Page 10 of Deacon

Yes, he’d spent the night, but it’s not like they did anything but sleep. And if he told his best friend that, he would only worry about his sister more, and likely beat the shit out of Deacon. Or at least try. Deacon wasn’t sure who would win these days.

Cowboy scowled and looked out the window on the far side of the room. “I don’t know. Something feels off. She says she just wants to catch up. To get to know Ava, but I don’t know.” He shook his head and turned back to Deacon. “How are things out there?” He tipped the top of his head toward the shop.

“Good. I was just wrapping up for the night, and so were the last couple of guys. Most of them already left for the day.”

“Good. Can you hang out long enough to lock the place up when everyone’s gone? I need to go pick up Ava and meet Lisa.”

“Sure, no problem. I don’t have anything else planned tonight. I’ll probably head over to the clubhouse for a bit then maybe call it an early night, so I don’t oversleep again.” He didn’t tell the club president the plan that was already forming in the back of his mind. He’d give them an hour, two tops, to finish dinner, then he would swing by Lisa’s to check on her.

He'd noticed something was off last night, but if she wasn’t telling Cowboy, he wouldn’t betray her. Instead, he’d make sure she was okay himself.

It wasn’t that he doubted Cowboy’s ability to take care of his sister, or his desire to, but Cowboy spent a lot of his time wrapped up in Ava. Deacon didn’t have any such distraction. No, it was better if he took care of this himself.

Deacon pulled his bike up in front of Lisa’s house. Her little SUV sat in the driveway and the lights in the front room were on. He had no doubt she was here. The question was, how would she react to seeing him tonight, without knowing anyone was coming over?

He climbed the steps and knocked on the door, looking around as he waited. He didn’t miss the curtain on the window beside the door twitch moments before the door opened, revealing Lisa. Deacon had to bite back a curse as he saw her. She wore what looked like an oversized t-shirt and nothing else.

“What are you doing answering the door like that? Anyone could see you.” He stepped to the side so any view of her from the street would be blocked by his body.

“I’m letting you in.” She stepped back to give him room to step inside. “And there’s nothing wrong with what I’m wearing. I’ve got shorts on.” She lifted the hem of her shirt to show him tiny cotton shorts as she closed the door, blocking out the rest of the world. “What brings you by?”

Down boy, he thought. Maybe coming by like this wasn’t his best idea.

“I just wanted to check on you. Something seemed off last night, between the branch keeping you up then you asking me to stay.”

She looked away but didn’t respond.

“I get it if you don’t want to tell your brother. I understand wanting him to think you can handle your life. But I can tell something’s wrong. He senses something is off.”

Lisa turned back to look up at him through her lashes, tears pooling in her eyes. “I can’t tell him. I don’t want him to know.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

Deacon’s chest ached at the fear in her voice and the misery on her face.

“Oh, bumblebee, come here.” He held his arms open and let her move in at her own speed.

When she buried her face against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and let her cry. He hated it when she cried, he always had. At least it wasn’t something she’d ever used against him, or anyone else as far as he knew.

He hadn’t intended to find himself here, like this. Holding her while she wore little more than a t-shirt and sobbed against his chest. Yet somehow, here he was. He moved them both to the couch so he could sit.

Despite his better judgement, she climbed into his lap and continued to cry. He held on to her, patted her back and murmured what he hoped were soothing words. What else could he do? At least until she cried herself out and was ready to tell him what the problem was.

Deacon didn’t know how long they sat there, but by the time she’d exhausted her tears, his shirt had a large wet spot, and her breath came gasps and hiccups. They sat a while longer, until she sat up and brushed at his shirt.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to fall apart all over you. It’s just... I can’t tell Cowboy. He won’t understand.” She looked away, as if she didn’t want him to see her face.

“First, tell me why you can’t tell him? He’s a good guy; he wouldn’t judge you, no matter what it was.”

“It’s not that. Or at least that’s not all of it. I’m his little sister and he’d totally judge me over it. Ask me how I could be so stupid. But the bigger part is that he’d try to fix it and I don’t know if he can. I’m afraid he’ll get himself in trouble trying to fix my problems. That will only make me feel worse.” She turned back to him, her eyes wide and pleading. “You have to promise not to tell him about this. I can take care of my own problems. It’s just that sometimes I get so tired of dealing with it all.”

“So share the burden. Tell me what’s going on.”

“You haven’t promised.” She turned away again. “I can’t tell you unless I know you won’t take it to him.”

Deacon took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “Bumblebee, I can’t promise, not without knowing what it is.” He was torn. Wanting to help her battled with his loyalty to the man who was not only his best friend, but also his brother.

“Then I can’t tell you.” She started to slide off his lap, but he tightened his arms around her, keeping her from leaving.

“Not so fast. How about we try something else. I can promise not to tell him unless it’s something he needs to know.”

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