Chapter 7 Mark
Ihad no idea what the hell had come over me. It felt like the man I’d been mere hours ago, between when I left my place and when I arrived, had changed.
Completely.
Irrevocably.
I watched as she walked past me and into the kitchen with her girls. I knew they were looking at me, whispering about what was going on. What the hell was going on?
“You good?” Brewster asked as he came to stand next to me, a beer in his hand. Austin flanked him.
“What are we looking at?” the bartender asked.
I glanced at him. I stood at my full height, and even though I was six feet, he was taller, probably about six four, six six.
But that wasn’t what I found intimidating.
The fucker was a good-looking guy, and judging by the easy smile on his face and the way he carried himself, he knew it.
“I’m looking at my woman,” Brew muttered with clear annoyance in his tone, “You need to keep your eyes somewhere else.” Austin chuckled.
“Afraid of some friendly competition?” he teased. From what I knew of him, he didn’t seem like the kind of man to try and snatch up someone else’s woman.
“Shut up.” Brew shoulder-bumped him. “She’s moving in tomorrow.” Austin whistled before patting Brewster on the back.
“Congrats, man.” He shook his head. “That’s fast, though, no? You two got together when?”
“Halloween,” Brew answered. Less than a month, I calculated.
I didn’t know Brewster Graham all that well other than the few times I’d gone to see homes with him. He was a good guy from what I had seen, but he didn’t seem like an impatient man or one to jump into anything.
“You’re welcome,” Austin said with a smile on his face, clearly trying to poke the bear.
“I’m welcome?” Brew asked, his brows bunched.
“If it weren’t for me… you two wouldn’t have met,” Austin said. They might have kept talking after that, but I swallowed hard and got lost in my head. My thoughts ran through my mind a million miles an hour. Could fate and destiny be that fickle?
“Timing had a lot to do with it, but I would have met her eventually,” Brew said out of nowhere, his tone confident beyond reason. My eyes strayed towards the kitchen with one thing in mind.
Timing is everything.
Suddenly, it felt like I had to hurry the fuck up, get my shit together. I was old enough to know this feeling; this connection didn’t happen often. Hell, I had been certain it would never happen to me.
I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with Abby.
I knew in my gut this was important, life changing. Hell, I already felt like a different man than the one who had stepped out of his car. I wasn’t going to fuck it up.
“Hey, Brew, you think I could get your help with something?” I asked, unable to take my eyes off Abby despite her back being turned to me. Jesus, the woman had an ass that would stop traffic.
“Sure. What’s up?” he asked, and when I told him my idea, he grinned and told me he had a better one.