Chapter 21

Stone

I can't get that goddamn kiss out of my head. The way Ivy's lips felt against mine, soft and willing as I devoured her mouth. She gasped when I first laid one on her, but then that little minx was giving it right back. Gripping my hair tight, pulling me in closer like she couldn't get enough.

I pinned her underneath me as I took what I've been craving for years. She made these hot little whimpering noises that went straight to my dick. Ivy wanted me just as bad as I wanted her. I could feel it in the way she clung to me.

For those few moments, she was mine. All mine. That kiss was just the start of what I've been dreaming about. But then she shoved me off, putting a stop to the best damn kiss of my life.

I swing my legs over the side of the bed and sit up, rubbing my hands over my face. Dad didn't bring me home to lust after my best friend and definitely not to break up her relationship with one of my MC brothers.

Finally, I get up and get ready for the day. Brush my teeth and wrap a bandana around my head.

I open the door and stop at the sight of my ma standing in front of my bedroom door. "No, Ma, this isn't creepy at all."

She rolls her eyes. "Shut up and tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing is wrong, Ma. Nothing at all." She probably doesn't believe me, but I'm not ready to dissect my Ivy issues, and I'm certainly not ready to fucking hash it out with my mother. I advance forward, but she puts a hand on my chest to stop me.

"Be patient, son." Her gaze searches my own as if she can see my thoughts. "You've been gone a long time, Stone. Having you back is an adjustment for everyone."

I look her straight in the eye. "Even me, Ma. You ever think I might be adjusting to this too?"

She seems to be the only person around here who is completely happy about me returning to Opey.

Ma shrugs and holds the side of my face with one hand. "I'm so fucking happy to have you home, son. It's all I've wanted from the moment you left. I love you. But now that I can't get naked with your dad anytime or anywhere, we all have to adjust."

I groan, covering my face in regret. "Ma, please. TMI."

She rolls her eyes. "I'm just being honest. But I'm happy you're home, safe, where you belong."

"Yeah, me, too, Ma. Me, too."

"Good, because that"s all that matters at the end of the day. I need you to remember that. Everyone else will come around."

"Thanks, Ma." I turn her around, and we head downstairs together. The load on my shoulders isn't lighter, but I feel like it might get there someday soon.

As soon as we enter the kitchen, the back door opens, and Dad strolls in, a scowl on his face. "Stone. Just the man I'm looking for."

"What's up?" If there's anything he needs, it'll be the perfect distraction, and I'm eager to do it.

"I have two bikes that sold at auction, and now they need to be loaded up in the van and shipped to Austin."

My brows dip. "Since when do we customize and sell bikes?"

Dad snorts. "It's called diversification. It's how we stay profitable, even when shit is hitting the fan for the suits on Wall Street."

"Yeah, okay. Where are these bikes?" Anything is better than thinking about my folks mid-bang in the middle of the kitchen. Or the living room. Or anywhere, anytime, period.

"Outbuilding number three," he answers almost dismissively.

"Okay," I say. "I'm on it."

We walk out to the third outbuilding and find that it's not empty. There aren't just motorcycles inside. Some still need repair while others are ready to go back to their owners, but an unexpected visitor hunches over one of the bikes. I say, "What are you doing here?"

Gray freezes at my question and glares at me over his shoulder. "I'm loading up the bikes. What are you doing here?"

"Dad sent me here to do that." My tone is angry and annoyed. I cast a glance at Dad. What the fuck is he thinking?

In the next beat, he gives me an answer. "I need you both to pull your heads out of your respective asses and drop this shipment off. Try to make it back without killing each other." Dad's tone is sharp. It has that don't fuck with me quality that I know well.

"I can handle it on my own," I assure him, offended and growing angrier by the second.

"I have no doubt about that, son. But I need you both to figure your shit out, and you have until you arrive back at the ranch to do just that. Saint and Slayer are gonna ride lookout, and when you get back, I expect that this shit, whatever it is, is done. Got me?"

Every fiber of my being wants to argue, but I grew up with this man, and I know that when his mind is made up, there's just one option. Obey. "Got it."

Gray and I load up the van in a tense silence and get on the road. Gray grips the steering wheel with an iron grip, sighing every few seconds, just in case I'm not sure how he feels about this trip.

"What the fuck is your problem?"

He shrugs. "In a nutshell, you are."

"I haven't done a fucking thing other than come home. I thought you might be happy to have me back, but I was wrong."

"You're after my girl, and you're shocked I'm not rolling out the welcome mat for you? You're fucking delusional, man."

"I am not after your girl," I shout. "Do I want her? Fuck, yeah. But she's made it clear that she is with you, and the only thing she has to offer me is friendship."

Gray laughs. "Do you fucking hear yourself, man? You want my ol' lady, and you're shocked why I might not be happy you're here? Read the fucking room, bro."

