“Dude, selling weed when it’s not legal makes us criminals.” Styx shook his head. Lock and I stayed silent. Where we’d come from had been into way more shady shit than this chapter was into. Then again, it was running on bare bones before Slice and Truth were prospected. There had been Smoke, Straight, Styx, Check, and Radar. They’d needed them so they didn’t get shut down. Lock and I making the jump down to Texas had only strengthened the numbers, but then we’d lost Check.
Hopefully, Drew was able to hang and get patched, then we’d be up to nine. If Cale came on board, it would eventually be ten.
“Truth has a point though. Is that something we want to get tied up in?” Straight spoke up.
“What would you suggest?” Smoke asked Truth with a raised brow.
Truth exhaled heavily. “I guess I really don’t know.”
“Well, let me put it this way. If we don’t take care of this situation, we may not come out of this alive. And that includes our families. If what Torque has overheard is true, right now, we all could have expiration dates that are rapidly approaching.” Smoke put it out there, and we all mulled over it.
Straight was the first to break the silence. “Look, I’m not going to say I’m looking to go to jail, but I sure as fuck am not going to sit around and let some piece of shit with a grudge take me out. Fuck that. I made it through too many deployments to let some fucker do that to me in my own backyard. Let alone my sisters. So help me God, if I find out Rebound had something to do with Tori’s attack, I’ll make him wish for death.”
“Agreed,” said Lock. “I’m never going to be the victim again, so if Rebound and Viper think they’re going to do that again? Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“Lock’s right,” Styx murmured. “Look at how much shit has already happened. We lost Check, Slice got run off the road, the shit with Nova, the bikes, Radar being T-boned, our tires being slashed, Straight’s sister—what the hell? Sure, it’s possible they aren’t connected, but how much bad luck do you think we can have?”
“Someone also tried to run me off the road the night we went out, remember, Truth? Then last night someone trying to break in my fucking house? I got a kid to worry about.” With my words came a heavy revelation. I needed to get Avery and Tristan out of my house. For as long as they were there, it was possible they were in danger.
Thinking about the shitstorm going on now, and everything that had happened before, a relationship was the last thing I needed. It was not only a distraction, it put Avery and Tristan in the line of fire. The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach had me clenching my fists.
Except only one hand curled up completely. Which was a reminder of my precarious position in the club. Did I want to cut Avery and Tristan out of my life if I wasn’t going to have the club in the future?
Obviously, I had a lot to think about. But until I came to a decision, I needed to back off from her completely. I’d have to keep my dick in my pants until I knew what the outcome of my hand was going to be.
“Who knows what other little things have been tied to Rebound that we haven’t thought about? He’s a cancer that needs to be eradicated. He’s obviously lost his fucking mind. We have kids as part of this club,” Slice reminded everyone.
Lock, Smoke, and I tensed. We were the ones with kids.
“We’ll vote on it,” said Smoke. “All in favor of Slice making the call?”
Everyone but Truth said, “Aye.” There was silence. Truth looked at each of us. His shoulders slumped and his brow furrowed. “Aye,” he finally said.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief. “Make the call,” Smoke said to Slice.
“Wait,” I said. Slice froze halfway up and sat again. “There’s one more thing.”
“Regarding?” Straight asked.
“Avery,” I said with a sigh. I’d thought about having Hacker look into shit on my own, but I realized I needed to let my chapter know what was going on.
“What about her? You claiming her finally?” Smoke asked with a smirk.
“No,” I said firmly. Surprise flickered across everyone’s faces. But that surprise was nothing compared to what I was about to tell them. “Turns out her father is a Demented Son. Or he was at one time.”
“What?” rang out from everyone around the table.
“Explain,” demanded Smoke.
So I told them what she’d told me. “I want to ask Hacker to look into it for me. See if we can find out who it was. If Check was here, I’d have had him do it for me,” I said with an ache in my heart. Everyone had a somber moment.
“Anyone have any issues with that?” asked Smoke. Everyone shook their heads.
