Page 6 of Hope in his Darkness
My gorilla pounds his chest inside, begging to be released so he can pound the asshole she was talking to. Tough luck buddy, let him have her. She is not for us. No one is for us, because Georgia holds our heart. He refuses to listen though. He keeps pacing back and forth inside me, demanding to be let out.
“She’s hired, and that’s final. And once you’re ready to tell me what you’re not telling me I’ll be here. In the meantime, it’s almost closing time. Go tell Cole to shut down the door and come in to help close.” Yeah, sure, I’ll tell him something when hell froze over.
I feel like a petulant child who has been scolded by their parents as I stomp off toward the front door. Dad hollers ‘last call’ just as I make it to the door. Yanking it open, I step outside, so distracted in my own thoughts I almost run smack dab into Cole.
“Woah dude, watch where you’re walking. What’s got your feathers ruffled, bro?” If he only knew.
“Nothing. Dad wanted me to tell you we were shutting down. He just did the last call.” I grumble; my skin feels tight from trying to contain my beast.
“About damn time. Did that sweet little thing I sent in a while back talk to you about the waitress job? Please tell me she did, then I can see that sweet ass of hers every night.” A rumble starts in my chest as I move toward my brother. The animal doesn’t like him talking about Hope that way.
“OURS!”He growls out.
Cole takes a step back, his hands up in surrender. As I take a shocked step back. You didn’t mean that. Take it back. When my animal merely growls back at me, I know I am fucked. Even if I won’t admit it out loud.
“Sonofabitch! I didn’t mean that, it was just the animal. He’s talking nonsense.” Cole didn’t look convinced and who could blame him.
“Dude, is she your mate?” I try to deny it, I shake my head hard, but he sees it for the lie it is as I hang my head in shame. How can I admit she is my mate and still love Georgia? It just isn’t possible. Somehow, it felt like I was betraying them both. Which is really fucking with my head.
“Holy shit! That’s fucking awesome man. Sorry, I tried to hit on her, but I’m happy for you.” At least one of us is happy about the whole damn thing. How can I be happy about finding my mate when I am in love with another woman? There is no way this shit would work out. Someone is going to get hurt, and I am afraid it would be me again.
“Yeah, great. Now go help Pop clean up. I gotta get out of here, I can’t go back in there with her right now.” What am I afraid of? That suddenly Georgia will not matter to me anymore if I spent more time around Hope? Maybe? At the moment, all I feel is confused and horny, two things that do not mix well.
“You’re seriously going to walk away from your mate like that? That’s fucked up, even for you. Look, I know you thought you were in love with Georgia, but she wasn’t your mate. This girl is, and she deserves better than you running off.” Cole’s eyes flash in anger, his animal close to the surface. I don’t understand why he is so pissed about me not wanting my mate. It’s not like it affects him.
“I don’t think I’m in love with Georgia, I know I am. Thanks for rubbing it in my face that she’s not my mate though. That was a nice cherry on my fucked-up sundae. Why the fuck do you even care?” Suddenly, Cole lunges at me, grabbing me by my arms and pushing me into the wall, his face morphing into something between man and beast.
“What the fuck do I care? I care because if I had the opportunity, you have right now, I wouldn’t just throw it away. I’d walk right in there and claim that woman before someone else has a chance. You get one fucking mate, asshole, just one, and you’re choosing to just let her slip through your fucking fingers. And because you think you’re in love with a woman who isn’t in love with you. I’d give my left nut to have a mate like Hope and you’re just going to throw her away like yesterday's trash. Get the fuck out of my sight.” He growls out, pain lacing his voice, as he shoves away from me and marches into the bar without a backward glance. I stand there in shock, trying to figure out my brother’s anger. It seems like a great deal of anger for no reason. Instead of going inside and figuring out what crawled up his ass, I get in my truck and speed off. I need to be as far away from Hope as possible before I do something I’ll regret, like claiming her.
Chapter Four
Hope
Clearly, Mr. GrumpypantsMcgee didn’t like me, but right at the moment, I gave zero fucks. I need a job, Clay gave me one, and Brody McAsshole could kiss my ass. So, what if I could bounce a whole roll of quarters off his ass. I don’t care. So, what if I wanted to run my fingers through his strawberry blonde hair. Doesn’t matter. He’s a straight-up asshole with a capital ‘A’.
Nope, no way am I drooling over that jackass. He isn’t worth it. I need to focus on finishing school and getting the hell out of Dodge, or in this case, Oklahoma. Education before dick any day all day, even if that dick was attached to the finest piece of man meat I’d ever laid eyes on.
