“I never thought I’d see the day.” Truth shoulder-checked me with a chuckle. “Gunny settling down.”
“I don’t know if I’d say that,” I quickly corrected with a snort. “I’m a dad, but I’m not ready to be tied down.”
When a throat cleared behind me, I winced, because I’d sounded like an asshole. Slowly, I turned in her direction. “Avery, I think you’ve met my brothers, Straight and Truth, at one point or another.”
Straight stepped up and clasped her hand in both of his. “We meet again, Avery. You’re looking lovely as usual.” When he held on to her hands for longer than was necessary, I experienced a growing irritation.
Truth was studying me with narrowed eyes, and I gave him a look that asked what his deal was. He simply shrugged.
“Yes, we’ve had the pleasure, and there’s no need to blow smoke up my ass, I know I look like doodoo,” she said with a wry smile. “I do believe you were one of my ridiculously generous tippers.”
Straight unapologetically lifted a shoulder and finally let go of her hand. “Trust me, if I’d known it was this yahoo that’d knocked you up, I’d have made him do right by you. He’d have been tipping you three times as much.” He smirked and my hackles rose.
“Christ, you act like I was intentionally shirking my duties. It’s not like I knew. Can we get the shit unloaded now?” I sneered.
“Sure, sure,” he said as he gave her a wink that served to irritate me even more.
“And no, you don’t look like shit, Avery,” whispered Truth as he skipped shaking her hand and gave her a hug. My insides clenched painfully before he excused himself to go out front.
“We’ll be back in. If you want to hang out a second to let us know where you want everything, we’ll get you set.” She nodded at me and then I went outside. Truth and Straight were already unhooking the racket straps.
“Goddamn, bro, you look like the fucking Beverly Hillbillies with all this crap in here.” Truth joked as he wrapped up the strap. “Why didn’t you use one of your dad’s trailers?”
“Because I’d have to bring it back and listen to him lecture me some more about the responsibilities I’m facing. As if I don’t already know that.” I dropped the tailgate and climbed up into the bed. Truth followed.
As he helped me work the mattress and box spring from the center, he asked me, “So you and Avery?”
“Nah, man, it ain’t like that. I told you she’s only staying at my place because of Tristan.” Not meeting his eyes, I jumped down to pull the box spring out further. He moved to the other side.
“So if I asked her out, you’d be okay with that? I stayed away from her because Smoke told us to leave her alone cuz she was going through a hard time. But the way I see it, she might appreciate a man in her life, and she’s not pregnant anymore. So if she’s not with you….” He trailed off as we made our way up the stairs and through the door.
“It’s whatever,” I replied, but it didn’t sit well with me. It was probably because of Tristan, but I found myself feeling proprietary toward Avery.
“Cool” was all he said.
“Where do you want the bed, babe?” Truth asked Avery as we entered the room. I didn’t like him calling her that, but I bit my tongue. After all, it wasn’t like she was my ol’ lady, and I’d promised to keep my hands to myself.
She pointed where she wanted it, and Straight set up the metal frame where she’d indicated. Truth and I then placed the box spring on it and went back for the mattress.
With the three of us unloading, it didn’t take long to get the bed, nightstand, and dresser set up where Avery wanted them. Lastly, I brought her a black trash bag that Mom had filled with linens. “Here are some sheets and blankets. They’re clean. I’ll grab you some of my pillows, if that’s okay. Lord knows I don’t use them all, but Mom bought them when I moved in.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Thanks. Umm, do you have a spare laundry basket? I didn’t bring mine.” She shuffled in place before she opened the bag I’d set on the bed.
“Sure. Do you need it now?”
“Well, not yet but when I get ready to go to bed. I was going to use one as a bassinet.” She chewed on the inside of her cheek, something I’d noticed was a nervous habit of hers.
“Wait. You’re going to have our son sleep in a laundry basket? If you’d said something, I could’ve gotten a bassinet at the store.” Annoyance grew and warred to get out, but I held my cool.
