Chapter 29 Briar #2
He cuts me off, leaning down to get in my face. His breath smells like beer as he mutters, “I can’t believe you’re actually buying his bullshit.”
Narrowing my eyes, I ask, “Whose?”
Is he talking about Dad? Or Dominic? Either way, I seriously doubt he knows what he’s talking about at all given the hazy, unfocused look in his eyes.
“That first night, we told Lee to pick three women—one to fuck, one to marry, and one to kill.” He obviously thinks this is some great reveal. I can see him mentally doing a ta-da wave of his magic wand.
Rolling my eyes, I’m already dismissing him. “I know. Dom told me.”
Anderson’s brows furrow together as he frowns deeply. He definitely wasn’t ready for that response. “So . . . what? You’re just playing along with him? Do you hate your dad that much?”
“My dad? What are you talking about?”
“Lee picked you to marry,” he says, sounding puzzled by my question.
Scoffing, he says, “I can’t believe he’s actually going through with it.
He’s gonna marry Coach’s daughter over some bar game because he’s pissed he got dragged out here away from his beloved Hawks.
Sounds like a surefire way to fuck with the man you hate.
” He shrugs as a snide smirk tilts up his lips.
“Maybe for both of you to fuck with Coach.”
My breath catches in my chest as I look from Anderson’s right eye to his left. I can see the glee hiding there behind the drunkenness. He wants to hurt me, wants to hurt Dominic, and maybe even Dad.
He wants to hurt everyone, I think. Sounds like someone else I know.
Once upon a time, I might’ve believed him.
Or at least let him plant seeds of doubt in my mind.
Because, in my experience, men lie. They cheat and manipulate.
They leave and shirk their responsibilities.
They hurt and cause chaos, not caring about the people who are left behind to pick up the pieces.
Dad did that.
Tyler did, too, and so much worse.
But now? I have no doubts about Dominic.
He’s a different animal altogether. He heals, he protects, he cares, and I trust him. I love him. And he loves me, which has nothing to do with a stupid bar bet.
Something clicks inside me and I realize that I don’t have to listen to this. Anderson doesn’t deserve one second of my time, energy, and attention. I’ve walked away from scarier men than Wayne Anderson. So I laugh in his face.
“I wasn’t the ‘marry’ option in your silly little game.
He picked me to fuck, and you know what?
” I lean in a little, wanting to be sure he hears me clearly.
“He did. Guess he won. Maybe I should thank you?” I say rhetorically, not meaning it in the slightest. “Because we’re going to play it again and again and again.
I’m pretty sure that makes me the winner,” I say brightly.
His eyes flare with disappointment. He thought I was weak and wanted to exploit the vulnerability he perceived in me.
But he was wrong. I’m not fragile. I’m not broken.
Yes, I’ve got some scars on my heart, but they’re just a part of my story.
Signs of the battles I’ve fought and survived.
Part of the experiences that made me who I am.
“He didn’t win anything,” he spits out harshly.
I look past Anderson, to the group of guys all having a great time together. And to the man I’m going to join. As a smile naturally blooms on my face, I say, “Really? I think he won everything.”
With that, I leave Anderson sputtering impotently and walk over to Dominic, curling into his side comfortably. He looks down at me, his arm already instinctively wrapped around my shoulders. “You okay?”
I look up at him and nod. “Yeah, I’m great, Albie.”
The smile that lights up his face tells me everything I need to know. About this man and about his motivations.
He’s a helper. He’s a stayer. He’s a fixer.
And he’s all mine.
I wasn’t looking for him. In fact, I was actively not-looking for a man.
I wasn’t ready to take that leap of faith again.
Honestly, I might’ve never taken it, if it hadn’t been for Dominic slipping through my defenses, not with aggressive hits to the tall and thick walls I’d built around my heart, but with his patience and kindness.
Even then, he could’ve settled in and made himself a comfy little home in me, not pushing too hard or challenging too much, just fitting into my life like a puzzle piece I didn’t know I was missing. That would’ve been easier for us both.
But then we wouldn’t be here.
Instead of easy, he made me grow. He made me look hard truths in the face and gave me the courage to speak my piece. He asked questions that made me look deeper inside than I ever had. And somehow, he did it all with a cocky smirk and who-me charm that I never saw coming.
He made me evolve into a better woman, a better mom, a better me.
“Hey,” I say and his eyes are instantly mine again. I lift to my toes and give him a kiss, right there in front of everyone.
And like the immature boys that they are, the team breaks out into a chorus of “Ooooh!”
Instead of being embarrassed, I laugh right along with them. With Dom’s brothers. With his team.