“Fuck, man, that’s some shit,” Lock said with wide eyes.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Last item up for discussion. Anyone have an issue with prospecting Cale?” Smoke asked. Everyone smiled.
“None at all,” Radar said with a grin. The rest of the club agreed.
“If there’s nothing more, then let’s go have a beer, then I want to go home to my woman,” Smoke said in a tired tone. The scrape of chairs on the concrete floor preceded everyone going out to the bar. Drew was drying glasses, and Cale was sitting on a stool. They both looked up at us as we filed out.
“Cale! Come here, son,” said Smoke. Cale stood from the stool, looking nervous. Slowly, he approached the group and we all gathered around him.
“We have something we want to ask you,” Smoke began, but Cale shifted from one foot to the other.
“Well, I have something I need to tell y’all first.”
“Okay, what is it? Everything okay with your parents?” Smoke asked.
“Yes, sir,” he said with a sigh. “Though my mom isn’t too happy with me right now.”
“Why’s that?” Straight asked from Smoke’s side.
“I enlisted in the Marine Corps,” he said as he stood tall and pushed out his chest. Pride and shock warred within me.
“Well, shit. Gunny and Slice, we got another jarhead for you,” said Lock with a chuckle.
Slice gave him a hug. “Congrats! When do you swear in?”
Cale looked at the ground, then to me and Slice. “Tomorrow. I was hoping y’all would be able to be there.”
Smoke looked upset, but he still shook Cale’s hand. “Congratulations, son. You bet your ass we’ll be there. You’ll do just fine.”
“We need a round, Drew,” Styx announced. “We’re adding another military member to the ranks.”
“Congrats,” said Drew with a grin.
We all had a beer, then Smoke, Styx, Lock, and I all headed back to Smoke’s place, since the women were there.
“Hey, babe,” Smoke said as he walked through the door. I followed, and my eyes immediately found Avery. It was like she was my gravity, and I didn’t know how to feel about that. To be connected with her was to put her in danger, and in turn my son.
Not happening.
In my peripheral vision, Nova gave Smoke a peck on the lips before he crouched in front of her to frame her pregnant belly and kiss it. Something about that scene hit me in the feels. It made me realize that I hated that I’d missed doing that with Avery.
Fucking hell.
Styx brought his big ass through the door and went to the kitchen where Gwen was cooking. Lock came in and followed Styx. Raiven was at the table feeding Bryson. When he buried his face in her neck and she giggled, I found that I wasn’t affected in the least.
“I hope you guys don’t mind, but Gwen offered to help cook, and you’re all eating here.” Nova grinned as she wrapped her arms around Smoke and looked up at him.
“Is that so?” he asked with a grin, then he whispered something in her ear. None of us could hear what he said, but we could guess by the flaming pink that spread over her cheeks.
Avery looked down at Tristan where he sat in her lap and pretended to be extremely interested in talking quietly to him. The thing was, I knew she was noticing how everyone else had paired off and I was sti
ll standing.
Alone.
I know I sure as shit did.
Uncomfortable, I shoved my hands into my pockets. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, though. All I could see was the way she looked, felt, and smelled when she was falling apart in my arms earlier.
The slapping of bare feet on the floor followed quickly by the excited squeals of Presley drew my attention. “Daddy!” She ran to him and he scooped her up. He tickled and kissed her as she giggled. “Unka Gunny! Sabe me!”
“No way!” Lock teased and hugged her tight. Out of breath, she settled and laid her head on his shoulder.
Mattie came wandering out. “Mmm, something smells good,” she said. “Whatcha cookin’?”
Small talk ensued, and I slowly moved to the couch and sat next to Avery, ensuring there was a good distance between us. I was close enough to play with Tristan but not touch my leg to hers. It was difficult not to scoot closer, because I really wanted to touch her. Fuck, I wanted to do incredibly dirty things to her.
“What?” I heard Mattie gasp, and I looked up from where I was engrossed in my son’s chubby little cheeks and toothless smile.
