Cyndi - Writes Sappy Things ✿

Hold Me Gently ▹ an ongoing connected universe

▹ read chronological order HERE ⬪˙ publication order ▽

⬦ “I am now”

⬦ Be My Shoulder to Cry On

⬦ We’re Just Two Ghosts - Rhea/Dom

⬦ Hold Me Gently ⁀➷ follow up to ▲

⬦ Welcome Back, Handsome ;)

⬦ “Please don’t leave me behind”

⬦ You’re My Right Decision

⬦ The Paper Ring ⁀➷ companion to ▲

⬦ The Romcom Incident

⬦ I Want: This, You, Me, Us

⬦ We Should Kiss

⬦“So, you and my brother, huh?”

note⁀➷ Hold Me Gently is marked with 🌴 and is a nonlinear canon/fiction (Jhea) universe, closely following the TV/PLE shows

Just the Three of Us ▹ multi-chapter Jhea pregnancy fic

One | Two | Three | Interlude | Four | Five (coming soon)

note⁀➷ this series launched from the same-named drabble (HERE), and chronologically leads to said drabble and after it ♥︎

They Never Saw Her Coming ▹multi-part Jhea mystery/suspense series featuring Rhea’s determination to infiltrate and then tear apart Roman’s Empire. Will Jey Uso stand in her way?

One | Two | Three (coming soon)

The What-ifs ▹ possible three-part series!

♡ Your Lips Taste Like What-ifs

The Rhea is Bluey Series ▹ Rhea vs blue mist 0-2

❦︎ They Can’t Take Us Anywhere

❦︎ Why You So Blue? ⁀➷ part two ▲

Drabbles ▹ Stand-alones ▹ Mini fics

❀ You’re My Airbender

❀ “When did you…?”

❀ Then Come Home

❀ Just the Three of Us

❀ Only Your Smile Can

❀ And Now Forever Begins

❀ “Can we edit that out?”

❀ Let Me Carry Your Sorrow

❀ I Ain’t See No Diamond

❀ “She’s asking for you”

Somewhere during her surgery, the television had blipped out, leaving them to either stare awkwardly at each other or deal with their own thoughts.

He had been too tense to say more than a few words, preferring to hold Lola’s hand while he sat with his eyes closed. Jey’d walked in and out of the waiting room taking calls from Jimmy and Naomi, their entire friend group eager for updates. At one point, Lola had brought the three of them coffee from the cafeteria, an attempt to distract the boys.

Damian sipped without tasting, whereas Jey downed his cup in two hot gulps, then spent ten minutes cursing his tongue, the roof of his mouth, chapped lips, and the world as a whole. It was understood he was actually vocalizing his concern for his sweetheart.

Nearly sixty minutes waiting for word that Rhea had come through anesthesia, her first time ever needing it.

She’s healthy.

Her heart is strong.

We’ll be monitoring her the entire time.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Damian wanted to scream in fear. It was different when it was him or anyone else in his life having surgery. Not his bratty sister, the person he swore to walk through hell to protect.

He checked his watch again, fifty-two minutes since Rhea’s surgeon had updated them. Three thousand one hundred and twenty seconds of silence and Jey’s cycle of sitting and standing and sitting and standing. Damian was holding onto no news being good news, because he was minutes away from storming down the hall and demanding to know if his sister was alright.

“Easy for you to say.” Jey jumped up from the plastic waiting room chair, too damn antsy to stay seated for more than five minute intervals. Even seated, his legs bounced and shook unsteadily. “How much longer this shit gon’ take?”

He paced over to the five-story window, lifting his San Francisco Giants hat up to tug at his hair.

Outside, vibrant blue stretched infinitely across the sky, but he didn’t have the patience to appreciate it, or the stomach to look down. His fear of heights kept his eyes glued straight ahead, not at the hospital parking lot.

Blowing out a loud and shaky breath, he fixed his hat in place, then crossed his arms over his chest. He wanted to call Jimmy again, but it was no use. His twin was scheduled for a house show that night, whereas Jey was kindly given the week off to be with Rhea.

Kindly, meaning his bosses had no damn choice. Jey wasn’t above pulling out every damn receipt highlighting his contributions to the company. No way in hell he was working when his girlfriend was having major surgery and needed him. He’d do anything and everything for her, including getting his ass fired if it meant she wasn’t alone. It would be an easy decision.

