Finding Me: Dominant Devils Book Three

by H. M. Stewart

  “Thank you! I like it, I really do. I can’t keep it and I’m not sure I want anyone other than the people here with us to see me in this. I’ve lived my whole life with people telling me to lose weight and what I should or shouldn’t wear. It’s going to take some getting used to. You never know, when we get back I just might have to take you guys with me and go on a shopping spree for some new clothes.”

  “Whoever told you that you need to diet or lose weight needs to be kicked in the balls. One day you will tell me and we’ll make sure it happens. Today, though, we’re going to go down and sit on the beach and soak up the sun. Now get your ass moving, beautiful. Grab your shades and a towel so we can grab the chairs with the best light. Summer is coming. Time to get our tan on,” Tabby shot back with excitement leaving me to follow her and Momma Bear downstairs for breakfast.

  When I walked into the kitchen I went straight to the container of orange juice sitting on the counter. It wasn’t until I had poured myself a glass drinking half of it when it dawned on me how quiet the room was. I spun around to everyone around the table staring at me. What was it with everyone wanting to stare me down today? There were a few faces that showed utter shock while others had smiles and grins. Trevor was the first to approach me taking my hand in his pulling it to his lips. He laid a soft kiss on the top of my hand before he whispered to me. “I knew you had it in you, kid. You are rocking that little bikini today. I’m gay as they come and you’ve got me sporting wood.”

  My eyes instantly looked down and true to his words you could see the front of his swim trunks tented clear as day. I don’t know what came over me, normally I would shy away, but I found myself laughing. At first, it was just a little giggle but I quickly had to cross my legs because I was laughing so hard I thought I might pee myself. Trevor held my hand while he smiled letting me get myself under control. When the laughter finally subsided I reached up on my tippy toes to place a small kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, buddy! I needed that,” I said sweetly before shoving him out of the way to address the rest of the group. “I don’t know about you but I’m ready to have some fun. Who wants to race me down the beach? I was told I needed to get the best chair to get the best light.”

  With everyone’s silence, I could feel the embarrassment trying to creep in. I was about to say something to dig myself out of the hole I thought I had dug myself when I heard the first chair scrape as Ember was rushing from her seat. I stood still watching as she ran up to me tapping me on the shoulders before saying, “tag you're it,” and then ran out of the room with the rest of us hot on her heels.

  We spent the rest of the day taking in the sun and splashing around in the water. Around noon I went back up to the house to grab my journal to take back to the beach to write for a bit. When I got back to my chair I realized everyone that wasn’t asleep in their chair was in the water with the kids. With the noise and distraction at a minimum, I got to work putting a few new ideas to paper. I was so wrapped up in the story plot I was working on I didn’t hear Cali at first. “So, spill it, sister. What kind of stories do you have hiding in those journals or yours? Inquiring minds want to know chick!”

  I wasn’t sure how to answer her, so I kept my head down to collect myself. When I looked up I realized that everyone except Trevor, Ben, and the kids were now all sitting in the chairs around me. I struggled with pushing the shyness down and tried to put on my best fake smile. Not many people know about my writing and Romy was the only one I’ve allowed to read my most recent series. Too many years or negative comments from my parents have left me guarded when it comes to my writing. My grandmother was the only one who encouraged me to do what made me happy. I could never tell whether it was her being supportive or her trying to get my mother going. Gran was always good at pushing my mother's buttons.

  “I’m not sure what to tell you, Cali. I write what comes to mind and keep them tucked away in my journals. It’s always been my form of stress relief. You guys must think I’m nuts,” I say as the shyness started taking over as I could feel myself turning red.

  “Nuts? No way, Breezy. If I thought, you were nuts then I’d be calling myself nuts. I write poetry that sometimes gets spun into a song, but I love to read. I have a whole shelf on the tour bus for nothing but my books. I have one tablet for reading and another for everything else. Have you ever published anything? I might have read it,” Cali answers with a wicked smile.

