Chapter 11 #2
“How’d things work out with the kid last night?”
“Fine.” I stretched my back, then said, “It all worked out.”
“Glad to hear it.” He studied me for a moment. “Then, what’s with the Jack? You stuck in your head or something?”
“I don’t want to get into it.”
“Of course, you don’t.” He walked over and sat down in the chair in front of my desk. “You decided what you’re gonna do about Mia?”
“Nope.”
“You think you two could still make a go of it?”
“Fuck if I know.”
“What about Rebecca? Where does she play into all this?”
“Can’t answer that shit either.”
“Seriously?” Axel snickered. “I thought you were supposed to be the man with all the answers.”
“Ask me something about the club or one of the brothers, and I can give you an answer all fucking day long. Ask me something about myself or the women in my life, and I’ve got nothin’.”
“Ah, you know more than you think.” His smile faded. “I mean, come on, brother. You know what’s what. You’ve known all along.”
“I hate to break it to ya, but I don’t know a damn thing.”
“Yeah, you do. Just think about it.” He gave me that look again.
“You’ve been crazy about this girl all along, and she’s certainly crazy about you.
She puts up with your bullshit, and she’s a fucking knockout to boot.
She’s not the kind of woman who needs you, but she wants ya.
And she’s a fighter who’s strong and determined.
Been through hell and back but keeps on trucking. Yeah, she’s one of the good ones.”
“Yeah, she is.”
“That one.” He pointed at me. “That one right there. Whoever you were thinking about right then. The one who came to mind when I said all that, she’s your girl, brother.” He gave me a nod. “She’s the one, and you best go do something about it.”
Without saying another word, Axel stood up and walked out of the room. Fuck. I hadn’t expected him to pull the rug out from under me like that, but he had. More than that, he was right.
I knew right then what I had to do.
I got up and went down to my room, and after a hot shower, I headed out to my bike and rode over to her house. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to say. I just knew I couldn’t put it off a minute longer.
When I pulled up in the driveway, I was pleased to see her car still parked in the garage.
I hoped that meant she was home as I headed up the steps and knocked on her door.
It seemed like I waited there for an eternity before it finally opened, and Mia appeared in the doorway.
She was still in her robe and slippers, and she seemed both surprised and happy to see me.
Her eyes lit up as she gasped. “Thatch! What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk.”
“Sounds serious.”
“You could say that.”
“Okay, then.” She motioned me forward. “Come on inside, and I’ll make us some coffee.”
As I stepped through the front door, I told her, “Won’t be here long enough for coffee.”
“Oh, wow. This talk is sounding worse by the second.”
“Well, it’s one that needs to be had.” I took a step towards her. “I’ve thought a lot about what you said the other day.”
“I’ve thought a lot about it, too.” Her eyes dropped to the ground as she said, “It was tough hearing that I was right about Camden cheating. It was even harder to hear he had a son and another baby on the way, especially when he knew how badly I wanted kids.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that had to be tough on you.”
“It was, but it got me to thinking.” She inched closer and wound her arms around my neck. “Maybe this was a sign. Maybe we really were meant to be together.”
As soon as the words slipped from her lips, she eased up on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth to mine, kissing me with fervor.
She didn’t seem to notice that I wasn’t kissing her back—at least, not right away.
When she finally caught on, she stepped back and quickly pulled away from me. “What’s wrong?”
“This isn’t gonna happen. Not now. Not after all this time.”
“What?”
“I care about you, Mia. I always have and always will.” She looked up at me with doe eyes as I told her, “But not like this. Not anymore.”
A wounded expression marked her face as she muttered, “Oh, I just thought we might finally have a chance to... Are you sure? Don’t you want to at least try and see where things might go?”
“It’s not going to change anything.” I placed my hands on her shoulders. “Our time—whatever that was or wasn’t—has come and gone.”
“But how can you be so sure?”
“Because there’s someone else.”
“Oh, wow... I didn’t see that one coming.” Her beautiful face twisted into a grimace as she took another step back and crossed her arms. “There have been other women before. How do you know this one’s so different?”
“Let’s just say Axel enlightened me.”
“Excuse me?”
“I just know, Mia. I can’t explain it any better than that.”
Tears started to pool in her eyes as she said, “I’ve made such a mess of things.
I really did love Camden. I tried to make things work, but with every argument, every work trip, I found myself wondering what could’ve been.
It wasn’t fair to him or to you. It ripped our marriage apart.
It’s no wonder he went searching for love somewhere else. ”
“There’s no excuse for what Camden did, Mia.”
“No, but I had my part to play in it. At the very least, I should’ve left him when I realized he was cheating.”
“Like I was told not too long ago, hindsight is twenty-twenty.”
“Yeah, that’s certainly true.” She placed her hand on my chest and said, “I’m really sorry for making such a mess of things. I think we could’ve been really great together.”
“Guess we’ll never know.”
I kissed Mia softly on the forehead, then turned and walked out of the house, leaving her standing there with tears streaming down her face.
Every choice came with a consequence, and mine was no different. I knew things between Mia and me would never be the same, but I was okay with that. I was tired of looking back and questioning decisions I’d made so long ago. I was ready to move forward.
I was ready to move forward with Bec.
I just hoped she felt the same.