“If Wendy doesn’t live with us, then I’m not moving.” Adley turned to Slayer with a frown on her face. “I mean it.”
Slayer opened and closed his mouth two times but nothing came out. He looked up from Adley at me, and I could tell he was completely at a loss for what to do. “Let me talk to Whitney for a second.” He looked back down at Adley. “Alone.”
Adley nodded and plopped back down on the mattress on the floor. She reached for the remote on the side of the bed and started flipping through channels.
Slayer moved to the door, opened it, and stepped to the side.
I didn’t move and folded my arms over my chest.
“Please,” Slayer said softly.
I rolled my eyes and huffed. “Fine,” I grumbled. I stormed past Slayer and out the door.
He grabbed my arm, spun me around, and we headed down the hallway toward the backyard. “We’ll talk out here.” He opened the sliding door and once again motioned for me to walk out first.
“You do know it’s almost December, right?” I wrapped my arms around myself and rubbed my hands up and down my arms.
Slayer looked me up and down. “Jesus Christ,” he grumbled. He worked his coat off his arms and draped it over my shoulders. “Better?”
I wasn’t sure if I was better, but I wasn’t cold anymore. I was enveloped in a warm leather coat that smelled like Slayer and had the Fallen Lords patch on the back. From my little knowledge of anything biker and motorcycle club, this was normally a big deal. Slayer had slung it over my shoulders like it was nothing at all.
“Uh, I’m good.”
If he was fine with it, then I was going to be fine with it. He was, after all, the big, bad biker.
He ran his fingers through his hair and paced back and forth in front of me. “What are we going to do about Adley?”
My eyes bugged out, and I pursed my lips. “Uh, we?”
Slayer stopped pacing and turned to face me. “Yes, we,” he stressed. “I don’t know what the hell you did during the night, but for some reason Adley is attached to you now.”
“And that is a bad thing?” I snapped.
“It is seeing as you’re supposed to be leaving today.”
“Just tell her no, Slayer.”
He was going to be the one to tell her no, not me. He could crush her hopes.
“Oh, gee, that’s so easy to do.” He continued pacing as if that was going to help him figure out what he was going to do.
I pulled his coat tight around me and buried my chin into the collar. “I don’t know what to tell you, Slayer.” I really didn’t.
“What if I paid you?”
“Paid me?” I sputtered. “For what?”
“That’s it,” he exclaimed. “I was worried about what I was going to do when I needed to do stuff for the club and she couldn’t come with, but this is perfect. This could work.”
“What?” I yelled. “What is going to work?”
I felt like Slayer was off his rocker and I was the one who was thinking straight.
“You’ll be my nanny.” He waved his hand and scoffed. “Not my nanny, but Adley’s nanny.”
My jaw dropped, and now, I was the one who was sputtering for words. “You…why…can’t…WHAT?!”
“This is perfect. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.”
I raised my hand as if that was going to stop Slayer. “Excuse me. I would like to get off this crazy train that you’re riding on.” I motioned between the two of us. “Did you forget that we hate each other?”
I mean, we refused to call each other by our given names, and most of the time, it looked like I had just sucked on a lemon when he walked into the room.
“I don’t hate you.”
My eyes rolled before I could stop them. “Right,” I drawled. “That’s why you barely talk to me and when you do, you act like you’re already annoyed with any word that is about to come out of my mouth.”
“That’s because I—” He shook his head and started over. “I’m not annoyed with every word that comes out of your mouth. I don’t hate you. I hated the fact I had to watch over you when I could have been doing something better.”
“Making sure I didn’t die wasn’t exciting for you? There is something better to do than keep someone alive?”
What did Slayer want? He was a member of an MC, not a fighter pilot dropping bombs and shit out of planes all day. It was so hard not to roll my eyes when he opened his mouth.
