The Rampage MC #4: Max and Briony

Chapter 29 (Max): Wait

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA

My fist cracked against Chain's jaw. He flew back three steps, murder in his eyes, body tense, but he held himself back.

"The fuck you thinking saying shit like you did to Briony? Where do you get off telling her she needs to make a decision?"

I wanted to punch him again, but he wasn't cooperating by coming at me. He wiped his bleeding mouth with the back of his hand and glared at me.

"I'm not hitting you back, brother, because I'm guessing that you don't know that Briony came to me and was asking shit she had no right to ask. So I gave her some free advice since she was poking her nose where it didn't belong."

This fucker. Just as I stepped toward him to really start something, his Great Dane, Noodle, a frequent visitor to the club house, wandered over and wagged his tail at Chain and then looked at me with concern. Noodle was normally mellow and lazy as fuck, preferring to sleep on the couch in the club house he'd claimed as his own, but I had no wish to test a dog that size turning protective. So I stayed a few steps back, my hands flexing at my sides like they always did when I was this pissed.

"How'd you like it if someone talked to Genny like that, asshole? And I know exactly what went down and what she was asking, so feel free to come at me."

"Genny's an ol' lady. Briony's not. They aren't given the same consideration and you damn well know that."

"Fuck you!" I shot at him. "I'm trying to get Bri to forgive me so maybe someday she'll be my ol' lady and you go and run your big fucking mouth. Swear to fuck if you fucked shit up for me, I will end you."

"Shotgun!" Beard's voice called to me sharply, and Noodle, easily distracted, ran over to one of his favorite people.

"Think you fucked things up enough on your own," Chain said low, taunting me.

And that was it. With Noodle out of the way, I closed the distance to Chain and swung at him like my life depended on it. This time, he fought back and then it was on as we pounded the shit out of each other.

I heard Beard snap stop the fuckers and then nothing else until five brothers waded in and pushed us apart. 

"You two, in my office." He was pissed. You could hear it in his tone. "Now."

We followed him like two kids heading to see the principal.

As soon as he walked behind his desk, he turned to us. "The fuck was that?"

"He started it," Chain said petulantly, and despite the tension, we both busted out laughing.

"Motherfucking comedian," Beard growled. "At least I'll have plenty of experience dealing with stupid behavior when Bowdin grows up."

"Elincia could be worse," Chain taunted, completely throwing caution to the wind.

Beard stabbed a finger at Chain. "I'll fucking kill you myself you ever say that about my princess again. Now, someone wanna answer my question?"

We both remained silent, and he heaved a sigh. "I am not running a dating site or couples counseling or anything like that. Save the fighting for Fridays, assholes, and don't bust up my common room again."

Then the finger stabbed at me. "Figure out your shit with Briony and don't bring it here."

The finger moved to Chain. "Keep your fucking mouth shut and leave the advice to Genny. Yours sucks."

Chain smirked at him. "Really? Last I saw, Briony had some shit to think about and a new target for her anger, and it wasn't Shotgun."

Shaking my head, I was back to glaring at Chain. "Don't fuck with her again, brother. She gets to decide in her own time if she wants to move forward with me. No pressure."

"Genny already laid into me, so I don't need another lecture. Had to sleep on the couch for fifteen minutes last night before she took pity on me and let me apologize."

"Go fix the furniture, clean up anything that you broke and give Major two hundred dollars each as a fighting surcharge to put in the general fund," Beard said. "Now get the fuck out of here."

 Once we'd righted the room and cleaned up any shit we broke, we headed to the bar, where Major had been acting as bartender since he'd returned from his two years as a nomad.

"The penalty's gone up since I was here," he flashed a brief grin at us as he took our money and shoved it in the cash box.

"Fuck off," Chain said before he whistled for Noodle and left for home. Fucker had a custom side car for his massive dog, complete with goggles.

I envied Chain his home life, having someone to go home to, children to shower with love and provide a safe home for. It was something I wanted so bad with Briony I could taste it. After I followed him out of the club house, I sat on my bike for a few minutes, and debated calling Briony, unsure of my reception after the shit Chain had pulled. 

"Fuck it," I said and dialed her contact.

"Hey, beautiful," I said when she answered, then could have kicked myself. She probably didn't want to hear that from me, especially after the way Chain had talked to her yesterday. She'd told Rie and Genny, and Chain had told Genny, and Genny had called me late last night. 

"I just want you to know I spoke to Levi about keeping out of your business," she'd said. "He's going to be apologizing to Briony the next time he sees her, which will be tomorrow because I told him he's stopping by her place to make it right. I don't disagree with some of what he told her, but I didn't like his approach and the way he put things to her."

"Hey, Max," Bri said, sounding normal.

Relief.

"You got some time tonight? I wanted to talk to you about what Chain said."

"I don't really want to talk about it yet, Max," she said.

Shit. I was a dead man walking. My heart plummeted.

"No problem, Briony."

"But if you want to come over for chili, I made a big pot today."

The death row inmate had just been pardoned by the governor. My heart started beating again.

"What would you like me to bring?"

"Dessert. Something --"

"Chocolate. Don't worry, Bri. I'm not going to risk being stopped at the door by showing up with a non-chocolate dessert."

She laughed and said she'd see me soon. At the store, I picked up some daisies for her as well as chocolate-filled eclairs and cream-cheese iced brownies. 

"Have an idea for this weekend if you're interested," I said as we ate.

"Let's hear it."

"There's a hot air balloon festival about two hours away. I know that was on your list."

"I've always wanted to go to one. I'm in."

"You want to take the bike or the car?"

"Bike," she said immediately.

"Bike it is as long as the weather looks good," I promised.

Briony reached across the table and touched my hand. "I've been enjoying these experiences with you, Max. Thank you for finding them." 

She withdrew her hand, and I almost didn't stop myself from grabbing it back.

"And I know I said I didn't want to discuss my talk with Chain, but there's one thing he said that's been bothering me more than anything. Do you feel like I'm leading you on, stringing you along?"

"No."

She blinked at my fast, firm answer.

"No is the short answer, but there's a long answer, too. Far as I'm concerned, you even talking to me is more than I deserve. Told you that you being my friend isn't what I want ultimately, but it's what you want so that's what I'm going to give you. And that's because I didn't listen to what you wanted when I should have. You may decide you can never give me more than you're giving me right now, but however long it takes you to decide is up to you. How long I'm willing to wait is forever. I've learned my lesson, Briony, and it's time for me to wait for you."

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA