by Ryan Michele
“You know you can call Ethan or Kenny.” Ethan, being a prospect and having to do what I said, I’d given him the task of making sure Grams was good. Even had him checking in on her periodically. My brother was busy with his job keeping the streets of Rebellion clean.
I almost chuckled at that. Not too clean. He knew the club and helped us on more than one occasion. It was good to have the sheriff as blood.
But he always made time for Grams too. From the sound of it, though, he hadn’t been around in awhile.
Grams shook her head. “Ethan’s a good one, Reid. But he ain’t you. Don’t you go pawnin’ stuff on him stuff that you should be doin’. And Kenny’s been dealin’ with work.”
If she only knew all the shit swirling around the club and the time and energy I’d put into protecting them, she might’ve given me a little slack. But she’d never know. It was one part of my life that I kept from her at all costs.
Her house was watched all the time, and cameras were everywhere. I could even check that shit on my phone if I needed to. There were too many crazy fucks in the world not to have eyes on the ones I loved. If she knew it, though, she’d raise holy hell and give every drop of it to me.
“Stop givin’ me shit.”
Her boney hands went to her hips. Rylynn, Crow’s ol’ lady, would call it bitch stance. “Stop givin’ me reason to.”
“I’m here now. What’cha need worked on?”
She looked me up and down, appraising me again. I felt that twinge when she was digging deep into my soul once again. I’d always wondered what exactly she saw inside of me but never asked. There were too many dark holes in my soul, and the less she knew the better.
Grams said, “Follow me,” turned around, and made her way into the kitchen.
Two years ago, the guys and I redid a lot of her house. The woman still had green avocado appliances in the kitchen that were on their last leg, but according to her, they still had life in them. We came in, gutted the place, painted, redid the floors, then fixed up the kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms. It took a while to complete, being no small feat.
When I tried to make her stay in a hotel for three weeks while we worked, she raised a holy fit and left the hotel as soon as I dropped her off. She called a damn Uber to come and get her. She showed up at the house, and the living room and kitchen were completely destroyed.
She was pissed after seeing the mess and the fact she couldn’t walk around because of the debris, and she gave in, only giving us two weeks to finish. We ended up working around her that last week, but the work got done, and she was safe in her house now.
“You gonna tell me?” Grams said, sitting at the kitchen table while I changed the lightbulbs in her ceiling. She had recessed lighting that looked kickass, but no way she could replace the bulbs. Hell, even I had to use a long pole with a special attachment to go around the bulb and put it into place. It was one feature I regretted changing on the house.
“Tell you what?” I asked, screwing in the light.
She cleared her throat. “Don’t you think for one second I didn’t see where you came from, and the way you smell…”
“And?” I said, lowering my arm and grabbing another bulb, rather liking the fact I smelled of Hayden and sex.
“And?” she mocked, and I swore if she could reach my head, she would’ve smacked me upside it. She never took any crap from me. Still didn’t. One of the few women in my life who got this kind of leeway. “Do I need to go get a switch?”
To this I barked out laughing. One—because it was true. She’d break her neck trying to cut the branch off the tree, but she would do it just to prove a point. Two—because I was twice the size of her, literally, and her beating me with a stick would end up being on some funniest video shit.
Her face twisted as she turned around and headed to the door. Quickly, I raced in front of her, still chuckling. “Stop. I’m just kiddin’.”
“You’re a pain in my ass,” she growled.
“And we’re even because you’re a pain in mine.”
To this her frustration lifted, and a ghost of a smile tipped her wrinkly lips. “You’re not gettin’ out of that question, Reid Beauden Maxwell! What’s goin’ on with my neighbor?”
My trips over to Hayden’s place weren’t exactly secret. I just didn’t tell everyone my business. No social media or any of that shit, posting pictures of the food I was eating or the chick I was fucking. In fact, I didn’t have social media at all. Tweeting, posting, sharing, I didn’t do any of it. Going around telling my brothers who I fucked wasn’t my thing either. I wasn’t like Phoenix who spread his shit far and wide. That side of me was for me alone.
