Outlaw Souls MC Box Set: Books 1-6

by Hope Stone

  I knelt next to the couch and gathered Erica into my arms. Lifting her up, I started toward the stairs. Erica’s eyes opened slowly, and when she saw me, she gave me a sleepy smile.

  “Where’s Dominic?” she asked, craning her next around, trying to catch sight of him.

  “Sleeping in his room.” I had started to climb the stairs, so I kept my voice quiet to avoid waking him.

  Erica relaxed back into my body, closing her eyes once again. The way that she trusted me meant the world to me now that I knew the details of her past.

  Erica’s room was dark, but the hall light allowed me to see well enough to find her bed. Shifting her carefully in my arms, I managed to get the sheet and comforter pulled back before lowering her onto the mattress. She turned onto her side once again, snuggling into her pillow and letting out a sigh that was so much like Dominic’s it made me want to laugh.

  Just as I was turning away from the bed to leave, a small hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. “Don’t go,” Erica said, her voice sounding more awake than I expected. “Stay with me tonight. Please.”

  She didn’t have to ask me twice. I pulled my shirt over my head and kicked off my boots. I thought about leaving my jeans on for her, but I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep that way. So they joined my boots on the floor and I slipped into the bed beside her wearing only my boxers.

  Erica was facing away from me, so I moved closer until my chest was pressed against her back. My arm went around her waist, and her ass lined up just right with my cock. I could feel myself hardening, but I wasn’t going to do anything about it. Not tonight. After Erica’s story, I felt like both of our emotions were too raw to handle anything more physical than this. And for the first time, I wanted a woman to know that I was good for more than just sex. I could give her more.

  “Goodnight, Trainer,” she whispered in the darkness.

  “Goodnight, Eve,” I said, using her real name for the first time. I understood that I couldn’t call her that, not if she wanted to maintain her fake identity. But just this once, while it was just the two of us in this space, I wanted to acknowledge the person she really was, the life that Jeff had effectively stolen from her.

  She stiffened for a second but relaxed quickly. It was a matter of minutes before she was asleep again. I forced all thoughts of hunting down her ex-husband to teach him a lesson out of my mind and followed suit.

  The Bonneville was coming along nicely. It was amazing what a few simple changes, like a new seat and tires, could do for a bike like this. I’d given the thing a full service and taken it out for a test ride at the end of last week. It was a smooth ride for the most part. The only issue I noticed was when I tried to downshift. The gear lever would move as if going to a lower gear, but it wouldn’t actually do it.

  It was a simple enough fix, just requiring a new return spring, but I hadn’t gotten the part in until today. So I was at the shop, swapping out the defective spring for a new one. I anticipated having this bike up for sale by the end of the day.

  My phone rang, and I hurriedly wiped my greasy hands clean before digging it out of my pocket. Mama Mae was calling, and I managed to answer after three rings.

  “Hello?” My voice was tense. She had to be calling with news about the biopsy.

  “Hello, Raul. How are you?”

  I bit back a demand that she tell me her news as soon as possible.

  “I’m fine. Working on your future bike right now.”

  She let out an undignified sound that was half-grunt, half-chuckle. “Yeah, right.”

  “What about you, Mama? Are you okay?”

  “I am,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice. “I got a call from the doctor today. He said it’s not cancer. Just a cyst or something like that.”

  “So… it’s nothing to worry about?”

  “That’s right.”

  I felt like I could finally breathe easily for the first time since she told me about the biopsy.

  “Thank God.” I wasn’t a religious man, but I meant those words. If he was out there, then I appreciated the hell out of this miracle.

  “I know you’re coming over in a few days, but I thought you’d want to know now.”

  “I did. Thank you.” Her mention of our Sunday visit made something occur to me. “Hey, do you think it would be okay if I brought someone when I come to visit you on Sunday? Well, two people.”

  “You know anyone is welcome. Two people? Are they friends of yours?”