I laugh. "Did you miss the part where I said friendship is all she wants from me?"

Gray nods, but he doesn't respond. I hate this shit, all this game-playing and riddles. "I told her she needed to choose. You or me."

I groan at his words. "Why the hell would you do a dumb fucking thing like that?"

He shrugs. "I guess I thought she'd convince me that she only wants me. Instead, I haven't heard from her since I issued the ultimatum."

Part of me is happy by this news, but the other part feels like an asshole. "If it makes you feel better, I haven't seen or talked to her in days. Maybe she smartened up and decided to choose neither of us."

Gray laughs, and I join in. "That would fucking suck."

"Damn right." I can't even think about staying on the ranch or in Opey and not seeing Ivy, never mind seeing her with someone else now that I know how she tastes and the sounds she makes when she's turned on. The idea of watching her with Gray or anyone else is un-fucking-fathomable. "You know I'd never do anything to fuck up your relationship."

Gray snorts as we finally arrive at the drop-off spot more than an hour later. "Just being back is enough to fuck things up. I don't know if it's you and the connection you two have always had or if there was always something missing, but your return has made it an issue, Stone.

I should feel bad, and to a certain extent, I do. But not enough to deny myself the chance with Ivy. "Like I said, I didn't get between you. I wouldn't."

"Yet here you are, right in the middle of us."

I shrug and step from the van to handle the paperwork with the buyer. I finish up, and we unload the bikes together. Slayer and Saint take the lead while the van settles into silence again. "Own up to your own fucking insecurities," I tell him when we're heading back to the interstate.

"That's rich coming from you."

"I've owned up to everything. I want Ivy, but I can't have her, and I refuse to hurt either of you to get what I want. How much more fucking selfless do you want me to be?"

Gray laughs. "I knew it was gonna be a problem. I just fucking knew it."

I know what he thinks, but the problem is completely in his head. If Ivy was my woman, there isn't a goddamn thing that anybody on this Earth could do to make her leave me. I'd fight dirty as hell, with everything I have to keep her, to make sure she knew exactly where she belongs. "It's only a problem because you're making it a problem."

"Easy for you to say. You've never been the third wheel between a twosome like you and Ivy. It's like you forget that anyone else exists when you're together. I actually thought she'd forget about you in your absence, but I was wrong. Take her. Seriously. I can't be with a woman who has another man on her mind."

"Man, I can't do that to you. You're my brother, dickhead. We've been through too much shit together for me to just take your girl like that. I'm not about to lose our friendship over this crap."

"Ivy's not crap."

"You got that right."

Silence falls around us again. There's no fucking point trying to pretend the truth isn't the truth. Gray keeps his eyes on the road, his dark eyes darting to each of the three mirrors every few seconds. He's diligent, and I realize that in my absence he's become a capable biker and an asset to the MC. Not that I ever had any doubt, but it's just something I notice.

Even as the thought crosses my mind, I hear a familiar sound. I've heard it dozens of times during my time in Angel Harbor. "You hear that?"

Gray frowns and looks at me before checking each mirror. "What?"

"Bikes. A few of them," I say just as the sight of them fills the side mirrors. Gray sees them, too, and punches the horn to alert the guys on lookout. Slayer and Saint heed the warning, speeding up so they have time to prepare for the ambush.

My hand is on my piece as Gray punches it, the van moving a hell of a lot quicker without the bikes weighing it down. We put a good distance between us before they strike.

Bullets slam against the van hard and fast, a barrage of lead that we duck and dodge. Gray keeps the van on the road while I shoot out the window, clipping one biker in a familiar leather kutte as I dodge two more guns aimed in my direction. "Fuck, that was close!"

"No shit," Gray shouts over the gunshots still following us on the highway. "This is your doing."

"I'm not the fucker shooting at you, so fuck, no, it's not me!" I yell at him quickly before turning my attention back to the other bikers who're gaining on us again. Two bikes lay on their sides ahead of us, Slayer and Saint doing their part.

"On your right," Gray calls out as I leave the passenger seat to open the sliding door on the side.

"Thanks," I shout and slide the door open, aiming at point-blank range before I pull the trigger. Blood and brains hit my face at fifty miles an hour, and like the fucked-up asshole I am, I smile. "Got 'em."

"Fuck!" Gray cries out, and I look over my shoulder just as he jerks to the right and grips his shoulder.

"Gray!"

"I'm hit," he grunts. "My shoulder!"

"Shit. Fuck." I slam the sliding door and go to Gray. "Hang on."

The van is slowing down as his foot slips off the gas, the pain starting to overwhelm him. "I'm fine," he grunts and shoves me away. "Just take the fucking wheel."

I roll my eyes as the van slows even further, pulling him toward the passenger seat and aiming my gun at another bike that's approaching fast.

