forgetting about the audience. I couldn’t honestly tell you who moved first, whose lips touched whose first; I can just tell you it was amazing. No matter how many years or how many times he’s kissed me, it’s always like I’m flying about the sky, like I’m fucking free.
“I love you,” he whispers as he moves his face away from mine. “I never stopped and I never will. It mighta been easy, what we had before, but that doesn’t mean I ain’t gonna make mistakes. You make them too. But for the rest of the time we’re breathin’, you’ll be with me.”
I open my mouth to reply but the brothers around the truck start clapping. I know my face has turned red. “Okay,” I whisper because he makes the best point ever.
There hasn’t been a moment in my day that I haven’t thought of Damien. Not since the day I met him.
It seems I’ve always been stuck between my first love and the love of my life. When in reality, the only one who could ever measure up to what I needed is Damien. But you never forget your first, or so I hear. But now that I know he isn’t going to die, I can finally lay to rest all the stuff with Victor.
I can finally be the real me.
Eleven
“So you’re back together with him? Just like that?” Lola asks, after taking a swig of her beer.
I have my own bottle sitting in front of me on the bar. I watch the sweat drip down the sides, lost in my own thoughts. Though I still answer her. “I wouldn’t say just like that. But we are married since he refused to divorce me and I think that deserves a chance. I loved him more than I’ve ever loved anyone else. Hell, the second I saw him again after five years, I knew I was still in love with him.”
“Love doesn’t care. It picks who we need the most,” she tells me and I look over at her. Her eyes are trained off into the distance and I know she’s looking at Storm. They had a rough time of it, when they first fell in love. Gah I miss the old days. That shit was fun to watch.
“It also chooses the wrong person. I’ve spent half my life chasing after Victor. Even now when I’m not with him I’m cleaning up his mess.” And I am. Another reason I decided to stay here is to protect Talon. I know he’s still down in the basement. They’ll have to let him go soon or the governor is going to have a war on his hands.
Lola chuckles and waves her hand at Grenade, a brother in his fifties who’s retired to just bartender, for another beer. “Victor is family to you. That’s why I didn’t agree with Rage when he broke up with you. Whether you loved Victor or not, he lived with you, grew up with you. There’s a bond there no one can break. You may hate him, but you’ll always love him too.”
“You make my brain hurt. Stop making sense.” We both giggle and the sound echoes around the now quiet room.
We both turn around in our stools and notice everyone facing the front doors. Light from outside shines in and my heart starts beating in overtime. This can’t be good.
Then everyone parts like the sea for Moses. Three figures come into view and my mouth drops open. “Damn. Hot man boy alerts,” Lola whispers, and I still find the comment funny even though my brothers are striding towards me.
I stand up and smooth my hands down my thighs. Fuck, this is not the time for this crap. Why can’t I have one event-free night? I think I’ve been through enough, what with the mob after me, and Damien coming back into my life. “What in the fuck are y’all doing here? You need to leave,” I say, seething on the inside. I ball my hands into fists and if they say the wrong thing I’m probably going to hit one or all of them.