“It’s perfectly fine. He’s tiny and not overly mobile. Lots of people do it.” She argued her point, but it wasn’t working for me.
“I’ll go back to the store. Do you want to go with to pick it out?”
“Gunny! I said I don’t need it.” Her fists balled up and dug into her hips. Her smoky-blue eyes narrowed, and she took a deep breath.
“And I said I’m getting one. So either you go with me to the fucking store to buy one, or I’ll pick out the damn thing myself!” Belligerently, I crossed my arms.
“Lovers’ quarrel?” Truth asked from the door.
“Shut up!” we both shouted.
“Aw, Mommy and Daddy are fighting,” Straight added, and I wanted to tell him to fuck off but I realized he was holding Tristan. The little tiny person who looked on the verge of exploding. His mouth was curled down and his tiny fists were clenched.
Avery rushed to get him, and right as she lifted him from Straight’s arms, he let out an angry bellow.
“Evidently he doesn’t like it when Mommy and Daddy fight,” Straight repeated. It was obviously done to poke the bear, because he was holding back a grin as his shoulders shook with silent laughter. I rolled my eyes. My anger had dissipated, but my decision still stood firm. My son wasn’t sleeping in a fucking laundry basket in his own home.
“I need to feed him. If you all can excuse me,” she said in a slightly raised voice to be heard over the angry vocalizations of Tristan the Small. My brothers quickly backed out of the room as if seeing a boob might actually kill them. Evidently, I was the only one unable to desexualize Avery’s tits. What the fuck was wrong with me?
“We’ll talk when you’re done,” I told her before I closed the door and went outside to where the guys were smoking a joint. Thankfully my trailer faced the trees on the edge of the property so none of my neighbors could see. From the road, it would look like one of us was smoking a cigarette.
“Give me a hit of that,” I demanded as I tried to breathe through my frustration. Needing to calm down, but not get high, I inhaled deeply, then handed it back to Straight. They each took another hit, then Truth stubbed it out and set it on the deck to cool.
“You okay?” Straight asked as he leaned a hip against the rail.
“Sometimes I swear she pisses me off on purpose. Like she digs in on something that isn’t that big of a deal just to get to me. I hate when she does that.” My fingers tugged at my hair, and I leaned over on the railing.
“There’s a fine line between hate and love,” Straight offered cryptically. The fucker had the nerve to smile.
“I can assure you there’s no love involved in this situation.” My hand waved wildly toward the house.
“Suit yourself.” Straight pushed off from where he was resting and gave us each a heartfelt embrace. “I gotta run. My other sister will be in town with her kids tomorrow, and I still need to finish up the dishes. See you at the clubhouse?”
“Um, I’m not sure. Maybe. Thanks for your help, VP.”
He left in his Jeep with a casual wave out the window.
“So you still okay with me asking Avery out?” Truth asked as soon as Straight had pulled out. My hackles rose at his question, but I shook it off.
“Be my guest. But are you sure that a kid won’t cramp your style?” Funny, because the thought of having Tristan while Avery went to school, though once foreign, now didn’t bother me at all. Well, that was a slight lie. There was definitely an art to changing diapers that I needed more practice with. Oh, and feeding. I lacked tits,
so I’d have to figure out what her plans were. The lactation specialist had discussed pumping.
“Why would it? It’s your kid, so I know you’ll be watching him while we’re out. Then if things work out, he’s a part of you, so what’s not to love?” He gave me a huge grin. It had me on the verge of knocking out his pearly white teeth. Especially with him assuming I’d babysit for him to take my gir—uh, my baby mama out.
Thinking about what he had said made me a little pissy.
Okay, a lot pissy.
Because if shit worked out with them, then they’d eventually be fucking. The thought of that made me downright fucking stabby. Which was unacceptable, because he was my brother. Instead of answering him, I grunted.
“Okay, well, I have to get back to the shop. I need to get the new tires on my bike. Then I’ll get your oil changed so you can pick it up. Oh, by the way, Avery’s car is a hot fucking mess. It’s going to take a while to get that shit running right. I’m not sure how she was even driving it.” He ran a hand through his shoulder-length waves.