“Can we move on from this? I don’t hate you, and I’m not annoyed with you. I shouldn’t have been standoffish with you because none of what happened was your fault. You were caught up in it, and someone had to keep you safe. That was me.”
I folded my arms over my chest and tapped my foot. “I’m just supposed to forgive you like that?”
“Yes.” He pointed in the direction of the clubhouse. “Because a little girl was dropped on my doorstep yesterday, and you seem to be the only thing she likes right now.”
“She’ll adjust, Slammer.”
Did he expect her to just walk into the clubhouse and be fine with everything? This was going to take time, and he wouldn’t be able to rush it.
“I know she’ll adjust, but I don’t think telling her no to the first thing she asks for is a good idea.”
“What if she would have asked for a million dollars? Would you have given her that?”
His reasoning for me staying was dumb. Plain and simple.
“But she didn’t,” he reasoned. He stepped closer to me and sighed. “I’m at a loss here. I don’t know what to do, but it seems to me that if she wants you to stay until she gets settled in, then I don’t see what that will hurt. She lost her mom. Don’t make her have to lose you, too.”
I stuck my finger in his face. “That was completely below the belt.”
He shrugged and splayed his hands out in front of him. “I do what I need to do to win.”
“I’ll stay until she is settled. Once she gets into a routine and feels like she’s home, I’m gone.” I moved my finger lower and poked it into his chest. “Also, I am here for her, to help her. I am not your maid and cook.”
“I got it. Whatever you say, Whoopi.”
A growl escaped my mouth, and I dug my finger deeper into his chest. “The name is Wendy.”
A slick smile spread across his lips. “I know. I just like ruffling your feathers, Wynonna.”
“Stop it.” My lip curled, and I let out a deep breath.
“Wynette.”
“I’m serious.”
He licked his lips, and I swear he moved closer to me. “Winnie.”
I growled low, and he just kept on smiling.
“I can go all day and night, Wanda.”
I planted my whole hand on his chest and pushed him away. “You’re a dick, Slug.”
He placed his hand on his chest where I had pushed him. “You wound me, Waverly. At least I call you nice names.” He shook his head and rubbed his chest. “It’s a good thing I don’t have a heart, otherwise I would be offended by being called Slug.”
Gah. This man was going to drive me absolutely bonkers while I lived with him and Adley. Maybe I was already bonkers because I was agreeing to live with him.
“Where are you moving to?” I asked. “Why don’t you just stay here?”
He folded his arms over his chest. “You really think raising a kid in the clubhouse is the best idea?”
I shrugged and quirked my lip. “I mean, there are worse places to live. Granted, she really wouldn’t have a room to herself here.” I had taken the last empty room which had been Slayer’s but he had moved into Brinks’ room when he had left. There really wasn’t room here for Adley.
“I put a call into someone I know. I’ll hear back today if I have a place for us to move to.”
“What does Wrecker have to say about all of this?”
They had church last night about Adley being here, and I figured I should know what had been said, seeing as
I was going to be the one to keep an eye on her.
“You know what happens in church is club business.”
I quirked my eyebrow and tapped my foot. “Spill, Stewart.”
“That one kind of hurt more than Slug,” he muttered. “Can you not go with the geeky names?”
“What did the club have to say about this whole thing?” I asked again.
“Fine,” Slayer relented. “They didn’t say anything other than good fucking luck.”
“Yeah, right.” There was no way Wrecker and the rest of the guys didn’t have more than that to say.
“I’m serious. Wrecker said Adley isn’t a problem he can help with but if it turns out that she isn’t my kid, then he’ll step in to help me figure shit out.”
I eyed Slayer closely. “Do you think she is yours?”
“Am I one hundred percent sure? No.” Slayer ran his fingers through his hair. “But I just find it hard to believe that her mom would go through all of this if she wasn’t sure that I am.”
“You know who her mom was?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t remember her at all.”
Well, I couldn’t decide if that was douchey or if that was understandable since it would have been over twelve years since he knocked boots with Adley’s mom. “Okay.”
