Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Drew
Thanksgiving had arrived, and for the first time in a long time, I had a lot to be thankful for.
Two weeks had passed since the night in the forest, four weeks since my life had flashed before my eyes and I’d seen Ayda’s home turn into a blazing beacon of orange and black.
Time was flying by, yet dragging its ass.
I had a reason to live when I was locked up in the room with my woman, the blinds on the rest of the world closed and nothing but her quiet whispers in my ear.
That also meant I had a reason to die—a sacrifice I was willing to make today if it meant keeping her and the rest of the men around me breathing.
I held no fear of that moment happening so long as they were safe.
All I felt was strength. The only thing I knew I would feel would be regret.
Regret that I didn’t meet her sooner, regret that our lives couldn’t have been better together, and regret that I hadn’t been able to save what I now knew she couldn’t live without anymore: the man she loved without restriction, even when he struggled to love himself.
As I looked around the table and Ayda’s grip on me tightened, I gave her another curious, sideways glance.
She was the most beautiful woman that existed.
Not just for the way she looked, but for the stuff that went on inside of her, too.
That heart of hers was big enough and strong enough to take on the whole fucking world, but even she had moments of weakness.
She had moments where her mask slipped as much as mine did and right then was one of them.
Following her gaze, I glanced over at Deeks and Autumn before turning back to study that look on Ayda’s face.
She was lost in a cloud of her own curiosity, and, given who she was currently staring at, it wasn’t hard for me to guess what she might be thinking.
I wasn’t going to press her about it. I was slowly learning that there was shit I should know and shit I most definitely shouldn’t.
Picking my battles with her was becoming an art form.
There was no way I was going to ruin Thanksgiving by daring to stamp her with my do-not-even-think-of-asking-me-to-fucking-share-you stick.
It would turn into one of those fights where I end up apologizing for shit I didn’t even know I’d done wrong.
I hated those fights.
Those, I had no clue how to win.
I was just about to lean over and bring her back to the land of the living by whispering what I was going to do to her later, when Slater leaned over my shoulder to speak quietly in my ear, making sure I was the only one who could hear him.
“Is this a no business day or can we discuss something?”
There was an edge to his voice, one I’d heard a thousand times before, growing up with him. It made my spine stiffen. With everything going on in our lives, living like we were breathing on borrowed time was a new part of our everyday routine—one that I tried like hell to hide from Ayda and Tate.
Keeping my face forward, I jabbed my fork onto my plate, not bothering to look at what food I was scooping up as I casually shoved it in my mouth and spoke through tight lips.
“It’s Thanksgiving, Slate.”
“No shit,” he replied, shuffling his feet closer as his hands found the back of my chair.
“And Ayda has gone to a lot of fucking trouble to make sure we all enjoy it.” I turned subtly to the side, my eyes straining to lock with his as I flashed a look that told him enough.
“Message received.”
“Unless it’s urgent, I’m not interested.”
Ayda’s hand roamed farther up my thigh, and I knew that her attention was now on my brother and me. The downside of spending so much time with this woman was that it was getting harder for me to cover up the stuff I didn’t want anyone else to see.
Whether she knew the tenor of the conversation or not, she smiled at the people around her and leaned in, her lips barely moving as she reached over me for the salt.
“Do what you have to do. You can make it up to me later.” There was a hint of humor in her voice, but under it was a level of understanding.
Keeping my eyes trained on Slater, I didn’t have to say or do anything other than raise my brows in question.
He shot Ayda an apologetic glance before he tapped the ends of my chair with his hands and slowly shook his head. “It can wait.”
“Thank you,” I said through a flat smile. All I wanted was one day. One day to try and at least pretend that we were capable of living in some kind of normalcy, for her and her brother, not for me.
Harry and Jedd both made it clear that they’d seen our exchange and, as reliable as ever, Harry pushed his chair back and went to follow Slater without even a second thought.
If there was anything I needed to know, Harry would make damn sure I was made aware of it, whether it was Thanksgiving or fucking Christmas.
I trusted his judgement more than my own.
Rubbing my lips together, I cleared my throat and spun around in my seat to face Ayda.
