“Tell you what, get a movie going and we can watch it in the living room. That way you can relax and still keep an eye on the food.’ Rigid grabbed my hand and pulled me to the couch. ‘Sit,’ he ordered.
I collapsed on the couch, too exhausted to even argue with him.
He flipped on the TV and started up Jackass. “Really?” I asked, half asleep.
“Quiet, beautiful. You’re going to be asleep in half a minute. I shouldn’t have dragged you around the grocery store. Half way through I could tell you were about to fall over. I’m sorry.” Rigid apologized, sitting next to me. He twisted my body, resting my back on the arm of the couch and swung my feet into his lap. He rubbed my feet, lulling me even further to sleep.
“I’m a big girl, Rigid. It was my decision to go shopping. I’m just a little worn out.” I mumbled, smothering a yawn.
“Sleep. I’ll wake you before everyone shows up.”
“Promise?” I asked, sleep quickly overtaking me.
“Promise, beautiful,” Rigid whispered.
I fell asleep before the opening credits rolled, Rigid’s strong hands relaxing me.
======
Rigid
The movie was over, and Cyn was sprawled out on the couch, her head in my lap. I had shut off the brats when the timer she had set went off and fired up the charcoal grill. King had just sent me a message letting me know they would be rolling in any time.
I needed to wake Cyn up, but I didn’t want to. She had overdone it today and needed to rest. A bunch of bikers invading her house was not the best way to relax. She had curled up in my lap after I came back in the house and hadn’t moved since.
“Beautiful, you need to wake up.” I brushed the hair from her face, caressing her cheek.
She mumbled in her sleep and snuggled even further into me. I traced the cut on her face with my fingertip. It was already healing and should be gone within a week. The rest of the bruises on her body and face were fading into yellow. In a week, the only thing that wouldn’t be healed would be her arm. I clenched my fists, remembering what she looked like after we had found her lying on the floor. The fucker was going to pay for what he had done.
Cyn was acting like she was over it, but I was afraid that she was just putting on a front in front of everyone.
“Cyn, you need to get up, babe,” I said, louder this time. I ran my thumb over her lips, feeling how soft they were.
“Just point them in the direction of the back yard and let me sleep,” she mumbled.
“As good as that sounds, beautiful, you need to get up, eat, and take a pill. If you’re still tired after you can head to your room,” I promised.
“Hmm, I got sweet Rigid,” Cyn cooed, lifting her head from my lap.
“Only you get him, beautiful.”
I heard a group of motorcycles pull up the drive and knew my alone time with Cyn was over. Time to share her.
“Ugh, I need to pee. Let me up,” she bossed.
I lifted my arm I had wrapped around her waist and let her get up. She stumbled off to the bathroom, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
“You gonna sit on the couch all night or cook me my fucking meal?” Speed boomed as he walked in the front door.
“Fuck you. I’d make you man the fucking grill, but you’d probably light Cyn’s fucking house on fire,” I shot back, getting up from the couch.
“You tell anyone how you lit the end of your finger on fire the other night?” Gambler joked, setting two cases of beer on the table.
“Shut the fuck up. It was only for two seconds. Ain’t nothing to tell,” Speed said, ripping open a bag of chips, shoving a handful in his mouth.
“I don’t know how you have all your hair, Speed. It seems like you’re setting something on fire at least once a week,” King smirked as he brought in a six pack of wine coolers and a bottle of Southern Comfort.
“You hitting the soft stuff tonight, King?” I asked, eyeing the wine colors.
“They’re for Cyn, you dipshit,” King shot back.
“He’s grumpier than a bear shitting in the woods because Meg isn’t here,” Hammer said.
“That don’t make sense, Ham. Try again, fuckwad,” Gravel grumped, walking through the front door.
All the brothers laughed at Ham. Fucker never could get a saying right. It was amazing some days he could put two words together that made sense.
“Grab the brats and hot dogs, Turtle. You’re helping me cook,” I said, grabbing a pair of tongs and a beer. Turtle was a prospect, and I was his sponsor. He had been a prospect for almost a year now. His probationary period was almost up, and he would more than likely become a full member in the next month or so.