“Okay?” he chuckled. “You’re not going to yell at me for not remembering her or not knowing I had a kid out in the world for the past twelve years?”
I shrugged. “I mean, twelve years is a long time. I was only ten years old twelve years ago and don’t really remember anything from back then.”
Slayer scowled and curled his lip. “Trying to make me feel old, Waneeta?”
“Did it work?” I asked sweetly. Any way to get under Slayer’s skin was fun to do.
“Not even close,” he growled. “You’re gonna have to try a lot harder than that to get to me.”
I rolled my eyes and turned on my heel. “I’m heading back in. I’ll tell Adley she gets her wish. Try finding us a place to live that has a jacuzzi and a gazebo.”
If I gave him a ridiculous request maybe that would keep him away for the rest of the day.
“How about a roof over our heads? I think that’s all we can ask for right now.”
I glowered at him over my shoulder. “At least a tub big enough for me to soak with my bum and knees covered.”
“Don’t worry, Willa, I’ll make sure your ass is covered.”
My cheeks heated at his words, and I was completely speechless. Had Slayer just flirted with me? My feet carried me to the door, and I slid it open before I could think of a cheeky reply. “Don’t you worry about my ass, Sonny.”
I swiftly closed the door and waited ‘til I was out of sight from Slayer and dropped to my knees. “Sonny,” I whispered. “You called him Sonny and referred to your ass in the same sentence, Wendy.”
“Uh, everything okay?”
My head snapped back, and my eyes connected with Wrecker. Son of a bitch. “Peachy,” I wheezed. I popped up off the floor, and Wrecker jumped back before the top of my head connected with his beard and chin. “Just, uh, thought I would say a quick prayer.”
Oh, my God. My cheeks heated, and I knew I was bright red with embarrassment.
“Prayer? I didn’t know you were the religious type.”
I smiled wide and actually prayed to God that I didn’t look like a deranged patient from the psych ward. “Oh, you know…God is my homie.”
Kill me now and bury me in the backyard.
God is my homie? What in the hell was wrong with me?
Wrecker cleared his throat and slightly nodded. “Well, I guess I won’t interrupt your impromptu prayer thing. I was just looking for Slayer.”
I hitched my thumb over my shoulder toward the back yard. “He’s out there.”
Wrecker was with Alice. He had to be used to weird women so maybe what I had said didn’t even faze him. Hopefully.
Wrecker nodded and stepped to move around me. “Nice jacket, by the way.”
I nodded stiffly and tried not to melt into a puddle of embarrassment. I kept my back Wrecker and waited ‘til I heard the sliding door open and close.
All I had to do was get to my room and try not to embarrass myself anymore.
I had agreed to live with Slayer, then I was pretty sure he flirted with me, and to top it all off, I had actually said “God is my homie” out loud in front of the president of the Fallen Lords MC.
Yup, as soon as I got to my room, I was going to die of stupidity and embarrassment.
*
Slayer
“Place is furnished, for the most part. Beds, living room furniture, and kitchen is stocked.” Wrecker took a drag off his cigarette and exhaled. “You and Adley can move in now.”
“And Wendy.”
Wrecker quirked his eyebrow. “Come again?”
“Adley somehow became attached to Wendy, and she wanted her to live with us.” I still didn’t know how the hell that had happened.
“Before I walked out here, I found her on her knees in the hallway. I asked her what she was doing, and she said God was her homie and she was praying.” Wrecker dropped his cigarette and ground it out with his heel. “I’ve seen some weird shit since Alice and I hooked up, but that was a different level of weird.”
“You sure you heard her right?” That did not sound like Wendy at all.
“Brother, I am telling you that she said, word for word, ‘God is my homie.’”
I tipped my head to the side and tried not to laugh. “What’d you say?”
“Said I was just looking for you and would let her get back to her prayer.” Wrecker laughed and shook his head. “Can’t wait to tell Alice.”
