Page 115 of Ruin
I huff out an annoyed sound. “You just can’t.”
“Nah, I don’t like that,” he says with a firm shake of his head.
“Jesus, Kaison. Forget it.”
“I’m just being serious, Kolton. Like, why can’t I go and be with her? There isn’t a reason in this universe that would make me let her go across the country alone.”
“That’s because she’s a woman.”
“No, it’s because I love her and I want to be with her and know she’s safe.”
“You wouldn’t worry about her cheating on you?” I ask and regret it instantly.
“Is that what you’re worried about? Because if so—”
“It’s not,” I snap. He doesn’t answer, and then I add softly, “Not really, anyway.”
“How about you just tell me what’s going on?”
I blow out a sharp breath. “It’s a long fucking story, Kaison.”
“So we make Coyote wait. Let him live a few more minutes.”
I chuckle, then with nothing else to do on the ride, I get into it. I explain everything to him—mostly. I tell him about the years between me and Lucian, all the bad and all the good, the way he left and how it’s been hell, but now he’s back and is trying to make up for it. I tell him my worries and concerns but let him know how sure Lucian is that he won’t fuck up again. The only thing I hold back is the stuff with Luke. I don’t knowhow Kaison will handle that, and we need clear heads tonight, so I save that part for another day.
Honestly, it all makes me feel a little better when Kaison doesn’t look at me like I’m an idiot.
“Well,” he says. “Honestly, I know it sucks, but I think he was right.”
I sigh, because I think I’ve known that all along too.
“Yeah.”
“I mean, if you can’t deal with him gone for a weekend, maybe you shouldn’t be together, ya know?”
“I know, it just sucks. I don’t like feeling like this.”
“It’ll get easier, Kolt. The more he has to leave, the more he’ll come back. Eventually, you won’t worry about it at all.”
I go around the bend in the road, then make a U-turn in an empty dirt parking lot to head back toward the clubhouse since we passed it because I needed more time to talk. Now that the conversation is over, and I feel slightly better, it’s time to kill Coyote.
Though we pull up late, he isn’t here yet.
“Well, this makes things easier,” Kaison comments as I shut the truck off.
“If this were us, he’d lose his shit.”
Kaison chuckles as he gets out, and we make our way to the clubhouse. It’s dark, as it usually is at night since no one hangs out inside, but the lights are on over in the bar, just across the lot. Trudy will be there serving whichever of these idiots don’t want to go home for the night.
Kaison and I went back and forth on how we would handle this, since we knew there would be people on the property, and the only thing we came up with is to be quiet. The guys knew we were meeting here before we left, so they won’t think much of it when they see my truck. Only problem is we have to make sure they don’t see Coyote come in. If they do, well… we’ll need to brainstorm.
I put the code into the screen above the door handle, but just as I go to open it, my brother grabs my arm to stop me.
“Do you hear that?” he asks softly.
My brow furrows, and I force myself to listen. The lock beeps, letting me know the time to open the door is dwindling.
“I don’t hear anything,” I respond just as quietly.