  “It’s a woman I’m seeing and her son.”

  There was a beat of silence. Then, “Lordy, I had no idea you were even seeing a woman. How long has this been going on? What’s her name? You say she has a son? How old is the boy?”

  “Whoa, slow down,” I said, but her enthusiasm made me smile. “Her name is Erica, and yes, she has a seven-year-old son named Dominic.”

  “Seven, huh? I can work with that.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “You know I fostered for many years. I still have tons of toys and games in storage. I’ll find some things for him to play with.”

  “I still have to ask if she wants to come.”

  “Don’t be silly. Of course she will. If not, you’ll convince her. You can be very charming, you know.”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” I said. “But I’ll do my best.”

  “Well, I need to go. I have so much cleaning to do before Sunday.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You don’t need to do anything special. I’m not bringing the damn queen. Erica is very down-to-earth.”

  “Language,” she admonished, but she sounded distracted. “I’ll talk to you later, Raul. I just saw a cobweb in the corner. The house needs to be dusted.”

  The line went dead, and I tucked my phone back into my pocket, still grinning.

  Erica

  I ran my hands over my skirt, smoothing it down. Then I opened the visor above my head to check that my hair wasn’t frizzy. I was meeting Trainer’s foster mother, and there were butterflies in my stomach. This felt like a big step, and I wanted it to go well. I kept wanting to chew on my fingernails - a bad habit that I’d had since I was a child - but I was forcing myself not to do it. I didn’t want my fingernail polish to chip.

  We were in Trainer’s truck, a red crew-cab. It was weird seeing him in a vehicle like this. The man seemed to be made for riding. He looked so natural there. But the truck was nice, with heated leather seats and a quiet engine. It was also meticulously clean, making me think that he didn’t drive it much.

  When we pulled up in front of his foster mother’s house, Trainer put the car in park and reached over to grab my hand, which was brushing imaginary lint off my blouse.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, giving my fingers a squeeze.

  “I’m not worried,” I lied.

  “Oh, so this level of fidgeting is normal for you?”

  “Maybe,” I replied stubbornly.

  “Okay, then. My bad,” Trainer said, releasing my hand and opening his car door. “I’m glad you’re not nervous, because she’s excited to meet you.”

  His eyes were fixed on the porch, and I followed his gaze. There was a plump black woman waving in our direction. She was wearing a floral print dress and had a white dish towel thrown over her shoulder.

  Trainer helped Dominic out of his booster seat while I stepped from the truck. I liked that he did that. Instead of hurrying around to open my car door, he prioritized Dominic, which earned him far more points in my book.

  Dominic wasn’t nervous at all. He’d come out of his shell so much in the last few weeks that he liked meeting new people now. I wasn’t even sure why I was anxious.

  When we reached the porch, Trainer’s foster mother pulled him into a hug. “Raul, you look so handsome today,” she cooed. He’d pulled his long hair into a ponytail at the back of his neck and trimmed his beard. I had to agree with her. He looked good.

  “Thanks, Mama. This is Erica,” he said, pulling away from
her. “Erica, this is my foster mother, Mae Whitford.”

  I stepped forward with my hand extended. “Nice to meet-”

  My words were cut off when she engulfed me in a hug as well, squeezing until I could hardly breathe.

  “I’m thrilled that Raul has finally brought home a woman. And you’re lovely.” She stepped back, but kept ahold of my arms as she looked me up and down. “So pretty.”

  “Oh, uh, thanks, Mrs. Whitford.”

  “No, no, no. It’s Mama Mae or just Mama if you’d like. After fostering children for twenty years, I don’t know how to respond to anything else. Now, this must be your boy.”

  Dominic had been lingering just behind me, and when Mama Mae spotted him, she flashed a warm smile in his direction.

  “Yes, this is Dominic.”

  The four of us headed into the house. I realized how hungry I was when I saw a pan of sliced roast beef on the counter, still steaming as if it had just been pulled from the oven. There was also a pan of buttered potatoes and one of glazed carrots. Talk about comfort food.

