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“I can only imagine what you two are conspiring about over here,” Charlotte says. “Is the chicken ready?” She gives the grill a hopeful look.
“Couple more minutes.” I lean in and elbow her. “Murphy tell you about his campus visit?”
“Yup, I one hundred percent approve.”
“Ginger power.” Murphy gives her a fist-bump and the two of them laugh.
“Poor Teller,” I mutter.
“This dude had one screwed-up sense of entitlement,” Charlotte continues. “After he asks her out a bunch of times, and it finally sinks in she’s not interested, he starts calling her names. Typical baby who isn’t used to the universe not revolving around his obnoxious ass.”
“Probably couldn’t handle a real woman,” I mutter.
“Right.” She turns her concerned eyes on Murphy. “She needs to be careful. I’ve heard of plenty of cases where the guy ends up going after the woman who rejected him.”
Murphy growls and searches the yard until his gaze lands on Heidi, sitting next to her brother. “How the fuck am I ever supposed to let Alexa go to school or anything, knowing what kind of creeps are out there?”
“Teach her young not to take any shit from anyone,” I suggest. “Let the club take her to school on her first day?”
Charlotte grins, then turns more serious. “Teach her not to smile and be nice if someone crosses her boundaries. Don’t tell her stupid shit like, ‘Jimmy only hits you because he likes you.’ No, Jimmy hits girls because he’s an asshole.”
“What kind of bullshit is that?” I shake my head. “If I liked a girl, I tried to kiss her, not hit her.”
“Also boundary crossing, Z,” Charlotte says. “But an improvement.”
I snort and laugh. “Baby steps.”
“Is there a Jimmy we need to hunt down and kill?” Murphy asks.
Charlotte laughs. “Oh my god, no. Well, probably. I did hear lots of ginger jokes when I was a kid. But seriously, I have a case where I just want to strangle the mother for filling her daughter’s head with that patriarchal nonsense.”
Murphy and I sort of stare at her.
“Yeah, yeah, my life is a study in contradictions.” She waves her hand in the air. “You know what I mean. There’s a difference between men who lead and men who squash.”
I know which one I want to be.
Lilly steps out of the pool with Chance. He seems a bit overwhelmed and not sure where to go first. Finally, he spies me and races over, landing with a wet thump against my leg. I reach down and rub my hand over his wet head. “Have fun?”
“Yeth!” He bounces up on his toes and I angle my leg to keep him away from the grill. “Careful.”
Lilly reaches for him, capturing his hand and picking him up. “Oh my god, you’re so heavy.”
I hand the spatula to Murphy. “Here, I’ll take him.”
“No, he’s fine,” she protests, but Chance is already reaching for me.
“Oh, yeah. You’re drenched.” I glance down at my T-shirt. “I wasn’t planning to go in the pool until much later.”
Murphy scratches his beard. “Is that what those noises are we keep hearing at night?”
Lilly sputters. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He leans over and casually flips a few burgers. “Heidi thought it was dolphins mating, but I don’t think we have those around here.”
“Dolphins.” Lilly snorts. “More like a bear—”
“That’s what I said,” Murphy interrupts. He waves the spatula in my direction. “Now bears make sense. They’re massive, violent, territorial, and,” he lowers his voice, “they eff a lot. Very noisy too.”
Lilly doubles over laughing, which makes Chance laugh even though I don’t think he followed a word of that.
“Thanks for the bizarre nature lesson, weirdo.” I shift Chance to one arm and snatch the spatula out of Murphy’s hand. “Get away from my grill.”
He walks off. “Heidi, I solved the mystery of the dolphins we’ve been hearing,” he yells across the yard.
“Asshole,” I mutter.
Lilly steps closer and slides her arms around us. “He has a point.” She bats her lashes.
I lean down and growl at her, which sets Chance off laughing again. So, I growl at him too before swooping in to kiss both his cheeks. He slaps at his face and wiggles to get down. I set him free and point him in Murphy’s direction.
