Bare Yourself (Consumed)

“Oh, my, God!” she gasps. “I can’t believe we just ran from the police!”

“No way was I letting him give you a ticket or haul you off to jail. Especially for something that felt so damn good.”

She laughs again, and turns to look out the back window. When she looks back at me, her smile is a mile wide.

“This is crazy. You’re crazy. You make me crazy.”

I reach over and grab her hand, bringing it to my mouth.

“Put us together in a loony bin then, because if what we have is crazy, then I never want to be sane again.”

She unbuckles her belt, gets on her knees, leans over the console, and lays a soft kiss against my lips. It’s there that she murmurs, “I’d much rather be crazy with you than completely sane with anyone else.”

She sits back down and buckles herself back in, looking every bit as happy as I want her to be.

“So, when’s the wedding?” Nathan asks, popping open the beer I just gave him.

I choke on the swallow I just took and it takes me a minute to clear my throat enough to talk.

“What the fuck, man? You don’t ask a person that when they just took a drink.” I look over at him and see his lips twitching. I flick the cap from my bottle at him, hard. It hits the side of his neck and he laughs.

“Asshole,” I mutter and take another sip because my last one was ruined.

“In all seriousness,” he starts and looks over at me. “Things seem to be getting serious with you two.”

It’s not often that Nathan asks about my personal life. It’s not that he doesn’t care, it’s just he knows if there’s anything going on that I want him to know about, I’ll come to him. So, for him to ask now surprises me.

I look behind me into the living room. Nathan and I are on the porch and Willow and Ava are inside talking about whatever girls talk about while putting something together for dinner for all of us.

I sigh and take the glasses from the top of my head and toss them on the table. “It’s serious on my part, and I think it is on hers. I just don’t know how serious.”

He looks out into the darkness as he says, “You love her.”

It’s not said as a question, rather a statement, but I answer anyway.

“I do.”

He nods and turns quiet.

I sit and think about Willow. I know I want to put a ring on her finger, even if it is still too early for that. But then again, if I knew she would say yes, I’d ask her in a heartbeat. I want her to carry my children. I want to watch them grow up and then meet our grandchildren with her. I want to see her beautiful face every morning and kiss her lips before falling asleep every night. I want to grow old with her and die with her. I want it all. The good, the bad, and the in-between. I never thought I would want that from one woman.

My thoughts turn to the woman who gave birth to me. I believed, like my dad, that my mom ruined any desire in me to settle down. But she didn’t. She didn’t take that away like she did so many other things.

I grip the bottle in my hand when I think about the last time I saw her. The day I told my mom I wouldn’t be coming back was the day I had planned to let everything go that had to do with her. She doesn’t deserve my thoughts, but she’s getting them anyway. All because of that fucking letter. A letter I refuse to open, but also can’t throw away. I had every intention of ripping it up and tossing it when we made it home, but by the time it came to actually do that, something stopped me. That letter could solve so many unanswered questions. I just have to determine if those answers are worth having.

“She’s a good woman,” Nathan says after several moments. I silently thank him for pulling me from my thoughts of my mom.

“That she is.”

“Have you had any more problems with her brother?”

Another subject that has my ire mounting: the bastard that’s taunting Willow. I hope to God to get my hands on him one day. Her brother or not, the fucker needs to be taught a lesson. One that says you don’t fuck with my girl.

“No,” I growl, and smash my bottle down on the table. Foam seeps out the top. “The bastard’s been quiet. We don’t know if he’s still around or went back home. For his sake, he better hope he’s no longer here. Although, for my sake, I hope he is.”

“Option’s still open to have someone tail Willow,” Nathan informs me.

“I’m trying to avoid that route, because I know she’ll flip the fuck out if I even suggest it.”

“Then don’t tell her.” He looks at me with a raised brow.

“I’m also trying to avoid lying to her.”

“You know there are times we have to withhold things from the people we care about to protect them.”

As much as I hate it, Nathan is right. But I’m still going to hold off for a bit longer. The last thing I want to do is hurt Willow by omitting the truth. Lying is a pet peeve of mine. I hate having someone lie to me, so I try to avoid lying to others as much as possible.

“I’ll think about it and let you know.”