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"They just want to make sure he understands how things are here," Scotti explained.
"And he's a lifelong biker," Lea piped in. "He can handle it."
Ten minutes later, we brought the plates into the dining room, the men knowing the drill, so they all filed in and found their seats as we did so. Sugar hung back in the doorway, giving me a head-jerk, silently demanding I follow him into the other room.
I nearly dropped the heaping serving platter of green beans in my hurry to get across the room.
"We just talked to him," Shane told me as I rounded his side of the table.
"That had better be all you did," I warned, slapping the back of his head as I moved.
"Hey!" Rush exclaimed when I hit him too.
"I'm sure you weren't innocent either," I informed him as I finally made it to the doorway. "What did they say? I want to know everything," I demanded when we were alone in the living room.
Sugar shook his head at me. "They love you, Peyt."
"That isn't an answer," I pointed out.
"They love you, so they want to make sure I'm not dicking you around."
"Did you inform them that I, in fact, was the one dicking you around?"
"Told 'em that I knew I was in this almost from the beginning. And that you took some convincing."
"And?"
"And they had a good laugh at that. Apparently, baby, you got quite a reputation for being a royal pain in the ass. Even with your family."
"They were supposed to be threatening you!"
"Think they might realize that you are not the kind of woman to go into a relationship blind, that if you thought I was good enough, that I must be."
"There wasn't even a tiny threat?" I asked, feeling almost a little offended that they hadn't given him a talking to.
"I was informed that if my problems blow back on you, that I would be wishing Autumn had gotten her hands on me first."
"Well, good," I said with a nod.
"You wanted them to leash into me?"
"Maybe a little."
"Think you can handle yourself, Peyt," he said, pulling me against him by the hips. "And no one needs to threaten me to make me treat you right," he added, tilting my chin up so he could press his lips into mine.
"If you don't get your ass in here," Shane called, "I am taking the last of the rolls."
I pulled roughly away from Sugar, just barely remembering to grab his hand as I stalked into the dining room. "Like hell you are!"Sugar - 2 months"I'm coming," Peyton said, tone a little firm.
"Why?" I asked, head tipped to the side.
"Um, where do I start? She was a stripper, forger, clubwhore, addict, and has got to have the best of stories."
"And, you know, my mother," I supplied, smirking.
"Yeah, that too," she said, waving a hand at me as she dug through her snack cabinet.
I wasn't offended that her interest was more in her past than my relation to her. Especially since she had such a small hand in raising me. And I had no illusions about my ma and her past. She'd led a colorful life. She had it cleaned up before she had Dante, but it didn't erase all the shit she had done. Of course Peyton, with her like of all things non-conventional, would be into the idea of meeting her.
"Peyt, it's an hour drive," I said as she packed a literal armful of chips and candy onto the counter.
"Um, well, it's a road trip. And if you don't pack for it like a kid who was given free rein in a candy shop, you're fucking up."
"So, I'm guessing we are taking the truck," I said, making it clear her hearse was not an option. We took it when she was driving because she was attached to the damn thing, but I was not driving that thing myself.
"Well, I can't eat Cheetos on the bike," she said, throwing all the goodies into a bag. "And don't be eye-fucking my Kit-Kats. If you want some, bring your own," she warned.
"I think I will survive the one-hour drive without Kit-Kats," I told her, doing so with a smile because, well, this fucking woman.
"Okay. I am ready," she informed me, putting the straps of the bag on her shoulder.
There was no nervousness, no trepidation in her. Even though I knew for a fact she, like me, had never had a 'meet the family' introduction before. But, well, Peyton just didn't think about things that way. The 'will they like me' way. She was just herself no matter what. If you liked that, great. If you didn't, she was still going to keep on keeping on.
I think that was why most people liked her.
Self-assurance and that 'take me or leave me' vibe was contagious. It made everyone around her feel more sure of themselves in turn.