  “Can I help you with anything?” I asked.

  “Aren’t you a doll?” Mama Mae smiled. “I’m all done in here. Just a matter of grabbing plates and loading up. Please, don’t be shy. I don’t need leftovers.”

  “That’s true. She usually sends them home with me,” Trainer said.

  “Well, I have to know that you have some good food.” She leaned closer to me and spoke in a stage whisper, “He’s hopeless in the kitchen.”

  “I heard that,” Trainer grumbled.

  We all grabbed a plate off the counter and started loading them up. It was a little chaotic, especially with Trainer’s large presence in the small kitchen, but we all managed to get what we wanted and take a seat at the kitchen table.

  “Your home is really nice, so clean,” I said once we were all seated.

  “Thank you,” Mama Mae replied, shooting Trainer a smug look that I didn’t understand.

  As we ate together, she shared stories about Trainer, some that made him groan and roll his eyes. Like the time he locked himself out of the house in his underwear when he was seventeen.

  “I’d made him take his shoes off outside the day before because he had gotten them muddy at football practice,” Mama Mae began.

  “Football?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, I gave it a shot. I was the biggest kid in my class, so it seemed like a good idea. The problem was that I don’t actually like the game.”

  “Bit of an oversight on your part,” I said drily.

  “Anyway,” Mama Mae continued, “I was already at work when he stepped outside to grab the shoes. Of course, he wasn’t dressed yet, just wearing a pair of boxers, and when he closed the door behind himself, it was locked.”

  I giggled at the image in my mind.

  “I’m happy you guys find this so amusing,” Trainer said, letting out a long-suffering sigh.

  Mama Mae kept talking as if he hadn’t spoken. “The worst part was that he not only missed the school bus, but was outside, trying to climb up onto the roof when it drove by. They all got quite a show.”

  “No,” Trainer said, “the worst part was when I decided to try the back door and had to scale the privacy fence. Not easy even when you’re fully clothed. The glorious end of the adventure was when I landed in Mama Mae’s rosebush on the other side.”

  “Ouch.” I winced. Dominic laughed.

  “Okay, very funny,” Trainer said. “Let’s move on to something else.”

  “How about the time you almost burned the house down making grilled cheese?” Mama Mae suggested with a wide grin.

  We all laughed, except for Trainer, but he did look amused. Looking between Mama Mae and Trainer, I could see the love there. They might not be related by blood, but they were family. A small part of me was jealous, having lost that when my parents died so many years ago. But I didn’t resent Trainer for it. More than anything, I was happy to be here. I hoped that Dominic visited me this often when he was a grown man.

  After dinner concluded, Mama Mae and I cleared the table, sending Trainer and Dominic into the other room to poke around in her toy closet, trying to find something that might keep Dominic entertained.

  I offered to clean the dishes since she had done all the work of making us a delicious meal, but she wouldn’t have it. Instead, I washed while she dried and put the dishes away. She did pack up the leftovers in Tupperware containers for Trainer to take.

  Dominic’s laughter floated in from the other room, my favorite sound in the world. I didn’t know what he and Trainer were up to, but it sounded like they were having fun. Who knew that Trainer was just a big kid at heart?

  “He’s a very polite young man,” Mama Mae commented as she ran her towel over a plate and added it to a stack that was ready to be put away.

  “Yeah, I don’t know how I got so lucky as to have such a good kid.”

  “You ever think about having more?”

  Her words were carefully innocent, but I was no fool. Pulling my hands out of the sink, I dripped water onto the floor but hardly noticed.

  “Look, Mrs. Whit—” She gave me a stern look, so I corrected myself. “Mama Mae, Trainer and I haven’t been seeing each other for very long. I mean, we haven’t even…”

  Nope, not going to tell her that we hadn’t slept together yet.

  “We’re still getting to know each other,” I finished.

