Zephyr #2
“What would we have to discuss that the others couldn’t hear us?” I asked.
Fenrir hiked up his eyebrow. “Are you gonna make me pry it out of you? You’ve been staying mostly to yourself. I’ve barely seen you in the clubhouse or hanging out anywhere else. You’ve gone on several solo rides. You got a new best friend? If so, heads will roll,” he groused.
I shoved him playfully, causing his ass to laugh, and then he was coming at me. We mock wrestled each other for a minute before I got back to the job at hand.
“No, not a new best friend, though I’d be smart if I did that. I’ve had things on my mind that I needed to work out for myself. It’s not personal.”
“Would this personal business have anything to do with a certain drop-dead gorgeous woman by the name of Everlyn Forrest?”
I remained silent, which made him smile with satisfaction.
“I knew it! You’ve been seeing her on the sly?” he asked.
“No, I haven’t been. She and I haven’t seen or talked for three weeks until I ran into her in town.”
“How did it go? Did you get anywhere with getting her naked and in your bed? You haven’t been with any of our hóror in ages. And when we were on the last run, you let the one at Hatchet Hallow suck you off, but that was all.”
“How do you know I haven’t been with any of our hóror?” I shot back.
“Because they talk, and there has been bitching about how you don’t come around anymore. They’ve been speculating you’re seeing someone or getting it off women in town, which they don’t like one bit.”
I groaned. “By the gods, why do they do that? They have no right to get territorial.”
“I know, but it happens. Come on, you can talk to me about anything, Zephyr.” All joking was gone. Fenrir’s expression was serious.
And he was right. I knew I could. Fenrir and I bonded on that terrible night. He was the one who suggested we pair up to help defend and liberate as many natives as we could. Back then, he’d been Rune, and I was Leif. Our friendship was forged in the flames of that ordeal.
“I know I can. And I could do with some input. I need to know if I’m crazy. If I am, you have to talk me out of it,” I told him.
“Then let's get this over with. Get yourself cleaned up, then our asses into town. I want to hear what has the mighty Zephyr about to break. Or hurt someone,” he commented.
Fenrir helped me finish the last chore, then he went to his house to shower and change while I did the same at my place. We met twenty minutes later outside the crypt. We were riding our bikes, naturally. Not wasting time, we took off.
During the ride into town, I kept running through the answers I planned to give him.
Fenrir would dig like a hound until he knew everything.
It was what made him a fantastic hacker and IT specialist. But on the flip side, it’s what he’d do when he sensed there were problems or changes for his brothers and sisters.
Neither of us liked to be surprised, and we sure didn’t want anything like what had happened before to happen again.
I allowed him to wander through Asgard until he decided where we’d eat. He pulled into the parking lot of a burger joint called Chomp. We ate there at least once a month. They made the juiciest, tastiest burgers around. It would be no hardship to eat there.
We lucked out and found parking close to the door. When we entered, we found there was a short wait, so we hung out at the bar until we were called. It was too close and noisy to start a serious conversation at the bar, so we joked about the latest funny stories from work.
We waited seven minutes before they escorted us to a table in the back of the restaurant.
I sat and steeled myself for Fenrir’s mock interrogation.
But he was the one I needed to know where my head was at.
He wouldn’t lead me astray. After placing our drink and food orders, since we knew what we wanted, Fenrir prodded me.
“Alright, we’re here. Talk to me. What happened in town today with that woman?”
“Her name is Everlyn, not that woman. And nothing really happened.”
“Something did. Tell me from start to finish,” he pushed.
If it were anyone else, I’d tell them to fuck off, but not him. Sighing, I launched into what happened. When I was finished, he stared hard at me.
“Why are you so determined to stay away from her? If you’re intrigued by her, find her sexually enticing, then why not see if she feels the same? If she does, then go for it. You’ve never put this much thought into a woman you want to fuck. I don’t get it.”
Anger flared when he insinuated I only wanted to fuck her. I stopped myself from shouting at the last second. Instead, I leaned toward him over the table and hissed.
“Because I don’t want to just fuck her! I’m afraid that it’ll turn into more than that. And I don’t want to set up a no-win scenario for either of us. You’ve seen what it has been like for those who’ve done that over the years. It ended in pain.”
He slowly nodded, then said, “That’s what I thought.
I’m glad you can at least admit it to yourself and me.
But I think you’re looking at it all wrong.
Yes, there’s nothing you can do about the length of time you may have together.
Not even mortals can. And while there is a chance she’ll run when the truth is revealed, what if she doesn’t?
What if she accepts it, stays, and you have decades together?
“Leif, we’ve more than paid for what happened.
We did our best to save as many as we could then, and in the years afterward, before we left Aksel’s group, and even afterward, when we saw injustice.
We’re outlaws, not monsters. I think we’re entitled to a little happiness in our lives.
Eternity is a long time to live isolated and without love. ”
His words hit me hard. They were along the lines of the argument I’d had with myself when I tried to justify not ignoring Everlyn.
After several minutes of silence, I replied. “What about that Willis guy? Do I have the right to destroy his happiness by pursuing and potentially taking her away from him?”
“If she wants to be with him, nothing you say or do will change it. And he can fight for her. It’ll be a case of letting the man she desires most win. Come on, you’re an immortal Viking warrior turned outlaw biker. He doesn’t have a chance in hell.” Fenrir grinned and winked, causing me to chuckle.
Later, when our meal ended and we rose to leave, I knew I’d made my decision. I was seeing if I could snatch my small window of happiness, no matter what.