She looked devastated as she glanced from her father to the remaining brothers in the kitchen. When they all gave her various looks, she quickly gained control of her emotions.
“What did I miss?” I whispered to Avery.
Avery looked from the group in the kitchen to me. “They are talking about Cale joining the military.”
“Aw, shit,” I muttered. Everyone but her father had seen how her eyes followed every move Cale made when we were all together. I’d wondered if she would ever show her hand.
Avery didn’t seem surprised. “Did she tell you?” I asked without explaining myself further.
“She didn’t need to. It was pretty evident, but obviously her father doesn’t know.” Avery gave me a wide-eyed grimace. Glancing over to see if anyone was listening, I paused.
“You think there’s anything going on between the two of them? Because Smoke loves Cale, but if the kid is fucking his daughter, that would be a game changer,” I murmured. She shook her head next to me.
“I really don’t know. I don’t think so, but it’s hard to say.” She shrugged and kissed the top of Tristan’s head.
“Damn, I hope not. She’s only sixteen, and he’s eighteen.”
“When is she seventeen? Because that’s the age of consent in Texas,” she said.
“Fucking hell. I think end of July, but I’m not sure now.” We made eye contact, and I hoped for Cale’s sake that he was keeping it in his pants around Mattie.
Without asking, I reached for my son. Avery let him go, but when she did, our skin made contact, and it was like being struck by lightning.
Fuck, my life was about to get complicated.
“Every Time You Leave” —I Prevail
Cale swore in the next day, and we all went to witness it. As proud as Gunny was, you’d have thought Cale was his son. Cale’s parents looked like they had mixed feelings.
His mom, Shannon, looked positively green. Gary, his dad, looked both proud and worried.
“Gary’s a Marine,” Gunny offered as explanation for Gary’s pride.
“Huh? He doesn’t look like he’d be in the military.” Pondering the situation, I observed quietly.
Gunny chuckled. “He’s not.”
“But you said he’s a Marine.”
“He is.”
“But you just said he’s not.”
“No, I said he’s not in the military.” At his confusing as hell answer, I stared at him in question.
“Now you’re confusing me.”
“Once a Marine, always a Marine.” He laughed quietly again.
Mattie had attended, but spent the entire time sitting at the back of the room on her phone. She seemed irritable and certainly wasn’t being social. My curiosity was piqued when I caught Cale give her what he thought was a discreet glance. It didn’t last long, and it was hard to tell if there was simply a mutual attraction or something more.
Everyone met up at the clubhouse afterward to celebrate. His mom seemed to have accepted his decision but still didn’t look thrilled. Several of his friends stopped by to wish him well. One of them noticed Mattie at a table and meandered over to sit across from her.
She looked up from her phone in surprise, cast a glance toward her father, then Cale. From where I was standing with Raiven, Gwen, and Nova, I watched the situation unfold. Cale’s nostrils flared, and a muscle in his jaw jumped.
Interesting.
Except he never stopped his friend from flirting with Mattie.
Not the case with her father. Smoke quickly made his way over to the table and dropped onto the bench seat next to his daughter. He didn’t smile, he simply stared at the boy until he jumped up and rushed back to Cale, said his goodbyes, and left with one of the other boys.
“Poor kid will never end up married at this rate.” Nova giggled. I realized she was also watching the interaction.
“Well, she is only sixteen. She has time.” I chuckled. Nova raised a brow at me and twisted her lips trying not to smile.
“You think anything’s going to change anytime soon? He’s nearly going crazy knowing that this one is a girl too.” Her gleeful snicker was infectious, and we all laughed.
“So you found out it’s a girl?” I asked.
“Yeah, but he doesn’t want anyone to know yet, so mum’s the word. He hasn’t come to grips with it. I think he’s not ready for the rest of the guys to give him shit.” Nova bit her lip, and we all laughed.
“Oh, shit,” Raiven said with a gasping laugh.
“So are we still on for Sunday morning?” Gwen asked, then tipped up her water bottle.
They all looked to me, full of inquisitive mischief.
