by Geri Glenn
“You know there’s only one way to do that,” Trey replies, pointing to the broken kid in front of me. “Does he look like he’d survive that to you?”
Tripp looks back at his brother, worry creasing his brow, and then his eyes meet mine. I swear there’s an apology in his gaze, but he quickly wipes his face clean of emotion before locking eyes on Trey once more. “Not him. Me. You jump him out by beating me.”
Carter and I gasp as all the men around us begin to roar their agreement, and a vicious smile spreads across Trey’s face. “Once wasn’t good enough for you, Tripp?”
I watch as Tripp widens his stance, his shoulders square, his face determined. Once. Trey had implied that Tripp had done this once before. He’d never told me that he himself had been involved with the Vipers at one point.
“What do you think, Carter?” Trey asks, his voice smooth as silk. “Does your big brother take your beatdown and you’re in the clear? Or you gonna be a man and take it yourself?”
Carter sways on his feet as he stands, his face twisting with agony every inch of the way. “No! Tripp, don’t do this!”
Tripp turns and rushes at his brother, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck and pulling him closer. “I have no choice, Carter. You saw to that. I won’t let you get swallowed up by this pack of assholes. Tonight, you’re done being a Viper.”
Carter shrinks away from the rage in Tripp’s eyes, and backs away until we’re side by side. His hand reaches for mine, and though we’ve never really exchanged words before, our mutual fear bonds us together as we watch the scene before us unfold.
Tripp whispers something to Zack, who looks to us and nods. “Do it.”
Trey glares at Tripp, and Zack moves away from his best friend and positions himself behind me and Carter. One of his heavy hands lands on Carter’s shoulder, and the other on mine. For one, terrifying moment, I realize that he’s not there to comfort either one of us, but to hold us still while this happens.
Trey’s fist is like lightning, and even though I see Tripp brace himself, he doesn’t attempt to dodge the blow. With a sickly thud of skin on bone, Tripp’s head whips to the side, blood flying from his nose.
My heart hammers inside my chest as I watch the group descend on Tripp, each one of them ready to get their blows in too. Zack’s hand tightens as I scream, and Carter cries out for them to stop.
It seems to last forever. Blow after blow, hit after hit, Tripp’s wide frame wobbles and sways, but doesn’t fall. Tears flow freely down my cheeks as I sob so hard, gasps of air try to rip their way up through my throat.
When Tripp’s body drops to the ground, I’m convinced the beating will end, but it doesn’t. The entire group of them surround him, their feet slamming into any part of Tripp they can connect with.
Carter clings to me now, burying his face in my neck as we both cry.
Finally, after what feels like forever, Trey lets out a loud whistle, and the beating and kicking comes to an end. One by one, the men step away, and I can barely breathe as I take in Tripp’s battered body on the grass.
Trey straightens, his eyes coming to me, and then drop down to Carter. “This is your out,” he says, making sure Carter’s listening. “I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to hear you. I don’t want to smell you. If I do,”—he points down at Tripp—“this isn’t nearly as bad as the beatdown you’ll get.”
TRIPP
My ears ring, and every part of me aches as I lie on the grass, my body coiled into the tightest ball I can manage. I’m pretty sure I have a few broken ribs, and I know for a fact that my face is swelling up already because the skin there feels like it’s being stretched tight.
“Tripp?” Georgia cries from beside me, her hands fluttering about my body as if she’s afraid to touch me. For once, I don’t think I want her to. The added pain would be too much to bear.
The pain throbs in my head and gut as my consciousness begins to wane. I’d taken more than one blow to the head, and if the way my skull feels right now, I’ll be lucky if it’s not fractured.
I can hear Georgia and Zack’s voices droning on from above me, but I can’t focus on a word of what they’re saying. I fight the darkness, refusing to let it win, but in the end, darkness swallows me whole and leaves me floating in welcome silence.
As I peel my eyelids open, I’m not surprised to find myself in a hospital bed. Machines beep and buzz around me, and I spy Georgia curled up in a chair to my right, sound asleep. I can barely move, and every muscle in my body is seized up.
My chest feels tight where it’s bound in bandages, and I know my eyes are swollen just by the limited vision I have, as if I’m looking at the world through a viewfinder instead of my own eyes.
“Tripp?” Carter whispers, and I slowly force my head to turn, and find my brother sitting up in his chair, his hands coming up to grip mine. “Oh, fuck,” he groans. “I’m so sorry, Tripp. So fucking sorry.”
Tears well in his eyes, and I can’t do anything but watch him. My throat is dry and feels as though it’s sealed shut.
“I should’ve listened to you,” he continues, the tears spilling over his cheeks. “I should’ve gotten out while I could. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
Lucky for him, I know how easy it is for things to get out of control. I’d been that young boy once, swept away in the fun and togetherness the Red Vipers seemed to offer. The true underbelly of them is never exposed to you until it’s too late. That doesn’t make it okay, though. I love my brother, but I’m angry with him. Or maybe disappointed is a more appropriate descriptor.
As I lift my trembling hand to rest on top of his bowed head, I realize that nobody is angrier with him than he is with himself. I have to believe that the beating I took for him was for a purpose. That not only did it free him from the Vipers, but that he learned a valuable lesson he won’t ever forget.
