The Possibility of Trey (26 page)

"The first time we had sex I—ah— I called her by another woman's name without realizing it," Brand confessed.

Even Trey had to agree that was a big goddamn no-no in the female arena. A man could call his partner any number of endearments or nicknames but to actually use another woman's name when he was pumping one out? Brand was lucky he still had his fucking balls with what Trey knew of his wife's temper.

"Ouch," Trey commiserated with a chuckle.

"Yes. That is a good word to describe it. But, I do not think our circumstances are so much different with our women. The only difference is that my Reese needed me and could not run."

"I wasn't married to Dallas, Brand." Again with the fucking heart stab at just saying her goddamn name.

"No? You did not value her and count her as your own? The two of you were not connected in a way that you could not explain or define?"

"Well…"

"You did not see a future with her, one of her in your bed every night for the rest of your lives? The face you could imagine around you every day and never get tired of seeing?"

"When you put it…"

"Or why you took on the responsibility of her family. There was no reason for you to order the Hellions to step in with her brother or to spend time at the hospital with her parents. These things all speak of a couple more tightly tied than some who are married, do they not?"

"You're quite the philosopher, aren't you, amigo?"

"And you deflect when you are uncomfortable." Brand's grin was contagious. "So my question to you, my friend, is why are you fucking sitting on your hands instead of fighting for your woman?"

"Who the hell am I supposed to fight? Her? She's the one that damn well took off and doesn't want a fucking thing to do with me!" The anger that had been simmering inside him for a full week went straight to the surface.

"Since when have you ever backed down from a fight, Trey? From getting what you want. I say if you want her then grow a pair and go get her. You will probably get an earful and there may even be physical violence inflicted, but I think you are man enough to take it."

Trey glared at the fucking gall of the other man. "Who the fuck do you think you are, man?"

"The brother who wants to see you whole again," came the deep, soft reply.

Even Trey couldn't argue that one.

And, he decided, that was weird because it gave him hope that what he'd had with Dallas was redeemable.

.
.
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.*

It had been a week and I could admit I was better. Better at covering my tracks with my folks by staying at the local library most of everyday when they thought I was at work. Better at using the library's computer to file the insurance claims on the house, redirecting our mail to one of the post office boxes at the local shipping stores and using the equity in my truck to buy another one. One that wasn't as new and with a lot more miles on it, but one that neither Trey or the other Hellions would recognize.

And I thought I was getting close to convincing my parents to sell their house citing none of us would feel safe there after all we'd been through. The only hiccup in that part of my plan was that both were unwilling to move out of town and wouldn't even consider out of state.

"But our doctors are here!" my dad had yelled, effectively shutting my shit down in that regard.

It had been worth a shot
, my mind told me.

Bite me
, my heart sighed wearily.

The only thing I hadn't counted on in my grand plan was how flipping boring each day was when I wasn't working.

Boring as in nothing to do but think.

And remember.

Kick my own ass at my stupid naivety and hurt all over again.

I'd started wandering the stores, thinking of how I was going to decorate my new place when I finally got mom and dad settled somewhere with their in-home care. It wouldn't have to be big, maybe just a little one bedroom, but as it would be my first time on my own and I wanted to make it special.

So I trolled the different stores, big box and specialty, consignment and second-hand shops looking for things I liked. And since I'd need everything, it just made sense to price things out.

It only took two days for that shit to get old.

Which forced me to tell my folks yet another lie about being forced to take two weeks off due to a cap on accrued vacation allocation.

"Are you going to do anything special with that time, Lally?" my mom asked, dishing up the lasagna she'd prepared for our dinner. She had a lot more energy after the hospital's pharmacy had realigned and in some cases eliminated her medications. From what they said, she was taking a lot of them to counteract the side-effects of the others, but once they got it straightened out she became more like the mom I remembered.

"Like what?"

"Maybe go on a trip or book one of those spa weekend things?" my dad asked helpfully although I suspected he didn't have any more ideas of what I should do with my free time than I did.

"How about grabbing Trey and you two doing a romantic weekend?" Mom's sly yet shy smile had me shifting in my chair. I hadn't told them about Trey and didn't plan to.

"He's, ah, he's still traveling and doesn't know when he'll be back," I hedged.

"That's a shame, girl. I bet you're missing him something fierce. Do you remember that, Mary? When I'd get deployed and have to leave you and the kids?"

"Having your father gone was like missing a piece of myself. And I never felt whole again until he was home."

My stomach clenched painfully at her words and I knew I'd be replaying them later.

"Ah but when I came home…" my dad breathed.

I watched my mother as she reached for his hand and had to turn my head away, all traces of my appetite gone.

"Think I'll head over to my room," I announced and pushed back my chair. "Just bang on the wall when you're done and I'll come back to clean up the kitchen."

"Okay, Lally," my mother replied distractedly. "Mill, do you remember that time after your tour in the Pacific when…"

Letting my superfluous self out, I stood on the walkway and watched the lights of Missoula come on as the sun completed its last sky dance of the day.

'was like I was missing a piece of myself…'

The sigh that escaped my mouth felt as if it came from my toes.

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.*

You're getting fat
, my mind whispered as I eyed my naked self in the mirror.

Maybe not so much fat as loose
, my heart replied.

No matter what word I used, the image was the same. My body was no longer the shape it had been. With nothing to do and nowhere to go, I'd become a sedentary creature in just the week I'd been out of work.

