Train Wreck (Rawkfist MC Book 3)

by Bijou Hunter

  “Shut up.”

  “What I mean is people probably think I’m too immature for something serious. They’d be wrong. I’m more than what people see.”

  Studying him, I don’t know how to feel. Emmett controls my heart. One minute, he cradles it gently. The next minute, he holds it over the trash and threatens to let go. Despite my fears and his shifting moods, I refuse to let him go.

  “You’re not dumping me.”

  “Never said I was.”

  “Well, you implied.”

  “No, you just got your panties in a twist before you heard me out. Don’t you know it’s my job to play with these sweet little babies?”

  Slapping away his hands after they give my boobs quick squeezes, I mutter, “Stop distracting me with your horniness.”

  “If you’re distracted, it’s only because you know my mouth is for more than chatting about misunderstandings.”

  “Can’t you think of anything besides sex?”

  “Not when your shirt’s wet,” Emmett says as his gaze locks onto my chest. “Those little nipples are calling to me, asking me to help them come out to play.”

  Crossing my arms, I know he’s using flirting and sex to distract me from the bullshit he said earlier.

  “What about the rest of me?”

  “You know how I feel about the rest of you,” Emmett murmurs while wrapping me in his arms.

  “I did, but now I’m not so sure.”

  “You’re the moon and the stars, baby. You’re the first thought in the morning and the last before I fall asleep. No one ever got me as wound up as you, and I don’t mean in a sexy way. I mean in here,” he says, patting his chest. “I want to do right by you is all. I need you to be safe, even from me. I just don’t know the right way to do that.”

  “In the future, ask me when you’re not sure what’s right. Don’t just go making decisions about me needing space or you needing to ditch me to make the universe happy. Can you do that?”

  “I promise,” he whispers and kisses me ever so gently.

  Emmett seems nervous about our first argument. He won’t admit his fears, of course.

  I can’t really admit mine either. Not now that he’s apologized and promised to do better. If I nag, well, then I’m a nag. Having dealt with my father’s badgering, I understand both its powers and drawbacks. In this situation, nagging isn’t the best option.

  28 Train Wrecks - Poppy

  Emmett’s house key feels heavy in my hand. The night before at the motel, he gave it to me without a second thought. I’m free to rummage around his place, touch all his stuff, look through his medicine cabinet, just do anything my heart desires. Emmett’s trust makes me feel sexier than any negligee. Of course, it’d be a tad more fun if he was living at the house again rather than still hanging out at the dump motel.

  Luring Mulder for the vet visit, I set out a can of cat food and make kitty noises. The cat ignores my bait for nearly a half hour. Eventually, I sit on the front porch with the food and read entertainment gossip on my phone.

  When Mulder shows up, two pale dirty kids are close behind. Emmett’s told me plenty about the weird kids at the house in front of his. He swears they’re evil, and shouldn’t be trusted. I laugh whenever he says that. Now I wonder if I should grab my pepper spray just in case they go Children of the Corn on me.

  “Are you Emmett’s girlfriend?” the boy asks.

  “No, kid, I’m his jockey.”

  The girl frowns and wipes her snotty face. “His what?”

  “Emmett’s the Thoroughbred I ride for the win.”

  The kids stare at me for a long time until the girl finally asks again, “What?”

  “Tough crowd,” I mutter. “You should work on your sense of humors. Might be the only thing you have to fall back on when you grow up.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Don’t worry about it. You’re perfect the way you are. Now go away.”

  When I show Mulder the food, he only eyes me warily.

  “What are you doing?” the boy asks.

  “I’m taking the cat for his shots.”

  “What if he doesn’t want his shots?”

  “Don’t be silly. Shots will make him a super cat. Don’t you love getting shots?”

  “No.”

  “Well, you’re just acting like weirdoes. Now go away before I start taking it personally just how odd you are.”

  The boy looks at his sister and they share a dull-eyed frown. The girl then looks at me with her dead gaze.

  “We don’t understand.”

  “No one does,” I tell her.

