Mouse: A Steel Paragons MC Novel (The Coast: Book 7)

by Hart, Eve R.

  “You good?” Cable asked me as he rested his big hand on my shoulder.

  “Yeah,” I told him. “I’m done.” I wiped the blood from my lip with the back of my hand.

  “Ky?” B-ry asked.

  Ky’s head nodded once in response.

  “Sit,” Ky said to me once we were sort of alone.

  I sat, not taking my eyes off of him.

  I didn’t really think he’d do anything more, but I wasn’t sure.

  Not that I really could have blamed him.

  Lake came over hesitantly, bringing a small cooler that I had a good idea was full of beer. He placed it between us, looking back and forth between us a few times.

  I gave him a chin jerk letting him know it was all good.

  Then Ky and I were left in silence.

  I should have been the first to speak but I didn’t really know where to start.

  Was I in the wrong? Yeah, one hundred fucking percent. I just wanted to know what the hell I could do to fix all that now.

  “I’m pissed, Mouse,” he finally said.

  “I get that.” I wasn’t trying to be an asshole.

  “I’m pretty mad that you got a thing for my sister. But I’m more fuckin’ pissed that you didn’t come to me first. I might not like it and…” He blew out a hard breath as his head tilted back for a second. “I get that she’s not the little girl that I see her as. She’s my little sister, and I think she’ll always be that. But, thanks mostly to Chris, I see that she’s not a girl anymore.”

  I said nothing because I didn’t have much to say on all of that. It was obvious that he saw her that way and though I didn’t have any siblings, I understood it. It was the way any good big brother would see things.

  “When the hell did this start?” he asked and his voice had a hard edge, just like his eyes.

  “No,” I said, my head shaking back and forth like I was trying to make a point clear. “Not back then. Back then… shit, I don’t know. I cared for her but I didn’t feel… didn’t feel like I do now.”

  “You didn’t fucking touch her back then?”

  “Fuck no,” I spat out.

  “So tell me, brother, when the fuck did this all start then?”

  He reached down and grabbed two beers, offering me one. With a shake of my head, I declined.

  “Not drinking?” His voice sounded surprised and confused.

  “No, I’m good. I haven’t since…”

  Fuck! Since the night I touched Ingram. I knew my mistake that night and I was determined not to let it happen ever again. As much as I wanted to blame it on being a drunk asshole that night, I knew that I couldn’t have really been that dumb. At some point, I had to have known that I was really touching her and stupidly let myself jump further into Denial Land.

  I shook my head trying to push away all images of that night.

  At Ky’s raised brow, I hesitated but went on.

  “Not since the night I kissed Ingram.” I cringed, big time. This was becoming painfully awkward. I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him what else I’d done to his sister.

  “You were drunk when you kissed my sister?!”

  “Yeah,” I said in a frustrated breath. I hated it too. “But I’m not using that as an excuse. I can’t lie anymore, man. I care for Ingram more than I probably should. And you know Chry is more than just club family to me.”

  He seemed to take my words to heart. Or he was calculating ways he could kill me in my sleep. I wasn’t sure. But then he nodded slowly and looked me in the eyes, and I had a feeling it was more of the former.

  “You better make sure you take care of them. And I swear, if you hurt them, I will hunt you down and murder your ass, brother or not.”

  I blinked at him. I almost couldn’t believe that he’d just said that. But then again… my throbbing face was proof just how protective he was over his sister and his nephew.

  “I got you.” A long moment of silence went by and then an odd chuckle bubbled up out of my throat as I thought how fucked up this all was. Ky looked at me like I was crazy and I rushed to explain the best way I could without having him get all Hulk on me again. “I don’t think it matters all that much now. I was kind of an asshole and tried to push her away. I lied to her and it killed me. But I was so convinced, still am, that I’m no good for her.”

  “I think she could do worse,” he said and the tick of his lips let me know he was halfway joking. “Not something you can fix?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied honestly. Before he decked me I thought that maybe there was a chance that I could work toward it. “She needs time to find trust in me again. But I think she’s willing to give me a chance. You would have been proud of her. I was.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah,” I said with a smile and a nod. “She stood up to me. Called me on my bullshit right away and told me I wasn’t the man she knew. That I wasn’t someone that deserved her, pretty much.”

  “Damn right on that.”

  “Fuck off,” I said only half meaning it in anger. “She’s not the same person that left here.”

  “I know,” he said and I could see that he’d noticed it too. I mean, who couldn’t?

  “She’s really fucking special.” I hadn’t really meant to say that out loud but that didn’t make it any less true.

  Ky nodded and it seemed like we both got lost in our heads for a while.

  We sat there for a long time in silence. Ky drank his beer and I tried to relax a little. Eventually he got up and he walked by me without a word. His hand gave my shoulder one good squeeze and even if he couldn’t look at me right then, I took it as a good sign. An approval from him. Then he walked off.

  I turned around and my eyes scanned the still crowded lot only to find that Ingram had left.

  I was disappointed but I understood. She was probably pissed about what happened and didn’t want to be around either one of us right now. I couldn’t even blame her.