Turtle followed me out the door with all the brothers following us out.
“Cyn up?” King asked taking a seat at the picnic table. All the other brothers spread out on the picnic table and chairs that had been set up. King, Hammer, Gravel, Speed, Gambler, and Turtle were the first brothers to show up. It was only a matter of time till more showed up.
“She woke up right before ya’ll showed up. She should be out anytime,” I replied, filling the grill up with brats. Cyn might have been right, maybe ten pounds of brats was too many.
“How she doing?” Gravel asked, sitting down.
“As far as I can tell, well. She had nightmares that first night home but hasn’t had any lately.” I shut the lid on the grill, taking a long pull of my beer. The fucking grill was hot. Dinner would be made in no time.
“Good. Keep an eye on her, Rigid, that girl has gone through hell,” Gravel said, leaning back in his chair, stretching his legs out.
“I’m on it, Gravel,’ I said, nodding at him. ‘Keep an eye on the grill, Turtle.” I handed the tongs off and headed back to the house to see what Cyn was up.
“You checking up on me?” Cyn asked as I shut the patio door behind me.
“Just making sure you were ok, beautiful. You want me to grab you something to drink? King brought more of that girly shit you and Meg like to drink.” I opened the fridge and grabbed another beer for me and drink for Cyn.
I turned around, waiting for Cyn to answer. She was standing at the entrance of the kitchen, wringing her hands together.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, setting the drinks down. I moved closer to her, not liking the distance between us.
“Um, just a little nervous. I know we went to the store and all today but this is kind of the first time I’ve been around people since... you know.” She wiped her hands on her thighs and wrapped her arms around her middle.
I moved to her and wrapped my arms around her. She melted into me, breathing a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry, beautiful. I didn’t think of that when I came up with the idea of a barbecue. I’ll tell the fuckers to leave.” I ran my hands up and down her back, trying to soothe her. I can’t believe I didn’t think it was too soon for Cyn. Fucking idiot.
“No, no.’ Cyn said, shaking her head. ‘It’s fine. I need to do this. Just, um… stay with me?” She ended on a whisper.
“You didn’t even need to ask, Cyn.”
<<<<<<<<<
Cyn
I was wrapped up in Rigid’s arms and all the anxiety I was feeling disappeared.
I had walked out of the bathroom and headed to the kitchen. I almost had been to the patio door open when my panic hit me. I saw Rigid and all the guys sprawled on my lawn, and I froze.
I knew I couldn’t do it. I was headed back to my room, planning to fake being in pain when Rigid walked through the door. I tried to put on a brave face, but I just couldn’t.
“I’m not going to go anywhere, Cyn,” Rigid whispered into my hair.
“Promise me,” I pleaded. Rigid’s arms were the only place I felt safe. If he ever left, I didn’t know what I would do.
“I promise.” Rigid pulled back and looked me in the eyes. He cupped my face in his hands and brushed back my hair. He wiped my tears from my cheeks that I didn’t even know I had shed.
&nbs
p; “I’m sorry. I’m such a mess. One minute I’m fine and then the next I can’t breathe. I was doing so good these past couple of days,” I confessed.
“You’re still doing good, beautiful. Just a bad day,” Rigid said. He leaned down, pressing his lips to my forehead.
Rigid was so understanding. I didn’t know any other man who would put up with my mega mood swings. He buried his face in my hair, inhaling deeply.
“You’re smelling me again, aren’t you?” I giggled.
“I can’t help it,” He mumbled into my hair.
“Do you think you can control yourself if we go out with your friends?” I asked.
“I make no promises when it comes to you. You sure you want to go out there? I can just tell them you need to rest. You did have a rough day today.”
I pulled out of Rigid’s arms and looked at him. I don’t know what I did to deserve this man. He was the most handsome man I had ever seen, even if it was in the most unconventional way.