Just thinking about Rhea sent his anxiety up. C’mon, baby. I need you to wake up. He cupped his hands over his face, taking in several regulated breaths.

“She’s tough,” Lola spoke into the tense room.

“I kno’,” Jey answered after a while, dropping his hands to his sides, slowly turning to face them. “It’s just…”

Damian leaned forward in the uncomfortable chair, propping his elbows on his thighs. “I get it, Uce. I’m doin’ everything to stop myself from ripping doors off hinges.”

Lola reached over, first patting Damian’s back, then rubbing up and down in a soothing pattern. Quietly, she glanced between the guys, not quite confident to add more and accidentally offend or upset Jey.

From the start of her relationship with Damian, Rhea had welcomed her like family. She knew Rhea kept a close eye on her, watched for any sign of deception, yet carefully allowed Damian to find the kind of love she had. Jey, on the other hand, was reluctant, often distant, but never rude. He joked around, but would occasionally sink into himself without warning. Lola understood Jey didn’t easily trust newcomers and respected him for it and his love and devotion to his family.

She, too, loved Damian and was quickly falling for his eccentric crew of close family, friends and coworkers. In fact, R-Truth had been texting her mostly unrelated messages all day. They’d made her smile… and even Damian when he allowed himself not to be a nervous wreck. Although Truth’s messages were all over the place, she read the concern for Rhea between them.

Lola: she told me to send this to you

Attached was a pre-op photo of Rhea clutching the stuffed koala bear Truth had gifted her, and another one with the four of them minutes before their girl was taken into surgery. Lola fully expected to see the latter photo again with Truth photoshopped into it.

That one was definitely getting framed later.

Truth: new judgment day is gonna be dominant. haven’t seen finn or tom and nick around though

Truth: how is mami?

Lola: still waiting for news. i have Cola for safekeeping

————————————ཻུ۪۪♡.______________________

Twenty minutes later

Jey was standing in front of the window, having repeated his cycle of sitting and standing another two times. Damian and Lola remained seated. She was playing a game on her phone while Damian rested his head on her shoulder, Cola the koala tucked against his chest.

“Mr. Uso?” Rhea’s recovery nurse asked, entering the waiting room. Her eyes zeroed in on the lone man by the window, guessing he was the husband. “Mr. Uso?”

Damian and Lola slowly stood to their feet, watching apprehensively while Jey stumbled over to the nurse, face pinched and pale.

“Yeah. I’m Mr. Uso. Is she okay?”

“She’s been awake for a while now.”

Jey gripped his chest, briefly looking up to the ceiling in thanks. “How’s she doin’?”

The nurse, middleaged, average height, darker skin with black hair tied back in a neat ponytail, smiled reassuringly at Jey, then to the two others that’d stepped closer. “Rhea woke up in some intense pain, so the anesthesiologist ordered a small dose of Morphine to be put in her IV. Let’s see…” Humming under her breath, she glanced at her watch. “About fifteen minutes ago. She’s starting to feel better, however, she’s been asking for you nonstop.”

“Me?” Jey asked, dumbly pointing at himself.

“You’re her husband, correct?”

Damian and Lola shared an amused look, then identical shrugs in Jey’s direction when he raised his brows in question.

“We’re not married,” he blurted out.

The nurse blushed with embarrassment. “Oh. I’m sorry. Forgive me.” She knew the chart didn’t have a spouse listed, but the way Miss Ripley was specifically asking for her husband had convinced the recovery room staff she was married to the “hottest man on the planet.”

“They kinda are,” Damian said under his breath, relief igniting and fueling his normal banter. Next to him, Lola hid a grin.

Jey’s mouth opened and closed several times while he shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “Can we see her now?”

“Until she’s ready to be discharged, we can only have one person at a time in the room with her.”

Disappointment washed over Damian, but he sucked it back in and nodded at Jey. “You go.”

“You sure?”

“She’s askin’ for you, Uce.” Lola looped her arm through his and he smiled gratefully down at her.

He’d already accepted the backseat when Jey strutted into Rhea’s life. It was only fair to let her boyfriend, the one she’d claimed was her soulmate, the chance to be with her following her surgery. “We’ll stay here until we hear from you.”

“Thanks, man.” Jey pulled Priest and then Lola in for a side hug, making sure to thank them both for their company and patience, before following the nurse out of the waiting room.

