by Marla Monroe
Briana walked to the bedroom and crawled into bed, curling around her pillow. She could smell them on her sheets. She cried then. Cried and cried and cried. Everything had gone so wrong. She didn’t think she would ever see them again. Nothing had prepared her for the gut-wrenching pain that ate at her heart. Nothing would ever compare to what she had with them. She didn’t think she would even try to find out.
Chapter Eight
Briana moved through her Sunday chores on autopilot, without really thinking about what she was doing. When she had finished, she sat on the couch and stared at the TV even though she hadn’t turned it on.
Nothing interested her anymore, not food and not reading. She alternated between crying and being angry with herself. How could she have misunderstood their intentions? Hell, what were their intentions? She still wasn’t clear on what Gavin had been getting at before she’d screwed it all to hell and back.
By the end of the day, she was a nervous wreck. She realized she hadn’t worked on her project, and tried to focus on it but failed miserably. Finally, she managed to get through it. It wasn’t her best work, but it would do. She needed to get back on track, but today wasn’t the day. Maybe tomorrow would be better.
The next day she finished school, having floated through it without really hearing anything the professors were saying. She had finals soon, and she needed to be concentrating.
By the time she got to work, she had talked herself into forgetting about the guys and getting her mind back on her schoolwork. After all, it was what was going to get her through the rest of her life.
Bill met her at the door. Something was up. He looked strung out.
“Hey, what’s wrong, Bill?”
“We’ve had some dangerous-looking dudes hanging around most of the day. I really think you should call in sick and let me shut the store down tonight, Briana.”
“I can’t, Bill. I need the money to pay my rent. I’ll be fine.”
“Damn it, Briana. I’ll pay for your rent this month. I’m really afraid for you.”
She stiffened her spine. “Thanks for worrying about me, but I’ll be fine. You better get home before you miss your wife.”
“I’m going to call and check on you. Be sure you answer the phone, or I’ll call the police.”
“Fine, Bill. Now bye.”
Bill gritted his teeth and muttered something about stubborn women as he grabbed his pack and walked out the door. Briana stiffened her resolve and walked over to the counter to drop her pack and look at what needed to be done. She started by cleaning the counter. Then she moved around the store putting up items that had been left out.
Around ten p.m., two rough-looking men walked into the store and headed straight for her. She kept a look of confidence on her face and put her hand beneath the counter as if she had a panic button.
“Can I help you gentlemen?”
“Now maybe you can. Why don’t you come out here and show us some of your toys. Maybe you can even demonstrate them for us. What do you say?”
“Sorry, but I’m not coming out from behind the counter. I can tell you where to find anything you’re looking for.” Still she kept her hand under the counter.
“You might as well move your hand, lady. I know you don’t have a panic button under there.”
Briana’s confidence faltered, but she kept her hand where it was. It was just her luck she didn’t have her pepper spray there to grab instead of in her backpack. She might as well steel herself for whatever was to come. She would fight. She would scream, and she would fail with two of them. Maybe if she could get one of them in the nuts…
“I said come out.” He reached across the counter and grabbed her by the neck, dragging her over the counter until she was lying over the scanner on her belly.
“What do you want?” she managed to get out of her sore throat.
“Well, now. I should think that would be pretty obvious. You’re a pretty thing, and we like pretty things. Maybe we’ll give you something pretty for taking care of us like a good bitch.”
He pulled her on over the counter and caught her so that she didn’t fall flat on her face. He hugged her to him and kissed her. She tried to turn her head, but the other guy held it still.
The other man whispered in her ear. “Don’t do anything stupid and make him mad.”
He forced his tongue into her mouth and nearly choked her. She struggled and managed to knee the guy in the nuts hard enough he let her go. The other man was taken by surprise, and she ran for the door. She made it outside, but they followed her. She ran right into a hard body and nearly screamed until she saw that it was Dillon. He immediately put her behind him.
“Seems like you’ve picked on the wrong woman, guys. She’s under our protection,” Gavin said.
“I don’t see no collar on her, or a ring on her finger. She’s not marked, she don’t belong to anyone.” The seeming leader advanced on the guys.
She cowered behind them. They were going to fight over her. She’d never wanted them to get hurt because of her. As long as it was just for show, she was all for having them as bodyguards, but now? She wasn’t so sure. She wished she had her phone, but that was in the store behind the bad guys. She couldn’t get to them there.
Gavin made the first move and lunged for the bigger man. He landed a punch first, but the other man followed through with a jab that caught Gavin in the solar plexus. Dillon remained in front of her, staring at the other man.
Briana saw his phone on his belt and pulled it off. Dillon grunted but didn’t take his eyes off his opponent. She figured if the other guy moved to help his buddy, he would join in. She figured they had their leader’s name on speed dial, so she took a chance that one would be Gavin and punched two. Sure enough the name “Cole” popped on the screen. She punched send and waited for him to answer.
“What is it, Dillon?”
“It’s Briana. They need help. Their fighting some bullies over me and I’m scared.”
“Where are you?” he asked.