My brothers knew everything that was important. That was all that mattered.
Grams was different, though. She loved me through everything, and I gave her a shitload to go through. That wasn’t something I took lightly because she never once gave up on me. Even at my worst, when the booze took over my life, she was by my side. It was the most precious thing I had, and I would protect it with everything inside of me. It was irreplaceable.
Hayden may not be a secret, but she wasn’t something I shared either. She was different from the women who hung around the club. There were no hidden agendas from Hayden. No wanting to coerce me into a relationship. No calling me every five fucking minutes to get my attention. No walking around all my brothers with her ass hanging out or an open invitation in her eyes, hoping on the off chance I’d get jealous and take her as mine. While that was good for a quick fuck, she was different.
Hayden didn’t have to try one bit. The thing with her was her intelligence was unprecedented, yet she didn’t flaunt it in any way. She could hold a conversation with ease, going toe to toe with me. Even when we argued. The other thing was, she didn’t realize how beautiful she truly was. While on the outside she had this confidence that bled from her pores, inside, she didn’t see herself as most would.
Every time we’d spent together she’d do something like tuck her hair behind her ear in a bashful way or bite her bottom lip, drawing my eyes to the erotic sight. While I knew she saw herself in the mirror every day, that didn’t mean she saw what I did. Fuck, what most of the men saw when they looked at her.
“We fuck, Grams. No harm. No foul.”
Grams burst out laughing. “That’s what I love about you, boy. You tell it straight, even if I gotta pry it out of ya.”
My grams was a tough cookie. She never took shit from me or my brother. She said raising our dad taught her about boys, and just like him we wouldn’t be going around getting into trouble. She may not like the decisions I’d made in life, but I never once held back from her. It was how our family worked.
I screwed in the last two lightbulbs, turning the pole. Grams and I were rock solid. Never told her a single lie in my life, and I wasn’t about to start lying to her now.
“No other way.”
“You do not screw her over, young man. She’s a good kid.”
Young man? Kid? Pretty damn positive that would never change in her eyes. Yet, I’m anything but a young man. That was for damn sure.
“Know that.” Even though Hayden wasn’t a kid either. Oh no. She was all woman from head to toe. There wasn’t an inch of skin on her that wasn’t female.
“I’m not movin’. So you treat her bad and she doesn’t come to see me anymore, that’s on your head,” Grams threatened, letting me know exactly where she stood in this scenario. Damn, I loved her.
“Hayden will do what she wants when she wants. What we have goin’ on isn’t gonna change anything for you.”
She shook her head. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Believe me. I know.”
“What, is she gonna go all Fatal Attraction on me?” It was a joke, but at Grams’ pause I looked to her serious face.
“Gotcha,” she said on a huge smile. “Nah. Except, she may cut your balls off. You know she’s a very good shot with a knife.” Grams loved to tease me.
“S
o I hear.” Just the thought of it had my balls shrinking up. “What’s next?”
“Smoke detector. I hit it with the broom handle until it stopped makin’ that loud as hell noise.”
I shook my head. This was how she was growing up. Always told me what she thought and the ways she saw things. It was where I got my level head from.
“Beatin’ it with a stick isn’t fixin’ the problem.”
Grams crooked her finger at me, not saying a word, but her message was clear. I bent to her and bam. Her hand came out and swiped the back of my head. The laugh burst out as her wagging finger pointed at me. “It fixed it just fine. You hear it makin’ noise? No, ya don’t, because Grams took care of it. Now, Kenny’s gonna be on my ass about it not working and bein’ safe, so you gotta get it done before he decides to visit. Fix the battery!”
I did as she asked, making quick work of the other odd and end jobs she needed done.
“Missed you, Gram.”