Only Wrecker would see some weird shit and just let it be. “I’ll have to ask her about that later.”
“Back to what I was saying.” Wrecker pulled a key out of his pocket and handed it to me. “Place is all yours, brother.”
I clasped the key in my hand and squeezed it. “That happened pretty fucking fast.”
“Oakley has become a pretty good business partner. One of his guys dropped that off a couple of minutes ago.”
“And you told me yesterday you weren’t going to help me.”
Wrecker chuckled. “I told you yesterday that Adley wasn’t a problem, not that I wasn’t going to help you.”
“Ah, pretty sure you did say you weren’t going to help.” Maybe not in so many words, but that was the point he tried to get across. It was nice to know that I wasn’t going to be on my own.
Wrecker’s phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket. “It’s Alice.” He nodded to the key in my hand. “Get moved in. Grab however many guys it will take you to make that happen.” He put the phone to his ear and headed back into the clubhouse.
It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since Adley had popped up, and my life had done a complete one-eighty.
Years of living in a clubhouse with my brothers to now living in a three-bedroom house with a girl who might be my daughter and a woman who I barely knew.
Life really did seem to throw you a curveball when you least expected it.
*
Chapter Six
Wendy
“What do you mean you aren’t coming home?”
I held the phone to my ear with my shoulder and sighed. “Because I need to stay for a bit longer.”
“Who is going to help Elle and me make cookies this year?” Mom asked.
I rolled my eyes and sat down on my new bed, in my new bedroom, inside of my new house. Well, not my house, but mine for now. “Pretty sure you and Elle don’t need my help. You normally put me on oven duty. Have Dad do it this year.”
Mom scoffed. “Your father is not interested in making cookies. I’ve barely seen him since he got that new flying thing.”
“Drone, Mom,” I laughed. “He got a drone, and I’m glad he has something to keep him busy.”
“Well, I’m not. The cops were over here
the other day. Did you know that?”
“What?” I exclaimed. “What happened?”
“Your father and that flying thing!” Mom tsked, and I knew she was rolling her eyes even though I wasn’t there to see it. “He was spying on the neighbors with the damn thing. Kurt thought it was a UFO, and he called the police.”
“Wait,” I laughed. “If Kurt thought it was a UFO, then why did the police come to the house?”
“Because,” she drawled, “when the police were over at Kurt’s, your father flew the damn thing over there so he could spy on him to see why the police were there. The cop followed the thing back to our house.”
“Oh, my God,” I laughed.
“Wendy, I have never been so confused and embarrassed at once.”
“So, what did Dad say when he found out he can’t be spying on the neighbors with the drone?”
“That bastard denied it. Said he was just taking the drone out for a test flight.” Mom huffed, and I heard a loud thump through the phone. “Swear to God, Wendy, that man is going to drive me to an early grave. Thankfully, it was Deputy Matthews who has a sweet spot for you, so he let Dad off with a warning.”
I rolled my eyes. “Mom, please do not encourage Dave to think that there is anything that is going to happen between us.”
Deputy Dave Matthews—not the musician, for the record—had been in love with me for as long as I could remember. All through grade school, and straight to the end of high school, Dave pined for me. It was a shame that I felt absolutely nothing for him except for friendship.
“Well, Wendy, did you want your father to get arrested?”
“Of course not,” I insisted.
“Good. When you get back home, Dave wants to take you to the movies.”
“No,” I groaned. “How could you do that to me?”
“Oh, buck up,” Mom ordered. “It’s not going to hurt you.”
Only my mom would barter a date in exchange for Dad not getting arrested. “Well, you just guaranteed me never coming home.”
“Wendy,” she scolded.
A knock sounded on my door, and Carnie peeked her head in. “What are you doing sitting on the phone when we’re all downstairs?”
Fallen Lords MC: Books 7-9 Page 18