————————————ཻུ۪۪♡.______________________

Rhea beamed over at him the moment he came into view. “Baby!”

Jey smirked, not only relieved she was awake, but looking damn adorable in the raised bed. “‘Sup, baby girl?” He kept his voice barely above a whisper, mindful of the quiet room and other patients recovering from their own surgeries.

She smiled again, her heart doing a little pitter-patter.

Wow, Rhea thought to herself. This man is mine? Wow. His shadow fell over her and she felt like Snow White waiting for her Prince to kiss her awake.

“Wha’s got ya smilin' all dopey?”

“You.”

“That so?” Jey kept his composure, telling his body not to burn up. Was it appropriate to blush while his girl was just out of surgery? Damn she looked cute though.

He licked at his dry lips, subtly looking around the small room, unsure what the protocol was. Jey got to kiss her before her surgery… after had to be allowed…

Shrugging to himself, he turned his hat slightly to the side, then carefully leaned over the bed to kiss her cheek, her temple, and forehead, each one lingering longer and longer, a reminder she was still there.

Beneath him, she sighed so damn familiar and sleepy he acted on instinct, pressing his lips against hers for a soft closed-mouth kiss. “You’re a sight for my anxious heart," he spoke, forcing himself to pull away.

Rhea was too stunned to say anything. Her cheek, temple, forehead and lips tingled where he’d awakened her tired flesh.

Jey traced his thumb over her pale cheek, admiring the trail of pink following his movements. Shaking his head in relief and amusement, he scanned the length of her, frowning at the unmistakable shape of the leg brace underneath the thin white blanket. An IV was attached to her right arm, the bag half empty on the pole. A large white pillow was fluffed behind her head, propping her up in a partially seated position.

They didn’t know how long her recovery would be, but it didn’t matter, Jey promised to be with her every step of the way, even moving half his shit to her house so he could stay with her the days he wasn’t working.

Between Jey, Damian, Lola and Naomi, they’d devised a rehab plan. Rhea had protested at first, too embarrassed by the show of love she was receiving. It took Jey kissing sense into her, and Naomi bringing out the baby, an immediate unfair advantage, to finally convince her stubborn ass to accept their help.

“Wow,” Rhea slurred dreamily, her eyes red and glassy.

“What?” Jey chuckled, gripping the bedrail with both hands. She smiled blurrily at him, her lips in need of some balm. He could kick himself for leaving his in the car instead of his pocket. “You lookin’ real pretty for jus’ having surgery.”

She blushed down to the top of her hospital gown. “Wow,” she repeated, her accent thicker than usual.

He laughed again. “‘Wow’ what, baby?”

“My husband’s so hot.” Rhea raised her left hand from the blanket and started waving it around in the air. “Like, holy shit. Damn. Congrats to me. Amirite?” She leaned conspiratorially into the bedrail for the last part, eyebrows comically bouncing up and down.

Jey’s cheeks puffed with air in an attempt to keep himself from bursting out laughing and disturbing the other patients.

Across the room, Rhea’s nurse gave him a “see, I told you?” look, before grinning down at her computer.

“Baby.” He caught her hand in his and his pulse catapulted hearing her happy intake of breath. “Be careful, sweetheart.”

“Say that again.”

“Be careful?”

She pouted, linking her fingers with his. “Am I really your sweetheart?”

“Hey.” He brought their linked hands to his lips, brushing his mouth over her knuckles. “You’re my baby, my honey, and my sweetheart. But you kno’ what else, menace?”

She shook her head, her dark hair blindingly shiny against the starchy white pillow. “What?”

He kissed each knuckle, making sure she understood him, even in her fuzzy state. “Rhea, you’re everything to me. My mami, my best friend, my better half, my dream come true…” Jey paused to place her hand over his heart. “Yous the one that gives me damn butterflies whenever you walk into a room and I’m left standin’ like a damn fool with his mouth hangin’ open and his heart stretched out.” Not unlike he was now, or had been all damn afternoon pacing like a caged animal, too nervous to sit his ass down and act normal.

“Your wife?” she asked, hopefully.

“Huh?”

She tugged her hand free, but left it on his chest. “Am I your wife?”

Jey heard her the first time, thought maybe she was kidding, or the nurse had made an honest mistake. “Rhea, sweetheart…we ain’t married.”

“Yes, we are.”

“Rhea.” He attempted to take her hand in his, but her face pinched in agitation, so he dropped it back to the bedrail.