  “I didn’t know you wrote books. You’ve been living in the house for a few months now. When I saw you with the notebook I just assumed it was some kind of diary. I’ve had an author living with me for months and didn’t even know it! That’s awesome, chick,” Carrin said with over joy.

  “I’m not an author or at least a published one. I’ve never tried to get my work published. Romy and Olivia are the only two people that have ever read anything I’ve written outside of school. I’ve written four complete series, but they’ve been for my eyes only for the most part.”

  “Girl you’ve been holding out on me! You’ve written three other series of books and you haven’t shared them. You’ve been making me wait for over a month to read the seventh book in the Groupie series. What the fuck, woman? You are so coming off the others when we get back or I’m sending a few more of the pictures to Tank,” Romy threatened.

  “Cut the girl some slack, Munchkin. Maybe she's not ready for the world to hear her voice? Just take Layla for example; I never thought we would ever get her singing in front of a crowd. Then when we were finally signed and headed out for the first tour she’d always have to puke right before the show and sometimes in the middle of the show. Tell her Layla,” Ember prompted with a wink. She was putting Layla in the hot seat giving me a break. It worked too. Over the next few hours, everyone fell into conversations about their fears, superstitions, and goals. I was surprised to find that Romy has a slew of awards from various tattoo shows nationwide and dreams of having her own reality show like some of her idols have managed to land. Ember is some type of musical prodigy that turned down a full scholarship to one of the biggest music schools in the world to finish out high school to stay here in California with her friends. Hyde has just finished up her Master's degree in marketing which she has promised to put to good use when I finally take the leap in publishing my books. She hopes to step back from the family’s parts store to pursue more freelance work to build her portfolio. After listening to how driven she is there’s no doubt in my mind she won’t end up with her own firm one day.

  When it was Madison’s turn, though, I began to worry a bit. With Momma Bear standing behind her she laid out her plans for the near future. I might not have been part of the click very long but I know things between her and Wall are at an all-time high. They both seem to love each other but too stubborn to act on it. I don’t think he’s going to take it too well if she ends up coming out here to California to go to UCLA to finish up the classes she needs for her Bachelor degree.

  “That’s great, girl. If you decide to come out to UCLA you won’t have to worry about room and board at least. You're more than welcome to crash with us. It’s only a thirty-minute drive to the campus. The only catch is you won’t be able to let it spill who your roommates are. That’s all we need is a herd of college kids stalking around the house,” Ember ended with a laugh.

  “I don’t know what to say. Thank you, guys! I’ll keep it in mind. I’d love to get away from South Carolina for the last year of school but I doubt I’ll be convincing the overprotective assholes back home to let me. It wouldn’t be the college kids you’d have to worry about it. Between my father, brother and Wall they’d be scouting to start a chapter out here just to keep an eye on me. The distance would be nice, though,” Madison answered Ember with a distant look on her face.

  “Well, you could just bring Wall with you. Hell, I’ll share my bed,” a grinning Demi said trying to lighten the mood. “Other than being fucking awesome, I don’t have much going for me. I never had a lot growing up so I never really
expect too much. I’m living life beyond my wildest dreams as we speak. The only goal I have is to own the world largest guitar collection. Enough about me, though, Avery have you given any thought to what we’ve been talking about?” Like everyone else I turned to look at Avery only to find her staring at the shoreline where Trevor was scooping Hunter up off the boogie board.

  “Hey, Avery! Avery, Demi asked you a question baby,” Tabby said to Avery.

  “I’m sorry. I was just lost in thought. What’s up, Demi?”

  “I’m glad some things never change. I asked what you planned on doing now that you’ll be a permanent resident of South Carolina. I know you’ll be traveling back here when needed but, are you finally going to work on that solo project you’ve talked about,” Demi questioned Avery.

