Baby gets out of the truck carrying roses. Who sent her flowers? It isn't her birthday. I make my way towards Grim's trailer to talk to her, but then I see Rumor sitting on the porch and LL is pulling up. Finding out where those flowers came from is going to have to wait. I can't wait for Grim to get back tomorrow, we got to get a handle on the Devils Rejects popping back up. Romeo is back from Chicago, but there isn't any point in talking to him without Grim. Those two are tighter than a virgin pussy.
My brother pulls up to me on his soft tail, with Aspen riding bitch. "There you are been looking for your ass." Before I can ask him what's up, I see Tread pull up at Grim's to take Rumor out. Fuck, I blew it. I should have known it wouldn't take long for a brother to move in on her. I can't even be mad. Tread is a good man. He'd make her a good husband. But I'd make a better one. Fuck, where did that thought come from?
"I was going to tell you. Tread and Rumor havea date tonight. You told me to invite him, so I did."
"It's cool man, just make sure he treats her right." They are just going to a movie. It don't mean a damn thing. But seeing her on the back of any man’s motorcycle but mine, hurts.
Chapter 6
Rumor
Sitting on the porch, my nerves are all over the place. Tonight is my first date with Tread. He called me yesterday and asked me to the movies tonight. It is actually my fist date, ever. I hope that I don't disappoint him. I know he is a biker and used to women fawning all over him, I don't know how to be that way with men. I don't know how to be that girl—I don't know how to be Baby. I would ask for her advice if she wouldn't be such a bitch to me.
She just pulled up in Grim's truck, I know she isn't supposed to be driving, but I'll never tell on her. Looks like Rebel sent her flowers. I look over to the garage and see him walking this way, probably to see if she likes her roses. When he sees me watching him, he stops coming this way and turns back the other way. No time to worry about it now, Striker and Aspen just pulled in and Tread isn't far behind them. I don't think Grim and Sunshine would care for me going out with him. I am almost twenty and Sunshine is always after me to date.
LL is here to pick up Baby too. She babysits for her and Romeo, a lot. Tread walks up on to the porch and greets me with a kiss on the cheek, making me blush. You can do this, Tread isn't Squirrel, and he isn't out to hurt me. I take a deep breath and give him my best smile. Baby comes rushing past us to get in the car with LL. She takes a double look at Tread and me and she actually gives me a smile. Did hell just freeze? I guess I knew all along that the key to cracking Baby's wall was to cut ties with Rebel and date anyone but him. This is a good thing, maybe I can learn how to open myself up to men, and Baby will finally accept me as her sister.
"You ready to go?"
"Yeah, what are we going to see?"
"Some chick flick Aspen has been after Striker to take her to see." Tread takes his time with me. He makes sure I am comfortable before we head out. I watch Striker and Aspen as they talk to Rebel. Rebel gives Tread a chin nod. I don't know why a part of me expected him to be jealous. It is for the best, now maybe if I say it enough, I will start to believe it.
We end up at an Italian restaurant before going to the movies. Aspen seems really nice and she is really pretty. She is a little on the short side but her and Striker look really good together. Aspen has dark hair that is cropped around her chin and she is curvy, a little on the plus side. Not the typical girl you would expect to see a guy like Striker have on his arm. And when the girl opens her mouth, she does not have a filter. She is brutally honest, but I find it comforting.
Dinner is nice. We all fall into easy conversation about our day-to-day life. Aspen works for the local Vet as his assistant (she met Striker when he brought his dad's dog in for his shots), she has a huge love of animals, and you can just feel her passion for it when she talks. Striker shares the same passion for restoring old bikes and customizing new ones at the garage. I can't understand why they aren't married yet, or at least living together. Aspen says they have been dating almost two years. I wish I had a passion for anything, but there isn't anything that feels like I'd die if I couldn't do it.
Tread is on the road a lot, I'm not sure how I feel about that. Not that I expect anything serious to come from this one date. And there is my rule of not ever belonging to a patched, Harley riding man.
