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“You know what I would love more?” I arch my brow. “To eat.”
Linc lets out a full belly laugh as I grab the giant bowl of mashed potatoes.
“Now, here’s a girl who loves her meat.”
I walk past him and shoot him a teasing glare. “Idiot.”
Dinner is a loud and frenzied affair as every biker in the compound comes out of the woodwork when they hear Tanya made dinner. I watch in awe as they demolish the trays of meatloaf, veggies, and potatoes.
“Jesus.” I take in the scene in front of me. “It’s like we’re in a room full of teenage wrestlers trying to go up a weight class.”
“Oh, honey, this is the norm around here. You should have seen the amount of food I had to cook just to feed Knox, Linc, and Ozzy growing up. Between the three of them, there wouldn’t be a pan that wasn’t practically licked clean.” She smiles at the sight of everyone enjoying her food. Knox comes over and gives her a sweet kiss on the cheek.
“Thanks, Mom. You didn’t have to do this.” He looks around the room. “Where’s Trick tonight?”
“Annual camping trip with Gramps.”
Knox nods his head and goes to sit with Ozzy and a couple of the other guys I’ve seen around but haven’t spent much time with.
“Who’s Trick?” I ask, wondering how everyone knows him, but I’ve yet to meet anyone by that name.
“My old man and Ozzy’s dad. He used to be president and Gramps before him.”
“Are you Ozzy’s mom, too?”
They all refer to each other as brother, so I have no idea who’s actually related to whom.
“No, honey, I didn’t meet Trick and the club until my boys were older. We moved here from Nebraska. I left a situation that was similar to yours,” she says, reaching over to squeeze my hand. “And I never looked back. I met Trick’s mom when I came into their bike shop to see if they needed help at the front desk. Janine, Trick’s mom, was just about at the end of her rope trying to keep these guys organized and hired me on the spot.” She has a warm smile on her face, the memory obviously one she cherishes. “Anyway,” she says, shaking her head, “that’s how I met the club, and a few years later, I figured I would give Trick a shot. The rest is history.”
Tanya looks around the room like an adoring mom would look at her family, then sets her sights back on me.
“I wish I didn’t have to go through what I went through back in Nebraska, but if that’s what it took to get me here, then I know I ended up exactly where I was meant to be. When I stopped being scared that every man was like my ex, I was finally able to see there were good men in the world.”
“Trick is a good man?”
“The best. They all are, really. Trick would never run a club that stood by when women were being hurt. None of these boys would, either. He showed Linc and Knox what it meant to be good men, too. I wish there were more like them.”
Linc sits down next to me and digs into his plate. I wonder what it would be like to have this be my normal. To have dinner with this man every night in a room full of people who care about each other. What it would be like to have a woman in my life who took the time out of her day to feed the people she loves and look so damn happy doing it. What if one of these days, it was me cooking and part of this huge extended family?
I always thought it wasn’t in the cards for me, that it would just be me and Lucy, but I’m starting to think having more sounds like a damn good idea. Not that I’m in any position to make that decision now, not with everything hanging over our heads, but when we’re on the other side of this, who knows? Maybe finally feeling like I can settle in one place without looking over my shoulder all the time could actually happen.
Tanya hollers at Ozzy to get some of the girls to clean. She did the cooking. The least they can do is the cleaning.
“Yes, ma’am,” he calls back and stands.
Never in my life would I have imagined the burly MC president would take orders from someone, especially a woman, but if what Tanya said was true, they hold women in the highest regard. I have a feeling if they didn’t, Tanya would have no problem making sure they didn’t make that mistake twice.
When dinner ends and the bunnies have cleaned the mess, Tanya makes her exit, giving me an extra-long hug.
“You call me if you need help with anything, honey. My door is always open to you.”
For some reason, hearing that makes me want to cry. The realization that someone who went through years of abuse can have a full life and not be scared of her own shadow wasn’t something I thought possible for myself. Tanya is proof to the contrary.
Lucy and I decide to play some pool, neither of us ready to go back to our room. When Linc sees me racking up the balls, he comes over and grabs a stick.
“Let’s play teams. Me and you against Lucy and Jude.”
“Lucifer and I are hardly a good match, mate,” Jude says, side-eyeing Lucy.