“Are you having fun?” I shrug. “Not very exciting, but—”
She glances around at everyone and leans in to hug me again. “I don’t need exciting. This is a perfect day.”
I drop my hand to her hip. “You’re still okay going to the clubhouse tonight?”
“Sure. Is it a dress-up night, or something more casual?” She tugs at her hair. “Trying to decide if I should go wash it now or just wear it up or something.”
“Whatever you want. You always look good to me.”
Exasperated with my lack of information, she presses her palm against my chest and stares up at me. “Is anyone important coming?”
“Should just be members. Couple girls. Never know if a few nomads or brothers traveling nearby will stop in.”
She bites her lip.
I lean down and whisper against her ear, “Wear some tight jeans that show off your hot ass and a top that puts those gorgeous tits on display. Is that more helpful?”
She glances down. “I don’t know if I like everyone staring at my tits.”
“Let ‘em stare. Everyone in that clubhouse knows you belong to me and I’ll gut anyone who touches you.”
She pokes me in the side. “Murphy’s right. You are a bear.”
I twist and start plucking chicken legs off the grill, dropping them in a bowl of sauce. “More of a beast.” I give her ass a soft slap. “Who finally has his beauty.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lilly
Since Teller’s “accident,” things have been tense. Z’s spent a lot of time out of the house.
One of the old ladies summoned me to the clubhouse and while Z didn’t ask, I know it will mean a lot of I try to socialize with some of the other old ladies.
All problems can be solved with a good party. At least that’s how Angie explained this weekend’s event at the clubhouse.
“As Z’s ol’ lady, you really should supervise the girls,” Angie says.
Supervise what?
At least she offered to shop for the party. I wouldn’t even know where to start.
Heidi plans to stay home with Alexa so she can study and invites Chance to stay with them.
“It’s just you and me,” Charlotte says.
“You’re coming?”
“I think Teller needs to be there so I want to go with him.”
Once we’re at the clubhouse, she offers to restock the bar with boxes of liquor Angie left for me.
A number of club girls have stopped in. How they knew we needed help, I’m not sure. I’ve noticed word just seems to spread and girls will show up on party nights. Some seem to show up early and genuinely want to help out. Others only show their faces long enough to lay claim on a brother before any other girls get to him. Which is an effort in futility. Most of these bikers don’t seem to be the type to be claimed by any one woman.
The kitchen’s being taken care of by a group of girls who seem to have arrived together. Angie has them set up in an assembly line, chopping vegetables and marinating steaks to be thrown on the grill later.
Shadow and Jigsaw work their way through the kitchen under the pretense of checking on the food. Well, I think that might be what Jigsaw actually came for since he helps himself to a little of everything.
“You’re going to get E-coli,” one girl warns him, bumping him out of the way with her hip. He spends some time flirting with her before moving on to the next girl.
Angie moves in closer, “I’ve got this covered. Just tidy up the rest of the place.” She glances over at me. “Uh, I mean have the girls h
elp you.”
Unsure why she’s so nervous around me, I nod and head to the front room.
Shadow blocks my path out of the kitchen. His rat-like eyes turn even rattier as he scans my body. “You plannin’ to dress up tonight?”
It’s such an odd, creepy question coming from him, I don’t know how to answer.
I glance down at the LOKI T-shirt Z told me to wear to the clubhouse this afternoon and my jeans. “I don’t think what I’m wearing is any of your concern.”
“Sure, it is. You’re with our president.”
Fuck off, fucker.
Damn Z and his lecture on how important respect is to bikers. Although, I’d argue Shadow’s being pretty damn disrespectful to me, I wonder if the club would see it that way?
“Yo, Shadow,” Jigsaw calls. “We gotta go.”
“Be looking for you later, don’t disappoint.”
Fuck yourself right off a cliff.
I force a fake smile and almost jump ten feet in the air when he runs his hand down my back and over my ass.
That definitely can’t be acceptable behavior.