The movie we end up seeing is actually based on a book I recently read. Tread holds my hand throughout the whole movie, and he doesn't mind my pointing out all of the things that were better in the book, or the things they failed to mention in the movie. He has been a perfect date. Aspen seems like the kind of girl I could be friends with. We exchange phone numbers outside of the theater with a promise to meet up for lunch soon.
Tread takes me directly home and we end the night with a simple but sweet kiss. He is heading out of town tomorrow, and he won't be back for another week or so depending on how his run goes but says he will call me from the road. I walk into the trailer feeling good about the direction things are going. Tread will make me the perfect practice boyfriend to get my feet wet for the day I am ready to really date seriously.
I nearly jump out of my skin when I turn on the living room light to find Rebel waiting for me on the couch. "What are you doing here? Baby is over at the cabin. Shouldn't you be over there helping her or something."
"Don't want Baby." I can feel his eyes trained on me. "Did you have a good time on your date?" His tongue clicks on the word date. I think he is drunk, no, I know he is drunk, I can smell cherry moonshine permeating from his skin.
"You're drunk, go home, Rebel." I go into the kitchen and get him a glass of water.
"I hope you had a good time. I just wanted to tell you that."
"Okay, you told me now go home." He rises from the couch nearly falling back down. Well he clearly isn't walking anywhere on his own. "Need me to call one of your brothers to come get you home?" There is no way I am letting him spend the night here.
"I can get home." His phone starts ringing, and I can hear Romeo clearly on the other end. Something is wrong with the still and he needs him to get over there now to fix it. "I'll be right there, man."
"Come on, Rebel, I'll drive you." I just hope Baby doesn’t get the wrong idea when I drop him off.
Baby
The kids passed out on me halfway through the movie. After getting them to bed and cleaning up the mess we made having a popcorn fight, I kick back on the couch to wait for Romeo and LL to get here so I can go home. My phone chimes with a text.
Lucky- you made up your mind princess?
Baby- nope.
Lucky- nope you won't or nope you haven't decided?
Baby- Haven't decided.
Lucky- say yes, you know you want to.
Baby- Answer my question, How do YOU know TROUBLE?
Lucky- We grew up together and just because we ride for different clubs don't mean we can't be friends.
Lucky- Satisfied?
Baby- For now, gotta go babysitting duty calls.
Now that is interesting, bet my father wouldn't take too kindly to Trouble being buddy buddy with a Reject. I'll have to file this information away for a rainy day. Jamie, Romeo's little mini me has woken up with a bellyache, guess all that candy wasn't one of my better ideas. I get him some tummy medicine and send him back to bed.
Trouble stopped by to collect that moonshine I owed him, he wanted to hang around to give me a ride home, but I do not want LL and Romeo to think I sneak boys over.
The still in the basement starts making weird noises after Trouble leaves and it seems to be smoking. I put a call into Romeo that there is a problem and he may want to get home and fix it. I hope he doesn't think I am just trying to ruin their date, or that I am trying to get him here with me. About thirty minutes later, I go to the door expecting to find Romeo and LL but instead it's Rebel and Rumor. Great, why are they here and together?
I step back from the door and allow them to step inside of the cabi
n. "Keep quiet the kids are sleeping. Why are you guys here, is something wrong?"
"Rebel needed a ride, says he has to fix the still. You take him down to the basement and help him. I'll listen for the kids." Rumor smiles at me, I guess trying to reassure me that she hasn't spent the night with Rebel.
After taking a good look at Rebel I see why Rumor had to drive him over, I haven't seen him this drunk since his dad died. I hope he can do what needs to be done. I have to practically carry him down the stairs. He spends a few minutes messing with things I know nothing about. He says it's fixed, just got overheated, says that the batch isn't a complete loss. Romeo and LL are hung up in traffic on the interstate and that there was a bad wreck, that is why he is here.
"Baby, I'm sorry for the way I have treated you. You deserve better." He is slurring his words. They say people are their most honest when they are drunk, depending on the type of drunk they are. I slide down on the cold, cement floor next to him, against the wall near the stairs.