“No. No, Jey. No.” She despised that tone. He only used it whenever he broke bad news to her— another day on the road, a sudden meeting change, an interview rescheduled on their date nights. It wasn’t his fault. She shared that life, and had to break bad news to him just as often. Even more since being drafted to SmackDown while he stayed on Raw.

“I know we’re married.” Rhea patted his chest, the weight of her wedding ring suddenly not there. “Where’s my ring?” She screeched, pushing up from the bed, her right arm nearly tugging the IV out.

“Hey, hey.” Jey hurriedly grabbed her by the shoulders, stopping her from flailing about and further injuring herself. “Honey, you gots to be careful.”

Panicking, she looked from Jey to her left hand. “Where’s my ring? Did someone take my ring?”

“Baby, be still.”

“Where’s my ring? Tell me you have it.” Rhea pushed at his chest. “Baby, where’s my ring?”

Jey smoothed his hands over her shoulders, gently trying to ease her tense frame back into the pillow. “Love, you’re not wearin’ any rings. You left them at home.”

“Our home?” Rhea’s glazed eyes bobbed under a fresh layer of waves. Her head was starting to throb like her leg, and now her chest was aching.

“Shh.” He kissed above her brow, staying close. “Your home. We have separate places.”

A small sob broke from her throat, vibrating between them. Jey kissed her brow again, but didn’t tell her he was being an asshole and lying for prank’s sake. Another sob, louder than the first leapt from her heart to his, followed by several more.

Jey’s eyes squeezed closed, his lips still adhered to her brow as she cried into the otherwise peaceful recovery room.

“Miss Ripley?” Rhea’s nurse stepped over to the bed, not wanting to interrupt the couple, yet needing to make sure her patient stayed calm before she set herself back. “Miss Ripley, are you okay, darlin’?”

Rhea pressed her face into Jey’s chest, shuddering around another sob. His long-sleeved waffle knit shirt absorbed some of the moisture. “I thought I was Mrs. Uso,” she finally said, voice wrecked from her traumatic day.

The nurse eyed Jey curiously, and his lame attempt to shrug was enough to tell the world his own damn heart was hurting. He couldn’t stand seeing and hearing Rhea cry, especially when he was inadvertently the cause.

“I can see how that’d be upsetting.”

“Yeah.” Rhea pushed away, needing to rest her head on the pillow. Her sinuses were as congested as her mind. “He’s too sexy to not be my husband.”

“Damn.” Jey straightened his hat, pulling it low over his eyes, face reddening under his beard.

“Between us,” the nurse leaned over the bed, eyes trained on Rhea’s pupils. Hell, she could multitask. “I think this man’s gone for you.”

Rhea sniffed, snot rattling in her nose.

As unattractive as it was, Jey flushed under his clothes. “That man has to agree.”

“Honest?”

“Cross my heart and everythin’.”

He stepped back from the bed when the nurse lifted Rhea’s blanket, her trained hands checking to make sure the brace was still in place and Rhea hadn’t opened her stitches in her fit.

Smiling at Rhea, she tucked the blanket back in place. “Your vitals are looking good, normal. The anesthesiologist and surgeon will be back in a few hours to clear you for discharge and go over your next steps. However,” she narrowed her eyes at Jey, then Rhea, “you need to rest and let your body start healing. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

With one final stern look, she walked away, busying herself with another patient.

Jey moved back to the bed, reaching for Rhea’s hand. She turned her head on the pillow to face him, skin back to being pale and exhausted. “You’ve had a big day, sweetheart.”

“Maybe you should go.”

He balked, feelings hurt. “Why the hell would I do that?”

Rhea made to pull her hand away, but he wouldn’t let her. “I already embarrassed myself enough. Just let me rot in misery until I can go home.”

“You can rot all you damn want. My ass ain’t goin’ nowhere.” To prove his point, he bent over the bed and captured her lips in his, hard, no longer interested in being careful.

Rhea gasped, then giggled soggily when the tip of his hat pushed high into his hair.

Okay. Fine. He could stay.

Due to the IV, she could only move her right hand to the hem of his shirt, her fingers grazing the band of his sweats. “I’m sorry,” she confessed into his mouth.

He deepened the kiss, still keeping it respectful, yet shivering when her pinky finger touched just shy of his belly button. “Mmmph.”