Not giving her a chance to respond, I grabbed a hold of her cheeks and pulled her closer, pressing my lips to hers with enough force to show her how much she meant to me, but not enough to scare her.
I knew how nervous she got when it came to club shit.
“What was that for?” she whispered, lifting her hands to cover mine, the tips of her fingers dusting over my skin. “Not that I’m complaining, of course.”
“Can’t I just find my girl irresistible enough to want to kiss her whenever I feel like it?”
“When you put it like that, of course you can.” Her face lit up with her own smile, one hand pulling away from my face to push her brother’s aside as he leaned in making kissing noises.
A fleeting thought of Pete flashed through my mind. Tate’s mimicking reminded me of something he would have done to me, but I quickly shoved it aside, focusing all that I had on Ayda.
“Tell me something,” I said softly, pausing as I pulled her focus back to me. “How does this compare to all your other Thanksgivings?”
“Well,” she said, bringing her hand back to my cheek and stroking gently.
Her attention flickered from my eyes to my lips and back again, her gaze filled with a mixture of happiness and sadness.
“This one is extra special because of you and every one of our extended family. It makes me happy to have so many people here. I'm thankful for every one of you. It’s just a sad holiday for me, too. This was my mom’s favorite of the year, the one she always had us all together for.
In comparison, though, you win hands down.
Only because I know what’s going to come later. ”
“The pie?” I teased.
“Of course the pie. I made it.” The blue of her eyes intensified before softening again. “I have one hidden in the mini fridge in your room. I want to pig out, watch movies and eat pie. Then later we can work it off… together.”
“Watch movies and drop crumbs in your own room,” I hit back, smiling at her as my hands fell to the tops of her thighs and rested there.
“If you’re laying down on my bed, you better be ready to be naked and played with from head to toe, dusk ‘til dawn. From ready and willing to completely broken and destroyed.”
“You’re such a romantic and you drive a hard bargain, but I’m game if you are. Working off calories while eating them. It’s revolutionary.”
“And I’m all about a revolution,” I groaned, leaning forward to gift her with another small kiss, which earned yet another insult from her little brother.
Before Ayda had time to react to him, I lifted one hand to the table, grabbed the first thing my fingers could find and launched it in his direction.
From the cries of pain that filled the air, I guessed spoons really fucking hurt when they connected.
“I think it’s a sign. Tate just volunteered to do the dishes.” Ayda gasped, her head turning to peer at her brother.
“I think I heard Kenny offer to help, too.” My face followed hers, my attention landing on Kenny, who looked as though I’d just asked him to rip out the heart of a pig with his bare hands and dress it up in whipped cream. “Isn’t that right, brows?”
Kenny’s arm snapped out to the side, connecting with Tate’s bicep as he gritted his teeth together and spat out, “You and me can’t be friends anymore, fucker.”
“You do realize it’s a commercial dishwasher? It’s really not that difficult, but I can put it out of order if you’re that intent on hand-washing them,” Ayda said, her face impressively straight.
Harry re-entering the room caught my attention, even though I didn’t want to look away from Ayda in case I missed that smile that I knew was due to arrive at any moment.
Casting a quick glance his way, I didn’t drop the happiness from my face as I watched him walk back across the club.
The moment he closed his eyes and shook his head, I had the all clear.
Whatever it was that was on Slater’s mind would have to wait.
If Harry didn’t think it was urgent, neither did I.
Shuffling my chair closer to Ayda, my knees parted to pull hers in between mine.
As much as I loved the banter between her and Tate, I was suddenly in the mood for being selfish again.
My brothers had had enough of her time for today.
I was ready to show her how thankful I was for having her in my life.
“Can we escape these fucking monkeys and skip the pie?” I growled, tilting my head to one side and softly massaging her legs beneath my hands.
“I thought you’d never ask,” she whispered, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip before they stretched out into her smile.
Reaching for her hand, I clasped it in both of mine, my lazy half smile trained on her as I stood up and began to guide her away, ignoring the sounds of the men who began to whoop and howl around the table.
Now that I was certain we were in the clear for one more day, I was going to make sure Ayda Hanagan knew how much I loved her.
I was going to let my hands say the things that my mouth had yet to figure out how to set free.