“Well, she is finding her way now. Pixie and the other wives are grilling her up in our place,” Gabe laughed.
“Fuck!” I jumped to my feet, only to be pulled back down by my captain. “Leave her be, mate, she might as well get her feet wet with Devon and her crew before the Flock get their hands on her.”
“Of course, first you have to actually tell people you and Oaklee are together,” Bastian tossed in, giving me a smug grin.
“It’s complicated,” I mumbled, feeling my cheeks heating up.
“Are you … are you blushing, Ghost?” Rafe leaned over to poke me in the face, his laughter loud and annoying.
“Complicated how exactly?” Kodah asked me, his beer at his feet untouched. It didn’t escape my attention that he had already been drinking today since Oaklee and I had arrived. I didn’t have to smell his breath to know he was on something harder than beer. Kodah was a fun bloke, the life of the party, but when he got on the spirits, his harder side came out to play. His tone became more clipped and guarded, the tells were subtle, but I caught them.
“Just complicated.” My tone matching his. I planned on getting into the ins and outs of Oaklee’s and my relationship with the guys, but dealing with Kodah’s attitude was going to make it difficult.
“You want her?” Grill interrupted, looking between Kodah and me, with a what the fuck expression.
“She’s here with me, isn’t she? When was the last time I brought a woman here?”
“Calm down, Ghost, it was just a question, mate,” Bastian interjected, sensing my mood.
Breathing deeply, I gave Grill a chin lift. “Yeah mate, I want her. I want her more than my next breath, but we seem to find ourselves backed into a corner.”
“How so?” Gabe asked, taking a swig of beer.
And here we go.
“When Mum hired her a year ago as her personal assistant, Dad warned me off. Told me she was off limits. I listened and never gave it another thought until the day we brought Signal back.” I left out the fact that I knew she watched me every time I was at the compound, that intel was not a need to know to anyone but Oaklee and me.
Glancing at my mates one by one, I knew I had their attention and no judgement, just interest … until they hear the next part.
“I got properly pissed that night, lost all senses, and ended up in bed with Oaklee,” I admitted, readying myself for the onslaught of questions.
“And you are just telling us now?” Kodah exploded. “What the fuck, Ghost, you keeping shit from the team? What’s the matter, are you ashamed of her? Is she even legal?”
Throwing my beer stubby on the sand, I got to my feet, enraged at my mate for the first time since he joined the Sons.
“What is your fucking problem, Ziggerman? You lookin’ to piss me off, or is that the whiskey talkin’?”
“I ain’t the one hiding a woman from his mates, Ghost,” he spat back at me, his eyes darkening with guilt briefly before he pushed it aside to glare at me.
“Is that right, mate, you sure about that?”
Kodah jumped to his feet, knocking the esky over in the process, his fist balled at his sides. “Don’t think for a second I won’t punch you in your moody face, arsehole.”
“All right, settle the fuck down now,” Gabe bellowed, coming to stand between Kodah and me. “Private Ziggerman, remember who and what you are,” Gabe growled his large body tense. “And you,” turning to look at me, Gabe narrowed his eyes at me, “2nd lieutenant, if you have something to accuse Kodah of, come out and say it, don’t fucking hide behind that all-seeing gift of yours. Deke’s death has hit the team hard; we don’t need to be at each other’s throats. Shit at home can trickle onto the battlefield, so let’s work this crap out now and get it sorted. Understand?”
Losing some of the anger, I nodded reluctantly. “ Copy that, Cap,” I mumbled, feeling stupid for jumping down Kodah’s throat but still pissed at him.
“Sorry, Tank,” Kodah grunted, leaning down to right the esky and taking a seat again. His expression still guarded, but some of the heat had left his eyes.
“Cole, let’s start with you,” Gabe suggested, “explain about Oaklee.”
“In a nutshell, I got so drunk I forgot about our night together, woke up the next morning alone, but with the sense that my dick had had a good night. Oaklee left to take a shower in Mum’s suite, and when she returned to my room, completely unaware of my alcohol amnesia, I had already left for the kitchen. She came in and expected me to acknowledge her, but when I didn’t, she assumed I regretted sleeping with her.”