She followed the line of hair around his belly, then paused. “You really are the hottest man on the planet.”

Jey’s body shook with silent laughter. “They gots you on the good stuff, huh?” He stood up, hand still holding hers. “Sweetheart?”

“Yeah?” Her pinky finger remained under his shirt.

“I don’t need a piece of paper to tell me how I feel ‘bout ya.” He hushed her when she scrunched her face, ready to protest. “I love you more than any man has ever loved a woman. Tested and proven. And whens you all better, and you still want my ring on your finger…”

“I will,” Rhea enthusiastically interrupted.

His lips twitched. “Yeah, well we’ll see.”

“I do, Jey. I have from the first day.”

The first day he looked at her like she was priceless, delicate, the Eradicator and a queen all in one. Soft in ways he saw before she showed him. Could he blame her for wanting to be his missus and his sweetheart?

“Promise?”

Jey took her pinky dipping lower as her answer.

Anything to stop the gunshots from ringing in his ears, the echoing of dead weight meeting pavement.

Tomorrow’s problems were tomorrow’s to reckon with. He welcomed the thought of waking up with cotton in his mouth, head booming, his secrets streaming out in the toilet with the acid from his stomach. Flushed, forgotten, unforgiven.

Jey nodded his thanks when another cold beer was placed in front of him on the tacky bartop. His bare arms flexed on their own, bronzed skin and ink, perfectly displayed under the dim lights. He tapped out an offbeat rhythm, fingers too jittery to calm down.

This morning was a disaster. A deal gone wrong by the docks. All it had taken was one dumb bastard thinking he was hot shit, trying to jump the line and act like the damn Tribal Chief. Even Jey wasn’t that naïve. Never had been. Sure, he lipped off, overstepped more than he should, but he always knew his damn place, never botched a deal so badly his chest was shot up with bullet holes.

Hell no.

Strays off the street, begging like chumps for gold around their skinny wrists weren’t even close to being in The Bloodline. Outsiders earned rank when they fell in line. They earned the chance to have an opinion.

Roman took in recruits, put them through bootcamp, tested their loyalty and dedication. If they passed those steps, their asses gained basement access, got paired with a family member and watched like a damn hawk on every monitor in the main office. The Bloodline ran an elite empire, operating on a strict schedule by members appointed by birthright.

Some punk crawling in the gutter wasn’t going to get high favors by stroking his own ego, speaking out of turn and cosplaying as the mouthpiece to the empire.

Nah.

Jey’d warned the kid to zip it or lose it. Over and over he’d shoved him by the shoulders, yelling and shaking the rules into his damn skull. Why Roman wouldn’t just weed this one out drove Jey mad. He’d repeatedly reminded the Tribal Chief picking up hotheads would cost them everything. It took a reformed one to know.

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

“Jealous he might take your place?”

“You sayin’ I’m replaceable?”

Roman sat back in his chair, hands clasping over his chest. He eyed Jey, unimpressed. “When was the last time you made the right call?”

Yesterday, you piece of shit. Jey wanted to reply. Instead, he bowed his head, jaw working, nostrils flaring. “Remind me, sir.”

“Jey, Jey, Jey.” Roman laughed, not even a real one. “I made you my right hand as a favor to your daddy. Don’t make any mistakes about why you and your brothers are in my family business.”

Jey nodded, swallowing any argument.

“Now,” Roman said as he stood from his self-appointed throne at the head of the table. “Get out of my sight and keep the leash on the newbie. He’s your responsibility.”

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

“Keep your mouth zipped, ya here? Watch and observe,” Jey gritted through frustrated teeth as Sami turned the engine off.

Jimmy shook his head in the backseat, already at his max with the new recruit. “Show your eyes when they ask. Other than that? Everyone wants out A.S.A.P.”

It was supposed to be a routine transaction, money for goods— easy. And then the pussy had stepped in front of Jey, a poser laugh filling the air, trying to negotiate for more money. Jey’s hand didn't even have enough time to reach under his hoodie before the deal was over.

In less than sixty seconds, they’d lost four million dollars, all credibility, and the kid’d gotten his ass popped three times and his brains splattered all over the walkway.

If it wasn’t for Jimmy dragging him down the sidewalk, and Sami’s quick thinking, their asses would be behind bars. By the time sirens had begun bouncing off of the downtown buildings, their tinted Tahoe was idling in front of a busy 7-11, Jey and Jimmy hurriedly discarding their black sweaters and face hoods in their duffles. One close to throwing up, the other praying he still got to see his wife later that night.

