Ranger hadn’t been jealous, per se. He hadn’t been looking or hoping for a girlfriend when Cameron had come into his bar. Maybe he’d been lonely and not as fixated on getting laid every night. Looking back on it, he truly hadn’t seen Cameron’s manipulation coming. For the first six-ish months of their relationship, they hadn’t been exclusive. Hadn’t defined what they were, though if asked “fuck buddies” would have described what they had. Slowly, though, she’d started to worm her wayinto his life. Attending parties with him, both of them sleeping over instead of fucking and running, calling him to watch a movie together or to grab lunch… Calling her his girlfriend had seemed the natural next step. And maybe she was a bit ditzy, or appeared to be anyway. But she was fun, adventurous, and he never knew what she was going to say next.
In comparison to his club brothers’ relationships, it would have still been considered casual even a year later. The way most of the club described meeting their woman, if it wasn’t love at first sight, it certainly was possession at first sight. They knew she was his. Maybe the love hadn’t been there, but they knew it would come. They’d never doubt it.
Whereas it had been the opposite for Ranger. As fun as Cameron had been, he knew shewasn’tthe one. So why hadn’t he broken up with her? Why had he clung onto a relationship he’d known was doomed?
Was it truly just loneliness? Better to be with her and not love her than to be alone? If only he’d had a crystal ball that could have shown him the future. Shown him lying on his bed, staring apathetically up at his ceiling while avoiding his mother’s home-cooked breakfast. How different his world would be now.
The bedroom door slammed open, but other than his heart starting to beat faster, Ranger did not move. Ghost came in wearing only a pair of low-riding gray sweatpants while crunching on a slice of bacon.
He didn’t say anything. Just stood there, chewing on his bacon, while staring down at Ranger like he was waiting for something.
Ranger lifted an eyebrow. “Is this the part where you crawl into bed with me and we have some sort of heart-to-heart?”
Licking the grease off the fingers of one hand, Ghost ran his other hand down his tattooed, bare chest. “You wish you could get this into bed with you.”
Ranger made a face, sorry he’d made the joke. Turning his attention back to the ceiling, Ranger asked, “What do you want?”
“Becks said you were still sleeping.”
Ranger blinked. “So you planned on coming in here and watching me sleep like a pervert?”
“Stop trying to get me into bed with you. There’s only one Fremont in this house I like to get in bed with, and frankly, you’re just not as pretty.”
Ranger snorted. “What do you want, Ghost?”
“I want you to get up.”
“I’ll grab breakfast in a bit. I’m not hungry right now.” Actually, he was. He just didn’t want the audience while he ate.
“I didn’t say I wanted you to come to breakfast. I said I wanted you to get up.”
There was a cobweb hanging from one of his ceiling fan blades. He probably should get that at some point, but it wasn’t like it was harming anything.
“The fuck?!” Ranger shouted as the mattress was raised up from under him. Apparently Ghost got tired of waiting for Ranger to get up, and had instead decided to make the decision for him—by literally dumping him on the floor.
Fighting with gravity and the blankets that were now twisted around him like a fucking burrito wrap, Ranger got to his feet. “What the fuck, man!”
Plopping the mattress back down haphazardly on the box spring, Ghost pointed at Ranger with a single finger. “Get showered, get dressed, make yourself prettier, because you look like shit, and get your ass out to your hog,” he ordered before storming from the room.
“Can I take a piss, too?” Ranger shouted after him.
“Only if you can do it on your own. I ain’t touching your dick!” Ghost called behind him without turning.
“Taran Keir!” Ranger heard his mom scold from the kitchen.
Which was then followed by, “Sorry, Loretta. Rebel, baby, I’m getting in the shower. Come watch or come join me. Those are your choices.”
“Taran!”
Ranger closed his bedroom door before he heard his sister’s answer. Ghost wasn’t being purposefully crude. From his perspective, he’d already married and gotten Becks pregnant. At this point, a shower was harmless, but having no siblings or parents, Ghost sometimes forgot or didn’t notice that certain things just weren’t said in front of family.
But he also knew that Ghost was serious about the two of them going out, and if Ranger didn’t hurry up, Ghost would come down and threaten to watch Ranger shower to ensure it got done. Nothing like brotherly love, or whatever the fuck this was.
* * *
“What are we doing here?”Ranger asked, pulling his bike alongside Ghost’s. They were outside Angel’s tattoo studio.
Ghost dismounted, removing his helmet. Once upon a time, an easy ride into town would not have required one, but Becks did not allow Ghost on his bike without one now. Ranger was choosing to ignore the fact that she’d also shoved his on his own head as he tried to remind her that helmets weren’t required by law for those over eighteen, which both Ghost and Ranger were.