As my eyes begin to drift closed once more, I gently squeeze the back of my brother’s neck. We have plenty of time to talk about this, just as soon as I don’t feel like death.
The next time I come to, both Carter and Georgia are asleep, their chairs side by side, their heads sharing the same flat hospital pillow. Two of my favorite people, finally seeming to find some common ground.
“Hey.”
It hurts like hell to turn my head, but I do. “Hey, fucker.”
Zack glances over to the sleeping duo in the corner, and keeps his voice low so as not to wake them. “That was fucking risky, asshole. You almost died.”
I smirk and squirm in the bed, every single part of me throbbing. “I feel like I did die.”
Zack sneers at me with disapproval. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking Carter needed out. I was thinking you were there if anything were to go wrong. I was thinking you’d take care of Georgia and Carter, and you did. Thank you for that.”
Zack shakes his head and looks past me to the far side of the room again. “You know I have your back, man. Always. But if you ever do anything like that again, I’ll kick your ass myself.”
I huff out a laugh, and pain shoots through my ribs like bolts of white lightening. “Deal. Now go the hell home so I can get some sleep.”
Zack stands and squeezes my ankle. “Night, fucker.”
I don’t even get a chance to say it back before I’m sound asleep again.
Eighteen
Georgia
Tripp Fletcher is the most infuriating man I’ve ever met. Not to mention, the worst patient. “You’re supposed to stay in that bed, Tripp. It’s doctor’s orders!”
Tripp waves me away, and I get a glimpse of his perfect ass under his hospital gown as he ambles toward the bathroom. “I have to piss, woman, and there’s no way in hell I’m letting one of those nurses hold my dick for me while I do it.”
As the door closes behind him, I wrinkle my nose in disgust. “You’re so stubborn,” I call out, knowing damn well he can hear me. His pained chuckle on the other side
of the door tells me as much.
Tripp had been extremely lucky. Three broken ribs, a smashed nose, and a vast variety of cuts and scrapes. The bruising made things look much worse than they were.
Knowing that he was going to be all right had been a balm on my tattered soul. Watching the man I’d grown to care for so much get beaten within an inch of his life had been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to bear. And when he’d lost consciousness on the ground that night, both my heart and lungs had stopped, just ceased to function. It had been terrifying.
It’s been three days since the fight, and one thought that continues to pass through my mind is that Tripp’s volunteering to take his brother’s place that night was one of the bravest acts of love I have ever witnessed. I don’t know that my own family would be capable of a love like that.
Tripp is a completely different man than I thought he was when I’d first met him. His family means the world to him, and he’s twice the parent to his brothers and sister at twenty-two than most people are when the children are their own.
As Tripp stumbles out of the bathroom, I rush to his side, gently lifting his arm and wrapping it around my shoulders. “Stubborn,” I mutter again, barely loud enough for him to hear.
He does hear, though. Tripp barks out a pained chuckle and pulls me closer, pressing his lips to the top of my head. “You love it.”
That word again—love. As I get Tripp settled into his bed, I crawl in beside him, my head resting in the crook of his arm. I haven’t known Tripp long, and I still have so much to learn about him and his life, but one thing I’ve learned over the past few days is that I’d once thought I loved Benjamin, but my feelings for Tripp go so much deeper.
As I drift off to sleep in the arms of the bravest man I know, the realization that this might very well be love settles over me like a warm and welcome blanket.
TRIPP
I lie in the hospital bed, flicking mindlessly through the TV channels, restless and bored, wishing I were anyplace else but here. Georgia had finally gone home to get cleaned up and get a decent night’s sleep, and for the first time in days, I’m completely alone. Or as alone as one can be in a hospital filled with overprotective nurses.
I’m being discharged in the morning, and it can’t come soon enough. Hailey’s been at home handling everything while I’m here, wishing I was there to help. It isn’t right. But at least Carter is somewhat back to normal. Hailey had told me today that he’s been a big help with Max since I’ve been gone. Maybe he really is going to be okay after all.
“Knock, knock.”
I glance at the door, surprised to see a middle-aged woman I’ve never laid eyes on before in my life standing there. She’s elegantly dressed, every single hair on her head in place, and her makeup makes her look like a retired runway model.
“Tripp Fletcher,” she says, moving to my bedside with her hand held out for me to shake. “My name is Lillian Addington. I’m Georgia’s mother.”
I take her hand gently, giving it a polite shake. “I’m sorry the first time we meet is with me lying in this bed.”
Her lips form a forced smile, and she glances around the room as if she’s afraid to touch anything in it. “Yes, well…it is what it is.” I watch as she pulls a chair closer and perches her ass on the very edge of it, folding her hands over her purse on her lap. “I won’t take up too much of your time, Tripp, but I would like to talk to you about my daughter.”
Georgia had told me a little about her family. She’d alluded to the fact that her mother was a stuck-up bitch, but now that I’m seeing it, I find myself feeling sorry for my girl. I couldn’t imagine being raised by this completely fake woman.
I use the remote to turn off the TV, and give Mrs. Addington my full attention. “What about her?”
