by DD Prince
And up close, the lines around her eyes and mouth added another ten years, ten unfriendly years. She looked like she used to be beautiful, but had maybe been through a war.
“Fuck me,” he muttered, and got out.
“My baby!” The woman threw herself at Rider before he even got his door shut. He caught and hugged her.
She looked in the car, eyeing me, critically.
I tried to give her a smile. It didn’t change the look on her face.
And I saw that she had those same green-blue eyes as him. She was probably very beautiful back in her day, and could’ve still been beautiful. But, she looked like she’d been dragged through hell by heroin or something.
And at the way she looked at me, I knew he was right. She was also a c-word. I guess we’d see if she was as much of one as my mother.
He waved me out.
“C’mon, gorgeous. Inside quick.”
“Who’s this?” his mother asked, halting him.
“Inside. We’re exposed out here.” He was texting, corralling me.
“Hey Jenna,” Brady said and crowded me, motioning toward the door.
“What’re ya doin, Ride?” she asked.
”Inside. Now,” he ordered.
She rolled her eyes and we followed her into the house.
I felt shabby. The too-big sweatpants. No make-up on, my hair in a haphazard ponytail that I’d thrown it into on the drive here. Not even wearing a bra or underwear. Old scuffed Converse on my feet. This usually wouldn’t be the time to meet the Mom (if we were in a relationship).
He put his hand to the small of my back and moved us inside swiftly. Brady stayed outside.
A gorgeous girl was in the front foyer. I mean gorgeous. I recognized her from the framed photos back at the cabin, but she was even more gorgeous in person. She had the features and figure of Adriana Lima, the Victoria’s Secret angel. She, too, had Rider’s and his mother’s eyes, but long dark gorgeous spiral-curly hair.
Her wrist was in a cast and she was in light and loose cotton pajamas. She was wearing bunny slippers. But, it couldn’t be mistaken. Her killer curves could be in a burlap sack and she’d still be scouted to become a lingerie runway model.
“Joelle, Mom, this is Jenna.”
Joelle’s eyes lit up and she came to me and hugged me.
“Hey! Call me Jojo.” she took me in from head to toe. I felt self-conscious. She didn’t look judgy, though.
“Mom’s Michelle. Everyone calls her Shelly,” Rider added.
I looked to Rider’s mother and she was assessing me, too, only she was looking at me like I was something she scraped off her stiletto boot.
“Forgive my clothes,” I said. “We stayed at the cabin unexpectedly and I had nothing with me. And we rushed this morning after the bad news, so I couldn’t even get a shower.”
“What bad news?” Shelly looked to her son and demanded.
Jojo piped up. “Don’t even worry about it. I can lend you something. You can take a shower if you want. But weird, I have loads of clothes up there,” Jojo said. “Didn’t Ride show you to them?”
I looked at Rider. He was smirking. So was Jojo. Like they had a private joke.
“No. Where?”
“The middle bedroom. The one with the double? That’s my room. Under the bed there are two big drawer thingies that roll out. Jam- packed with cabin clothes. I go to the cabin a lot and I hate having to lug stuff back and forth, especially if I’m riding, small saddlebags on my Sportster. So, it’s stocked with bum-around clothes. Any time you’re there, help yourself. There’s a washer and dryer in the basement, too. Closet behind the bar.”
“Hm.” I shot Rider a dirty look. “Your brother neglected to tell me that.” And it would’ve been nice to be able to wash my undies. “I’m afraid there’s a lot of towel laundry from us staying a few days. And bedding. And I used your facewash and your moisturizer.” I felt guilty about how much of her moisturizer I’d used. Maybe I’d send her a new jar when all this was over.
“No worries. I’m sure I’ll be back there soon. I’ll take care of the laundry. But, anytime you’re there, help yourself to anything of mine. And, I love your hoodie. It’s way better than anything I have up there.” She winked at Rider and his smirk widened to a smile.
I found that exchange sort of odd, but I wasn’t about to ask questions or pull a tantrum here. It was just a Dominion Brotherhood hoodie and I’d bet that every woman connected with the club had one.
