by Pj Fiala
“There’s room here for us. Plenty of room. The spare bedrooms can certainly be rearranged, or the furniture can be removed for any of your furniture that you want here. One of the rooms can be converted to an office for the time being. But, I have an office space at Rolling Thunder you can use. That way you can meet with clients there. You told me once that sometimes you had to look for a space to have meetings because you were uncomfortable having people at your house during the day when you were there by yourself. You can use my conference room. You can have the office set up any way you like. I can see you all day. I can talk to you and be with you.”
Jeremiah took a deep breath and continued, “If there is furniture here you don’t like or would like to replace with yours, just let me know; we can switch it out. One of the boys would probably need some of the furniture, too. It can work, Joci. And, if after all of that, you aren’t happy here, we’ll buy another place. I don’t care where we live, as long as we’re together.”
Jeremiah stared at her, willing her to say yes. Joci took a deep breath. This was big.
“Say yes, Joci. You’re here most of the time anyway. Say yes.”
She swallowed. Giving up her home, starting over at another place, living permanently with Jeremiah. Joci’s voice was soft, barely a whisper. “Yes.”
Jeremiah whooped, lifted her up and spun her around. When her feet were firmly on the ground, he planted his lips on hers in a toe-curling, consuming kiss that had her light headed and dizzy.
“I’m so happy, Joci. You won’t regret this. I promise.”
As they finished making supper, they discussed the logistics of making this move.
Joci began. “The first thing I need to do is talk to Gunnar and see if he wants to move into the house. His apartment is small and kind of crappy. Now that he’s been working for a couple of years and making good money, he might want a bigger place.”
“You should sell him the house.”
“Jeremiah, can you slow down? I want to keep it. For a while anyway. I’ll rent it to cover the mortgage payment. If Gunnar isn’t interested in the house, we can ask JT and Ryder if they might like to rent before I put an ad in the paper.”
“I’m not thrilled that you won’t sell the house. I still feel like I’m pushing a giant boulder uphill with you, Joci.” Joci opened her mouth to argue, but Jeremiah held his hand up.
“I’m trying, babe. I’m trying to be patient. It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
Joci’s face softened. “I know. Thank you. I really do appreciate it.”
“Okay, so we better get going. We have tonight’s shop ride starting in about twenty minutes and it’s Gunnar’s turn to lead. A couple of other riders are coming too—not just staff. He’s been skipping around, pumped up all day.” Jeremiah shook his head with a smirk on his face.
“Also, we have our own private Rolling Thunder shop ride this weekend. I found a house for us to rent on Lake Pentenwell. But LuAnn will probably be along. You good?”
Joci rolled her eyes. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”
Jeremiah pulled his hair back into a band at the nape of his neck. He looked at Joci, and she stood with her hands in her jeans pockets, her hip against the kitchen counter.
“Babe…she’s nothing to me. Why can’t you understand that?”
“But you seem to be a lot to her. Does she still touch you every chance she gets? Does she still shove her boobs in your face and show off most of her body to you?”
Jeremiah crossed his arms over his chest. “Me and everyone else. She’s an attention whore. I can’t change that. I don’t want to expend the energy.”
Joci huffed out a deep breath. Fuck.
Walking toward her, Jeremiah gripped her shoulders in his big hands. “I want you to move in with me before this weekend.”
“Jeremiah, that’s only two days away!”
“We’ll get it done. Tomorrow night after work, I’ll get the boys and my brothers over there to move what you’re moving here. You can talk to Gunnar tonight. I’m not negotiating on this.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the garage door before she could say anything.
18
Roll Me Away
By Friday afternoon, they had finished moving all of Joci’s clothes and the furniture she was bringing with her into Jeremiah’s house. They had to pack quickly and get to the shop to leave for Lake Pentenwell for the weekend. It was about a two-and-a-half-hour ride. Luckily, Gunnar and JT weren’t moving in for a week or so, so she could get over there and clean next week.
Joci quickly packed and strapped her bag on her bike when Jeremiah came out to the garage carrying his bag and placed it on his bike. He was taking the bike he and his sons had built.