“I ain’t gone nowhere, Reid. You come around whenever you want. My door’s always open.”
We sat at her kitchen table with glasses of sweet tea. It was the table I did my homework at and where I ate meals as a kid. When we redid the house, I asked her if she wanted a new table. She slapped me upside the head to give me the answer.
This table will be here long after I’m gone. You keep it for your family.
While it was a nice gesture, having a family wasn’t on the agenda right now. But the worn dings in the wood and the carvings I made when I was bored would give a great history lesson for future generations. Maybe not for me because I didn’t know that a family was in my future, but Kenny would like it. He for sure would get hitched, once he got done playing the field.
Coming here always brought me back to those days when I didn’t know the ways of the world.
How dark it could be. How it could twist and turn at every corner.
Now, I knew better, but it was nice for a brief moment in time to feel closed off.
“You need to come by more often. I’m sure Hayden over there would like to see you,” she jabbed, wanting more information. Grams wasn’t one to give up that easily. She’d keep fishing and fishing.
“Gram, I’ll get over here more to see ya. Got shit goin’ on, and once it simmers down, I’m here.” That may be a while at the rate we were going, but there had to be an end.
“You in trouble?” Her eyes narrowed into small slits, and with her wrinkly eyelids I couldn’t see her eyes at all. I held in my laugh, knowing she’d smack me again if I brought it up.
“I’m good. How about you?”
Her head shook. “Oh no you don’t. That’s twice you’ve dodged my questions. Not. Happening. Are you in trouble?”
My head shook automatically. It was a dance we’d played for years. While she knew about me and the club, she didn’t need to know the ins and outs. “No. I’m fine, just busy hookin’ up new security systems at the clubhouse.”
“Why you need those?”
“They’re old.” This was the truth. The ones we had obviously weren’t working before since Lemon was running them. Fuck, who knew what information he gave out. Bringing them up to par was easy, just time-consuming.
“Back to Hayden.”
While I was happy she stopped asking about the club, answering about Hayden wasn’t something I could do. Our relationship was fun and uncomplicated. Anything more could lead to her getting hurt and that was never in my plan.
“Gram, she’s great. We both know where we stand and are happy with it. When one of us isn’t, we’ll tell the other.”
She lifted the glass to her lips and took a sip. Swear the damn glasses were heavier than weights. She’d had them for over fifty years and not a single day went by without her using at least one.
“Get that, Reid. But she’s a beauty and doesn’t even know it. She thinks she’s plain.” Grams’ brows scrunch. “Hayden, plain? Not a chance in hell. I’m surprised there aren’t men puttin’ up tents in her front yard to get with her. You let that one slip through your fingers, someone else will be right behind you.”
It was true. Hayden was something else, and I loved that she didn’t know that about herself. Or she did, but she kept herself humble. Fuck, that woman. My cock liked the idea of her. He always did. We’d never talked about us being anything more. We liked our setup. It worked well for both of us.
But the thought of other men staking their claim to her created a small fire deep inside my gut. A place I’d never unlocked. It wasn’t exactly jealousy, but more of possession.
“I’d have to cut their throats.” The words were out before I could stop them. I was so lost in the thought of another man touching her, my subconscious just took over.
Grams cleared her throat, pulling me out of my thoughts, and smiled wide. “Exactly. That’s why you need to pull your head outta your ass and nail that woman down.”
I smirked. “While I love to nail her, we’re on the same page here.”
At least I thought we were. She’d given me no signs we were going a different direction. There’d never been a deep discussion about the future. We stayed in the here and now.
“You let her go, you’re a fool.”
Grams had never been this fired up about any woman I had been with before. Granted, none of them had been her neighbor, and none of them were really worth the time. Time I gave Hayden.
“How about you let me handle my shit.”
She shook her head. “Mark my words. You’ll see. She’s the kind of woman you don’t let go of. Know you don’t do relationships, but Hayden’s special, Reid.”
