Truly, Madly, Whiskey(73)
“Is that why he gave you Harley?”
She nodded. “The night I told him about what happened, I wanted to be alone afterward, and that killed him.”
“I bet he wanted to stand guard over you.”
Crystal laughed. “Hasn’t he always? Even before he knew? He showed up the next morning with Harley and said he couldn’t stand the idea of me being alone.”
“He’s so in love with you.” Gemma smiled. “Tru said he has been for a long time.”
She felt herself smiling. “I know. I think on some level, I’ve always known.”
“How can I help you?”
“You already have. You don’t hate me.”
“I could never hate you.” Gemma touched the ends of Crystal’s hair. “Will you keep your dark hair?”
“I don’t know. Right now I just want to enjoy not living behind a wall of secrets. I wondered if I’d change all over again, but I like who I am. Aside from lying to you, of course. That part of me sucked.”
“No, it didn’t. That part of you needed to protect yourself.” Gemma pushed to her feet and pulled Crystal up to hug her. “Are you really okay?”
“Yes, and if you ask me that too many times, the bitchy Crystal will come out. I was a victim of rape, but that incident does not define me, and none of it—not losing my dad, or my alcoholic mother, or the rape—ruined me. I went through three years of therapy, Gem, about my dad, my mom, Jed, what happened at school. I didn’t sweep it under the rug. I just didn’t talk about it with anyone other than David. The only thing that I have been having a hard time with was not telling you, and I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Gemma said. “And I won’t keep asking. Do you think Harley will be okay for a little while? I think you deserve to indulge in a multiflavored sundae.”
Normalcy. That’s exactly what Crystal needed, and she was beyond thankful that Gemma somehow knew that. “I’m in.”
As they walked toward the front of the store, Gemma suddenly tugged Crystal against her. Hard. “I’m sorry. I’m just so f*cking sorry. I hate that you went through something so horrible, and I hate that you lost your dad, and your mother was a jerk about what happened. And I hate that you thought you had to keep it to yourself. I just…hate right now. I’m trying not to cry, but…”
Tears poured from Crystal’s eyes. “I know. Trust me, Gem. I know.”
“I love you.”
Crystal tried to speak through her tears, but it came out garbled. “I…love you…too.”
“Sorry,” Gemma said sheepishly, wiping her eyes. “I just had to get that out. I’m okay now, and I promise, no more tears.”
Crystal wiped a streak of eyeliner from beneath Gemma’s eye. “Penny’s going to think we’ve both lost our minds. I know you can’t keep this from Tru.”
“I…” She bit her lower lip.
“It’s okay. He loves me, too. I know that.” They walked up front to get their bags. “Just tell him not to push me about not going to the police when it happened, and for the love of God, please tell him not to go all alpha crazy and try to get Bear to take revenge. That poor man is stuck between a rock and a hard place.” She squeezed Gemma’s hand. “Lucky for him, I like to rock his hard place.”
Gemma’s jaw dropped. “How can you tease about that after everything you’ve been through?”
“How can I not? I love my man.” She grabbed her bag and put her arm around Gemma’s shoulder. “Have I told you that I’m addicted to orgasms with Bear?”
Gemma covered her ears. “Don’t tell me details.” She dropped her hands. “Wait. Is his junk inked?”
Crystal laughed as she pushed open the door. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Ew. No.” Gemma locked the door behind them. “That would hurt so bad. Why would any man do that?”
“Why do guys do anything?”
They looked at each other and said, “Because they can.”
Chapter Eighteen
BEAR SAT ACROSS from Jace Stone and Maddox Silver Thursday evening in Mr. B’s, a microbrewery located down by the marina, far enough away from Whiskey Bro’s that he didn’t have to worry about his father stumbling upon them. Bullet must be wearing off on him. Even having a discussion about working with them felt disrespectful to his father. All his father wanted was to make Whiskey Bro’s even more successful so he could leave his kids a valuable family legacy. And here Bear sat, possibly putting a wrench into his plans.
Where’s the line between family loyalty and self-fulfillment?
Jace leaned heavily muscled, tatted-up forearms on the table, his dark eyes as serious as those of his silver-haired, thickly bearded business partner, Maddox Silver. While Jace rivaled Bullet in size and age, Maddox was just over six feet, and Bear guessed him to be around fifty. A hard fifty, with a strikingly handsome, weathered face and eyes that looked like they’d seen a world of pain.
“You were pretty clear about not wanting to give up working at the auto shop, and we respect that,” Jace said. “The offer for a limited schedule stands, but we’re running out of time. We need to get a handle on the level of commitment you’re willing to make. Of course, there will be non-competes and such, given your profession.”