  Avery didn’t answer right away. She just stared at Demi like a deer in the headlights. When she finally answered, I was relieved. I wanted to jump in to divert the attention from her but then it would put it back on me and I wasn’t ready for that. “Honestly, I’m not sure yet. Right now, I just want to get settled in with Hunter. He starts school in a few months. Once I get him into the routine I’m might start looking into it. I’ll send you anything I come up with, chick. You know you girls will have first dibs,” Avery tried to laugh off. “If I can cash in on a few songs a year, like that last one, I’ll never have to work again. I still want to be on stage, though. I’ll figure it out eventually.”

  “Okay, does anyone care to explain to me what my daughter’s solo projects are or how she’ll be able to cash in like the last one? I’m lost here. Help me out girls,” a shocked Tabby spoke up.

  Layla came to the rescue, praising Avery. You could tell her admiration was more than just a friend’s point of view. She truly believed in Avery. “Tabby your daughter has a kickass mind. She’s written a few songs for us and has a pretty good portfolio with other songs she has written that have been sold. Your girl is very talented and is paid very well to put the rhythms and words floating in her head on paper. The one she really cashed in on was our number one hit that held the charts for about twelve weeks last year. So far, it’s had the highest royalties paid out for something your daughter wrote. Our girl here could live off the music she writes. Hell, she even has a Grammy to prove it.”

  The group fell silent except for Demi’s laughter. All eyes that were on Tabby went straight to Avery waiting for an explanation. “What are you all staring at me for? So, I write music and can make an awesome living at it sometimes. Yeah, I have a Grammy but, if it wasn’t for Break Away’s success with the song it could have easily just been another lost song in my notebook. I’m not rock star famous, but I have made a name for myself outside of being a backup vocalist. And if you must know I have a decent net worth built up but I don’t do it for the money. It’s just something that I enjoy doing.”

  With tears in her eyes, Tabby jumped from her chair and pulled Avery in a bear hug before loosening her grip to look Avery in the eyes before she spoke again. “I’m so damn proud of you, girl. I’m proud of each-and-every one of you,” Tabby continued as she turned to look at the sea of faces surrounding her. “All of you girls have made respectable names for yourself in anything you have chosen to do. You girls keep doing what you’re doing. The sky is the limit and never ever forget that.” After a brief pause, Tabby changed the subject all together getting everyone away from the hot seat. “Now enough with the mushy shit. This is our last night on the coast and I say let’s close it out in style. I’m going to head up and get the first batch of margaritas made. You all need to decide whether you wanna drink down here or move up to the pool.”

  Oh my, another night around the pool with lots of alcohol. I could pinch myself. This weekend has been a dream come true for me. Close friends and family to lean on and share everything with is something I’ve wanted for far too long. I’ve just got to find a way to make sure it last with or without my dream man.

  Chapter 10

  Tank

  I sat at the table with a bag of frozen broccoli over my right eye while Blaze, Zeus, and Hawk stretch back in the chairs watching a very pissed Wall pace the kitchen floor. It took the four of us to keep Wall’s ass from killing Yasmin. That fucker went batshit crazy when she started begging him to give her another chance but when she called Madison a whore he lost it. I’ve never seen him hit a woman before and I probably never will again, but he laid Yasmin out cold with one blow to the face. That was over two hours ago, and he still hasn’t settled down yet.

  Throttle walked into the kitchen leaving lots of space between him and Wall as he came to sit with the rest of us. “I brought you your phone, fucker. You might want to check it,” Throttle tried to say between laughs. “Romy’s been sending everyone pictures throughout the day and I’m sure she’s sent a few you too.”

  “I left it in the den when we left this morning. I’ll check it in a bit. This bag of green shit feels way too good on my face to fuck with it right now. I forgot how hard that asshole throws down. Next time we’re forced to calm his big ass down, someone else is taking the front. I’m too fucking pretty to be sporting a black eye.”

  “Holly fuck! Is that Breezy in that purple get up? I didn’t think the bitch had any ink? Tank, brother, you better get your head out of your ass or I might have to start sweet talking that girl of yours,” Blaze shouted out of nowhere. What the fuck was he talking about? Before I could pull the bag of frozen vegetables from my eye Hawk was removing it for me while Blaze was pushing his phone in my face.