  The kids finally get fed up with my chatter and wander away. Though they still keep an eye on me while I coax Mulder to the food. They’re very interested in the wrestling match that soon breaks out when I attempt to shove the giant cat in the carrier. Mulder puts up a hell of a fight, but I finally win the bloody battle.

  Leaving behind the weird kids, I drive to the office where Mom has a slow schedule for the day. I find her behind her desk, eating a peach, and watching a movie on her laptop. She’s been playing low-key about Jared’s move into the house. I did appreciate when they asked my opinion about him making things official.

  “I don’t know,” I muttered during breakfast while they both watched me. “I mean, how well do we even know Jared? We might want to consider running a background check on this guy before we get in too deep with him.”

  “Cute,” Jared said, eating his toast like an old man with reflux issues. “Things won’t change much once I move some of my crap into the house. I’ll dump the rest in a storage unit.”

  “Well, we expect you to pay half of the rent and all of the utilities. You should know that our electric bill is massive. Are you so sure you’re ready to make that kind of commitment?”

  “When do you think you’ll be moving out?” Jared asked, and Mom smiled instantly.

  “I plan to live here forever with my future illegitimate kids that you’ll babysit while I’m out partying with my gross lovers.”

  “What about Emmett?” Mom asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” I said, taking Jared’s empty place to the sink. “I guess I’ll move out whenever he decides he can’t get through the night without me. How long does that level of obsession take to kick in?”

  Jared and Mom never answered me. They were too busy whispering sweet horny nothings to each other. I’d leered at them for a long time before they even remembered I existed. Clearly, that was how things would be from now on.

  “Do you think you and Jared will have another baby?” I ask Mom after resting Mulder’s carrier in an exam room. When Mom doesn’t respond, I find her shaking her head behind me. “What?”

  “I’m a grandma now.”

  “No urge to do it again?”

  “I’m still raising you.”

  “Until the day you die.”

  Returning to the front desk, Mom smiles at me. “Speaking of babies, Justice texted me earlier to say she’s taking a pregnancy test today and will announce the results at dinner at the Cracker Barrel. She’s making an event out of it.”

  “Do you think it’ll be positive?”

  “No doubt. She’s avoided taking the test because she already knows what it’ll say.”

  “So you’re about to be a grandma again,” I say, heading to the bathroom to treat my scratched hands with peroxide.

  Mom follows me. “He gave you some trouble, I see.”

  “I don’t think his former owners did much for him. I bet this is the first time he’s ever been in a carrier.”

  Mulder loses his shit when we pull him out onto the exam table. Despite his hissing and attempts to flee, Mom remains her professional self. She speaks to him in a pleasant tone even when he bites her. I hold him still the best I can, but he’s the biggest cat I’ve ever seen, and I strain a few muscles during the exam.

  “He looks healthy,” Mom says after we return Mulder to a cage. “But living outside will shorten his lifespa
n.”

  “Live fast, die young,” I mutter, tending to my new scratches.

  “I’m glad you brought him in. We’ll keep him overnight and neuter him in the morning when his tummy’s empty.”

  Mom and I sit at the front desk, talking about Justice’s announcement and if she’s ready for pregnancy, let alone motherhood.

  I’m so engrossed with the idea of a fat Justice that I actually jump at the sound of the bell over the front door.

  “Well, well, well,” a man says, entering. “Christine Earlham in the flesh.”

  Mom wears a smile but also signals for me to get the gun from the lockbox under the desk. I remain at my seat with the weapon while studying the man. He isn’t big or intimidating. If anything, he looks worn down. Still, I keep the safety off the gun and my phone ready to call for help.

  “George, how are you?” Mom says walking to where he stands.

  “I’m good. Just got back into town and heard you’d moved back.”

  George leans in for a hug, instead receiving an awkward shoulder pat. I know half of the men in Tumbling Rock had a thing for my mother back in the day. She’s always been a beauty, but Jared scared off these idiots even more than Mom enchanted them.

  “Where were you living?” Mom asks.