With a sigh, I flicked my gaze to where Gunny stood laughing with Radar, Slice, Cale, and Lock. He seemed to be going out of his way to avoid being near me. It was driving me crazy, because after our brief interlude in Smoke’s gym the day before, he’d again made a one-eighty. My faith that their plan would work was wavering.
“Sure,” I murmured before pasting a fake as hell smile on my face.
The next few days went by with me working, doing my homework, going with Gunny to his PT, and looking for an affordable apartment in a decent area. In case the girls’ scheme didn’t work, I needed to find a place to live. Each night when he went to sleep, I wanted to go crawl into his bed. I was a shameless hussy for that, but I couldn’t help it.
Finally, it was Sunday morning.
Except, as I was slipping my flip-flops on, a phone call came through to Gunny’s phone. I’d been packing Tristan up to go over to the girls.
“Yo, what’s up?” Gunny answered his phone. “You’ve got to be shitting me. Where? Okay. No, I’ll be there.” He hung up and dropped to one of the mismatched kitchen chairs.
“Everything okay?”
“No.” He swallowed hard. “Radar’s house exploded. They think it was a gas leak.”
“What? Oh my God, is he okay?” I dropped the bag and held Tristan tight to my chest. Radar was such a nice guy. The thought of him being hurt or worse made my stomach cramp.
“He’s in the hospital for observation. Mild smoke inhalation, abrasions, and bruising. He’d literally stepped out of the house to take the trash out, so he escaped with minimal injuries. The thing was, he tried to get into the house to try to save his dog.”
“Oh, no! Is the dog okay?” Some people might say it was only a dog, but my heart went out to the man. Dogs were great friends. I’d wanted one since my first foster home, where I made friends with the neighbor lady’s dog. I’d never had the place, time, or money for one, though.
“No. Smoke said he’s really tore up about it too. I’m heading up to the hospital. You want to come? They may not let Tristan in but I can stay in the waiting room with him if you want to go in after I check on him.” He ran his hand through his hair, the ink on his
hand visible through the thick strands.
“Sure. I’m ready when you are.” I buckled Tristan in his seat. He kicked his legs and smiled. His eyes were bright blue, and I hoped they’d stay like they were. Because other than the dark hair, he looked just like his father. He was going to be a heartbreaker.
“We’re going to have to get him a bigger seat, huh?” Gunny observed from over my shoulder.
“Actually, the doctor said he’ll be good for a little longer, but he is getting really big, huh?” The corner of my lips tipped up.
When I tried to pick him up, Gunny stepped closer. “Here. I’ve got him.”
I grabbed my purse and Tristan’s bag, and we headed out the door.
The ride to the hospital was uneventful, and I left Gunny alone with his thoughts. The music played quietly over the speakers, and he tapped his hand on the console in time to the beat of a Straight Wicked song. I noticed he had a lot of their music on his playlist.
“Gwen said this band is friends with your club?” He looked up at me in surprise—as if he’d forgotten I was in the truck.
“Huh? Oh. Yeah. Some of the guys up in Iowa had ties to a couple of the members from their service days. They’re really fucking cool dudes.” His attention returned to the road, and he didn’t offer any further communication.
I studied him as he drove, and my heart ached, he was so beautiful. It wasn’t fair that a man could be so pretty. It wasn’t fair that even in a situation like this, my body responded to his nearness. My fingers itched to reach out and touch him. It was insane, but he drew me like a moth to a flame.
Gunny parked the truck and carried Tristan in for me. Up the elevator and to the waiting room, I followed him. He set the carrier securely in a chair and turned to leave.
“Um, yeah, I’ll just wait here,” I snarked. It was plain that I should’ve stayed at the house. He was either too distracted or we weren’t important, or both.
He paused and looked over his shoulder. An unreadable expression on his face, he turned to face me. “I’m sorry, Avery. My head is somewhere else right now. One of us will come out to watch Tristan so you can visit, okay?”
Jax and Jokers: A Demented Sons MC Texas Novel Page 18
