CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Tatum
“I promise you what we have now isn’t like what happened before.” I’m quick to try and assure her. “I made a mistake and I fully admitted that mistake, apologized, and prayed we could move on. Remy said we could, and that’s what we’re doing.”
“He’s an amazing man who’s only wanted to be loved his entire life. He missed out on that.” Harper’s voice is hoarse, showing a pain that I don’t think she allows anyone else to hear. “I love him, Cash loves him, Maddie thinks he hung the damn moon, but he’s always wanted a love for himself. You get what I’m saying?”
I do because I’ve always wanted that too. I’ve looked around at all the couples in the clubhouse, including our parents, and I’ve waited my turn. Sometimes very impatiently, but when you’re surrounded by love, you want to give and in turn receive it. “I know, that’s what I was trying to do last year, show him that I loved him, but I went about it the wrong way.”
“No you didn’t, Remy just didn’t know what to do with it. I firmly believe that. He wanted to protect you from the worst parts of himself, and in doing that, he pushed you away. Cash is a lot like him. Trust me, I get it. But Tatum, I’m begging you, don’t play with his heart. It’s a good one, and I’d hate to see it break into a thousand pieces that no one can put back together again.”
I’m quiet for a few minutes and as objective as I can be. This would be like my mom talking to Remy – I have to remember this. And damnit, this is the new adult me. “He’s safe with me. I hear what you’re saying, and I promise, I’m gonna be careful with him, he’s gonna be careful with me, and we’re communicating. Which we weren’t doing before. More than anything, it was a communication breakdown.” I sigh as I push my shoulders back, knowing I have to do what Remy told me to. “And to be honest, everyone bringing it up is setting us back. We’re happy and good. Please just let us be that way. I mean no disrespect saying those words to you, please know that.”
She tilts her head, almost as if she’s trying to figure out if what I’m saying is the truth. With every bit of restraint I have, I keep the bratty look off my face and the smart ass replies in. It won’t help any of this. Finally, it seems as if I’ve passed the test.
“Good.” She comes around the counter, folding me in a hug. “I think you’re perfect for him, and I’m glad you’ll be around more often.” Going back around, she makes those hot drinks and hands them to me.
“Me too, Harper, me too.”
With a parting smile to her, I grab my stuff and head back to the salon. The one person I’d been scared to come face to face with, hadn’t been so bad after all.
Remy
“That’s a fuckin’ foul if I’ve ever felt one.” I grimace as I pick myself up off the hardwood.
Jagger and I are playing a pick-up game of basketball with Drew and Dalton. It’s physical and brutal, but at the same time it’s some of the most fun I ever have. I love to be able to get on the court, run, and not worry about whether I have to have an inhaler with me.
“Don’t be a pussy.” Drew throws the words over his shoulder as he walks back to where the other guys are standing. I can hear the teasing in his tone, otherwise I probably would have taken offense to the words.
“What’s the score?” Jagger asks, lifting his shirt up and wiping his face off.
We’ve been playing for a little over an hour. All of us are panting, our shirts are sticking to our bodies, and I can feel the endorphins flowing through my body, making me feel alive.
Drew drops his hands to his knees, bending over at the waist. “Twenty to twenty-four, you two. So if you get one more point, you’ve got it.”
We always play to twenty-five, and baskets always count as one point, no matter where they’re shot from. Makes us work harder for it, which conditions us better.
“Your ball.” He bounces it to me.
I palm it, bouncing it back and forth and then between my legs, plotting my next move. If there’s anything these pick-up games of basketball have taught me, it’s to be patient. When I first started, people would score on me all the time, or I’d miss every shot I threw up because I didn’t wait for the right opportunity to present itself. No doubt it helped me in this Tatum situation. My eyes take in everything around me, cataloguing what’s going on. Dalton and Jagger are waiting for my move, but Jagger’s in better shape than Dalton and while I see the fatigue on Dalton’s face, I don’t see it on Jagger’s. Drew’s guarding me. I can hear his breath, he’s winded. When I catch him leaning too far to the right, I crossover and take off to the left where there’s a clear lane, and lay up the last point for Jagger and I to win.