He wipes his hair from his eyes, giving me a sly smile. "You know I love you. I'd bleed for ye...take a bullet for ye...I'd kill for ye. I was going to slit that punk Lucky's throat for saying your name." He grabs my hair and forces me to look at him. "I love you, but I'm not in love with you." Guess he has forgotten the conversation we had, the one where I told him I no longer want him.
"I want you to date. You might find someone who turns your world upside down. And stop fucking around with every guy who pays you attention. You are worth more than that—you are worth more than I can give you. I don't want us to end up like my old man and Foxie. I know you don't want that either."
"Is that what you want, you want me to find someone else? Want me to, because I will do anything for you—you know that. I love you more than anything or anyone, I always have, I always will. But you are wrong, there is only one guy I have done anything with. You. I might mess around kissing guys, but I am no man's whore, especially not yours. I told you I would never touch you again Rebel and I meant it. We already had this conversation, and I am so done having these talks with you." I am crying now, unable to hold back the tears. Rebel thinks I am just another whore, well fuck that, fuck him. I know I just lied to him, but how can I ever tell anyone about Romeo? He has a wife and kids. And not to mention if my dad knew he'd kill him, and where would that leave LL and their children. I'm a bitch but I am not coldhearted.
"I didn't know, Baby, look at me." He makes me face him. I can see the shame on his face even if he is drunk, even if he doesn't remember any of this tomorrow I will. "I didn't know. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, I'm sorry too." A part of me feels like I lost what was left of my friendship with Rebel. Rebel slumps over passing out on my shoulder. I ease out from under him leaving him leaned against the wall. I'll never be able to get him up the stairs, he'll just have to sleep it off. I go upstairs and fetch him a pillow and a blanket, even though the jerk doesn’t deserve it.
Back upstairs, I join Rumor on the couch and for the first time I have a real conversation with my sister. She tells me about her date with Tread. I think she might like him. Rumor truly isn't bad to talk to. Neither of us mentions Rebel, I don't think either of us are ready to go there right now.
"Rumor can I tell you something?" I am dying to talk to someone about Lucky. Normally, I would go to Foxie, but I need someone close to my own age to gossip about boys with.
"Baby, I’m your sister, I wish you'd give me the chance to be one."
I tell her everything about Lucky, leaving out his name and the fact that he is a Reject. A part of me wants to tell her about Rush, she might recall him from when she was a kid, but I am not sure if I can trust her, yet.
When LL and Romeo make it home, I leave with Rumor.
Rumor opens up to me a little more on the drive home, telling me how she is scared to date because of her past. I feel horrible for all of the things I have said to her and about her. I guess I never really stopped to think about what she must have gone through. All I cared about was Rebel and that she was in my way. The wall I have had up between us is not her fault it's Rebel's. Him and I both share the blame there. If I wasn't so busy chasing after him, I might not have missed what was in front of me, a sister and a friend. I have failed to consider her feelings since she came into my life, but that changes now.
I don't expect things to magically change overnight between Rumor and me, but from here on out I am going to try to be her sister. "Tread is really a good brother, you should pursue him."
"I don't know if I am ready for that but thank you." She stares blankly at the road, like her mind is lost somewhere else entirely. Perhaps she is thinking of Rebel.
"And Rumor."
"Yeah?" she blinks, glancing at me from the corner of her eye.
"I'm sorry. I’ve been such a shitty sister." I really do mean it when I say it, I feel like a total bitch.
"I know." she smiles slightly.
“Hey!" I laugh at her. She laughs breaking out of the funk she was in.
"What do you have against dating a motorcycle man?"
"Growing up all I wanted was to escape the life I was given. That meant getting out of the lifestyle, leaving everything I ever knew behind, but your dad saved me and showed me that not all men who are patched and ride a Harley are bad. He showed me that there are good men in the world, but sometimes they do bad things, because even if they are wrong, it's the right choice to make. I know you harbor a lot of hate for Grim. I know you feel like he deserted you to be there for me. I'm sorry that you missed out on your dad growing up, but I'm not sorry he never gave up on finding me."