My job had provided its own workout especially since I didn't allow the guys to take on any of the heavy lifting unless something was too much for me. Then we'd share the weight together. And the benefit of that was not having to worry about watching my weight.

I glanced at the small pooch my belly seemed to want to make and the beginnings of what appeared to be saddlebags at the top of my thighs. Oh, hell no.

That was all it took to convince me to start exercising. I need to move and jogging seemed to fit the bill to get me outside. There was a park about a half-mile up from our motel and I'd been watching the late night exercise infomercials (mainly to compare the men's hard bodies against what I'd seen up close and personal on Trey) and thought I could do some of those moves to work my upper body.

Jogging was a low cost sport. Shoes came cheap, as did the shorts and tank.

Another great thing about jogging was that even though it was a solitary activity, I was never alone when I was at the park. I didn't know if I was still a target for outing Greenway, but I was a firm believer in the rule about finding safety in numbers. There were people walking their dogs, people pushing strollers and kids playing their parents sitting on benches close to the playground.

There were other joggers too although some sprinted and some did a version of what I thought was a power walk. At first I had to do a kind of jog/walk thing but I was able to do four laps of the one city block sized park. By day four, I was able to jog two of those laps without stopping and was proud of my result.

Perhaps that was why I was so distracted when the long haired man approached me on the way back to my truck asking if I'd seen his lost dog. I completely missed all the danger signals flashing from him. "No," I answered.

"He's a cute little thing with a white coat and a perky ears." The man kept walking towards me, getting close enough for my internal alarm to begin to blare before two arms came from behind to cover my mouth and pin my arms as the lost dog ass-hat tasered me.

The bastard.

It took Trey four days to screw up the nerve to go to Bishop's office. Four long days in which he argued both for and against Brand's suggestion until he finally realized he was quarreling with a fool.

After gaining Bishop's approval to enter, Trey sat in one of the visitor's chairs for a good two minutes before speaking.

"I want it," he growled and hated what he heard in his voice.

But his brother, a man he'd known since he was twelve, didn't blink an eye. Just clicked a few keys on one of the keyboards on his desk, glanced at a monitor and then wrote the address on a sticky note.

Practically snatching it from the man's hand, Trey hauled his ass up and out of the chair, exiting as fast as his feet could carry him.

"You're welcome and good luck!" Bishop's voice followed him all the way back to his office. Where he sat and stared at the yellow square for thirty full minutes.

"Fuck it," he mumbled, grabbing his cut and barreling out of his office. He passed by Rita who had the grace to duck her head as he went by. He'd heard Brand had been the one that had issued the rebuke to her and since then, she'd stayed clear of Trey except when specifically needed.

Trey had absolutely no fucking problem with that since the former Honey was still on his shit list.

He went to the clubhouse and found only a couple of brothers around but no one from his council. The address he was given was outside the Hellion perimeters and he didn't want to go it alone although he didn't necessarily want an audience either. "Donny! Need you to ride with me," he called across the room and saw one of the brothers, just a year out of recruit, stand. Trey was grateful the quiet younger man asked no questions but just got on his bike and followed his Prez's Harley as it wound throughout town.

A quick fifty to the clerk at the front desk gave him the room numbers for the Sheridans and after asking Donny to keep an eye out with a warning he might be a while, Trey climbed the stairs on legs that wanted to shake.

It's now or never, amigo
, he thought as he hesitated at the first door. Knocking produced no results so he stepped to the other door hoping against hope she wasn't out taking her parents to one of their numerous doctor's appointments. But the door was opened quickly by a smiling Mary propped behind a walker.

"Trey! How nice to see you. Miller, it's Dallas's Trey!"

The motorcycle club's president was soon pulled into the efficiency apartment with a sweet kiss on the cheek by Mary and a hearty back slap by her husband.

"Have a seat, son! God, we're glad your back. Dallas will be so glad to see you." Miller was almost gushing in his enthusiasm and the smile creasing the old man's face was sincere.

"Did you enjoy your travel? I mean, I know it was for business but did you enjoy your stay?" Mary asked.

What the fuck were they talking about? What kind of story had Dallas concocted because it was clear as damn day that she hadn't told her parents about their split or what had fucking caused it. Trey decided to go with the flow.

"It was good but I'm glad to be back. Is Dallas around?" He was willing to play the nice-nice game.

"She went to the park for her run but usually she's back by now. Did you try her room? She's right next door." Mary's words were said so fast Trey had trouble keeping up. She could've even given Si a run for his money when it came to quick-speak. "Maybe she's in the shower."

"Nope, can't hear the shower on in her place," Miller announced after listening with his head cocked towards the wall where their bed was placed.

"Do you know where she runs?" Trey was gritting his teeth. He wanted to see her,
needed
to be with her. They'd fucking taken too much time out of their lives already and Trey was fucking over it. It was time for the two them to shit or get off the pot.

"The park just up the road. What'd she say it was, about a half-mile up?"

"Yes, that's right. About a half-mile up. Did you try calling her? She can be back lickety-split, if she's not already on her way." Mary's breathing was moving into pants and Trey found his eyes zeroing in on her.

"Where's your pills, sweet Mary?" Trey didn't want a repeat of what happened after the brick incident and stood to go look at the line of pill bottles on the dresser.