“Well,” she says, like I should already know. “You know my daughter comes from a more…opulent home than I’m sure you’re used to.”
I nod, but say not one word.
“And recently, Georgia rejected a proposal from a very wealthy man that could provide her with the life she deserves.”
I don’t reply, because yes, I know that too.
“Anyway,” she continues, her tone suddenly resembling something similar to friendliness. “I know that my daughter and you have begun something of a…”—she curls her nose, but maintains the amiable tone—“relationship.”
I don’t like where this is going.
“Do you love my daughter, Mr. Fletcher?”
I consider my answer before I give it. I haven’t even said those words to Georgia yet, not exactly. But somehow, I know that if I don’t admit it to her mother right now, she’s going to walk away with the upper hand. “I do.”
“Good,” she grins. “Very good. And as a man that loves her, you want what’s best for her, do you not?”
“What are you searching for here, Mrs. Addington?”
She blinks rapidly a few times and straightens in her seat. “Very well.” Opening the purse on her lap, she reaches inside and pulls out a rectangular piece of paper and holds it out to me. I know what it is before I even take it.
“That’s a check for five hundred thousand dollars. I’m sure you and your family could find several ways to use that money, and it’s yours if you break it off with my daughter and never see her again.”
I stare down at the check. It’s a fuck ton of money to a guy like me, and she’s right. My family and I could definitely put it to good use. Hell, it would change our lives.
“Let me get this straight,” I say, still holding onto the check. “You’re bribing me to stop seeing your daughter so she’ll go running back into the arms of that Benjamin asshole?”
Mrs. Addington bristles. “I am doing no such thing! I’m simply offering you and your family a better life. In exchange, you will release the hold you have on my daughter, and you get to keep that money. It’s a fair trade for everyone.”
This woman is a real piece of work, and I suddenly realize why Georgia is always telling me that growing up with money didn’t mean she grew up any better than I did. I couldn’t imagine being raised by this woman.
“No,” I counter, holding the check out for her to take back.
“No?” She blinks at me in shock. It’s clear from the expression on her face that she thought this would be a done deal. “What do you mean, no?”
I keep my arm extended toward her, waiting for her to take the paper from my hand, but she doesn’t budge. “I mean no. I don’t want your money, and Georgia is perfectly capable of making her own decisions, don’t you think?”
Mrs. Addington stands, still not retrieving the check from my outstretched hand. “You keep it,” she says. “Think it over. Think about the kids you’re raising.”
She turns and heads toward the door.
“I’m not going to cash it!” I call out to her, just before she disappears into the hallway.
She glances at me from over her shoulder. “You’re a smart man, Tripp. Now you just need to decide. A little fling with my daughter, or financial security for your family. Doesn’t seem like much of a choice to me.”
And with those parting words, she disappears around the corner.
Nineteen
Georgia
“It’s a grant for single fathers,” I tell him, barely able to contain my excitement. “Your education would be completely paid for.”
Tripp stares down at the papers I’d handed him a few moments ago. “This is amazing, Georgia. How did you find this?”
I grin. “I’m a social worker. It’s my job to find this stuff.”
Tripp shoots up from the bed, resting back on his elbow. “Come here.”
I lean toward him and accept him as he presses his lips against mine. Like all of Tripp’s kisses, this one obliterates every single thought. For the first time in days, my mind is completely locked into the present. Right here, with Tripp.
All thoughts of Tripp’s injuries, of my mother and her attempt to bribe my boyfrie
nd, and of Benjamin, who finally seems to get that we’re no longer an item, are forgotten. Right now, in this moment, it’s just me and Tripp. He’s my drug. One touch from him and the intoxication is instant.
His hand wraps around the back of my neck, and in one gentle pull, our skin is pressed together. I feel his hand in my hair, coiling each tendril around his calloused fingers in a way that makes me feel safe, and so very his.
“I love you, Georgia,” he whispers against my mouth.
My heart skips at his admission. “That’s good,” I whisper back. “Because I love you too, and you’re stuck with me.”
With a grin on our lips, our kiss deepens, and I roll to my back as Tripp moves to lay on top of me. Our bodies fit together like puzzle pieces, as if we were made just for this. To fall into each other. To be one.
His fingertips leave flaming trails of heat in their wake as he glides them along my skin. When he reaches the most sensitive part of me, his fingers work a kind of magic I didn’t know was possible.
Arching my back, I bite down on my lip, desperate to stay quiet, but not wanting him to stop that amazing thing he’s doing with his thumb. “Please,” I pant, the heat building to an almost unbearable level.
“What do you want, baby?” he breathes, his tongue sliding across my taut nipple.
“You. I want you, Tripp. I need you.”
“I’m right here, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”
A shockwave of pleasure shoots through me, and my entire body trembles. “Please,” I cry, a little louder than I’d intended. It’s as if his magical fingers have short-circuited my brain in the most amazing way possible.
Tripp chuckles, and finally gives me what I need. I let out a whimper as he positions himself at my center, and then he’s in. The feel of his cock inside me sends me over the edge. I’m lost to his touch, craving each and every thrust, feeling it with every nerve ending my body possesses.