“The kitchen?” Luke asks, the annoyance heard plainly in his voice.
“Daisy’s hungry and everyone knows you can’t watch a movie without snacks, Luke.”
“Snacks!” Daisy agrees, excitedly. “Can we have snacks, Daddy?” she asks, turning to look at him.
“How can I refuse my two best girls?” he finally says, picking Daisy back up in his arms.
“Yay!” she squeals.
“Yay,” I murmur.
Luke shakes his head. “You win this one, Red,” he mutters against my ear as I stand up.
“I didn’t realize we were battling, Luke,” I keep a smile on my face as I follow them out of the dark room.
“Then you better get with the program, baby. You better get with the program.”
If ovaries can tremble in need and explode at the same time, for some reason, mine just did…30Grunt“Where’s your woman?” Ford asks right away and I sit down, exhaling a breath and wondering if killing my Prez would get me put in charge of these fuckers, because that’s the last thing I want.
“What’s your interest in her?”
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t hand me bullshit. You were straight up eye-fucking my girl and flirting with her. You might be my president and I’d die for you and this club, but Jasmine is off limits,” I growl, laying my cards on the table.
“She’s a hell of a woman, your Red.”
“That’s right, my Red,” I rumble.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you this possessive over a woman. Hell, Daisy’s mom would fuck others in front of you and you didn’t give a damn.”
“Daisy’s mom wasn’t important. Red is.”
“She gave you a kid,” Jonesy says, reminding me of something that I already know.
“And I paid her to keep the kid and not get rid of it. I love Daisy,” I respond, scratching my fingers in the stubble on my face. I do love her, but I’m starting to see that I’ve been a shit father. I don’t have experience at it, and I sure as hell haven’t seen it done. I get the feeling I’m coming up short in Jasmine’s eyes though, and I don’t like it. I don’t like the way my daughter has been living either. Until Jasmine came along, I didn’t notice it. What worries me the most is that I might never have seen it.
“You look like a man in deep thought, Grunt, my man,” Ford says, and I nod.
“Women will do that shit to you. They’re not worth it,” Sledge all but growls.
“Better not let Gina catch you saying that,” Jonesy laughs. This bitter look comes over Sledge’s face, but he doesn’t say shit.
There’s definitely something not right with those two. Apparently, I’ve not only been blind about my daughter—but blind about what’s going on in the club.
“Since you have the balls to call me out, I suppose that means we’re going to see more of this chick around here,” Ford digs, and I get the feeling he’s nudging to find out exactly where I stand.
“If you quit trying to fuck her, maybe,” I mutter.
“If you don’t trust her…”
“It’s not her I’m having trouble trusting.”
“See, the bitch is already causing trouble. Coming between members of the club. Cut her loose now,” Sledge growls, slamming his hand down on the table.
“Call her a bitch again and it’s the two of us who are going to have problems, Sledge,” I warn him.
He narrows his eyes at me, his brow creasing in anger, and I don’t take my eyes off of him.
“Calm it down boys. I’m just giving Grunt here, shit. I got to admit that I like the redhead though. She has spunk. It’s good a man finds a woman who stands up to him. Keeps you sharp.”
Sledge gets up from the table with a snort of disgust. “I got shit to do,” he mutters walking off.
“What’s his damage?” Jonesy asks. Ford watches his old friend walk away and gives out a weary sigh.
“Not my story to tell,” he says, but then he turns his attention back to me. “It’s clear you think you and this girl have it good,” he says, and I purse my lips, but nod my head slightly, agreeing. What Red and I have is good.
Damn good.
And I’m not giving it up.
“She going to give you shit when you find the kid we’re after?”
“She’s separate from all of that bullshit, Ford. She’s mine,” I tell him, getting tired of going over this.
“You fucking know that won’t fly with her when she finds out you were using her to get close to her girl.”
“If it comes out, Red and I will deal with it,” I respond, my voice tight while I deal with this knot of dread in my gut. I’m not a praying man, but I’m praying like fuck that she never finds out.
“It will come out,” Ford replies, like he can tell exactly what I’m thinking. “These things always do.”
That’s exactly what I’m fucking afraid of.