“Do you need to put anything on my bike, babe?”
Joci smiled at him. “No, I think I’ve got it.”
“What are you smiling at?” Jeremiah asked, grinning back at her.
“I love that you call me ‘babe’ and ‘darling’ and ‘sweetheart.’”
He finished strapping his bag on his bike, walked over and hugged her tight. “I’m glad you like it. I don’t plan on stopping.”
He kissed her and hugged her again. Then he teasingly slapped her ass.
“Gotta get going, babe. We’re going to be late.”
He winked at her and went back into the house to check everything over one last time.
Soon, they were on the road heading for the shop. They pulled in around 5 and most of the employees were pulling in at the same time. They had signs up on the doors all week letting customers know that they would be closed this weekend. It was the only weekend of the year the shop was closed.
Together, Jeremiah and Joci walked into the garage, and the employees who were there were standing around talking excitedly. Joci was introduced to Deacon’s wife, Julie. She was sweet. Dark like Deacon and had tattoos all over her body. She was a tattoo artist, which explained why Deacon had so many tattoos.
Joci was also introduced to Angel’s husband, Ray. Angel was the clothing manager at Rolling Thunder.
Janice was there, and she rode her own bike. JT, Ryder, and Gunnar were there as well, each riding alone. Chase showed up, and he seemed to be in a pissy mood. No LuAnn. Perhaps that had something to do with Chase’s mood. Usually, when there was a shop event, LuAnn rode with Chase.
Joey was a bike designer. He rode alone. Ricky and Bear were in parts sales at Rolling Thunder. Ricky was riding alone, and Bear had his girlfriend, Ashley, there.
Frog was a mechanic at the shop, and he was riding alone, too. That left LuAnn, who, so far, hadn’t arrived. Joci hoped that meant she wasn’t coming along this weekend. Jeremiah looked at his watch. “It’s five-thirty, let’s ride.” He glanced around to make sure the lights were turned off. “Go on out and I’ll lock up.”
As they were getting on their bikes, a bike pulled into the parking lot. LuAnn was coming after all. She was riding with someone on a ratty-looking older bike that needed a lot of attention. It was spitting and sputtering and coughing. Of course, LuAnn was wearing short shorts and knee-high, black high-heeled boots, a bra top, and a ton of jewelry. Her messy blonde hair was blowing around like a whirlwind.
She jumped off the bike as soon as he stopped so everyone could get a good look. She shimmied around and yelled as loud as she could. “I’m glad we aren’t late. We were…kind of busy.”
JT was the first to say anything at all. “Get on the bike, LuAnn. We were just leaving.”
She shrugged her shoulders and climbed back on the bike, without ever introducing her ‘date’ to anyone.
Jeremiah climbed on his bike and motioned for JT to take off since he was leading. Soon they were on the road. Joci ended up in the back of the pack, which she didn’t mind at all. She could watch everyone riding up ahead of her. Directly in front of her were Jeremiah and Gunnar. She could ride behind him any day. It gave her a chance to look at his strong arms gripping t
he handlebars, his hair blowing around. Though he pulled it back into a ponytail, little tendrils made their escape. His massive shoulders tapered down to that fabulous ass of his. Yeah, great view.
About an hour into their ride, an older Ford Mustang pulled up behind Joci. It was way too close. Joci watched the car in her mirrors and became uncomfortable with how close the car was to her. Soon, the Mustang pulled into the left lane and drew up alongside her.
“Hey baby, you wanna ride me?” The other guys in the car laughed hysterically.
The guy in the back seat leaned out of the car and yelled, “Hey, sugar, wanna fuck?”
Jeremiah and Gunnar were watching this go on. Jeremiah pulled out into the left lane in front of the Mustang, and Gunnar followed. They slowed down, so the car had to slow down. Joci pulled ahead, and Jeremiah motioned for her to move up in front of him and over to the inside of the lane. She moved and Jeremiah slid into the lane next to her. Gunnar stayed behind her. The group up front picked up the speed.