  I only hoped that she was willing to really give me a second chance. I was determined to make things right between us, and once I did that, I was going to make her see that we belong together. I was convinced that I’d never get anything better than Ingram. I hoped to hell I could be that for her too.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Ingram

  I couldn’t even look at my brother for the rest of the cookout. I actually didn’t even end up staying there that long because I was so furious. Chris tried to get me to calm down. He tried to tell me that was just the way it had to be and now that it was all over, things would go back to normal.

  As I looked around and saw everyone back in their little groups and talking as if nothing had happened, I knew he was right.

  I stood off to the side with Chris, Chry now in my arms and playing with my hair. Ky and Mouse were far across the lot and I glanced over there a few times to make sure they weren’t on one another again. I guessed they were talking but I was too far away to tell. What I could tell though, was that Chris may have tried to sound like he was brushing it off, but the daggers coming from his eyes in the direction of my brother told me another story.

  I was grateful that Chris took Chry away when things started to happen. I didn’t want my little guy seeing his uncle and his friend fighting, that was for sure.

  It hadn’t been a lie when I said Chry missed Mouse. I think he’d grown used to Mouse being in his life already. The same as he’d done with Ky, Chris, Laurel, and even Cami. But this was not the way I wanted him to see two of his favorite people act towards one another.

  I could not stand around and watch them from afar any longer, so I quickly said my goodbyes and went back home.

  I put Chry to bed, then I paced the length of the house. Over and over again. It did nothing to calm the anger I had inside.

  I wasn’t sure how much time had passed but I was starting to think that they weren’t going to come home. I thought that actually might have been for the best.

  Then, right as I was ab
out to go get changed and ready for bed, I heard Ky’s bike pull up into the driveway. My sandaled feet slapped against the hardwood floor and I met them right in the doorway as soon as they entered.

  Ky’s face looked apologetic but I didn’t care.

  “What is wrong with you?!” I screeched in a harsh whisper because I didn’t want to wake up Chry.

  Chris only shook his head and walked further into the house, leaving us to work it out, or so I assumed.

  Ky said nothing and so I kept going.

  “Why would you do that? You had no right to. If you had a problem then you should have come and talked to me, not beat up Mouse. Did it make you feel good? Make you feel all big brotherly, protecting me from… from… whatever you thought you were protecting me from?”

  “Actually, yeah,” he said and as my head reared back in shock, I almost didn’t recognize him in front of me. I maybe had started to see him in a whole new light. But then he continued to speak and the shock slipped away. “Because it is my job to protect you. It’s my job to look out for you. And it’s not even that it’s a job. It’s my responsibility and my fucking right as your big brother.”

  I stood there stunned and as my eyes just blinked at him, I couldn’t think of a thing to say.

  “I left you unprotected once and I will never fucking do it again,” he told me and there was a softness in his eyes.

  “But he is Mouse. He would never put me in danger,” I said truly believing those words.

  “Yeah, and he’s my fucking brother and knows better than to touch my damn sister. He paid the price he should have before he even looked at you like that.”

  “I do not understand,” I said and my head shook back and forth like a crazy person.

  “You are family here,” he said pointing down and I guessed he meant here in this home. “And you are family there.” This time his arm raised as he pointed in the direction of the door. The club, he was talking about the club. “And that means they look out for you, not try to fuck you.”

  We both froze and our faces flinched at the same time like we were twins.

  “Fuck,” he said a little too loudly. “I can’t even think of that… no. You get me though?”

  “I get you,” I repeated and bowed my head.

  “Don’t do that. If you have something to say, you are always free to say it, but don’t ever bow your head to me even if I’m angry.”

  “Who’s to say that Mouse doesn’t want to protect me? Maybe he only wants to look out for me in the highest way possible. Who are you to say what is okay and what isn’t?! He kissed… he kissed me like I mattered.”

  “Fuck,” Ky spit out again and his eyes screwed closed.

  “I asked him to. I wanted him to. And I have never felt anything like that before. I have never been treated so precious and tenderly in my entire life.” Maybe I was digging my hole deeper but I wanted Ky to know the truth.

  “Stop. I can’t hear any more. I fucking can’t. That shit you have to talk to Chris about. Nope.” He shook his head and walked around me, heading for the living room.

  “Did you get anything accomplished with your fists?” I asked as I followed right behind him.

  “Yeah, Ingram.” He let out a hard sigh. “We got shit worked out.”

  “There will be no more fighting, then?”

  He turned to me and pulled me into his arms.

  “Not unless that asshole hurts you.”

  I smiled against his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist.

  “He told me he said things to you that broke your trust because he tried to push you away,” Ky said and his voice was so soft and low I almost didn’t hear it. I nodded against his chest because I didn’t want to anger him again. “I wanted to beat his ass all over again after he told me that. But he said he was going to do everything to earn your trust back, at your pace.”

  Tears welled up in my eyes but I didn’t let them fall.

  Chris chose that moment to come into view with a huge First-Aid kit in his hand. He gave me a soft smile and moved to sit at the tall chairs on the island.

  “Let Chris fix you up,” I said and took in the state of his face for the first time. I gasped loudly and my fingers gently pushed his chin so I could see everything.

