AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I guess this is just a risk you have to take, huh?”
“Yeah.”
I leaned my head against his shoulder. “It would be so much easier if I was a cyborg. No feelings. No hurt.”
“You wouldn’t feel the good things either.”
“True.” I sighed and lifted my head. “Let me change real quick and then we’ll go have a drink in South Paw’s honor.”
We walked down into the living room and kitchen area. Kids took their plates of food, and I watched Lily sneak a piece of cheese to the yellow lab that was thumping his tail hard enough to leave bruises.
Darcy said something to Joni and the two women embraced. Brooklyn was already seated with her feet up while she conversed with Allison who bounced her son on her knee. Torque brought his wife a plate of food but saw that her hands were full and fed her a bite.
Colt tapped his beer bottle with a spoon to gather everyone’s attention. The crowd fell silent and looked at the biker president.
He raised his beer. “To South Paw. Tonight we honor a fallen brother. We remember his bravery.”
“To South Paw,” Zip said, raising his drink.
“To South Paw,” we echoed.
* * *
“I think I’m drunk,” I announced.
Allison giggled. “I don’t know if that’s true.”
“Can you still feel your face?” Mia inquired. “That’s always my test.”
I touched my cheeks. “Yeah, I can still feel them. Am I slurring my words?”
“No.” Doc snorted. “I warned you Boxer’s moonshine was strong.”
“I’m a bartender!” I said, affronted. “I thought my body was one giant liver.”
It was early evening, and I was sitting with the Old Ladies. The kids and dogs were hanging out underneath a shady tree, and the bikers sat on logs and camp chairs.
“Does anyone else feel like we’re perpetually at a seventh-grade dance?” Joni asked. She’d put Everett to bed an hour ago, but she checked her phone every few minutes to make sure he was still asleep.
“The boys over there, the girls over here?” Doc said. “Yeah, I feel that way.”
“I like it, though,” Rach said. “There are things you don’t mind saying in front of your girlfriends that you’d never want the men to hear.”
“Like what?” I asked. “I’m pretty loose-lipped around Viper.”
“But would you be loose-lipped around all of them?” Darcy inquired.
I paused to think. “What would I not want to say around them?”
“I don’t know. You wouldn’t talk penis size with that group. They’d turn it into a contest,” Mia said.
Brooklyn rubbed the side of her head and adjusted her body in the chair.
“Go lie down,” Allison said to her.
“I’m fine,” Brooklyn assured.
“You’re not fine. You have a headache,” Doc said. “And as your doctor, I recommend rest. Especially knowing the babies will wake at all hours tonight and you won’t sleep soundly.”