When they’d first joined the family business, the twins never got caught because “not one damn soul would blow their cover.” The Bloodline ran these streets, and had been since Roman’s daddy stepped up to the call (before they were even born) and filled his pockets with enough blackmail every politician had no choice but to turn a blind eye.

Since Roman took over three years ago, The Bloodline had been getting its first push back. Seth Rollins ran a dirty campaign, getting himself elected mayor and then lieutenant governor just to spite his old rival. His hatred for Roman ran thicker than his love for his own wife. Seth worked tirelessly to be a cackling roadblock, paying off cops, hiring bogus security to patrol The Bloodline’s meeting spots.

That’s where Jey had come in handy. It took a man close to the brink of the looney bin to play mind games with Seth. Jey’s careful manipulation had bought him and his brothers time, bought him extra Benjamin’s to bribe the bribed. And, despite Roman’s shaky stand, the streets knew Jey… knew he remembered every damn face he encountered and held a lifetime’s worth of grudges.

That asshole kid had been too cocky, too ambitious, ready to show off and take Jey’s place. Now, his mamma was out there weeping over a little shit she’d never see again. Soon, an anonymous bouquet of flowers would arrive at her doorstep, accompanied with a box of her son’s belongings and an envelope of cash.

A warning: The Bloodline wasn’t a joke, and they sure as hell didn’t mourn outsiders. They used them and then spit their picked over bones out.

Tipping his head back, Jey finished off the second beer, not even close to feeling drunk. His fingers continued to tap on the bartop, his gold watch scratching against the aged wood. “Shit, man.”

Roman was going to go ballistic when he got them alone tomorrow. If Jey’s body was numbed from a hangover, maybe he wouldn’t feel the lessons as they were pounded into his flesh. He’d be the example while Jimmy and the boys held their breath, eyes forced to watch. Roman would take a belt to Jey’s ass for moving the family ten steps back, not predicting the kid’s movement— not knowing the deal had long been sour. Something the Head of the damn Table should’ve already known, and yet Roman would blame Jey.

Never again. Jey’s guard would never be lowered enough he’d get caught with his draws down, bare cheeks exposed to disasters and vulnerability.

“Think we needs to switch to Jameson.”

“Already? Damn.” Jimmy finished his beer, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He glanced around the busy bar, his nerves on standby.

If Seth had the heads up, they wouldn’t be sitting at the corner bar, Uber already scheduled for later.

He wasn’t planning on getting drunk, just buzzed enough to feel something other than the kid’s hand on his leg as he’d fallen to the ground.

Waving the bartender over, Jimmy pointed at the wall of alcohol. “Two shot glasses and a bottle of Jameson. Add it to the tab.”

“Sure thing.”

Jimmy wanted to be home, his head buried in his wife’s chest, and yet he couldn’t leave Jey alone. His brother was likely to get hammered and end up paying for company he didn’t want. None of them needed more ammo for Roman. As it was, they were all on thin ice.

Jey gulped down his third beer, belching again.

“Manners, punk.”

He huffed a short laugh. “Untwist your briefs, man.”

His twin playfully punched him in the side, something he’d done since their time in the womb.

Jey wasn’t wasted enough to justify getting sappy. He was a grown man at a damn bar, not some loser crying over poor life decisions and missing his childhood. “Damn it all,” he sniffed, staring a hole into the old wood.

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

“Hot dayumm,” Jimmy whispered a while later, nudging Jey with his elbow. “Baddie incoming.”

Jey spun around on the stool, his back brushing against the bar, mouth opening in surprise.

Leather, pale skin, and tattoos filled his space. His eyes swept over the very little skin covered up, long legs highlighted by black platform boots, black leather skirt that had to have been a dress at some point. He quietly choked on air, gaze tracing the black panties exposed, over milky skin to the leather and studded halter bra barely holding her ample breasts in.

“Pinch me,” he murmured, ready to pull her in by her necklaces and sink his teeth into the slender neck barely disguised by the oversized jacket.

She stopped directly in front of him, tucking long black hair behind heavily pierced ears. “Hi,” she greeted, voice like hardened velvet.

His reply was swallowed by plump lips and the weight of slender fingers gripping his biceps.