The guys in the Mustang yelled out to Jeremiah, “Fuck you, buddy. We’re just having a little fun with the hottie.”
Frog and Bear, with Ashley on back, pulled out into the left lane then, to slow the Mustang down and the rest of the group pulled ahead quickly. As soon as the group had made some tracks down the road, Frog and Bear pulled back into the right lane and increased their speed to catch up. The guys in the Mustang were not to be swayed and tried keeping up with the bikes, but the bikes were faster and eventually, the Mustang was caught behind some traffic, which the bikes were able to weave in and out of.
Joci’s heart raced. This shit happens once in a while, but she never got used to it. It was so dangerous when cars got so close. One wrong move, one big pothole in the road, and it could be deadly. Idiots.
JT pulled into a gas station about twenty miles up the road and they each went to available pumps to fill up. Joci dropped her kickstand and stood on shaky legs.
“Are you okay, baby?” Jeremiah asked.
Joci smiled at him. “I’m good. They’re just idiots.”
“I know, but that could have been bad. You’re a good rider, Joci. You knew just what to do when I pulled over.”
She wrapped her arms around Jeremiah’s waist and soaked up his strength. He kissed the top of her head and held her tight.
After they had filled their tanks, Jeremiah and Joci moved their bikes off to the side as the rest of the group filled up. Once they had their tanks full, they came over and joined Jeremiah and Joci. LuAnn’s ‘date’ pulled up last and shut his bike off. LuAnn was adjusting her clothing and trying to get anyone to notice her.
Finally, Chase said, “What the fuck is your problem, LuAnn? Aren’t you getting enough attention?”
LuAnn gave him the finger. She turned to the guy she was riding with and winked.
“This is Boyd.”
Boyd’s chin jerked up which seemed to be his hello.
Jeremiah looked at the group and said, “Listen up. For the rest of this ride, Joci is not to be last in the group. I want all of you to make sure she has a spot in the middle of the pack. I don’t want any more bullshit like we just encountered back there. For that matter, Janice and Julie should not be at the end of the group either. No woman should ride in the back. As we saw, men can be pigs.”
Jeremiah smirked. Everyone nodded and mumbled that they agreed with that.
Gunnar looked at his mom. “Are you okay, Mom?”
Joci smiled at him. “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for helping Jeremiah move me forward; I appreciate it.”
Gunnar hugged Joci. “Always.”
LuAnn gave a loud, “Geez, you act like she was in danger or something.”
She was largely ignored, but Joci got the feeling this might be a long weekend.
When they got back on the road, Jeremiah and Joci rode in the middle of the pack. The weather was beautiful and enjoyable. As they got close to the lake, the humidity in the air increased, making it very comfortable riding. They pulled up the driveway of their rented house, and JT opened the garage door so the riders could pull their bikes in out of the weather. It was after 8:30 and the sun had just gone down below the horizon. They had worked out all the sleeping arrangements at the shop. The house had six bedrooms. Jeremiah and Joci got the master bedroom, which was amazing. It had its own bathroom with a big garden tub in it.
The other five bedrooms had multiple beds in them. Two of the bedrooms had a set of bunk beds and a double bed. Everyone was able to sleep in a bed. There was a gorgeous kitchen and two other bathrooms in the house.
“Okay, listen up. Since it’s after eight o’clock, we can either find a bar to hit or go buy some drinks and stay here at the house. What does everyone want to do?”
“I want to go out and shake it,” LuAnn piped up.
Joci spoke up, “I think it would be better if we stayed and drank here, so no one is driving after drinking. I’m happy to go and pick up the drinks.”
“I think that sounds great. I’ll go, Mom. Why don’t you unpack—again.” Gunnar smirked.
“What does that mean, ‘again’?” LuAnn sniped, using air quotes.
Gunnar turned so he was facing LuAnn head on. “It means that my mom just moved in with Dog, and she’s been unpacking the last couple of days.” He smiled at the look on LuAnn’s face.
LuAnn’s eyes narrowed as she looked past Gunnar right at Joci.