“At the adult store. Do you know where it is?”
“Yeah. We’re on our way. Don’t get involved, or you will distract them. Got it?”
“I won’t.” He hung up on her.
She kept the phone since trying to put it back on Dillon’s belt would distract him.
The second guy lunged for Dillon. They grappled with punch after punch. She couldn’t keep up with both Dillon and Gavin at the same time. She winced every time one of them got hit.
Finally, she heard the roar of motorcycles approaching fast. She sighed with relief when they circled the fight and got off to pull the two men off Gavin and Dillon. They pummeled on them until they were no longer able to stand up. Then they dragged them over behind the building and left them for the police.
Briana went to both Dillon and Gavin to see how badly they were beaten. Both had busted noses and lips, but other than that they didn’t seem in really bad shape. At least they weren’t letting her see how badly they were hurt.
“Get your stuff, Briana, and lock up. You’re going home, and you’re not working at that place again,” Gavin said with a growl, still panting.
Dillon held out his hand for his phone. She handed it to him and noticed he didn’t smile at her. She swallowed around the lump in her throat and backed away from them. She went inside and emptied the cash register without running the tape. The manager could do it in the morning. She locked up and got in her car. Before she closed the door, Cole walked up and held it.
“Thanks for thinking. Calling us was the right thing to do. I’ll talk to them.”
“Don’t. This has nothing to do with that. We’re not together anymore. I guess they still felt an obligation to be sure I got home okay. I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve never had so much trouble before. I guess the neighborhood is totally wasted. Thanks, Cole.”
The other man just nodded and turned away. She closed her door and drove off after starting the car. She had no idea if anyo
ne followed her or not, and didn’t care anymore. She just wanted to get home.
When she pulled up in her drive, the sounds of motorcycles were right behind her. It sounded like the entire gang had come along to watch her get inside. She got out of her car with her pack and walked up to the door. The key was jerked from her hand, and Gavin unlocked the door before handing the key back to her. He touched her throat lightly and cursed, then drew in a deep breath.
“Lock the door, Briana. I mean it. You’re not working at that place anymore. I’ll burn it to the ground if you go back.”
She had little doubt he meant it. She just nodded and closed the door, locking it before running to the bedroom, throwing herself on the bed to cry. Between the scare, the fight, and the knowledge that despite their being over, he had come to make sure she was okay, Briana was a total wreck. It didn’t help that she had finals coming up.
She didn’t manage to get any sleep, so when it was time to get up, she called her boss and told him what had happened and that she wasn’t going to be working anymore. He wasn’t happy but didn’t fuss overly much. He promised to mail her last check to her.
She skipped breakfast and went on to school to sit and study while she waited on time for her first class. All she could think about though was the look of no emotion in Gavin’s eyes when he looked at her. He really had cut her out of his life. Now, with her not working at the store, she’d never see them again.
* * * *
“Fuck, my ribs hurt.” Dillon said.
“Suck it up, Dillon. We still have to work tomorrow.” Gavin held a cloth with ice in it to his face.
“Did you see her eyes, Gavin? They were devastated.”
“Doesn’t matter. She doesn’t trust us. I can’t have a relationship with someone who thinks so little of me.”
“Relationship, is that what we had? ’Cause, man, you never said a word about anything like that. I doubt she believed we meant anything like that. We fucked her and hung around her house, but we didn’t give her any hope that we were serious.” Dillon was angry with Gavin, but wouldn’t go behind his back.
“She knew. She wouldn’t have asked for more, Dillon, if she didn’t know we thought more of her than just a random fuck.”
“If you say so.” Dillon walked into the bathroom and closed the door a little more forcefully than was necessary.
He turned on the shower and stepped in. The water stung against his bruises and cuts, but it meant he could feel something. He had been feeling cold inside without Briana. Something had to give. Gavin was going to blow a fuse if he didn’t calm down and think for a change. He lived by his emotions, and for a while, he had actually started to let his mind take over again. But that was over.
There was a knock on the door, and then a blast of cooler air swirled into the shower around him.
“I’m going for a ride. I’ll be back later.”
“Wait and I’ll go with you.”
“I’d rather go alone,” Gavin said and closed the door.
Dillon blew out a breath and finished washing off. He dried off and had just pulled on his jeans when there was a knock on the door. He checked the peephole and found it was Cole and Zack. Great, he was going to get chewed out without Gavin to take his part.
He opened the door and stepped back. Cole and Zack walked through and looked around.
“Where’s Gavin?” Cole asked.
“He went for a ride. Wouldn’t wait around for me.”
“What’s his problem?”
“He got all fucked up over Briana wanting us to agree to only seeing each other if we were going to move on in the relationship. Gavin took it to mean she didn’t trust us. I don’t know what’s in his head. He was all into her and now he’s dropped her like a hot potato.”
“I told him to tell her he loved her. He insisted he didn’t know if he did. The man is so in love with her he can’t think straight,” Cole said disgustedly.