“Mmmph,” he grunted, adjusting himself on the stool, then promptly giving up when a wet tongue tentatively licked into his mouth. “Shit, baby.”

“Shh,” she hummed, clamping her teeth onto his tongue, her lips acting like a suction to hold him in place. He let out a moan loud enough that several patrons heard over the music and talking. She didn’t care. Not when his hands dropped so low on her hips he was half gripping her leatherclad backside. “Lower… lower.”

“Hello?” Jimmy asked, face both shocked and disgusted. He dared glancing up and caught the puzzled look of the bartender. “Uhhh…” Yeah. Shrugging, he downed his and Jey’s shots, then turned his back on whatever fever dream was happening next to him. Fa la la la la… la… la… la… la.

Jey ignored Jimmy and the catcalls and whistles around them, instead moaning again when the mystery baddie squeezed his arms, her mouth doing something filthy with his. “Gotdamn, honey. C’mere.”

She hushed him again and again and again, her kisses and licks sparking wildfires in their wake. Her nails danced along his muscles, eliciting an animal sound from deep in his chest. She paused, lips swollen and wet on his. He protested, stealing two more pecks.

Regretfully, he pulled back to catch his breath, his eyes glazing over as her chest rose and fell, her mounds jiggling slightly. He wiggled on the stool as discreetly as possible, hands slipping down to cup her butt. “C’mere,” he repeated, spreading his legs for her to slot herself closer.

She blushed, her neck an inferno under the collar. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Gently, Jey nudged her bottom until she stepped forward, leaving only a breath between their bodies. This close to her, he was consumed with the sweet scent of dark cherries and bitter almonds. His eyes shut on their own. “You smell like a fantasy, sweetheart.”

In lieu of answering, she leant in, brushing her lips over his until he kissed her back. This time slower, his mouth adding just enough pressure to tease her. She didn’t even know him but now she needed more.

Jey swept his hands up and down her skirt, squeezing every other pass, the leather under his fingers fueling his desire. “For what?”

She pecked him again, then straightened. “Assaulting you.”

He chuckled. “Baby, I sure as hell ain’t pressing charges. Fars I’m concerned, this is every damn dream of mine comin’ true.” Jey slowly smirked as his mystery woman bashfully tucked hair behind her ears. He lifted one of his hands to help her. “You do this often?”

Blushing even more, she shook her head. “My ex walked in with his crazy new chick and I…” She shrugged, letting him fill in the rest. His smirk turned softer, and a long-forgotten butterfly fluttered in her chest.

He was gorgeous. Salt and pepper beard, skin smooth with the beginning of fine lines. She wanted to kiss the stud pierced into his left nostril, so she did, her body turning molten. “Sorry.”

Jey leaned back, tipping his head to see her better. His nose was burning where her lips had just been.

“Damn.” And because fair was fair, he motioned her forward, his chest waking up when she automatically complied, her bright blue eyes curious. “My turn.”

Her “for what?” was answered the second his teeth hooked around the hoop ring in her nose. He didn’t hesitate sitting up and wrapping his arms around her back, kissing her nose and then trailing a slick path from one cheek to the other.

“Besos…” More. “Besos.”

“So damn sexy.” Jey nuzzled his nose near her ear, breathing in her tantalizing scent. “Where’d you come from, sweetheart?”

“Here, there, everywhere.” His answering laugh was warm on her skin, endearing in an unexpected way.

Bravely, she brought her hands up to cup the back of his neck, sinking her fingers into his mullet.

Jey sighed, his shoulders slumping. Her sharp nails teased his curls like she’d done it for years instead of a minute. He wanted to ask where she’d come from again, why their paths had never crossed… but stopped himself. Someone so beautiful didn’t dwell in the places he did. He’d never seen her before because she wasn’t a monster with blood on her hands.

She eased his head back, unprepared for his deep brown eyes and the unmistakable anguish embedded in them. Her heart nearly stopped beating.

He tried to pull the cover up, but it was too late. Her intense blue eyes, the color of pure untainted waves, held him in a vice. Ten, twenty, thirty seconds ticked by, his words trapped in barbed wires and years of regret.

“Are you okay?”

“With you in my arms?” Cover now in place. Jey grinned at her, his hands sneaking in a handful of her blessed ass.

Rolling her eyes, she tugged on his hair, then abruptly took a few steps back, breaking the connection. He pouted at her, moving his arms to cross over his chest. She stayed strong, pushing away the invisible string trying to lure her back.