“You drive a motorcycle?” I asked her.
She smiled wide. “Yeah. Of course.”
I blinked. “Cool.”
“I’ll get Jenna set up with a shower and clothes and then we’ll grab food and head out. That okay?” she looked to her brother.
“Cool,” he said, and we we’d moved into a spacious and modern kitchen. “Pack her a week’s worth of clothes. Something for the funeral, too. But quick. Yeah? Boys’ll be here in twenty or thirty. Mom, you tell no one I’m here, got me?”
A week’s worth of clothes?
“Where are youze goin’?” Shelly inquired, arms folded over her ample fake-looking chest.
“Club business,” Rider mumbled. “Go with Joelle, baby.”
I was a bit thrown, probably why I didn’t even shoot him a dirty look for his bossiness.
I followed Joelle.
This was a nice house. It didn’t say biker, despite the fact that Rider’s mom was clearly a biker broad. It was decorated nicely. It was comfortable. Tidy. It was a family home. But, it was missing something. There weren’t any pictures on the walls and it had a bit of a haunted feeling to it. I walked away from him and heard his mother mumble, “Property? What the hell, Ride? You ‘n yer brother go there and suddenly you’ve both changed that tune?”
I didn’t know what the heck that meant. I glanced over my shoulder, feeling like there were eyes on me and there were. Rider was watching me walk away, a smile on his face, and his mother was eyeing me with irritation.
As I made my way down the hall to a wing of bedrooms, I noticed the walls were bare and it was the sort of hallway that should’ve been filled with family pictures. I’d have loved to see more family pictures. Little Deacon, little Spencer, baby Rider. I wondered if Ella had been here yet. Had she had a better experience with Rider’s mother? What did it matter, though, right? This would likely be the only time I was here or in her presence.
On closer examination, I saw picture hangers on the walls. There had been pictures, but they’d been taken down. Maybe due to the divorce. I hoped all those memories didn’t go up in flames when Deke’s Roadhouse was set on fire.
I was led into a bedroom. A total princess bedroom. All soft pastels and a huge canopy bed with massive dressing table that matched. I looked around. She had to be a few years younger than me. But, when she opened her closet door, it rivaled even mine.
“Okay, so I can’t believe he didn’t tell me that there was a stash of girl clothes there!” I said as soon as the door clicked shut. “Or a washer. I’m goin’ commando, here!”
She let out a little bit of a giggle. “I can. He wanted you to have no choice but to wear that.”
“Wear what? No underwear?”
“The shirt.”
“This?” I pinched the hem of the sweatshirt.
She nodded.
I rolled my eyes., “Yeah, we had a whole thing about me wearing this.”
“A whole thing?” she asked.
I waved my hand dismissively.
She smiled knowingly. “He wanted you to wear it and there’s a reason for that.”
“And that is?” I asked.
“When you undress, look at the back of it.”
I went to lift it. “Shit. I’m not wearing a bra, either. We left on braless Sunday.” I shrugged. “If this was the second time we’d met, I’d whip it off without a second thought. I’ll spare you.”
“I have no idea what a braless day would be like.” She gestured to her ample bazum
bas. “How is it?”
I raised a hand, understanding. Not from personal experience, of course, but from Ella’s complaints about lugging her ginormous knockers about and having to even sleep in a bra.
“Freeing. Um, what’s on it?” I asked, jerking my thumb behind me.
Jojo passed me a hand mirror from on top of her dressing table. “Look.” Her smile was big as she gestured to her mirror. I saw it in reverse.
The Dominion Brotherhood MC logo had been at the breast of the shirt on the front with a big motorcycle graphic taking up the rest. On the back, it mirrored the look of their biker vests. Only, instead of the city name, across the bottom of my shirt it said, “Property of Rider”
“Property of Rider? A rider?” I tried.