  At first, it didn’t click. I saw a picture of Romy, Izzy, Athena, and the band’s bass player, Demi I think, with a brown haired angel with a deep purple bikini on. I had to take a second look before I realized the brown haired angel was Bree. She was fucking rocking that little string bikini while sporting the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen. My dick liked what I was seeing too and was standing to attention in appreciation. I knew my girl had some kick-ass curves but the clothes she normally wears don’t do her any justice. I wonder if I could convince her to wear nothing but that damn bathing suit when she got home. Hell, I wouldn’t mind watching her walk around naked for the rest of my life. On second thought, by the looks on these assholes faces, I need to make sure she was wearing a damn parka around here.

  A foreign feeling started to rise in my chest. For the life of me, I had no clue what it meant but I jumped up from the table and had Blaze by the throat pushed against the big ass island in the kitchen. “You even look at her and I’ll cut your fucking balls off, asshole. If anyone of us will be tapping that it’ll be me. The rest of you fuckers better step the fuck back.”

  I was beyond pissed. Pissed at what he said but more so with the reaction, it caused in me. I’m not a jealous person; never have been and never want to be. With Bree, though, I couldn’t control it. More and more the need to possess her, own her, was overtaking my every thought. I thought that with her gone I’d be able to work the shit out in my head once and for all yet, with her leaving it seemed to just scramble it even more. When I felt the hand squeeze my shoulder my surroundings started to become clear. The guys were all laughing, including Blaze and Wall, while my brother tried to calm me while chuckling himself.

  “Easy, fucker. The asshole was only trying to get a rise out of you. Like I told you before you went all Heman and shit, check your phone,” Throttle was saying as I relaxed my grip on Blaze’s throat. Apparently, I wasn’t doing any damage because the asshole had enough air in his lungs to laugh like a fucking hyena. I left the group of laughing fucks in the kitchen while I walked out of the room to check my phone. When I looked at the screen I found I had twenty-eight notifications. I put my password in and began trolling through picture message after picture message. The one that stopped me in my tracks was one that Romy had sent in the early hours this morning. It was a picture of a set of shoulder blades that had a tattoo of a book with some type of quote across the pages. Navy blue shading surronded the whole thing a with what looked to
be twinkling stars. I could tell by the hair color it was Bree that Romy had marked. The artwork that was now permanently inked on Bree’s shoulder had Romy’s trademark; a very small heart with a capital R in the middle so small most people would see it at first. This was something Romy only did on those who she felt were in her inner circle. I wonder if she explained how big of a deal it was to Bree. Romy might do tattoo’s for the masses but those who I like to call branded are family, club or blood; that’s it! It means the little munchkin thinks enough of Breezy that should extend that to her.

  The tattoo was still red and puffy leading me to believe it had been done just prior to the picture being taken. I was too busy taking in the colors and the outline of the tattoo I almost missed the text that came along with it.

  Romy: As you can see I got to pop one of her cherries…lol…just know that it's on the right shoulder leaving the left for your brand…do us all a favor and make that shit official and soon..xxxoooxxx!

  I wanted to be mad at the Munchkin's words yet I couldn’t. Part of me was beginning to realize that Bree could be the one to lock me down for good. She could be the one to keep my attention and rid me of my wicked ways. The thing is, do I want her to be the one to do it? Fuck yes, I did, but I’ve got to get a taste of that pussy to make sure. What dumbass gave up a sea of women for just one if the sex sucked? It was time to come up with a plan to see if Breezy could live up to the dreams I’ve had of taking her. We’ll see if she’s got what it takes to keep me coming back for more. She might be inexperienced but that just means I get to break her in the way I want. The problem is I’ve got to learn how to lure her in. She’s not the one-night stand type of girl. Time to come up with a plan. Looks like cards, flowers, and mushy shit is in my near future.