His pierced eyebrow and disc gauges in his ears gave him a look that most bikers I had met couldn’t pull off. Pair his piercings with his blue Mohawk and he looked like he belonged in a punk rock band more than a motorcycle club. His massive muscles and sheer size are what made him so intimidating. The faint scar and the permanent scowl on his face just added to his intimidation factor.
“What happened?” I asked, running my fingers down the faint scar that ran from the corner of his left eye to the right corner of his mouth.
“Young and stupid,” Rigid laughed. He caught my hand in his and pressed it to his lips.
“What happened?” I asked again.
“I can’t even remember what the argument was about, but I got into it with a guy at a bar when I was twenty-two. This,’ Rigid pointed to the scar, ‘was his first and only hit he got in. He grabbed a broken beer bottle and took a swing at me, fucked up my face.”
“What did you do to him?” I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know. I knew Rigid could kick ass, but I didn’t really need to know the details.
“Just gave him what he had coming to him, babe.”
“He still alive?”
“Yeah, he’s sitting out in your backyard, beautiful.”
My jaw dropped open, shocked that one of Rigid’s brothers had done that to him. “Which one?”
Rigid shook his head and laughed. “Not telling you, babe. The past is the past.”
“I’m so going to find out. How is he still a part of the Devil’s Knights after he did that to you?” I said, gesturing to his scar.
“Because he wasn’t a part of the Knights when he did it. He was just a young punk looking for a place to belong. The Knights were what he was looking for.”
I was truly surprised by that response. I felt the Knights were a bunch of badass men who kicked ass and took names later. “Tell me who it is,” I pleaded.
“Tell you what. Add it to the list of things we guess about each other.”
“Not fair! Now I have to guess your name and who gave you that scar? Mine is easy to figure out. You just need to google it.” I pouted.
“You’re smart, babe. You’ll figure it,” Rigid smirked, wrapping me up in his arms.
“Not fair, Ansel,” I mumbled into his chest.
“Where the fuck do you come up with these names babe? Fucking crazy.” Rigid shook his head, laughing.
“I got an app on my phone. I pick the unpopular ones. I’m running low, though.”
“You’ll get it eventually. You ready to head out?” He asked, throwing his arm around my shoulder and steered me over where he set the drinks.
He grabbed the drinks but stayed connected to me. Opening the door, his hand slid down mine and gripped my hand. He tugged me out the door and pulled me over to a lawn chair.
“Sit. Relax,” Rigid ordered as he took the seat next to the one he ordered me to take.
I looked around and only knew a couple of faces. King was sprawled out on one side of the picnic table, he nodded to me, and I waved at him. There were a couple of faces I remembered seeing at the hospital, but King was the only name I knew.
“Sit, beautiful. I’ll introduce you,” Rigid ordered again.
I plopped in the chair next to him, and he handed me my drink. I took a sip, realizing all eyes were on me.
“That scruffy-looking fucker over there is Gravel,” Rigid said, pointing out a guy with a long gray beard and hair. His face was weathered from age, and his eyes were staring me down.
“Hi,” I mumbled when he nodded his head at me.
“Those two fuckers over by the grill are Turtle and Hammer. Between the two of them they have a full brain,” Rigid joked.
“Go fuck a squirrel,” one of them shot back.
“Point made, Hammer,” Rigid mumbled under his breath. I giggled, loving the comradery they had between them all.
“Now that asshole over there is Gambler. He’s got an addiction to poker and fast woman. I’d stay far away from him,” Rigid said, chuckling.
“Fuck you, man. I’m the nicest one of you fuckers. King’s got his head so far up Meg’s ass he can’t see the sun anymore, and all you other fuckers are ornery assholes. You want nice, come see me, darlin’.” Gambler said, winking at me.
“Reel it the fuck in, Gambler,” Rigid growled. Rigid reached over, lacing his fingers with mine and pulled it into his lap.
“So it’s like that, fucker?” Gambler asked, nodding his head at my hand clasped in Rigid’s.