Chase burst out laughing. “Careful, LuAnn, your face will stay that way.”
Jeremiah pulled Joci to the master bedroom while Gunnar and Ryder took drink orders and headed to the nearest store.
As they walked into the master bedroom, Jeremiah hugged Joci and picked her up and laid her on the bed. He stretched out next to her and kissed her.
“I thought I was going to go out of my mind when those assholes got so close to you, Joci. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her for a kiss.
“I’m fine, babe. Thank you for worrying.”
Jeremiah’s smile grew across his face.
“You called me ‘babe.’ That’s the first time you used an endearment for me. I love the way it sounds coming from your lips. Let’s make out.”
Joci laughed, but they heard Gunnar and Ryder coming back into the house. “Okay, we’ll finish this later. Now, think about that for the rest of the night,” he whispered in her ear.
The boys came in and were carrying their packages and putting beer and wine coolers in the refrigerator as Joci and Jeremiah walked into the kitchen.
Deacon’s wife, Julie, and Janice started mixing drinks and playing bartender. The kitchen had a breakfast bar, and they used that as a bar. As soon as everyone had drinks, JT proposed a toast to a great weekend. Everyone cheered and sipped at their drinks. The boys had also bought snacks and dips, and those were spread out on the kitchen table.
Joci began talking to some of the girls and trying to get to know them. Julie was an artist with a vividly creative mind. Janice was very sweet and closer to Joci in age. Joci knew her already, but they hadn’t had the time to get to know each other.
Jeremiah sat on the sofa and patted his knee for Joci to come and sit on his lap. Suddenly, LuAnn jumped in and sat on his lap first. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to kiss him, but he pulled his head back as soon as he saw what was happening.
His jaw tight, he growled, “Get the fuck off my lap, LuAnn.”
She acted pouty and said, “Dog, you know you want me.”
Jeremiah put his hands on her hips and picked her off his lap. When she was standing, he gave her a little shove.
“I’ve told you this is inappropriate. Enough.”
Jeremiah stood up quickly and walked over to Joci and grabbed her hand and pulled her out on the deck. Once they were outside, he turned to her and framed her face with his hands, holding her in place.
“I love you, Joci. I did have a talk with her.
I swear it.”
“I believe you, baby.” Joci sighed heavily and wrapped her arms around Jeremiah.
“You don’t sound sure.”
He pulled away and looked at her. She closed her eyes and sighed again.
“I just hate having to deal with her every time we do something with your employees. How much temptation can you handle?”
“She’s not a temptation to me. I couldn’t give a shit. You’re the only woman I want. You’re the only woman I will ever love. Ever.”
Just then, the door opened up, and JT, Ryder, and Gunnar walked out onto the deck.
“Everything okay out here?”
Joci and Jeremiah smiled at them.
“Yes, everything is fine. How about in there?” Joci said with a smile.
Gunnar was the first to make a comment. “I would like to wrap my hands around her throat. She is such a piece of trash, and I hate how awful she is to you. When Chase said she wasn’t riding with him, I had hoped she wasn’t coming at all. Then she showed up with Boyd, a guy she met in a bar last night.”
Joci looked at Gunnar and then JT and Ryder. “I’m okay. I don’t like it either, but it is what it is at this point, so we have to suck it up and deal with it. Only Jeremiah can change the situation.”
Ouch, that stung. Talk about being sucker-punched. But she was right. He just felt like he owed it to Lance to make sure LuAnn had a job. Never in his life did he think he would find a woman like Joci and have a woman like LuAnn try to fuck it up for him. He would never try to harm another person’s relationship—ever. It was beyond him that someone would do this to him.
“I’ll take care of it. Right now, let’s try to enjoy the weekend and not let one person ruin it. If we all stick together, we can have a great time,” Jeremiah said.
JT nodded. “How about we talk about the house then?”
A grin grew across his face. He looked at Gunnar, who smiled.
“We’re excited to move in. Now that I know the house is available, I can hardly stand to stay in my shitty apartment,” Gunnar stated.