  “Mouse looks worse,” Ky said and there was a smug smirk on his face but the look in his eyes told me he felt at least a little badly about it.

  I released my brother with a less than pleased look.

  “You can talk to me about anything, you know?” Ky’s eyes were looking into mine and I knew he meant his words.

  “Except sex,” I said and tried to hold my laughter in when his face screwed up in disgust. “You do know that I can hear what you two do sometimes.”

  Ky’s cheeks burned bright with embarrassment. The truth was, I was happy for my brother. That didn’t mean I wanted to hear him and Chris in the throws of passion, but I did respect that they shared that deeper connection.

  “Nope. Can’t talk about this,” Ky said. His head shook back and forth as he stepped away from me. “Chris, you have to deal with the… The Talk because I can’t.”

  “The Talk?” I asked with wide eyes.

  At this point, Chris could no longer contain his laughter.

  Chris cleared his throat as Ky went to sit down beside him so he could get his wounds cleaned.

  “When two people really like each other—” Chris started only to be cut off by Ky.

  “Fuckin’ shit, Chris, not now. I’m here. Fuck.”

  Chris and I both laughed uncontrollably. I had no idea why I liked to make my brother so uncomfortable, but I did.

  “You two are off the hook, I got to learn all about those kinds of things while I was away,” I told them.

  Chris started to dab at Ky’s face. Ky hissed and tried to move his face away from Chris’ touch.

  “I’m sure Mouse could use someone to help him tonight,” Ky said and it was so low I wasn’t sure I even heard it. “We’ll watch Chry, but don’t be gone all night.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. Sometimes he treated me as if I was still a kid. But that meant he loved me and I guessed I should be happy.

  “Thank you,” I said and turned on my heels.

  “Don’t let him off so easily,” Ky said as I took a few steps in the direction of the door.

  I gave him a tiny smile and a nod over my shoulder.

  I hadn’t planned on it. I meant what I’d said before, I needed to take things slow with Mouse. He had to earn my trust back and despite how I felt in my heart, I was going to let him work for it.

  “You know what?” I halted my steps as my brain replayed Ky’s words. I turned back to face them and they both wore matching expressions that said they were waiting for what I had to say. “You’re completely right.”

  “What?” Ky asked sounding really confused. “I am? I mean, yeah, of course I am.”

  I smiled as a soft chuckle from Chris filtered into my ears. He shook his head at my brother like he was calling him an idiot or something in his head.

  “I’m not going to go rushing to him,” I said with my spine stick straight. “Let him sit there. He has plenty of people around that can help clean him up if he needs it. But, no, I will not go rushing off to him.”

  My smile grew even if I hated the words as they came out of my mouth. I was standing tall. I wasn’t going to be a doormat. I had meant the words I’d said to Mouse, he had to earn back my trust and that kind of thing took time. Besides, what would it say if I just went running to him after I’d laid out all of my demands?

  That said, I still felt a little sick that he was hurting. I cringed thinking just how bad his face might have been.

  Then the anger towards my brother came rushing back in.

  Men.

  I mentally rolled my eyes as I thought the word.

  Sometimes they were so bad at handling things.

  “It’s okay if you do, Ingram,” Chris said and I blinked myself back to the
moment. “It’s okay if you go to him now. You shouldn’t feel bad about it.”

  “I get that,” I said my head bobbing up and down a little. “This has to be the way. I need it to be this way.”

  “We support you, always, Ingram.”

  “Thank you,” I said and sent them a sweet smile. I knew Chris was saying so much more in that statement and I loved him for it. “I’m going to bed now. Goodnight.”

  They said it back and I was off to get more comfortable.

  But as I tossed and turned in my bed, I couldn’t shake the thoughts of Mouse. I wanted to know that he was okay even if I was trying to be strong.

  Finally, after debating on it for a long time, I decided that sending him a text message wouldn’t be so bad. After all, friends checked on each other when things like this happened, right? I imagined so. If Laurel or Cami had a bad day and I knew about it, I made sure to reach out to them to make sure they were okay.

  Hi. It’s Ingram. I hope your face isn’t too bad.

  It took me a good five minutes to type out something that I thought sounded okay. Even as I hit send, I shook my head at my words. I wanted to keep it simple and a little uplifting or funny at the same time. I wanted to make him smile. Then again, knowing his face was probably swollen and bruised, maybe smiling wasn’t the best thing.

  His response came instantly.

  I’m good. I have a bag of peas on my cheek and it’s kinda making me hungry.

  A loud, short laugh slipped out of my throat. My hand flew up to try to cover my mouth like there was someone around to see me. Which caused me to giggle a little.

  I’m sure you guys have tons of leftovers from the party.

  There was way too much food there in my opinion. And sure, those men could put away some food but it seemed like there was way more than enough to keep everyone satisfied.

  As I thought about it, my stomach grumbled. I didn’t have a chance to eat anything there and I was kind of regretting it now.

  You’re probably right. I just don’t want to get up right now. I wish I’d eaten before… well, everything went down.

  I was just thinking the same thing. I didn’t grab anything while I was there. It all looked so good. Maybe we shouldn’t talk about food right now.