I sighed. I didn’t do relationships. I didn’t like attachments. Everyone who mattered that wasn’t part of Ravage I could count on one hand. To say I kept my circle small was an understatement. While she was creeping into that count, I wasn’t there yet. Was I?
An alert from my phone went off, and I pulled it out of my pocket. So much for my downtime.
The words Unauthorized Attempt Detected were written on the screen, glaring back at me in warning. Fuck, that meant someone had hacked or was trying to get into our computer system.
“Gram, I gotta go.”
Leaning down, I kissed her cheek as she grabbed my arm. “Be safe.”
There wasn’t a time I hadn’t left her since the day our lives changed that she didn’t let me leave without those two words. While some people believed angels watched over us from Heaven, I believed my grams was my angel on earth.
With that, I took off to the clubhouse to find out who had the balls to try to tap into our computers.
Hell hath no fury like a Ravage MC man being crossed. Whoever was trying this shit was about to be found the fuck out, and the shit storm would ensue once I figured out who I was dealing with.
Fuck them.
9
Hayden
“One of these days, I’m going to kill you in your sleep.” My threat was not without merit, and it was strongly being considered at this moment. Rocco, God love him, was wearing on my last piece of thread.
“It’s just a bar, Hayden. Live a little.”
My head fell back to the couch as I looked up at the ceiling. Luna came and sat on my feet. She meant to be a comfort, but it didn’t help much. While Rocco still found this carefree way to live given all we endured on the streets, I hadn’t quite mastered it.
Don’t get me wrong, my dumpster diving days were behind me, but relaxing wasn’t really my thing. To me, relaxing was throwing knives, reworking my security system, investing money. Everything about my life was also in preparation. Keeping each aspect of my life secure in a way that would never land me flat on my ass again. Bars, dating, or socializing in general wasn’t part of securing my future.
“I’ll live just fine once dickhead isn’t coming with us.” That was the honest truth too. This going out thing wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t include him. The dreaded ex. He didn’t deserve a name besides that one. It wasn’t an amicable break
up, and it was a long time ago, but that didn’t mean I wanted to spend time with him.
Ever.
He was a dick. The epitome of epic asshole. The moment his true colors came out, when he showed me he was a dick, well, that was the end of it. The sex wasn’t horrible. Half the time he couldn’t tell if I’d come or not. The other half I faked it just to get it over with.
Never had I faked it with Wrong Way. There was never a reason to. He knew how to work my body like no man before.
“He’s my buddy. We’re just goin’ out for a few beers to kick back. You’re comin’,” Rocco demanded, and my eyes rolled. Loved Rocco, but spending time with my ex wasn’t a good night for me.
“Why? You go out with them all the time. Why me?”
He sighed deeply. “Because you need to get out more. Find a man. Get laid. Have fun. You’re not a hundred years old sittin’ in front of a television, watchin’ Wheel of Fortune.”
I smacked his arm. “Hey, that’s a good show.” It’s all about solving a code, therefore, my specialty.
Rocco burst out laughing, his body shaking with it. “It isn’t.”
“Dancing with the Stars?” I questioned as he shook his head. “The Bachelor. That’s a good one.”
“Yeah, with all that fun goin’ on, no wonder you don’t want to come out for a drink.”
My head lifted as I looked at Rocco. “Don’t dis my shows. I’ll put a virus on your phone.”
To this he stopped laughing. “That shit’s not funny. Once was enough.” Inside I smiled at the thought. He pissed me off years ago, and I crashed his phone and pretty much blew it up to the point it was destroyed. Later, when he told me he lost his pictures, I’d felt bad for his anger.
Pictures were memories. Good or bad. Sometimes they were the only thing left when it came to those you loved. I didn’t have many of them.
Lucky for Rocco and myself, I’d uploaded all his information to a backup, and we were able to get it corrected and get his pictures back. Sometimes when the world was at your fingertips, one forgot the consequences.