  “I was doing time up in New Hampshire. Petty stuff. A misunderstanding really, but I’m back now. So you have your own business.”

  “Yep. We do mostly vaccinations.”

  “This place is pretty fancy, Christine,” he says, poking her arm. “Look at you in your white coat like a damn doctor. You sure did good for yourself.”

  His creepy grin creates tension in my gut. He’s wearing the smile of a man who fucked up his life and hates anyone who didn’t follow the same path. He isn’t here to flirt with my pretty mother. His need is baser. He wants her to feel as shitty as he does because she dared to succeed in the way he never will.

  “George, is there something you wanted besides to say hi?”

  “Naw, I was thinking about how you left behind this shithole and moved to the big city and did well for yourself.”

  Normally, I’d snicker at the idea of Indianapolis as a “big city,” but the guy’s vibe is freaking me out.

  “Tumbling Rock is my home now,” Mom says just to say something and break up the weird silence.

  Nodding, George looks her up and down. “I figured I ought to come by and answer a question that’s been nagging at me since I heard you’d become a big shot. So I drove over to see if you’d shelled out for a tit job and left behind the puny A-cup you had in high school.”

  Before I can unleash the full heat of my temper, Mom shocks me by nailing George in the throat with her dainty fist. The jerk gasps, keeling over while struggling to breathe.

  “We’re not in fucking high school, asshole!” Christine hollers and grabs a nearby magazine. “I’m not interested in your stupid bullshit! How dare you come into my place of business and talk shit to me as if I’m a pathetic loser like the one you see in the mirror!” Christine smacks George with the magazine as if he’s a bad dog who pissed on her floor. “My tits have fed three beautiful little girls, giving them sustenance to become the strong women they are today! What the fuck have you ever accomplished, you queef?”

  Mom shoves the still gagging George toward the door. “If you ever so much as fucking look at my family or me again, I’ll send a few Rawkfist boys to tear you another asshole! Do you understand me?”

  The jerk nods, I think, but he’s too busy stumbling outside for me to be sure. I hurry around the counter to watch Christine kick him in the butt and shut the door behind him.

  “Wow!” I cry, clapping my hands like a crazy person. “You fricked him up!”

  Mom smoothes her hair and takes a deep, unsteady breath. After tossing the magazine back on the waiting room table, she shakes out her arms.

  “I never want you to think your body isn’t beautiful just because queefs like him say your breasts should be bigger.”

  “Oh, Mom, you know I don’t care what rednecks think about anything unless they’re married into our family,” I say, hugging her. “The breastfeeding thing was new info, though.”

  Mom caresses my hair, but I suspect she’s soothing herself. “I actually didn’t breastfeed, but I was trying to make a point to him.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  Mom shrugs. “I did for a while with Journey, but she always wanted your dad to feed her. Justice had latch issues. She refused to open her mouth, which I know hasn’t been a problem since she learned to speak. By the time you came along, I just didn’t feel like having a baby attached to my boob all the time. Does that make me a bad mother?”

  “Of course not. If you had breastfed me, it might have increased my IQ, and I’d have a lot of pressure to succeed. My average IQ means I can simply coast through life, so thank you.”

  “I can’t believe how mad I got,” Mom says, sighing loudly.

  “Hormonal bitches make the best bitches,” I say, leaving her embrace so I can grab my phone. “Now leave me alone so I can call everyone and tell them what happened.”

  “In your version of the story, make sure I don’t look stupid or crazy.”

  “I promise I’ll make you sound as badass as you were.”

  Glancing out of the window, Mom probably worries George will come back looking for real trouble. Her temper sated, she returns to the rational woman I adore. As much fun as her crazy side is, someone in the family needs to keep crap in order.

  29 Train Wrecks - Poppy

  Years ago when we first moved to town, Cracker Barrel was where Jared first took us to eat. I’d thought he was a big jerk back then. These days, I still feel that way. Usually when he tells me to shut up or turn down the TV. I suspect Jared often thinks I’m a brat. Usually when I tell him to shut up or turn down the TV. Despite those little flare-ups, we’ve figured each other out since that first dinner at Cracker Barrel.