Jey congratulated himself when her gaze followed the shape of his arms, her cute little tongue flicking the corner of her lips. “Why me?”

“What?” She asked, embarrassed at getting caught.

“This whole damn bar, baby. Why me?”

“You aren’t wearing a ring.”

Unabashedly, he checked her out, lingering on her creamy thighs, his blood pressure spiking again. “I ain’t see no diamond on your finger, honey.”

“No.” Blowing out a steading breath, she pierced him with a final heated look. “Not yet.” With that, she gracefully spun around and made her way across the bar where her brother and his girlfriend waited in the booth.

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

One hour later

Jimmy nursed a mug of black coffee, having lost the appetite for beer and Jameson. His twin had gone noticeably quiet after his impromptu make-out orgy with the leather-draped baddie, vacillating between contemplating his hands to sneaking obvious looks across the bar.

The bottle of whiskey sat a quarter ways empty between them, the appeal long gone to get drunk.

“Mans, jus’ go ask for her number.”

Jey jerked, accidentally jamming his thumbnail into the wood. He glared at Jimmy, hissing in pain. “What for?”

“You gotta be kiddin’ me?”

“Do I look like I’m in a kiddin’ mood?”

Jimmy swiveled on the stool and kicked his foot into Jey’s. He was willing to cut the asshole some slack for the awful day and tomorrow’s impending nightmare, but the foul moods one after the other were starting to grate on him. “A goddess dressed in leather, covered in tattoos, walked that fine ahh over here and stuck her tongue all the way down your stanky ass throat, and you don’t want her number?”

“Ain’t you married? Don’t talk bout’ my girl like that.”

“Hell yeah I’m married.” Jimmy’s brows waggled. “Doesn’t mean I don’t have eyes, or ears… thanks for that by the way.”

Jey blushed, the feeling of her lips on his and her low hums of pleasure looped in his mind again. “I can’t, man,” he said after collecting his thoughts.

Jimmy’s face clouded with confusion. “Why not?”

“Jim, she’s green.”

“Green?” Jimmy chortled in disbelief. “Where? That girl would easily beat my ass in a dark alley and yank my chains off.”

He smiled at the image, unable to stop himself from stealing another look in her direction. Her back was to him, but the strength of her arms, the power of her presence, radiated across the room. “No doubt.”

“So?”

Jey tore his eyes away. “She’s not from our life, Jimmy. She may walk our streets, but she ain’t got nothing to do with them or us. She’s too good.”

“For me,” dangled silently like a noose between them.

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

Later

Jey paced outside of the bar, his mind all over the damn place. He’d given up the notion of getting hammered once her body had awakened something different in him.

Every dark thought had been kissed away, only a glossy balm coated his skin in her absence. He wanted and then he remembered why he shouldn’t.

Jimmy had argued “miracles” like her landing in his lap didn’t just happen for coincidence’s sake. Jey argued back that terrible people like him didn’t get to have nice things, or a woman so stunningly beautiful stare right into his corrupted soul and ask if he’s okay.

She shouldn't care.

He shouldn’t be craving it again.

Jey wanted and he was terrified he’d want more and more and more and then have it all ripped from him.

“Shit.” He kicked at the concrete, stopping to stare up at the night sky. “What do I do, huh?”

His twin would tell him to take a chance. His conscience doubled over laughing in his damn ears.

The stars tried blinking through the drifting clouds. Jey blinked for them, pondering if he should call for an Uber, pretending he didn’t waste two hours after Jimmy left him alone, confident his little brother wasn’t going to make even worse decisions.

Man, whatever, Jey scoffed to himself. He was seconds from laughing out loud in front of a busy intersection. All he needed was a concerned citizen calling for a wellness check.

No one would see him again.

“After you.”

Jey jumped, his heartbeat thundering in his ears.

Across from him a tall man held the bar’s door open as black platform boots, carrying pale legs covered in tattoos, stepped onto the sidewalk.

Everything halted.

Every sound quieted.

Blue eyes met his and he knew Jimmy was right. He couldn’t live with himself if didn’t try. Jey didn’t want the bitter taste of what-ifs haunting his lips. Not if she was the miracle he’d always prayed for.

“Hi,” she beamed at him, looking away only to reassure her friends she was safe. Her eyes found him again, and another excited “hi” traveled the short distance between them.

“Hey.”