“Damn. Well, send me a list of the damages.” No way was she driving around in something less than safe with my son in the car.
He chuckled. “Will do, but honestly, it might not be worth fixing. I’ll let you know.”
“Sounds good. Thanks, bro.”
“No worries.” After a quick hug goodbye, he also left.
As I grabbed the handle to go inside, I was struck with how drastically my life had changed in less than a week.
“Heartbreak World”—Matt Nathanson
I’d barely tucked my boob away after burping Tristan when Gunny knocked on my door. “Can I come in?”
Like usual after eating, my little boy was milk-drunk and out. So I rolled the edges of the comforter under to make a little baby corral around him and pressed a gentle kiss to his soft, chubby cheek.
“What’s up?” I asked as calmly as I could after opening the door. Each time I saw him, I told myself there was only about three weeks to survive until he left for a month. Because the temptation that was Jaxon Maverick Archer was overwhelmingly intoxicating.
I’d found out his middle name when he asked if we could give it to Tristan. It was disgusting how he had to be so ridiculously sexy and have a sexy name. Everything about him was sexy. Stupidly, insanely sexy. From his crystal blue eyes, to his never-ending tattoos, to his hair that always looked perfectly messy.
“I invited my brother over to see Tristan.” And there was the asshole I’d come to know. Dressed in faded leggings and a comfy T-shirt, I wasn’t exactly ready for company.
“Really? When? Because I look like absolute crap.” The thought of having to entertain people I didn’t know while they oohed and ahhed over Tristan made me a little nauseous. I wasn’t exactly a people person, though for my job, I tried really hard. After all, my tips depended on it. It was also good practice. If I wanted to be a social worker, I needed to improve my people skills.
“Shit, I should’ve asked first. It’s just that I haven’t had a lot of time to let my family know. They’re all pretty blown away but excited to see him. And you actually look pretty amazing for having a baby more or less two days ago.”
Inwardly, I sighed. Because just when he’d reminded me of what a jerk he was, he went and acted nice.
“No, it’s fine. I’d like to minimize his interactions though. His immune system is still pretty fragile, and I don’t want him getting sick,” I said, then bit the inside of my cheek. Though there was truth in my statement, I was making excuses.
“I understand. I don’t want him getting sick either. Would you be okay with my parents coming by tomorrow?” he asked.
“Sure,” I stammered getting really nervous. After all, this wasn’t your everyday meet the parents. We weren’t in a relationship, but we had a kid and were evidently going to be living together. How much more awkward could it get?
He nodded. “Okay, thanks. I’ll let them know.”
“Okay.” We both stood there staring at each other.
“Have you decided when you’re going back to school?” he asked finally.
“Most of my classes are actually online. There’s only one class I have to go to in person, and it’s not until Tuesday. I forgot to ask if you have Wi-Fi here. If not, would you mind if I have it hooked up?” They should let me switch my address for service. Unless it wasn’t available at his house because he was on the edge of town. If that was the case, I’d have to dip into my incredibly insubstantial savings to get something hooked up.
“I have internet, but are you sure you’re going to be up to going back to class so soon?” he asked with a frown.
“I don’t really have a choice.” With the program I was in, I was extremely limited on the days I could miss.
“You just had a fucking baby.” His eyes were wide, and astonishment was written all over his face. His hands were shoved into his perfectly worn jeans, and a dark shirt stretched beautifully over his muscular shoulders.
“They don’t really care about that. Besides, it’s only a lecture course. It’ll be fine.” With a shrug, I crossed my arms. Not defensively, but to keep myself from reaching out to move the shock of hair that had fallen over his forehead.
Three more weeks. Three more weeks. Three more weeks.
The same reason I’d fallen in bed with him that night over nine months ago had me fighting for sanity. Guys like him were my kryptonite. Though I’d spent months cursing him and being angry at him, it all seemed to be ancient history when he was standing in front of me.
