Jag whistled, looking equally horrified and amused. “You don’t look like you hate it.”
“I don’t,” I admitted to him and myself for the first time. “She’s stubborn and barely lets me help with anything but I don’t hate it.” I should. A baby was not in my plans right now but there was one on the way and I wanted it. I wanted Rocky, too, but that would have to wait until she was out of harm’s way.
“Let me know if I can do anything, Lasso. I know you’re not happy with…shit but you know I got your back. Shit, you do know that right, asshole?”
I laughed, and we knocked our beer bottles together. “Yeah, I know it and I appreciate it, dickhead.” It was good to know that if the time came where I needed help, I would have some. “What’s new with you?”
“Nothing much. You ever think about friends you lost touch with when you went into the service?”
“Sometimes but not much. Most of those guys were hometown boys. After college they’d go back and run the family business and marry a local girl.”
Jag laughed. “I always forget you’re from Mayberry.”
“Rose Petal,” I corrected more out of habit than any desire for him to know. The smile died on my face when I saw Cross ambling towards us.
“Cross.”
“Lasso. How’s it going?”
I shrugged, not really in the mood to talk. This was why I didn’t want to come here or go out anywhere. I didn’t want to pretend I wasn’t pissed the fuck off. “It’s going. You?”
Cross shrugged and Jag laughed. “Mighty fine weather we’re having folks,” he said, his face lighting up at his joke.
Cross and I glared at him and he only laughed harder. “Oh sorry, I thought we were doing bullshit small talk impressions. Hey, I see someone I know over there,” he said. “I’m heading home anyway. See you guys later.” Then Jag quickly left me alone with the club Prez.
Cross asked, “You gonna run from me forever?”
I stopped and turned to Cross, my hands tingling with the urge to punch him in the fucking face.
“I’m not running, Cross. I just have shit I need to take care of, if that’s all right with you?” He nodded and I walked off, making a beeline for my bike before anyone else decided they wanted to fucking chitchat.
“Yo, Lasso! Wait up, man.” Savior’s gravelly voice grew closer. “What’s your hurry?”
“Shit to do.” I should have that printed on a t-shirt since it was becoming my mantra.
“Ran into your girl the other day coming from the shooting range. She ran away from me and sped off like I was chasing her.”
Of course, Rocky hadn’t said one word to me about it until well after the fucking fact. “Yeah she heard our entire conversation and I had to drive to fucking Arizona to track her down.”
It wasn’t Savior’s fault, but I felt good laying the blame on his feet for the club’s reluctance to help out a woman in need.
“Oh, shit man, that’s rough. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
I gave him a look and he shrugged and said, “That’s not up to me.”
Bullshit. “I have to go,” and turned for the parking lot.
“Lasso don’t do this. Not for some chick you don’t know.”
“You mean like you didn’t know Mandy, not since she was a kid. But we all showed up to help keep her safe. I got it. See you around.”
This would all blow over. Eventually. Maybe.
I revved up the motorcycle and took off for the open road. The cool evening air washed over my bare forearms, and the exposed skin at the back of my neck. By the time I walked up to my house and stepped inside, I didn’t want to punch anyone and when I caught a whiff of Rocky’s flowery, earthy scent, punching someone was the last thing on my mind.
She was sprawled out on the sofa in nothing but a pink tank top and a pair of pink panties. Only a tank and panties. Large, hard pink nipples winked at me through the thin cotton until my mouth watered. She was a fucking vision lying there asleep and my cock grew hard. Why couldn’t I stop wanting her?
It was a question for another time because now, I questioned my sanity when I picked her up and carried her to my bed. It was pure torture, all that silky soft skin and womanly curves pressed up against me, the way she nuzzled into my neck even in her sleep. Oh God, how I wanted to strip her down and drive into her wet, hot pussy, but I couldn’t. I put her to bed, showered, and curled my naked body around hers while I drifted off to sleep.