Page 27 of Property of Doc

I nod as though I understand everything he’s saying, but I obviously don’t, which has Doc nudging me. “Shush, you. I know you’ll explain when we get upstairs,” I whisper.

“Definitely. C’mon, sweetheart, let’s go fade away for a little bit,” he says, taking my hand in his.

Once upstairs, I put something comfortable on and crawl into bed, only to have him pull me into his arms. “Doc, I need to get settled,” I huff.

“Trying to help is all,” he teases. He finally gets me where he wants me, and trust me, I will not complain and I snuggle into him, my leg thrown over his thigh.

“I’m guessing that you never came back to bed last night after I fell asleep,” I murmur.

“I’m sorry,” he replies.

I pat his chest and say, “Please don’t apologize, you were where you needed to be, Doc. I obviously didn’t know him all that well, but the ladies were filling me in on him. He sounds like he had a unique personality.”

He chuckles while nodding. “Yeah, he could be a bit of an odd duck, but he was a loyal brother until the very end. He just didn’t want all of the brothers fussing over him while he was going through treatment.”

“Makes sense, it had to be difficult for him to go through it alone, though.”

“He told Rio early on, but swore him to secrecy,” he replies, sounding distraught. “The only reason I found out is I didn’t think Pokey looked good and asked Rio what was going on. Pokey relented finally and let me help him from a medical standpoint.”

“Hopefully, he didn’t try to downplay his pain so you could help him find some sort of relief toward the end,” I state. “Somehow, that sounds like something a badass biker would try to do.”

His chuckle is mirthless, but he says, “He tried, but you know as an LPN that there are ways to tell.”

Sighing, I snuggle into him and state, “Yeah. Just hate it for him, cancer sucks. He didn’t seem to be all that old, either.”

“Late fifties, early sixties, I think,” he replies. “Let’s get some sleep, sweetheart, I’m wiped out.”

“Works for me,” I say as I lean up and kiss the underside of his chin. “Sleep well, Doc.”

“Who knew a three-hour nap would revive you so well?” I tease as Doc moves over me.

“I’m quick to recover,” he pants out. “And if you’re still talking normally, I’m not doing something right.”

With that, he changes the rhythm of his thrusts and soon, the only thoughts flying through my head are the ones that end in -asm, and when mine hits, all I can keen out is, “Doc!” as I shatter into a million pieces.

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

Doc

“And so it begins,” I murmur in Gretchen’s ear as the clubhouse doors open, revealing Riptide, Icer, and Indiana, along with their ol’ ladies—Van, Letti, and Zoey. Icer has a baby strapped to his chest that I think belongs to Van if my memory’s correct, with Elodie skipping alongside him.

“He looks rather… intimidating,” she whispers back, ticking her head in Icer’s direction.

“He is, but not when it comes to the kids,” I reply as I watch the three men who grew up around Pokey congregate at Rio’s side.

“Good thing Issy pulled out the bounce house,” she says, grinning up at me.

“It’s the third one we’ve bought since the brothers tend to take it over and destroy it in the process. We need one that’s got rebar in it or something,” I tease. “Come on, let me introduce you.”

She clutches my hand like her life is about to end but follows alongside me until we’re in the midst of everyone. Introductionsare made and then Issy, being the Queen Bee that she is, motions for the women to follow her. I then see a side of Icer I’ve never seen before as he refuses to allow Van to take her son. She finally throws her hands up and glares at Riptide before saying, “You deal with the big lug!”

“What time is Big Daddy thinking they’ll get here?” Rip asks Rio.

“Should be any time now. I know they’ve got an entourage, as they should, since we’ve got enemies everywhere, but it’s likely a bit slower going because they’ve got a couple of cages since it’s a long haul,” Rio replies.

“Think we’ve got time to have a quick meeting?” Rip questions.