DOTTIE

As soon as the door shuts behind Bull, my legs give out and I sink to the floor. How could it all have gone so terribly wrong in less than twenty minutes?

I know I said I was going to pack my bags and leave, but now I’m wondering if I somehow insulted him and the club even though that was never my intention. Can we work this out, can I somehow backtrack and get him to see my side of things?

I am used to being able to explain things to groups of people and my speeches being understood and not misconstrued. But Bull and his brothers are a different breed of men altogether than what I normally deal with.

Sitting on this cold, laminate bathroom floor the tears begin to fall in rivulets down my cheeks. I’ve never been in love before, no man has ever had me entranced from the moment we met the way that Bull has. My bullheaded man.

Questions begin to float through my mind.

Do I stick around and see if we can work this out?

Should I leave and relive how he made me feel through memories for the rest of my days?

Could I give up on him? Us? What a future could be for us if we manage to get past this?

He said before that once they claimed someone, it was for life, so what happens to his claim now? Does this mean I’ll forevermore be an outcast and hated by the DreamCatcher men and women?

I can’t let that happen; they’ve all become like family to me.

Somehow, I have to make him understand what I was trying to tell him. I won’t lie and say I’m crazy about the fact the club has bunnies or how they ‘welcome’ them into the club because it’s just close to what Hampton and Hilton endured, but at the end of the day, it’s their club and they make the rules and regulations.

Not me.

Not the other old ladies.

* * *

Waking up with a stiff neck I realize I must’ve fallen asleep in the bathroom while considering all of my options and alternatives. My arms are being used as pillows that are propped up on the seat of the toilet. Thank the Man above that I’m a woman and closed the lid after taking care of my feminine business.

“Can we talk?” Bull asks, scaring the ever-loving shit out of me. When I opened my eyes, I didn’t notice him standing there, leaning against the door jamb.

“Yeah,” I answer, my throat dry and scratchy due to the crying I did earlier. “I think what I was trying to say came out accusatory instead of educational as I intended.”

“I think maybe we both jumped to conclusions and let our passion override our common sense,” he adds, a small, unsure smile tilting the corner of his lip. “Come on, babe. Let’s go fix this because I meant what I said when you agreed to be mine. I’m never going to let you go, not without one helluva fight.”

“Thank you,” I cry. “I thought I’d lost you for good. I was scared we would be so full of anger that we’d never be able to talk this out and explain where each one of us was coming from and why we reacted the way we did.”

“Let’s not be grouped in that statistic of why relationships fail,” he suggests, his expression determined and reassuring.

He drags me to the living room where he makes me a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows floating on the top in place of cool whip.

“Thank you, Bull, this is a wonderful treat.” Tucking my feet underneath my rear, I watch with rapt attention while he lights the fireplace.

“Let me begin,” he says while at the same time I say, “Let me explain.” We both burst into laughter before waving for the other one to start which has us cracking up.

In the end, I go first and by the time I’m finished explaining and he tells me why he reacted the way he did, we recognize that we were both wrong, somewhat judgmental, and plain out mean with what we said to each other.

“So, is this considered to be our first fight? I ask.

“I’d say so,” he smirks.

“Wanna teach me all about makeup sex?”

“It’d be my pleasure,” he rumbles, lifting me from the couch and carting me off to the bedroom.

* * *

An hour later, snug in Bull’s arms, glowing with the after effect of being so well loved, I tell him, “I love you, Bull.”

“I love you too, Polka Dot.”

“I hate fighting with you, I wish we could promise each other that it’ll never happen again,” I say.

“I don’t think that’s a promise either of us could keep, baby.”

“I know, Bull. My heart hurt when you walked out the door as mad as you were.”

“My soul cracked when I walked out, Dot. I hated it, every fucking second away from you I hated. I can’t say that I’ll never walk away to cool down, but I will say I’ll work on getting better about the nasty words that I spout without thinking them over first. You didn’t deserve to be called those names and for that I will never be able to apologize enough.”

“I’ll always forgive you even if you don’t deserve it. That’s what people in love do. I may not ever forget, but I will always forgive.”

“Are you taming the beast?” he asks with a chuckle.

“No, I’m taming my Bull.”

“Yes, you are, Dot, yes you are,” he remarks, leaning over and planting his lips to mine.

A pounding on the front door has us both sitting upright in bed. “What do you think that’s about?”

“Let’s get dressed and go find out.”