13. BRIGGS
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
brIGGS
“The two of you are together,” Cormac drawls, his narrowed gaze bouncing between me and Autumn, where we decided to accept the dinner invitation at Rocking M. I assumed there might be some questions since Autumn talked to Davie about us, so his unspoken question isn’t a surprise.
“Yes.” No hesitation. Firm and confident.
“How?”
I roll my eyes as Autumn squeezes my hand on her thigh beneath the table. “Well, when a man and a woman—”
Connor coughs into his fist to cover a laugh while Cormac scoffs. “You know what I mean, asshole. I thought the two of you didn’t like each other.”
“We didn’t really know each other,” Autumn cuts in. “I only knew what I heard through the High Ridge gossip mill, and Briggs’s opinions about women were colored by past experiences. Once we cleared the air, being together just made sense.”
Cormac doesn’t look convinced. “That’s what’s confusing. Why would you even talk long enough to ‘clear the air’? When did you even meet to start talking? The rage park?”
“The Suitor’s Crossing street dance,” I say. It’s the truth, even if the evening was filled with less talking and more of Autumn on her knees sucking my cock.
He doesn’t question that part any further, which is best, since Autumn and I agreed not to share our auspicious beginning as friends with benefits.
“Man, I’ve got to hand it to you. After being such a dick about Davie, I’m glad your subsequent apology and promise to do better actually made a difference.”
I bite the inside of my cheek and nod. Maybe that ordeal was at the back of my mind, but mostly, it was Autumn who made the difference.
“I’m happy for you two,” Davie says. She’s holding Jesse while he gnaws on a rubber pony, drool sliding down his chin, and I wonder if Autumn and I will reach a place where we want children.
It’s still early days for our relationship—hell, we barely had the define the relationship conversation since Autumn just blurted out that I was her boyfriend in front of her parents and ex—but neither of us are kids anymore.
I’ll be forty-three by Thanksgiving, and Autumn is only six years younger than me.
She catches my eye and follows the direction of my attention to the baby in her friend’s lap. A soft smile tinkers around her mouth as if she can read my mind. Bumping my shoulder with hers, she leans in to whisper in my ear.
“Maybe.”
And that’s good enough for me.
We’ve got plenty of time to discuss the future, especially when we’re concentrating on learning how to live as a couple.
Autumn has baggage from dealing with Jason, who refuses to stop calling her for every damn problem, which means I’ve taken to blocking his number on her phone whenever I can.
Until she notices how peaceful her life’s been, and she unblocks him.
It’s something she’s working on with her therapist.
Just like I’m working on learning how to trust more with my own therapist, after Autumn badgered me into giving therapy a try. Apparently, I’ve got a lot of pent up anger from my childhood along with wounds that never fully healed.
So, yeah, we both have shit to deal with that affects our relationship, but damn, has it been worth the risk of trusting my curvy valkyrie.
I’ve never believed I’d have a happy life. A secure one that I built myself, sure, but not a truly happy one filled with contentment.
It never seemed to be in the cards for me.
Until Autumn changed everything with one swing of a bat in my salvage yard.