“Looks like that hickey on your neck hasn’t fucked up your basketball skills.” Drew smirks, lifting his shirt up to wipe the sweat off his face. He’s baiting me, and that’s cool; what I do with Tatum is my business. My lips are sealed.
“That the best you can come up with?” I taunt him.
“Oh there’s a shit ton I can come up with, but I feel like it disrespects Tatum. If there’s one thing I know about her it’s that she wouldn’t be with you unless she wanted to be and you’re making her happy. She won’t put up with that shit either. I feel like there’s probably something that happened last year I should kick your ass for, but I’ll reserve that for if you fuck whatever the two of you having going on right now up. I haven’t always been the smartest man when it came to Charity either, so I understand, but she’s my baby sister, and I will fuck you up. Don’t ever doubt that.”
“Trust me, I don’t,” I answer as I sit down and gulp a bottle of water.
Jagger and Dalton join us, each holding their own bottles of water.
“So.” Jagger looks over at Drew. “When do I have to start calling you Pres?”
“Fuck you dude, seriously.”
I wonder if this is something Drew wants. Did Liam talk to him about it, or did he just hand him the responsibility? I want to ask, but at the same time, I feel as if it isn’t my place to ask.
“It surprised me as much as it surprised y’all.” He shakes his head, finishing his bottle of water. Something about the way he looks at it makes me wonder if he wishes it was something with some alcohol content in it. “I mean, he’d talked about it off and on over the last few years, but nothing concrete, ya know? I always thought it was some far-off type thing for him. I sure as fuck didn’t expect him to announce it the way he did.”
“You happy about it?” Jagger’s asks. “You can be honest here man, that’s what we’re here for.”
“I’m extremely honored that he’d turn this over to me. I’m not his blood, and I know that’s never made a difference to him, but it’s made one to me. He didn’t have to do half the shit he’s done for me and Mandy, but he has. This legacy is something I’ll cherish forever, but I’m scared. I have a wife, twins that are toddlers, and with the inclusion of the club comes the shop. There are a lot of people who’ll be counting on me once he completely turns it over to me, and I don’t want to let them down.”
Jagger reaches over, gripping Drew’s shoulder. “All of us are here to help guide you. You ain’t in this all by yourself.”
“In the end I will be. I fuck this up, it’s my fault. I’m fully aware of that, Jagger.”
“You go into it thinking you’re going to fuck it up and you will. Liam gave you this responsibility for a reason. He sees something in you, something you probably don’t see in yourself. Trust me, this wasn’t a bad decision on his part. You’ve got this.”
Drew looks like he wants to argue, but he doesn’t. “Thanks for the game guys, I gotta go pick up the twins in the next thirty minutes. I’m outta here.”
After he left, the group dispersed quickly, and I made my way to the locker room to grab my stuff. On the way, I spot Cash. “What are you doing?”
“Getting in a work out. My jeans were a little tighter than I like for them to be,” he admits as he follows me to the locker room. “You playing ball?”
“Yeah, you should join us one day for a game. It’s better cardio than being on that damn treadmill. I hate running, running, running, and getting fucking nowhere.”
“I know, but sometimes I can just blank my mind out and enjoy the work out. It’s nice to not have to think about anything.”
And there’s the difference between him and me; he works out to get peace and quiet, I work out to figure out all the messiness that sometimes jumbles in my head.
“What are you doing after this?”
“Meeting Tatum. She’s supposed to text me when she gets done with her hair appointment, and I’m gonna go meet her at your shop. She’s gotta pick up her car. After we drop it off, we’re going to dinner.”
Cash gives me a smile, an eyebrow raised. “Like out in public? That’s totally unlike you, little bro.”
“Shut the fuck up.” My cheeks redden. It is totally unlike me, but I refuse to admit to other people she’s making me do things I wouldn’t normally do, that I’m changing for her.
My phone buzzes in my pocket.
T: Addie and I are done. We have to run an errand and then I’ll meet you at the shop.
R: On my way now.
“Gotta go.” I clap hands with my brother. “See you around.”
“Go, you little whipped fucker.”
I flip him a middle finger as I hurry into the locker room and grab my stuff. I can’t wait to see Tatum. She’s quickly becoming an important part of my life that I want to have around all the time.