Bullet: Devil's Rose MC #5

Chapter 25: Mason Ohara

 I think I'm having the best day of my entire life.

Piper is finally over her cold, two days later, and she's feeling amazing. Therapy has been going great; I went again earlier in the day today because Dr. Maya and I left some things open-ended yesterday and we needed to find a way to healthily conclude the discussion of my brother Hugo. 

I was so pissed at him. I didn't think I ever realized how much anger I was holding onto. Particularly when it came to my brother. 

I knew I was angry at my mother for doing all those shitty things to me, including harassing and beating me, but I never knew how angry I was at my brother for not saying anything and then eventually almost teaming up with her.

As a treat for Piper and my physical and mental healing, we decided that it was time for us to do something together that we'd never done before. Go hatchet throwing. Now, this has been on my bucket list for quite some time, but I have never gotten the chance to do it. 

Piper was going to need to head to the city to work - she's a bartender - in the afternoon anyway, so we decided to just make a city day out of it. We took a walk through the busier streets, stopped at this cute little boutique and the bookstore, ate lunch at this diner, and then found ourselves in front of the hatchet-throwing place. We shared a glance and knew we had to try.

She had surprisingly good aim since the only thing she had ever thrown in her life is a frisbee and she smacked someone in the face with it, so I did not think she was going to be hitting four bullseyes in a row. I was also glad that I got to show off some of my aiming skills too. 

I think she has finally come to realize how good of a marksman I truly am.

Now, after many wonderful hours spent together, I have to drop her off at work.

"Do you wanna come in for a second, meet my coworkers?"

"Yeah, I would love that."

She reaches out her hand, laces her fingers with mine, and tugs me closer to her body.

"Come on in then."

The bar is fucking crowded when we walk in. There are no empty seats and people stand in groups around the edges of the room. A cacophony of stupid fucking voices overlaps each other, the vibrations of the jazzy live music echoing through the room, and the clinking of glasses sends even more shock waves through my un-fucking-prepared mind. 

I squeeze Piper's hand tighter, feeling slightly uncomfortable as we push our way directly into the crowd. She practically pushes people out of our way, but she's not disrespectful about it, just determined. It's fucking sexy the way she moves with such confidence.

And I get to be the guy walking with her. It's so fucking amazing to be near a woman who holds her heading fucking high and doesn't give a shit about what people think. 

She has her moments where she cares, but that's fucking normal, and she doesn't let those moments be her entire life. She takes them with grace and moves on. 

I want to be like her. I want to be strong enough to not need to approval of others to feel good about myself and worthy of happiness. It's so fucking beautiful to see her strong; she's so fucking beautiful.

A woman behind the bar, who has a gigantic smile on her face, waves at Piper. How is this woman still expressing happiness? We continue to weave through the swarms of people and eventually make our way behind the bar.

"Is it okay for me to be behind here?"

"Probably not but whatever."

"Are you going to get in trouble?"