She shook her head. “The Rider. My brother. I made that shirt for all three of them. Gag gift, two Christmases ago. Him, especially, since he’s allergic to commitment. Or he has been. I told him I wanted a sister-in-law from each of my brothers, and no bitches, either, please and thank you. Spence and Deacon have both brought girls around over the years. Bitches and non-bitches. Rider? Never. Not a one. And I knew he dated, but he never got serious enough to bring anyone home. Glad to see those days are done. That shirt has never been worn. I didn’t even know what’d happened to it. Evidently it wound up at the cabin and he was saving it for the right person.”
Wow.
That meant that every time I’d stomped away from him since the afternoon before, he saw “Property of Rider” on my back. My face burned with embarrassment at the idea of that. And anger. What kind of a joke was that to play on me?
That closet had been jam-packed with hoodies and t-shirts, and yet he so specifically wanted me to wear this that he physically forced me to wear it. But, of course I hadn’t looked at the back of it. How many times had he sat and rubbed my back since he put it on?
Ohmigod. What?
I dropped my head and studied my feet. I wasn’t sure I wanted to think on this for too long. I had a funny feeling in my stomach. An unfamiliar and not pleasant one.
“I take it this is a surprise to you. I could tell out there that you had no idea what you were wearing.”
“It’s been a… uh… rocky few days,” I admitted, meeting her gaze.
She gave me a tight smile. “We’re all havin’ a bumpy ride right now. But, it means something that he gave that to you. Trust me.”
“Oh my God. I haven’t even said I’m sorry for what you’re going through. I’m an asshole.” I meant what I was saying, and it was helpful to be able to change topic, because I didn’t have the ability to decode the sweatshirt thing at that moment.
She shook her head, but cradled her arms around herself. “The funeral’s tomorrow. And I don’t even know how to process.”
“About that video,” I said, unable to imagine how it would’ve felt for her.
“Video?”
Damn it. I closed my eyes. “I’ve said too much. I’m out of my element here with all this.”
She huffed. “Don’t worry, I’ll make him tell me. I won’t put pressure on you. It’s not easy having three protective big brothers on top of my protective Dad. The whole club, really. It’s like I have an invisible chastity belt and forty-five big brothers.”
“I bet,” I muttered, with a wince.
“I don’t know what they’re keeping from me about Luke, but I intend to find out.” Her eyes went so sad it gripped my heart. I couldn’t imagine how she was feeling. And how she’d feel when she got the whole story.
“There’s towels in my bathroom. Wear whatever. There’s about seven new pairs of new underwear, still with tags, in the top drawer of that dresser.” She pointed. “I hit a sale just before the accident. Actually, I’ll pack them all so since we’re going on lockdown, you’ll have plenty. I’ll pack you some leggings and jeggings. I don’t think my jeans would fit you with this J.Lo butt of mine. I’ll throw a whack of clothes in bags for both of us when I find out what the fuck this video crap is.” She stomped out in her bunny slippers, slamming the door behind her.
Uh oh. F-bombs and bunny slippers.
I stood, frozen a minute. And then I lifted the hand mirror I was still holding and caught the reflection of my back again.
Property of Rider.
He very intentionally wanted me to wear it. He physically put it on me when he saw I was in Spencer’s shirt.
I blinked at my reflection some more and then quickly put the hand mirror down, deciding it was outside my capabilities to even think about the shirt.
I went to Jojo’s closet and borrowed some yoga pants and a red tank top with a built-in shelf bra (better than nothing and I certainly couldn’t borrow one of her bras unless I stuffed it with tube socks) as well as a black zip up hoodie. I grabbed a pair of black boy short undies with tags still on them, and went for a shower.
When I came out of the bathroom fresh as a daisy (she had some awesome body scrubs and top shelf shampoo), she was zipping up a black suitcase. It was beside a purple metallic suitcase.
“Black one’s yours, purple is mine. I put a few dresses in there for the funeral.”
I looked at her huge boobs. She chuckled.
“Oh yeah,” I thrust my chest out. I was taller than her and felt like Olive Oyl in contrast to her. “I’m sure all your clothes will fit.”
She laughed at me. But, it was good natured. I liked her already.
“Except bras. I dropped in a couple tanks with shelf bras. I packed you a wrap dress. It should work.”