“Well, I’ll admit I am. But I’m not doing anything without Gavin. He’s got to either come around or move on without this pissed-off thing going on. He’s going to end up doing something stupid.”
“Want me to talk to him?” Cole asked.
“Not right now. Give it a few days. Maybe over the weekend if he’s not any better.” Dillon sighed. “He’s never been right since we got back from Iraq. For a while, he was acting almost normal around her. She was good for him. Then he had to go and fuck it up.”
“Tell me when, Dillon, and I’ll give it a try.”
“Thanks, Cole.”
The two men walked out. Dillon didn’t lock the door since Gavin had to be able to get back in. He didn’t bother turning back the covers. He just lay back on the bed and folded his arms behind his head to think.
Briana would be leaving for Dallas in a few weeks. Without working, she’d probably move as fast as she could so she could find a job. He wasn’t sure how they would find her in a city as big as Dallas when Gavin came to his senses. That is, if it wasn’t too late.
Around four in the morning, Gavin walked in stinking of booze. Fuck. That was all he needed. There was no way he was going to work today.
“What in the hell did you do, Gavin? You smell like a still. I can’t believe you rode home like that. You could have been killed.” Dillon spat out.
“Oh, shut the fuck up.” Gavin fell face-first on the bed.
Dillon shook his head, then started pulling off his brother’s boots and then his shirt. He left him on his stomach in case he threw up. Hell, he couldn’t leave him like this. That meant he couldn’t go to work today. He would call Cole as soon as it was a decent hour, and tell him what was going down.
He thought about Briana and sighed. He loved her. Deeper than he’d ever loved a woman in his life. She meant everything to him, but he couldn’t betray his brother. There had to be some way to get Gavin to give her a chance. She needed some sort of encouragement that they were serious. They hadn’t said anything to her to give her that idea. No matter what Gavin thought, actions alone weren’t enough for a woman. They needed words.
At six fifteen, Dillon called Cole and filled him in. His leader wasn’t happy, but understood.
“Tell that son of a bitch he’s in trouble when he can think coherently.”
“I will.” He hung up the phone. “Right after I rip him a new one.”
Chapter Nine
Briana turned in her last test paper of the semester. Actually, it was the last one of her college career. Now if only she would pass. She felt terrible about her tests. She hadn’t done nearly as well as she knew she could. She’d find out next week how she did. Then there was graduation. She was seriously considering skipping it entirely. She needed to get to Dallas and find a job.
She’d put up enough money to get her an apartment and settled for a couple of weeks while she looked. Then there was always waitressing to pay her bills if worst came to worst. Anything would be better than the job she’d had here. Now she could afford to be choosey since she didn’t have to work nights.
When she got home, she locked the door and dropped her books in the living room by her computer. Then she fixed herself a Diet Coke. She wasn’t hungry. She wasn’t hungry at all anymore and only ate to keep her strength up.
No matter how much she chastised herself, she kept thinking about Dillon and Gavin and wondering what they were doing. Working, of course, but what about at night? Were they already with another woman? The thought of them holding someone else had her chest hurting all over again. She gagged and rushed to the bathroom to throw up. She had done that a lot lately. Every time she thought of them, she got sick.
She cleaned herself up and grabbed her purse and car keys. She would get a Dallas paper and look for a place to live and a job. It would keep her mind occupied for a while, anyway.
When she got back, Briana spread the paper out on the bar and circled everything that sounded good. She was sure there would be a lot of duds, but she couldn’t afford to pass anything up
that was within her budget.
She managed to find a dozen possible jobs and knew there would be more in Sunday’s paper. She would get one and look at them. In the meantime, she needed to update her résumé. Well, as soon as she got her test results back. Fear overwhelmed her again that she hadn’t passed. She sniffed and felt the tears well up in her eyes.
Bill called to find out how her tests went and to commiserate with her. She knew he meant well, but he only stirred up her emotions again. How did you get over being in love with someone who had dumped you?
When she finally found out she’d passed and with a fairly good grade, she rejoiced, but it was short lived. It meant it was time to move on. And that meant no chance of Gavin and Dillon coming back. Deep down she had harbored a sick hope that they would come back and profess their love of her.
Briana began packing and making plans. She had fifty résumés printed out and ready to send out as soon as she had an address. Since the house had come furnished, she didn’t have much to move. She managed to fit all of it in her car. She left out just what she needed for getting ready the next morning and planned to leave early Monday morning.
It crossed her mind that the men would be leaving in another month themselves. She refused to think of them anymore. All it did was get her to crying until she threw up. She didn’t need to lose any more weight, as her clothes wouldn’t fit her. She couldn’t afford to buy more clothes.
Monday found her antsy at four in the morning. She finally got up and got dressed. She packed the last of her things and grabbed a cup of coffee and sweet roll on the way out of town. She resisted the urge to drive by the hotel where the men were staying to get a glimpse of their bikes. How sick was that? It was time to move on. And that was what she was doing.
* * * *
By the end of the week, she had a place to live and a job. The wonderful thing about her job was that she got to work from home, only going in occasionally for meetings. Never had she expected something that perfect.