"Hang on, man." The biker is coming fast, and I line up my shot, ignoring how the van veers to the left. "Three. Two. One," I count and pull the trigger a second before the bike slides right beside us. His head jerks, and the bike swerves before tipping over.

"Nice shot," Gray grunts and helps me settle him in the passenger seat. I remove my kutte and then my t-shirt, balling it up and holding it against his left shoulder to slow the bleeding.

"Thanks. We gotta get you to the ranch." Shit. Fuck. I can't let anything happen to Gray, not on my watch. Ivy would never fucking forgive me.

"You worried about me, Stone?"

I smile, risking a glance over at him. "Yeah, asshole, I am. Just because you're a dickhead doesn't mean I want you dead." I apply more pressure to the wound and slam on the gas, passing Saint and Slayer in my rush to get Gray medical attention.

Too many fucking minutes later, we're on the ranch and rushing into a small building on the property, where Nova is ready for us.

"What do we got?" Nova's voice is steady, as always.

"He's hit in the shoulder. Looks like it went clean through, but he's bleeding bad," I explain, carefully guiding Gray onto the bed and stepping back to give Nova space. "You're gonna be okay," I assure him, trying to sound confident.

He nods, but I can see the fear in his eyes. Damn, Gray's expression takes me back to when we were kids, and he got too close to the wrong end of a horse. Damn horse kicked him right in the chest. I think I was about seven. Scared the living crap out of me.

I sprinted to the house for help, my heart pounding like a jackhammer. When we returned, he was barely conscious, his breaths shallow and ragged. He asked me if he was gonna make it. I told him then what I'm telling him now. You're gonna be okay.

"Stay," he pleads.

I nod. "Of course, man. Not going anywhere."

Gray lets out a loud grunt, throwing his head back as Nova cleans the wound, inspecting it thoroughly.

"Want me to hold your hand?" I ask with a smile.

His gaze flicks up to mine, his pain momentarily forgotten. "Fuck you," he groans. "I should say yes just to fuck with you."

"You should," I agree, still smiling while Nova works silently to patch up Gray. "But you're not confident enough in your manhood to do it."

Gray's next grunt is not one of pain but annoyance. "More hippie California talk, huh?"

"I'm from California," Nova reminds him as the first stitch enters the entrance wound.

"Fuck!" Gray hollers. "This shit hurts." He turns to Nova and says, "Sorry. Forgot because you're so un-California-like."

I laugh. "Nice save."

"Thanks." His eyes start to drift closed, and I'm not sure if it's from all the blood he's lost or the pain radiating throughout his shoulder. "Look. Stone. We should talk."

I roll my eyes. "Now you want to talk?" I let out a snort. "You're not dying. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, fucker, I know." He winces again, turning to his side with Nova's help. "But I have something to say, and since you saved my life, I'm gonna say it now."

Gray swallows while he nods. "I always knew Ivy wasn't one hundred percent in this long before you came home. Our relationship is solid, but I hoped that, over time, she would fall in love with me. She hasn't, and it didn't bother me, until you came back."

"I didn't?—"

"Shut the fuck up." He winces again. "I'm talking. You being here and seeing the way she looks at you is a fucked up reminder of how she's never gonna feel about me."

"Dude, you're stoned. Nova gave you the good stuff. We'll talk later."

"No. I want to talk now. I've been ignoring it all this time. I'm not the guy for her."

Well, now I feel like a total fucking asshole. "I might not be either. Man, we grew up together. We're friends."

"More than friends," he replies. "Don't fuck it up."

"That's a big fucking ask." What the hell do I know about relationships anyway? Other than the people on this ranch and the boys in Angel Harbor, I've never done it. And if I fuck up with Ivy, then I'll lose her for good. "Fuck."

"Good luck." Gray has a dazed grin on his face as his eyes flutter shut.

"He's asleep now," Nova says in his calm doctor"s voice. "He'll be on and off for the rest of the night."

I nod at Nova and drop into the chair near Gray's bed. The door flies open, and my hand goes instinctively to my gun, but it's just my dad. "Oh. Hey."

His brows dip. "Gray all right?"

Nova nods. "Shot went straight through. Bled a lot, and he's patched up now. He'll be fine."

Dad sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face before his gaze settles on mine. "You get those assholes?"

"At least three of 'em." If they hadn't shot Gray, I damn sure would've taken out more.

Dad nods. "That's guaranteed to piss 'em off."

"Good. It's what I do best." Right now, my hands itch to go fuck up some shit, specifically a few more Skull Crushers, but the look on my father's face says that he won't authorize it. Not tonight.

"Soon," he promises before having a quick word with Gray.

I stay with Gray, lost in my thoughts as he drifts in and out of sleep. I wait for Ivy to come. Sooner or later, she'll show up here at his side.

It's where she belongs.