Chapter 13

Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

-Food for thought

Reagan

“He’s where?” I asked in confusion.

“On Saturdays, he goes to this house.” Janie pointed to the image on Google Earth. “He stays there for a couple of hours, then comes home when the woman comes home.”

I frowned.

“Who does the house belong to?” I asked in confusion.

“Rome’s ex lives there, but Rome’s paying the rent. His baby mama leaves for a couple of hours every Saturday while he’s there,” she explained. “He also goes over there for two hours on Wednesdays if he’s home and during the week he goes to the hospital for an hour and a half on Monday and an hour and a half on Friday.”

My Spidey Sense was tingling.

There was something more going on here. From the stories that I’d heard not only from Tyler but also his sisters as well as Tyler’s friends the other day when we’d gone out to eat with them…what Rome had done just didn’t make any sense. Zero sense.

There was something more going on that neither Tyler nor I was privy to, but I had a friend—Janie—who was pretty freakin’ kick ass at figuring shit like this out.

Now I really, really wanted to know what in the hell he was doing.

“Any of those times that he goes and visits these places, is Tara with him?” I questioned.

Janie switched over to a different camera feed, which was playing video footage of him entering the hospital and exiting the hospital. “I’ve gone over about fifteen hours of footage for both days. I don’t see any sign whatsoever of her being there.”

“He’s sick?” I asked. “Why would he need to go to the doctor that much.”

“His kid is sick,” Kayla said, who’d been silent up until now. “That’s the cancer wing. Says right there on the door.”

Both Janie and I scooted closer to the screen.

“How do you know?” I asked, not reading that it was that particular wing anywhere on the doors.

The wording on the door was barely legible. I knew that it said something, but I couldn’t tell you what it said.

“Because I accidentally parked there when I took my baby to his first pediatrician appointment. I think the moment I walked through those doors, every single one of those ladies up front moaned at seeing my boy. I felt bad for even putting them through that. But once they learned that I was just lost, they pointed me to the opposite tower and told me to go there. I only know that place by the outside. The bear statue out front? That’s in honor of a little girl who lost her fight with cancer—the first one to die there in that new building,” Kayla explained.

I felt something in the vicinity of my heart wrench.

I didn’t want to feel sorry for Rome. I wanted to hate him.

I wanted him to be the asshole that Tyler, Henley, and Alana said that he was.

But honestly, I was thinking there was a whole lot more to the story than just what Tyler had told me.

I didn’t think Tyler even had the full story.

Which meant I was going to have to get it.

***

Meeting the big, scary biker enemy of my not-calling-himself-my-boyfriend boyfriend should’ve scared me silly.

It didn’t.

Why?

Because I knew that a man that was friends with Tyler for so long would never hurt me—or him for that matter.

Every time I came up with a solution in my head, trying to explain what had happened between the two, I came up short.

I just couldn’t see how this could have happened without wires being crossed.

From what I’d researched about Rome—or what Janie had found for me and I’d read—I couldn’t figure out how the man currently standing in front of me at a popular eatery—again Janie’s doing because I would’ve had no hope in hell of finding him—would’ve done something like this to Tyler.

Not when everything pointed to him actually being a really good guy.

And, on top of all that, he cared.

Everyone that I talked to—mainly Tyler’s sisters and a few of his buddies when Tyler had slipped off to the bathroom the other night—had said that they were just as surprised by Rome’s actions as Tyler.

As I’d said before, nothing was ever as it seemed.

And I wanted to know the freakin’ truth.

Rome ordered and I stared at the material on his back.

Coming from a long line of motorcycle riders in my family, I knew what the leather vest on the man’s back was—a cut.

He was in a motorcycle club.

The top rocker read Bear Bottom Guardians.

There was a second rocker on top, just under the top rocker, that said ‘Dixie Wardens MC.’

Then there was the wraith-like woman that I’d seen on the other Dixie Wardens members backs.

The bottom rocker said Bear Bottom, Texas.

There were a few other patches here and there, one on the bottom that said ‘lost cause.’

And I felt my heart break.

This big man in front of me thought he was a lost cause—and maybe he was.

But I wouldn’t know until he talked to me.

Which he would.

My ears perked up when I heard him order one more thing. “I need a piece of pie—the lemon meringue, too.”

The woman nodded. “Anything else?”

Rome shook his head once. “No.”

“Are you okay?” the woman asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

Rome shrugged, but didn’t answer. Then he took his number and turned, heading straight for the drinking fountain and not once looking behind him to notice me.

Good.

I waved at the young woman behind the counter, but her eyes were trained on Rome and she looked at him with concern.

“Something wrong?” I asked softly.

Her eyes turned back to me and she smiled sadly. “He comes in here a lot. He doesn’t look good today.”

She didn’t elaborate and I wanted to know more.

But it’d be weird for me to question her about him, to be honest. I was new here and they obviously saw each other quite a bit. I was the outsider…not him.

Instead, I just gave her a sad smile—which was genuine—and ordered a small drink and a couple of street tacos.

Once I had my order number, I filled my drink up, then looked around for Rome—who’d taken a seat in the corner of the room with his back to the doors.

Which surprised me.

He didn’t look like he was the kind of guy who’d allow anyone to take him by surprise. He looked like the type of man who would want to see shit coming—such as me.

Carefully I maneuvered myself between the tables and took the table directly next to Rome’s. However, instead of stopping once I was behind mine, I kept scooting until I was directly in front of Rome.

He looked up with a bored expression and the moment he got a look at my face, his entire body went solid.

“Leave.”

I smiled. “I’m not really good at following directions. You should ask Tyler.”

Rome’s eyes went electric. “I’m not doing this. You need to leave or I will.”

I smiled, but I didn’t move. “I’ll just continue to follow you until you talk to me.”