It was official. I sucked. I was a disappointment to strong women everywhere.
“Well, if you’re sure. I picked up a few more things at the store. Is there anything in particular that you were hungry for? For supper, I mean.”
I was so glad he clarified that. Because there was something I was hungry for, but it wasn’t anything I could have.
“Anything but Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, or broccoli.” My nose curled. “But you don’t need to cook for me. I’d be happy with a bowl of cereal.”
“You’re recovering and nursing. You need to eat healthier than cereal.” His eyes narrowed.
“I don’t appreciate your judgmental attitude,” I replied loftily with a raised brow.
His head dropped slightly, and he chuckled. When he raised those shockingly blue eyes to mine, he took my breath away. “Are you always so stubborn?”
“Maybe,” I murmured with a half-smile.
“Maybe?” he challenged. His expression had me full-on smiling, causing him to give me a strange look.
“What?”
“Nothing. I’d forgotten you have the prettiest dimples. They go well with your freckles.”
My hand instinctively covered my nose. I’d always hated my freckles. Especially after I’d gotten older. They made me feel like a little kid.
His fingers curled around my hand to move it, and I thought my heart would explode with how fast it began to beat. When he bit the edge of his bottom lip, I drew in a shaky breath. For a split second, I thought he was going to kiss me, and the anticipation was killing me. Psycho, crack butterflies took flight in my abdomen, and a tingling started between my legs.
Clearing his throat, he stepped back.
“We’ll figure supper out later. For now, I’ll go see what I can whip up for lunch. Maybe sandwiches?” he asked, and I nodded.
“That’s fine with me.”
“If Little Man wakes up, you can bring him out. I bought a bouncy recliner thing. It has little side pillows to help keep him from slouching and all.” Why, oh why couldn’t I have met the man and actually dated him instead of falling into bed with him? With everything about our interactions being out of order, I doubted we could overcome the situation we found ourselves in. But what amazing fantasies I’d have to torture myself with. How fun. Insert sarcasm.
“Maybe I could bring him out anyway?” A stupid little hopeful fluttering tickled inside my chest.
&n
bsp; “Sure,” he said with a quizzical glint in his eye that was gone as quickly as it appeared.
Tristan scrunched his body up when I scooped him up, causing me to smile. He was adorable, and my heart swelled further. In the short amount of time he’d been in my life, I already had no doubt I’d lay down my own life for him.
The house was filling with a delightful aroma as I made my way down the short hall.
His back to me, Gunny stood at the stove working on something that smelled delicious. My stomach growled in response. While he was occupied, I admired the way his jeans fit his ass and the way the soft fabric of his tee stretched across his back. Dark tattoos covered nearly every inch of skin on his arms.
“I thought you were making sandwiches?”
He looked over his shoulder, and my stomach bottomed out. That’s all it took to make my traitorous body react? Him looking at me? Living in his house was going to suck.
“I’m making something to run over to the clubhouse. It’s Sunday, and we always have a family potluck. I’ll do the sandwiches while it simmers.”
He hadn’t mentioned a family dinner before, so I assumed that meant he didn’t intend to invite me. My fluttering heart crashed and burned. We weren’t part of his family and never would be. Well, Tristan would, but I wouldn’t.
It didn’t matter how many times I thought or told myself we were nothing but co-parents—it sucked. It shouldn’t, because I knew he could be a real asshole, but he could also be really thoughtful. Even if it was in a pushy, bossy way.
“Oh,” I said, trying to sound unaffected.
After he set the spatula to the side and turned down the heat, he spun to face me. Casually, he leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. Appearing contemplative, he cocked his head.
“Would you like to go? I didn’t figure you’d be up to it, but if you are, I could take you over there. It would give the brothers and their families a chance to see Tristan. That way we could leave when you got tired instead of having to kick everyone out. No one would have to hold him, if you don’t feel comfortable with it. I mean, if you’d want to go, that is. If you don’t, it’s okay.” He shrugged.
Jax and Jokers: A Demented Sons MC Texas Novel Page 9
