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Thunder, who's unlocking the front door, looks at me over his shoulder. “She is. Why? Curious about what it'd be like?”
I mean, yes, but… “I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea. It seems like it would be a very Tale of Two Cities kind of life.”
Outlaw, who’s been quiet so far, is the only one to laugh. “A Tale of Two Cities?” The others just look at him. “Come on. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times?”
“How long have you been hiding the fact that you’re a fucking nerd?” asks Lightning, laughing.
“Just because I’ve read a book doesn’t make me a nerd, asshole.”
Shadow opens the unlocked door and holds it for me. “Sounds about right, though. Could you imagine having to deal with the four of us every day? I mean, I’m fine, and Thunder’s not too bad, but I give any woman we’re with a month before she murders Lightning.”
“Hey! What about Outlaw?” He grins when he says it though.
“He’d be the wild card,” Thunder answers. “Nothing personal man, but you’d either be the best of us, or she’d slip something into your coffee.”
I’m not sure I like them talking about this with a theoretical woman who might not be me so I change the subject. “There aren't nearly enough houses here for all the bikers around here. Where do they all live?”
I step in and look around. Nothing fancy, but everything looks well kept. There's some stuff lying around, but it looks lived in, and not like the aftermath of a frat party.
Shadow shrugs. “Mixed. Most of the houses go to the brothers with family, but we lucked into this one. Crash, Devil, and Preacher’s old lady Summer got knocked up with triplets, and they ended up getting themselves a house off the compound with more room. Most of the members have rooms in the clubhouse, but since there's four of us and Shadow’s an officer, Eagle-eye okayed us taking it over. Gives us a little more private room than the rest of the guys, even if our individual spaces aren't as big. Trade-off's worth it. And you’re lucky. We have somewhere to put you up without you having to bunk in the clubhouse”
“You have a spare room?”
Lightning turns on the lights. “Nope. But my bed's pretty big. Want something to drink?”
“Water’s fine.”
“Grab me one, too.” Outlaw stretches out on the couch, favoring his injured side, and turns on the TV.
This all seems strangely domestic. I imagine what it'd be like to live here full time, with all four of them, and well… I don’t hate it. It’s a nice fantasy, but this isn’t where my life is. Mom needs me and we live all the way on the other side of the country. And that’s assuming we both make it out of this and can even get back to our normal lives. There’s still a good chance this doesn’t have a happy ending.
Suddenly, there's a frantic knocking on the front door, right before three women burst into the living room.
“The fuck? Jesus, what are you all doing here?” Lightning asks.
They look nearly frantic. One is Faith, I realize, recognizing her from Eagle-eye's photo. The other two, I have no idea.
One of the others, a curvy woman who has brown hair down to her shoulders and big brown eyes grins, looking ready to explode. “Summer's having the babies!”
Outlaw looks up from the couch. “That’s great for them, but what are you doing here?”
“Crash said they left behind some things when they moved, including a box full of baby prep stuff. Receiving blankets, teething rings, onesies—you know, new baby stuff. We’re going to go over to clean their house and make sure the nursery is ready.” The third woman, who has long, dark hair and distinctly Mediterranean features, is already moving towards a closed door. “He said it's probably in the basement with the other things they were going to bring over.”
Then they all stop when they see me. “Oh!” says the brunette, cocking her head curiously. “I didn’t know you had someone move in. She's cute.”
“She's not—”
“I'm not—”
Lightning and I speak at the same time.
The dark-haired woman nudges her out of the way and holds out her hand. “Stop being rude, Em. Hi. I'm Alessa, my sidekick here is Emily, and this is Faith.”
After a confused blink, I take her hand. “Hi. Harper. I'm just here temporarily, though.”
“No shame in that.”
“No! I mean, no, of course not, but it's…” I trail off, wondering how to compress this whole mess into a short explanation and not really seeing it. “It's complicated,” is all I land on.
The three women exchange glances, nodding at each other. “It always is,” says Faith.
“Ain't that the truth?” Emily shrugs, then grabs my hand. “Come on. Help us look.”