“And did you?” Rafe enquired quietly.
“Fuck no! Well, had I remembered it, I wouldn’t have, that much I know. For the next few days, bits and pieces came back to me, and I didn’t know if they were real or if they had been the best porn dream of my life. Anyway, long story short, it finally dawned on me, and the promise I’d made to Dad.” Hanging my head, I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration; sick to my stomach, I was going behind my father’s back, but my need for Oaklee was too strong.
“So what, you are going to hide your relationship?” Bastian asked me, not smiling now; instead, he looked worried.
“Not for long, but yes, we are under the radar until we have spent some time together. Other than Dad, there are other … extenuating circumstances. Ones that I believe are good enough reasons for doing what we are doing.”
What the fuck did I just say?
“What the fuck are you on about, Ghost?” Bastian shouted, voicing exactly what I was thinking.
Groaning, I mentally calculated how far into the water I would have to wade to drown myself. Sharing personal details really did suck donkey dick, which is why I never fucking did it.
“Jesus Christ, where is an insurgent when I need one,” I muttered, dragging a hand down my face. “Right. Here it is. Oaklee is a recovered anorexic, she is in a good place health-wise, but she still has moments when she can be triggered. She says she has it in hand, but I fucked up when I didn’t remember what we did, and by ignoring her, I basically made her feel like shit. I just want her to feel safe with me, comfortable. Dad’s reasoning for warning me off her is unknown to both Oaklee and me, so until I talk with him, we are doing us as quietly as possible. Copy that?” Eyeballing each man to make sure they understood what I was asking of them.
Ammo was the first man to speak up. “We copy, mate, but this is a dangerous game you are taking on. I can’t think of one time in memory you have ever gone against Creed, you need to be sure this relationship is worth the risk.”
“Ammo is right, Ghost,” Gabe joined in, “I can think of another couple that did the same thing, and it nearly blew up in their faces.”
Gabe was referring to Zander and Shiloh, but to me, that was a completely different situation to mine and Oaklee’s.
“That was different Gabe, Shiloh built all that shit up in her head. She was concerned about her place in the Club as the VP at the time. And they hid it for years, this won’t be like that. Dad has a bee up his arse for some reason, and to avoid Oaklee feeling torn between her job and me, this is the best option.” At least that was what I was counting on.
“So you aren’t embarrassed, Cole?” Kodah asked again, this time there was no judgement in his tone.
Eyeing Kodah, I held his gaze with so much intensity, and I inwardly grinned when he squirmed on the esky.
“No, Ziggerman, I am not embarrassed to be seen with Oaklee or to let people know she is mine. She is twenty-two, nearly twenty-three, fucking gorgeous, and despite how ridiculous the idea is, she is mine. Make no mistakes about that, mate. You know how much my dad’s opinion of me means to me, so you understand I have not taken this decision lightly.”
Nodding, Kodah reached out with an outstretched hand in my direction.
“I accept that.” A thin smile forming but I could see it was forced.
Taking his hand, I gripped it tighter than needed and squeezed. Hard.
“Don’t talk shit about Oaklee, Kodah. I won’t stand back and let it slide again.”
“Understood, mate, and I’m sorry.”
Releasing our hands, I sat back down on the dune, accepting a new stubby from Gabe.
Fuck I hated sharing personal shit. Seriously, dodging bullets was much more fun.
CHAPTER TWELVE
OAKLEE
“I can’t believe you have been at the Club for a year and this is the first time I have talked to you,” Wren, Bastian’s wife, gushed as she reached for a handful of Pringles.
“Well, you have been busy with work and your little boy,” I offered, waving off her concerns.
“Yes, but a whole year!” Devon added, the tiny black-haired woman shaking her head. “And I don’t have a baby to use as an excuse.”