  Everyone settles into their spots around the tables and orders way too much food. Through it all, Justice waits to make her announcement. Once we settle down, she stands up and clinks a knife against Court’s beer bottle.

  “I have something to say. Thanks to my man’s great aim, I am now with child,” Justice says, giving a little bow.

  The men clap because they don’t know what the hell else to do. Mom hugs Justice raw and cries a little about another grandbaby. Her words are likely rehearsed since we’ve been waiting for this announcement for weeks. Journey waits her turn to get a hug and promises she’ll help Justice through the rough times.

  “You’re my favorite sister,” Justice says, nuzzling Journey’s shoulder.

  Though I shouldn’t be jealous, I seethe every time Justice or Journey pulls that move. Rather than grovel for the top spot, I ignore Justice and speak to her stomach.

  “I’m your aunt Poppy. I’m going to talk to you every day, so you’ll learn my voice and love me the most. You’ll also know you have someone sane to help you when you run away from home one day.”

  “Stop talking to my baby.”

  “It needs to know the world is bigger than your obnoxious voice.”

  Justice reaches down and cups my face. “You’re jealous about the fave sister thing, aren’t you?”

  “Your face annoys me. I plan to speak to your stomach from now on. I might even do it after the baby is born.”

  “It’s okay, pumpkin. I was jealous as hell when Journey got preggers, and everyone wanted to talk to her. Now I’m the one stealing the spotlight.”

  Resting my head on her stomach, I speak to the baby inside. “You better be a boy, or you’ll get stuck with a crappy name.”

  “Have you forgotten how great the song Henrietta is?” Justice mutters, patting my head.

  Journey nods. “It’s a great song.”

  I stop nuzzling Justice’s gut and stand up to hug her. “You’re gonna be such a great mom to your biological offspring.”

  “Are you imply
ing I’m not a great mom to my non-biological offspring?”

  “Yeah, but let’s not dwell on that.”

  Justice hugs me tighter. “I expect you to babysit a lot.”

  “I’d be pissed if you didn’t. I’m gonna cuddle the heck out of this baby.”

  Justice suddenly hugs me so tightly that I might snap soon. Probably feeling jealous, Journey breaks us apart so she can get a hug. We take turns hugging each other until Jared orders us to knock it off. I don’t know why I listen to him since he isn’t my father, but the three of us return to our seats.

  Joining Emmett, I wish we were ready for kids. I’d love to get fat with a mini-Emmett squirming around inside of me. I want my sisters to rub my bump and talk to my itty-bitty fetus as if it could totally follow along with the conversation. Mostly, I want to see if our baby will take after Emmett. Big brown eyes? Overly sincere smile that’s totally full of shit? Giant head and shoulders that’ll tear me open during childbirth?

  Okay, so maybe I’m not quite ready to sign up for that just yet.

  30 Train Wrecks - Emmett

  Ever since I was a kid, my uncle Pat reminded me of a squirrel. Mostly because he nibbles at food and stares with blank, dark, little eyes. When I was a kid, the squirrel thing seemed cute. Now I find him freakish. There’s a reason squirrels don’t go bald. The comb over isn’t a great look on them.

  Pat meets me at a Dolly’s Donuts & More to explain the situation at my place. Short and stout, he still walks into the place like he owns it. I watch him give everyone a dark, challenging glare. I struggle not to laugh at how unimpressed everyone is by his display. In fact, a few old ladies even roll their eyes in response.

  “So you wanted to explain what happened at my place?”

  “No hello, Emmett?” he asks, sitting down at the small table.

  “Oh, we’re doing the friendly shit now? Kinda seems like if you wanted to go that route, you could have called me before you fucked up my place.”

  “That wasn’t me, boy. I got to your place and found it fucked up.”

  Scratching my jaw, I can’t believe Pat dares to look me straight in the eye and lie his ass off. “Funny about that. I’ve lived here for two years without anyone fucking with me. Then on the same damn day you arrive, someone trashes my place.”