Rome sat up from where he was leaning against the table and gave me a hard glare. “I said leave.”

Instead of replying to his order, I shook my head. “I’m not leaving. Mostly because Tyler misses you and he needs you.”

Everything inside of Rome seemed to deflate at that news.

I saw the devastation on his face clear as day.

He was broken.

“I…I’ve done enough. You should take your food and go. Don’t come back. Tyler doesn’t need my problems and I’ve caused him enough hurt.” Rome crossed his arms over his chest and I looked to my left to see not just the lady behind the counter staring at him with avid fascination, but also a couple of other women in the restaurant.

“Tyler talks about you like you’re still his best friend,” I murmured. “I don’t know what happened on your end, but I know what it looks like on Tyler’s and it’s not good. But…something I’ve learned since I started seeing Tyler is that what he talks about when it comes to you and whatever went down…the man he described to me doesn’t sound like the type of man who would do him like you did him.”

Rome’s head hung. “I didn’t.”

And that was exactly what I’d expected him to say.

“What happened?” I pushed, hoping he’d tell me.

Rome looked up at the windows behind my head, his face impassive.

“What happened was that I was stupid and did some really stupid things when I was drunk. I shouldn’t have even been drinking in the first place. I lost control. They are things that I’ll never be able to forgive myself for…even though, at the time, I didn’t know that he and Tara were a thing. I just knew that there was a hot, willing woman ready to…you know.” He sounded disgusted with himself.

“You had no idea that Tyler was seeing Tara?” I asked. “How does that work when y’all are best friends?”

I mean, obviously it had to have worked somehow for all of this to have happened to them.

Rome looked at me and I was struck deeply by the pain in his eyes. This man was hurting. Badly.

“Tyler and I hadn’t seen each other in months. Football season was really busy for me and I was lucky to find time to sleep, let alone see him. Which turned around and bit me on the ass, because while we had a home game one weekend, this woman approaches me at a post-game celebration I had at my place, and since I was high on adrenaline and coming off a huge win, I decided to blow off some steam with her…only thing was, she was Tyler’s and I had no fuckin’ idea until Tyler showed up at my place the next day to catch up and the two of them pass in the fuckin’ doorway while he was coming in and she was going out.” He groaned. “To make matters worse, he wouldn’t listen to my side of the story and fuckin’ Tara told him that I knew who she was when I fuckin’ didn’t…”

I winced. “And Tyler didn’t stick around long enough for you to tell him anything else…and you have a kid with her.”

That part he hadn’t shared, but he didn’t look surprised to find out that I knew.

“How did you know?” he asked.

I smiled sadly. “I have a friend who’s good with computers. She helped me.”

Rome grunted. “Friends are good to have.”

This man sounded like he had none.

I immediately felt awful.

This wasn’t a man who had done what he’d done on purpose. He would’ve never hurt his friend.

That much I knew and I had a feeling that, deep down, Tyler knew it, too.

“Your son has cancer?” I asked quietly.

Rome’s hand that was resting on top of the counter tightened into a fist. “Leukemia.”

I hummed in sadness. “How’s he doing?”

Rome swallowed. “Him…okay. Me? Not so good. Each time I have to see him go through another round of chemo, I feel my heart stall in my chest. And Tara doesn’t make it fuckin’ easy to do anything. It’s a nightmare and the only reason she’s still around is because she likes my money.”

And that’s how the next hour went as I spoke with Rome. He talked about his son. He talked about what happened with Tyler. He talked about his motorcycle club and how he and Tyler were supposed to join it together.

He talked and talked and talked.

He didn’t stop talking until the pretty little front counter lady came back for the trash and to tell us it was almost closing time.

“Hey, y’all,” the woman replied softly. “It’s time for me to head out…I’m sorry to kick you out, but I gotta go.”

Rome looked at the woman and nodded. “Sorry, babe. We’ll get out now. Thanks for letting us stay a little longer.”

It was then I realized that the little hole-in-the-wall place that had the best street tacos that I’d ever tasted only stayed open until two and it was well past three.

Shit.

“I’m so sorry,” I apologized. “Your tacos were really, really good. Like, if you ever want to send the recipe to me, I’d love you forever. I don’t get over here that often, but swear to God, I think my man will love them.”

“It’s my grandma’s recipe and she swore me to secrecy. Grandma would absolutely kill me if she found out that I handed it to some random stranger…but you come in here more often and come at a time when Abuela is here, she might very well let you have it if you ask her,” the owner replied.

I grinned. “I’ll bring Tyler. He’ll enjoy it, too.”

As I said this, I stood and kept my eyes on the woman and not Rome.

Which was too bad seeing as Rome’s eyes lit up like the Fourth of July when I mentioned bringing Tyler back.

Moments later, Rome was walking out the door and I was following him.

The entire time, I watched the woman watch Rome.

“She likes you,” I murmured as we made our way outside.

Rome looked over his shoulder at where the woman promptly looked away and shrugged.

“She doesn’t like me. She’s married. She feels sorry for me. There’s a difference.” He grimaced. “She makes hats for the kids,” he murmured. “When they lose their hair, so they have something to cover their bald little heads. I think she sews them?”

“Knit?” I offered.

He nodded. “Yeah, that. She knits them. Donates like two hundred at a time.”

My brows rose. “That’s a lot.”

He nodded. “It is.”

Things fell silent after that and I wanted nothing more than to pull the big man into a hug and tell him everything was going to be all right.

But I didn’t.

One, he was still the enemy, even though he had a damn good story.

And two, everything probably wouldn’t be all right. He’d told me so.

Things weren’t looking good for his son…and by the end of the year, he could very well no longer be here.

I knew one thing, though.

Rome needed his friend.