I roll my eyes. “I don’t think Anna’s a boss around type of woman. She growls more than me. What happened with you and Eva earlier?”
“You’re doing it again,” groans Cree. “Stop trying to talk about emotions and shit.”
“You know it’s normal for people to talk like this, right? It’s only you who hates it and tries to make a big deal out of it. Anna set you up earlier. That little display with Gears and Lake was to get a reaction from you. She’s tryin’ to prove you got feelings for Eva.”
Cree stares down at his beer. “Something about Eva drives me wild,” he admits. “I haven’t had that before.”
“Like you’d do anything to protect her?” I ask, understanding exactly the feelings he’s talking about. “You wanna make all their decisions so that you know they’re safe.”
Cree nods his head. “Yeah, something like that. Seeing Lake’s hands on her . . . ” he trails off and I pat him sympathetically on the back. “But I don’t want anything to happen like that. I can’t do the ol’ lady bullshit.”
“Then there’s every chance she may end up with some other guy,” I point out and he clenches his jaw.
“I told her to stay away from the brothers. Once all this shit with Reggie is done, she can go back to her life and I don’t have to see her again. If it ain’t under my nose, then I won’t know either way.”
I nod over to where Lake is chatting with Eva and Anna. “Maybe you should warn the brothers that she’s off-limits.”
I drink way more than I should . . . again. I sit by the bar watching the brothers party, my eyes seeing double vision and my head spinning. I make out Bonnie approaching me. She’s ignoring me too. Seems to be a trend around here lately. She stands by me trying to get the prospect’s attention. “You still ignoring me?” I slur.
“Just getting myself a drink, Pres,” she mutters.
“It’s not you,” I continue. “I mean . . . ” I look down at her ass. “I’d love nothing more than to sink into that fine ass, but I—”
“Oh my god,” screeches Anna, and I groan. My blurry eyes make out her angry face. Her hands are on her hips and she looks pissed. “We have one disagreement and you’re trying to jump into bed with Bonnie?”
“No, I wasn’t. I just—”
“I heard what you were saying. You asshole!” She stomps away in the direction of the stairs. I go after her, stumbling into the walls, and I catch her at the bottom of the stairs. “Every time you drink, you end up back with Bonnie. How can I ever trust you?” she asks.
“I don’t fucking want Bonnie. Anna, I love you,” I blurt out. “Just you.” I sigh. Anna stares at me. A range of emotions passes over her face. “Don’t make me sleep alone,” I add.
She takes a deep breath, but I think I see her face soften slightly. “We need some rules,” she says firmly. I nod my head eagerly. I’ll say anything right now just to have her smile at me. She takes me by the hand and leads me upstairs. “We’re talking tomorrow, Riggs. I know you have rules around here, but I have boundaries and we need to compromise on a few things.”
“Okay, we’ll talk.”
“And compromise,” she pushes.
I follow her into my room. “Yes,” I sigh. “And compromise.”
The following day, I use avoidance tactics by bringing Anna breakfast in bed to begin with. She smiles as I place the tray on the bed. “How’s your head?” she asks.
“Good. Eat up. I promised the kids we’d set up the paddling pool for them today and Frankie and Esther are making up enough picnic food to feed an army. Most of the club will be out in the yard today enjoying the sunshine.”
She pulls herself to sit up. “But we’re gonna talk, right, Riggs? We do need to talk.”
I give her a chaste kiss on the lips. “Yeah, Angel. Later.” I rush out before she can pin me here.
The next few days follow pretty much the same. We relax all day and fuck through the night. Whenever she tries to talk to me, I manage to change the subject with the promise that we’ll talk soon. Truth is, I can’t change the rules. I can’t talk club business with her because I don’t want it to touch her, to taint what we have. Our time together makes me feel so ridiculously happy that I want it to stay like this all the time. Hearing her laugh, seeing her smile, it makes all of this worthwhile. Even Malia is full of giggles. My brothers adore her, and she’s settled right in as their little princess. It feels like we were always meant to be like this. Once Reggie is out of the way, I can make it official.
I stretch out in bed next to Anna. The sun shines through a gap in the drapes and I wince. My head is pounding. We drank way too much last night and my mouth feels like I’ve been licking sandpaper. I have a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I sit up slowly. Anna rolls away from me, her naked body exposed as the sheet falls away. I lost count of the number of times I buried myself deep inside of her throughout the night. There has to be a point where I stop wanting her so much, right?
I take a shower and leave her to sleep. When I return, Malia is sitting on the bed playing with a doll. Anna smiles awkwardly. We hadn’t spoken to the kids about us, but Malia obviously found her way here so maybe they just sensed it. “Ziggy not awake yet?” I ask. Usually, he’s the first up around here.
“Yeah. He went with his mommy,”