“Ladies, ladies, please don’t worry.” Looking at them, I gave them my best, friendliest smile, even though inside I was shaking like a leaf. Meeting the wives of Cole’s mates officially for the first time was more daunting than going into a sex shop with Thayer. And that was saying something because there was nothing good about accompanying my bestie while she prowled the vibrator aisle. Her collection was embarrassingly impressive, and she never stopped adding to it, unfortunately for me.
“Seriously,” I continued, mentally making plans for Thayer to meet my new friends, “the time I’m at the compound, I’m with Memphis in her rooms working. The other days I’m at the bookstore and running errands for her. She keeps me pretty busy, not much time to wander the main rooms of the Club.”
“Well, let’s make up for our oversight now,” Peyton, Rafe’s fiancée, suggested excitedly, rubbing her hand over her pregnant belly.
“Yes! Tell us all about yourself, Oaklee,” Addy cut in, “I love your name, by the way, very unusual for a girl.”
“I know, I don’t know many girls that are named after a brand of sunglasses,” I giggled. Taking a chip from the plate and snapping a piece off, popping it into my mouth and slowly sucked the salt off the potato crisp, then moved it to the side of my mouth, leaving it there to slowly dissolve on its own. My appetite for salty snacks existed, I loved lollies, chocolate, all those delicious yummies, but I had a method of how to eat them so that annoying part of my brain didn’t kick in and give me a hard time for eating them.
“Seriously? Your parents named you after eyewear?” Wren asked, shocked.
“Yeah, kind of. See, my parents were only young teenagers when the stick turned pink, and when I say young, I mean sixteen and seventeen young. My father wanted something cool to impress his mates, and Mum wanted to be creative, so they came up with the double ‘e’ at the end instead of the ‘y’. Parenting to them was all about the fun, the raising, not so much.”
“Welcome to the club hon, all of us have some experience with less than stellar parents,” Devon mumbled around a mouthful of chips.
Sensing the conversation could become too revealing, I switched modes and diverted the mood.
“So, where are your kids? Who has kids?” I asked all of them.
“Mine is at home with Bastian’s parents.” Wren sighed. “I hate leaving Decker for too long any time, but with being pregnant again, Bast and I decided we should start getting away alone more before the baby comes. Because after then, it is going to be hectic.”
Addy moaned in agreement. “Tell me about it; I jumped at the chance when Marshall suggested we get Booth and Stella to look after Millie for a couple of days. I have my husband for eight weeks, which in itself is unusual, so we plan to take more of these childless trips in that time.”
Glancing over at Devon, I waited for her to add her input, but she just shook her head sadly. “I’m still waiting for Gabe and me to get married, let alone have kids,” she wailed, dropping her forehead to the table surface with a hard thud.
“Devon stop being dramatic,” Wren chided, laughing at her friend as she lifted Devon’s head up. “If you and Gabe would just get on the same page with the wedding plans, you could have been married for months already.”
“Exactly,” Addy agreed. “If it were up to Gabe, he would have you in front of a celebrant tomorrow, but you keep changing your mind. One minute you want a big wedding and the next you think spending money is a bad idea. Make up your mind and marry the man already!”
“What’s the problem exactly?” I asked, intrigued. There was a story there, and I was interested to find out, plus it kept the focus off me. Cole warned me that the third degree from his teammate’s wives was inevitable, and putting it off for as long as possible appealed greatly.
Pursing her lips, Devon rolled her eyes. “It’s not a problem, well, not a bad one. You see, my relationship with my dad and brothers is … fragile. We have issues that we can’t seem to get past completely. I want a wedding where my dad gives me away and all that, but with the tension between us, I don’t want to have a wedding where everyone is at each other’s throats.”
Nodding in understanding, I got where Devon was coming from, though. Every one of my birthdays was fraught with tension and conflict between my parents and grandparents. My grandparents raised me more than my mum and dad and had every right to help me celebrate. On the other hand, my parents saw it as a day of judgement and ridicule, just another opportunity to hear how they failed at raising me.