"I don't hate you Rumor and despite how I come off, I don't hate Grim either."
"I know," she says as she parks Sunshine's car. We go into the house not needing to say anything more tonight. Tonight we go to sleep as sister's maybe tomorrow we can become friends.
Chapter 7
Baby
When I wake up Grim and Sunshine have made it home. I can hear Rumor and Sunshine in the kitchen. My father is already gone. Guess he has called choir to order by the quiet that fills the air outside of my window. The guys are usually already banging and making a ruckus over at the garage by now. The silence only means that business is being taken care of at this hour.
I join my sister and stepmother in the kitchen. They are already having breakfast. I take a cup of coffee and a seat next to Rumor at the table. I spy Sunshine smiling at the two of us sitting next to each other. "So how was your trip?" I ask trying to make polite conversation. I am nice on occasion.
"Well if spending eighty percent of a vacation hugging the toilet is what you would consider a good time, then it was great."
"Wait, are you pregnant?" Rumor asks excitedly.
Sunshine tries to hide the smile threatening at the corners of her mouth, but she is doing a shitty job of it. "Well I was supposed to wait for your father, before spilling the beans, but yes we are pregnant, you girls are going to be big sisters. Now, when I tell you again tonight over dinner with Grim, you better act shocked." Rumor rushes over to give Sunshine a hug and immediately swamps her with questions. I leave them to celebrate and slink into the shower. Another kid is all my father needs. I am happy for them, but the timing is horrible. With the Devils Rejects still sniffing around a baby will only complicate things further.
Rebel
Sleeping in the basement at Romeo's isn't the worst place to pass out, I just wish I remember how in the hell I got there. I awoke to him shaking me this morning telling me it was time for choir. I don't know how Grim is going to take to the Devils Rejects popping back up so quickly in our area. I don't if I should bring up Lucky being in contact with Baby, I think I have it handled. At the thought of her name, my mind flashes to a conversation with Baby and me calling her a whore. Damn it, how many times am I going to hurt her? She'd be better off staying away from me all together. My heart is pulling me in two different directions. A part of me knows I could wait for Baby to turn eighte
en and claim her. I know it would solidify me one day being VP even if I don't love her in that way. Then there is a part of me that wants Rumor, but I also know if I want her it could mean giving up this life all together, and I don't think I can give up all that I have ever known—what I was raised to be—a leader in this club, all because I find her attractive. This club is my life and up until two years ago when Rumor came into my life, I thought Baby and the club were all I would ever need.
I catch a ride to choir with Romeo, he says Rumor was with Baby when they got home last night, and he found me in the basement when he checked on the still. Hope I didn't do anything too out of line last night.
"Romeo, if I tell you something, I need you to swear to me that you will keep tight lipped. I know you and Grim are close, but this concerns Baby and the good of the club."
"Alright, son, let's have it." He pulls in at a filling station to talk to me before we go to choir and to fill up his truck.
"There is this punk, Lucky, he is a Devils Reject, and he made some comments to me that insinuated that he knows Baby. I told him I'd slit his throat—I gave him warning. He seemed to take it under consideration, and I haven't gotten a chance to ask Baby about him, yet."
"Christ. Leave it under the table for now, no need to get Grim riled up. Best to know there is a fire, before you go blowing smoke. Play your cards right and you'll move up fast, ye hear me."
"Yeah, I hear ye."
Romeo gets out pumping his gas and I send a text to Baby, telling her I am sorry if I said anything out of the way last night.
She doesn't reply, not that I really expected her to. Romeo gets back in the truck. "And another thing, keep your dick out of Baby, there has been talk. I don't think it has reached Grim's ear, but you better wait until she hits eighteen. And even then, I'd be scared if I were you."
Just Ride Black Rebel Riders' MC Volume 1 Page 26
