“Are you listening to me?”
“Yes.”
“We miss you.”
“I miss you guys too,” I said. “I won’t stay away forever. I’m not good on my own for long, but I just need this time to try to figure shit out in my head, Alec. I always rely on your and the others, I need to do this by myself.”
He sighed, but said, “I understand.”
Thank God.
“I saw Alannah today.”
My pulse spiked. “Is she dating anyone?”
“No,” Alec answered. “But if she starts to, I’ll drive him away. I’ll get super weird and make him uncomfortable. Or we’ll just have Kane stare at him until he runs away.”
I snorted. “You’re a dumbass.”
“Says the guy on the other side of the planet asking about the woman he’s been trippin’ after since he was a kid. Who’s really the dumbass?”
I grunted. “Point taken, asshole.”
Alec chuckled. “She’s doing her thing, Dame. Working hard in her fancy art college and keeping to herself. She’s with us all the time when she’s not in class and has shown no interest in dating anyone. The girls try to encourage her, but she isn’t biting the bait.”
The relief that flowed through my veins was almost embarrassing.
I closed my eyes. “How does she look?”
“Same as she always does.”
“Beautiful?”
“Yup.”
I sighed. “I drive myself crazy thinking about her.”
“Then come home and claim her.”
“Claim her?” I repeated. “Who do you think you are, Tarzan?”
“Bro, the ladies love a bit of dominance. They rub up on me when I get bossy.”
“Shut up.”
“You wouldn’t complain if Alannah rubbed up on you, I bet.”
I closed my eyes and thought of her body rubbing slowly against mine, and my jeans suddenly became too tight.
“Don’t mention rubbing and Alannah in the same sentence, please.”
Alec laughed. “Little Damien suffers, huh?”
“Big Damien,” I corrected.
My brother cackled, and it made me smile.
“I have to go,” Alec said. “I’m moving in with Keela until we leave for the Bahamas. I told her it was because I wanted to make it authentic when we appeared as boyfriend and girlfriend, and that she needed to get used to me, but I really just want to wear her down. She wants me; she’s just dead set against it because she thinks I’m a player.”
“You are a player.”
“Even the best of players have to hang it up at some point. This chick ticks all my boxes, so if I have to be a one-woman man, then so be it. Dominic and Ryder have corrupted me by having steady girlfriends who they love. It almost makes no strings attached sex ... meaningless.”
I laughed. “Are you telling me you want this Keela chick to be your Bronagh or Branna?”
“Ask me after this trip, and I’ll let you know.”
He hung up on me because I was laughing. I shook my head and tossed my phone on the cushion next to me. I always felt a little better after I spoke to my brothers, but then my loneliness would scream at me until I dragged myself into my bedroom where I would lie in the darkness until sleep claimed me. It was a miserable way to live, I knew that, but this was what I had to do until I decided it was time for me to go home.
I just wished that I knew when that time would be.
CHAPTER SIX
Twenty-four years old ...
“Damien?”
I looked from playing with Jax to Kane when he stepped into the room.
“Yeah, man?”
“I went down to speak to Alannah.”
I froze. “What? Why?”
“Because you’re making yourself sick by being apart from her, and I’m not standing by and watching it.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but Kane held up his hand. “I don’t wanna hear it. What I do wanna see, though, is you getting your ass down to her apartment because she wants to speak to you.”
I stared at my brother. “What?”
“Alannah wants to talk to you ... right now.”
I looked from Kane to the others in the room, then without a word, I kissed Jax, got to my feet, and all but sprinted from the room with everyone’s laughter and cheers following me.
“Dame!”
I stopped when Alec called me.
“What, Alec? I have to go to Alannah before she changes her mind.”
“I know, just listen,” he said, lowering his voice. “That day when Carter made her doubt us, she looked at me with fear, and I still think about it. I love Alannah, and I don’t want her to think I’m evil, so I want you to share part of my past with her that only you know.”
I was shock he was willing to trust Alannah with something not even Keela knew.
“Are you sure?” I pressed. “Think about this.”
“I have,” Alec said. “I want her to know that I do trust her, and she is part of our family. Share what happened that night to her, and she will know we value her.”