I truly hated it when the five of us got in the same room together. Normally, it was me deflecting the disapproval my grandparents had for their son and their hatred for his baby mamma. I did not enjoy my birthday, and another one was looming fast.
Damn year goes too fast.
“I understand that having families in the same room can be dangerous, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a grand wedding, Devon. You don’t have to give up your dream for a big wedding with all the trimmings, and you can still make it memorable without having your dad and brothers there.” My suggestion bringing a look of interest across Devon’s face.
“But how? Won’t it be obvious that my family isn’t there when my father isn’t there to walk me down the aisle?”
“Nope, not at all,” I replied quickly. “You can make it so you don’t walk down the aisle in the traditional sense. Maybe, you can have the wedding guests arrive instead of you. Have you and Gabe waiting at the altar for them, that way, anyone who doesn’t know the circumstances won’t know that there are issues.” Shrugging, I snapped off another small piece of chip and sucked it into my mouth. Aware that Wren was watching me intently.
“That’s not a bad idea, Gabriel and I can be there to welcome our guests, making it about them and not just us.” Devon sat up straight, a smile replacing her frown.
“Exactly! That way, it has a more relaxed feel rather than you being the centre of attention; instead, it will be the guests. And unless they know you, no one will notice your father and brothers are missing. Especially if you don’t have a bride and groom seating style.”
I knew a few things about how to get attention off you and onto other people, and usually, I did it pretty well, but my spidey senses were kicking in, feeling that familiar uncomfortable tingle that I was being watched too closely.
No bones are sticking out; your face is not gaunt, your skin is not sagging. You ate breakfast today and did not throw it up.
Repeating my mantra silently in my head, I covertly slipped my hands from the table to my lap and laid them on my belly, feeling the healthier slope of my stomach instead of the concave I’d had for so many years. Schooling my expression, I tried to concentrate on Devon’s happy reaction to my suggestions rather than Wren staring at me.
“I am happy to help if you want some ideas, Devon. I have experience with my job as a PA; I regularly organise signings for Memphis. And with her being blind and needing special requirements at events, I have quite a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“Oh, Oaklee, could you? Do you have enough time with your job and seeing Cole? I don’t want to take too much of your time with him while he is on leave.”
Waving o
ff Devon’s concerns, I smiled happily at her. “Not at all. I am at the compound most days anyway, plus Cole and I can’t be seen together there, at least not for the immediate future, so there won’t be a problem,” I assured her, then froze when I realised what I had revealed.
You idiot of epic proportions, Oaklee.
Opening my mouth to backtrack my comment, I noticed that there was no hope of doing that. All four women were wide-eyed and all were shouting at me at the same time.
“What?
“You can’t what?”
“Explain now!”
But it was Wren’s indignant shout that came through louder than anyone’s.
“Hold on, back up and rewind. What the fuck did you just say?”
There wasn’t time to repeat my mantra, and I couldn’t have even if I wanted to. The familiar words suddenly forgotten under the angry glares and outraged stares from the women in front of me.
“You and Cole are seeing each other in secret? Oaklee, what exactly is going on?” Devon asked gently, smacking Wren on the shoulder and glaring at her.
“Not completely, obviously you all know because I’m here with him and whatnot, but yeah, as far as anyone outside of here and the guys outside, oh and my bestie Thayer, no one knows about Cole and me.”
“And may we ask why this is so?” Peyton enquired, lifting her eyebrows at me.
“Several reasons, the main one being that a year ago when I started working for Memphis, Creed apparently warned Cole to stay away from me. That I was not to be pursued by him,” I explained calmly and as rationally as I could manage with the sudden cluster of butterflies taking up residence in my stomach. I knew my explanation was going to be pounced on by the women, and I was more than happy to discuss the why’s and how’s, I just wasn’t looking forward to one or all of them asking for any other reasons for Cole’s and my insanity.
Telling people that you suffer from bulimia and anorexia tended to be a conversation and mood killer from past experience.
Cole: The Wounded Sons Page 12