“Thank you so much. When all this is over, I’ll mail you a gift card for the underwear, so you can buy new ones. I just left my clothes in your basket. They were all your brother’s clothes anyway. Is that okay?”
She smiled. “Sure. But, you don’t need to do a gift card. I have like four hundred pairs. I just have no impulse control when I see a sexy underwear sale.”
“I feel ya. But, I do need to pay you back.”
“Naw. It’s my pleasure. And trust me, I don’t need more reasons to shop. I could outfit us both for a month without having to do laundry.”
I chuckled.
I’d definitely be sending her a gift card. But, hopefully we could go shopping together. I could tell, already, that Jojo Valentine and I would be friends. My heart sank. No. We would’ve been if I wasn’t going to try to forget her brother existed at the first opportunity.
“Besides,” she added with a shrug, her face turning sad, “No reason for me to have new sexy panties right now anyway.”
Ouch.
“What’d Rider say?”
“He won’t tell me anything. Wants to wait until after the funeral tomorrow. Oh. He told me to tell you that if you say anything to me about anything else, you’ll earn yourself a spanking.” She rolled her eyes.
“And you’re telling me this?”
“He’s probably right. I need to get through the funeral. I need to say Goodbye to him. After that, I’ll get the rest of the details.”
I sat on her bed. She sat beside me.
“I have no siblings, Jojo, so I don’t know what it’s like. But I do know that I’d have a very hard time in your shoes. Especially if there were people trying to control what information I had.”
“They’re protective.”
I shrugged. We sat in silence a second and then I asked, “You wanna talk about it? Him?”
“We’d only dated a little while and it was secret, he didn’t want my brothers to know.”
“Oh, I know all about secret relationships. It’s how they fuck us over.”
She startled.
I realized my mistake. “Sorry. I meant me. It happened to me. A guy… it’s a long story. I didn’t mean… I don’t know anything about your relationship with him. Sorry. I’m a jerk today. I’m in major malfunction mode over here.”
She shook her head. “S’okay. We were gonna go public soon. It’s just… he’s in the club and he’d just got patched in. After a long, long stint as a pros
pect. My dad and brothers are protective, and he’s known us most of my life, and… it was delicate. Anyway, we only spent time together alone a couple times. I’ve had a crush on him for years. He was close to all my brothers, wouldn’t touch me. But, I knew he wanted to. So, I kept throwing myself at him. But then he found out my dad and brothers had plans to leave town and he started reciprocating a little. And even then… he was so careful with me. We’ve secretly had a thing a few months and no one knew except one person. He treated me like a delicate china teacup. He knew that any brother, mine or club brothers, they’d have his balls if they thought he was just out to tag some tail.”
She shrugged. “We had only had a few dates. Secret dates. But we texted constantly, and we talked deep. Hopes. Dreams. The future. We’d gone farther than ever the night of the accident. I took him to the cabin. I wanted it to be him. You know? My first. He stopped before… you know. But…” her eyes filled with tears.
I reached out and grabbed her hand.
“Sad, right? Nineteen-year-old virgin. But with my brothers?” she shook her head. “Everyone’s scared of them. They’ve all joked I’d be thirty-five before I was allowed to date. At this rate, it could be thrity-five before I find someone brave enough. I didn’t wanna stay behind with the boys and Daddy moving, stuck with Psycho Shelly, but for the first time in my whole life, I didn’t have a pack of bodyguards breathing down my neck and scaring off any guy who’d look at me. I figured I’d stay for a few months, enjoy the freedom. Mom barely notices me, so I do what I want. I figured I’d see if things with Luke would …” she shrugged.
I gave her hand a squeeze. Her eyes were all misty.
“And he was so sweet, Jenna. Luke was just so…” She got all dreamy-eyed. And then the lovesick look died. “I don’t even remember the accident. I guess I blocked it. I remember he was driving me home and then I woke up in the hospital.” She wiped her eyes. “Ugh. I have to stop this. I gotta get a fast shower and then I’ll get us breakfast before we head to the clubhouse. Go ahead and use whatever …” she gestured to her dressing table.