  “Oh, I know,” she said dismissively. “But I’ve never seen Trainer like this. He’s never brought a woman here, never even talked about a woman he was seeing. I’ve known that boy for nearly eighteen years, and you are the very first. You’re special. I promise I’m not picking out china patterns, but I am curious about what you want out of this relationship. Or what you have planned for your future.”

  My stomach felt like it was knotted into a fist. I was still married to Jeff, and I wasn’t sure that would ever change. To divorce him, I’d have to tell him where I was. The idea of him locating me was terrifying.

  Did I see a future with Trainer? Maybe. But I didn’t think I had the luxury of a normal life anymore. Jeff’s existence was like a guillotine hanging over my head. More kids would mean more danger. Really committing would mean that if Jeff found me, it would be that much harder to leave.

  That was my ultimate move, my last resort to keep us safe. I couldn’t give that up, no matter how much I cared for Trainer.

  Tammy and I were once again in the locker room together. I had been thinking a lot lately about my life here in La Playa, and I wanted to stay if I could. That would mean setting up a fake identity for myself and Dominic. I needed to be able to open a checking account, get health insurance, and have a driver’s license if I got pulled over. I had to officially embrace my new identity with a paper trail. The problem was that I had no idea where to get such a thing.

  “Hey, Tammy, can I ask you a question?”

  “Shoot,” she said distractedly as she pulled on a pair of jeans.

  “Before I do, it’s really important that you keep this between us.”

  Tammy stopped rifling through her gym bag and took a seat on the bench beside me.

  “Okay. Mum’s the word. What do you need?”

  “A fake ID.”

  Tammy looked confused. “That’s it? You had me worried there for a second.”

  “Yes, but it needs to be really good. Do you know where I can get one?”

  “Right across the street.”

  “At the bar?”

  “Yep. You want an Outlaw Soul named Hawk. His work is impeccable.”

  “Perfect,” I said, pulling my shirt over my head and closing my locker. I could head over there real quick before picking up Dominic. “Thanks, Tammy.”

  “Wait, Erica. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” I smiled. “I will be.”

  As soon as I made this identity official, I hoped I’d be fine.

  I drove across the street and parked at Th
e Blue Dog. I automatically scanned the parking lot for Trainer’s bike, but he wasn’t here. I probably should have asked him where to get a fake ID, but I didn’t want to admit that I might have to leave someday if this didn’t work out. I was afraid it would burst the bubble of happiness that had formed around us. Right now, I needed that happiness.

  Walking into the bar was different this time. There weren’t nearly as many people here on a weeknight, and when I entered, it felt like all eyes were on me. It occurred to me that I didn’t know anyone in the Outlaw Souls other than Trainer and Swole. I recognized the patch on many of the patron’s jackets, but I had no idea which one was Hawk, if he was even here.

  Approaching the bar, I didn’t bother taking a seat. The bartender was different from the one that had been working the night I was here. This was a thin young man with jet black hair and a diamond stud in one ear. He gave me the impression of someone that was trying very carefully to look tough but not quite pulling it off. Not everyone could be Swole. It took a moment for him to notice me standing there since he was filling four glasses with whatever beer they had on draft and flirting with the waitress.

  When I finally caught his eye, he came right over. “What can I get ya?”

  “I’m looking for a man named Hawk,” I said, assuming that the bartender would know who that was since this was an Outlaw Souls hangout.

  “You’ve come to the right place then,” he said, gesturing to a table in the corner where two bikers were sitting by the window. They were under a neon light that cast them in a red glow. It looked almost ominous. I walked over, stopping just a few feet away.

  “I’m looking for Hawk,” I said.

  “You found him,” the man with the goatee said, looking at me curiously.

  “Can we speak alone?” I asked. This needed to be done with as few as possible people finding out.

  “Beat it,” the man with the goatee said to the other. He did as he was told, getting up and walking over to claim a barstool.