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Then Levi’s and Timber’s words from earlier sink in and I swallow nervously. Holy cow, I’m meeting with my aunts and cousin for the first time. Please don’t let me screw this up.
“Y-yes. I didn’t know until last night when I found my real birth certificate. I had no idea what my dad’s name was until then because neither my mom nor my stepdad, Preston, would tell me his name. Just that he died not too long after I was born. That the club he was in did a lot of illegal things like running drugs, weapons, and was involved with human trafficking. I know that’s not true now, but that’s what I’ve been told since I was little.”
All the women scowl almost in unison, but it’s the looks on Levi’s and Sasha’s faces that really have me nervous. They’re almost as intimidating as the men are when they’re angry. No wonder they fit in well with the guys.
“That bitch and asshole are in for a rude awakening if they ever show their faces here,” Levi hisses.
That sets me immediately on edge, darn near panicking. “Please don’t hurt my mom. Well, unless she is also in on this or if she does something else to deserve it in the future. Aside from what she pulled on my dad when I was born, she was a good mom back before Preston came back into our lives when I was eight. Ever since I started working, I’ve been saving up so that I can get her away from Preston and into rehab if she’ll accept it. He keeps her pumped full of drugs as a way to control her.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive her for not telling me the truth about my dad. I have no idea if I’ll ever be able to be close to her again, but I don’t want her hurt. She’s been through enough pain because of the car accident and then Preston’s abuse on top of that. Please don’t let anyone hurt her,” I beg her.
A growl comes from behind me as cupcakes are plopped down unceremoniously on the table. Large hands lift me up before I find myself sitting on Timber’s lap, one of his hands holding my hand and the other wrapped tightly around my waist. Despite not even knowing him for a day, my body starts to relax as his rough hands start to rub soothingly against my hand and waist. Leaning forward, he kisses my temple before leveling Levi with a hard look.
“Why is my sunshine damn near crying?”
Oh, sugar honey ice tea.
How much did he hear? Though I also don’t miss the fact that several eyebrows go up at his statement. Wow, I am totally not ready to unpack all that right now. Instead, I ignore him as I continue to stare at Levi.
“Please?”
Levi sighs. “I’ll do what I can, but it would help if I knew more about what happened. How about we get together later. Or I can come over tomorrow morning so we can talk more? For the time being though, you might want to steer clear of Jax. Nikki and I were barely able to get him to calm down and have him not shut himself up in his room. The only thing that is keeping him slightly sane and grounded right now is finding out if he’s getting more nieces, nephews, or one of each.”
I nod, and then tilt my head in confusion as I look over Levi, Sasha, and Nikki again. Levi said all three of them are sisters, but none of them look alike. Plus, Sasha has a bit of a Russian accent. Or maybe they’re adopted?? The three of them grin as they share a look before turning to me.
“You’re trying to figure out if we’re related by blood, aren’t you?” Nikki asks.
My cheeks heat as I wince and nod. “Sorry, but yes, since none of you look alike.”
Everyone laughs at my confusion, and I fight against my body’s instincts, trying not to shrink in on myself. They aren’t laughingatme. Relax, girl.
“Jax adopted me as his sister a couple of months after I came here. And I mean that in a club way, not legally. I have no biological siblings, but I do have a large chosen family. Aside from Jax, that includes Sasha and her twin brother Alexei, Ethan, Jax, and Reaper or Andre as I call him, as my siblings. As well as my Uncle Bear. My dad, Roy, is somewhere around here, but he’s not part of the club. Since Jax adopted me, he also got my entire family. Plus, both Nikki and Sadie have welcomed me into their family, just like mine has welcomed both of them. I see everyone from both our club and Andre’s club as my family, which does include a few bunnies. Also, if you really are Jax’s daughter, then that means you’re family as well,” Levi says as she grins at me.
“I’m Jax’s only sibling by blood, so aside from Levi’s family, there are no other blood aunts or uncles. That is, unless you end up staying here after everything is settled. Then you will earn a whole slew of uncles from the club since you’re Jax’s daughter and a true princess of the club,” Nikki says as she winks at me.
Timber’s grip tightens around me, and I find myself squeezing his hand back, even though I’m extremely nervous about everything between us. That doesn’t even include my anxiety about if Smoke will accept me or not. I don’t want to cause any problems with the club if Smoke and I continue to have issues, plus any additional tension if I keep seeing Timber. And I don’t even want to unpack the whole princess thing right now, whatever that means.
We fall into conversation and the ladies fill me in on club life and good places to go around town to shop. When the conversation turns to today’s party, I’m surprised to find out there’s going to be a knife throwing competition. Turns out, Levi used to compete professionally.
“How will the competition work?” I ask.
“There will be two teams of eight people. It was decided months ago that we’d go club against club so there will be two people at a time, one from each club, that will compete against each other per the WKTL rules. We’ll go over the rules and scoring before the competition for everyone watching, but those that are competing are aware of them already.”
“What’s the WKTL?”
“World Knife Throwing League. That’s the league I used to compete in,” Levi says. “For our club, it will be Timber, Tripp, Gunner, Bones, Sasha, Alexei, Dragon, and myself competing. For the Junction Creek club, it will be Reaper, Punisher, Beast, Razor, Loki, Torch, Drake, and Nathan. Thor will draw who will compete against who.”
I look up at Timber in shock. “You’re going to participate?”
He grins back at me as his thumb rubs against my waist again. “Yeah, Sunshine, I’m going to throw. Will you cheer for me?” he asks and wiggles his eyebrows at me, causing me to laugh.
“Of course, I’ll cheer for you.”
The look he gives me makes me blush and shift nervously on his lap, only to freeze when I feel his hard length underneath me, which causes my blush to deepen. His shoulders shake with silent laughter and his eyes are bright with amusement and something else I can’t recognize.
“Stop it,” I hiss quietly, which only makes him laugh harder.
Shaking my head, I think back to who all Levi said was going to be competing. Wait...