“It’s most definitely like that, brother.” Rigid’s hand squeezed mine, and I looked up at his face. He was turned towards Gambler, they were staring each other down.
“Take care of what’s yours, brother. Or someone else might,” Gambler warned. I think it was a warning. Although I couldn’t figure out why.
“I need a fucking platter or something. The brats are done,” Turtle boomed from over by the grill.
“I’ll get it,” I said as I shot up from my chair. The stare down between Rigid and Gambler was freaking me the fuck out. I would have dashed to the kitchen, but Rigid was still holding on to my hand.
“Where you going?” Rigid asked.
“That guy, I think Turtle, needs a plate. I was going to get one for him,” I explained as I tried twisting my hand from his.
“Turtle can get his own fucking plate.”
“Please, Rigid. Let me go. I’ll be right back,” I pleaded.
“Right back here,” he said as he let go of my hand.
I hightailed it to the kitchen, slamming the door behind me. I grabbed my phone and shot off a message to Meg begging her to ditch work and get her ass over to my house. I moved to the cabinet, grabbing down a plate and jumped when I heard the door open.
“You alright, darlin’?” King ask as he studied me.
“Uh, yeah. Just getting a plate,” I said, waving it around.
“Don’t mind Gambler, babe. He’s just trying to get a rise out of Rigid. All those fuckers did it to me when they met Meg.
I’d have to ask Meg about that. I wasn’t sure I liked it. “OK.”
“You feeling better? Still in a lot of pain?”
Um, just sore really. Nothing that really warrants me taking pills anymore. I… I want to… uh,…thank you for everything that, um… night. Thank you,” I stuttered.
“No need to thank me. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I did it for Meg. She needed to help you, and I was the best way to help. Now Rigid? Well, he didn’t do it for Meg.”
“Then why did he do it?” I asked. Unsure if I wanted to hear the answer.
“You. He did it because it was you. He would do anything for you.” Lo walked to the fridge grabbing the whole case of beer, hoisting it under his arm. I suppose it was probably easier to bring the beer to the guys rather than having to come in the house all the time.
“I don’t know what to do with that, King,” I said, unsure if I wanted Rigid to do anything for me.
“Just go with it, darlin’. I’ve kn
own Rigid a long time, and I have never seen him like this before,” King said, heading back to the door.
“That’s all the advice you have for me?” I asked.
“Cyn,’ King said, turning back to me before he got to the door. ‘I know you’ve been through a lot, we all know that darlin’, but that man sitting out there wants to help you. He wants to make it all go away and give you back what you lost.”
“I can’t get back what I lost, King.” I was broken and, although I knew I was slowly getting put back together, I was never going to be the same again.
“Then let him give you something new. Just don’t shut him out.”
“Your mom said the same thing. That I just needed to let him in, and everything would be alright.”
“She’s a smart woman, Cyn. She called that Meg and I would be together the day I met her.” King walked out the back door, leaving it open for me to follow.
I walked back out, Rigid’s eyes on me the second I stepped foot on the grass. Instead of sitting back in my chair, I headed over to Turtle and held the plate as he placed all the brats on it.
I could feel Rigid’s eyes on me. I couldn’t tell if he was still mad at Gambler or if he was over it.
King’s words kept running through my mind. What kind of new was Rigid going to give me? Was this it? A motorcycle club sprawled around my lawn, drinking beer and shooting the shit.
The real question was, was this what I wanted?
<<<<<<<
Chapter 17
Rigid
Cyn was standing by the grill, talking with Ham and Turtle while they took the food off. I shot a look at Gambler, who was talking on his phone. I was ten seconds away from slugging the shit out of Gambler before Cyn got up to head to the house.
I didn’t want to scare Cyn, so I let it drop between Gambler and me.
“Come grab the rest of the shit with me.” King motioned to me.
I followed King into the house and grabbed the buns and shit and headed back out the door.
Cyn was setting the overflowing platter full of brats on the table. She grabbed the three packs of buns I had dangling from my fingers and started opening them.
Devil’s Knights MC Box Set 1 Page 29
