“Respect you even more. I ever see that bitch. I’ll beat her ass for you.” Lily snarled.
Before I could respond to her, the lights dimmed. I grabbed my tray while Lily and Jules donned their alter-ego of Star and Pixie, then headed backstage for their numbers.
For the rest of my shift, my mind whirled back and replayed the words that had come from Gage’s mouth.Well, consider me in the running.
“Damn him.” I muttered under my breath as I dropped a round of drinks off at some college kids’ table.
And then, when I got to my locker to get my bag and change out of the uniform, there was a stack of money in my locker. The note atop it said, “For Collins’s treatments. We got you doll face.”
Tears immediately hit my eyes and when I saw them walking into the locker room, I rushed them and hugged them tightly.
***
“Are you sure about this?” I asked Gage from where I sat beside him in his truck, holding onto the plate of tamales like my life depended on them as I looked at the Wrath MC clubhouse.
“Yeah, I thought it would be good to get Collins out of the house. Besides, my brothers have been dying to meet you, on top of the ole’ ladies. Not to mention, ever since a few of them saw you running up to me at the clubhouse that night, they have been hounding my ass to meet y’all.”
I sighed and took in the building once again. There were a lot of bikes. A lot more than what had been here that night of Collins’s surgery to remove her appendix.
Collins unbuckled her seat belt when Gage did and said, “It’ll be okay, Mommy. Promise.”
Grumbling, I turned to her. “You will tell me immediately if you start to feel bad. I mean it, Collins. If I find out you were feeling bad and didn’t tell me, I won’t be happy. In fact, we will never come back here. Do you understand?”
She rolled her eyes at me. Freaking rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mom.”
Gage got out of the truck, laughing. He was at my door immediately as he helped me down, then he opened Collins’s door and helped her down as well.
But what shocked me about him opening our doors? That was when he grabbed the tray of tamales and carried it for me.
Walking at his side with my arm slung around Collins’s shoulders, I inhaled a breath, steeled my spine, and vowed that I wouldn’t make a fool of myself.
Ha. Easier said than done.
However, before we could make it to the door, he stopped. I had noticed him taking in the number of bikes in the parking lot. He turned, and then he stunned me speechless yet again.
In that deep melodic voice that sent shivers down my spine, he asked, “Is she okay to be around all of these people?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yes, as long as they’re not sick, she should be fine. At least for a few hours.”
He nodded then, and I saw the worry in those mocha-colored eyes fade away.
Holy Cow!
The moment we stepped through the front doors, I gasped. This wasn’t what I thought a biker clubhouse would be like.
Kids and women that were dressed appropriately ran around the main room laughing and carrying on.
And then men, well, the men moved things to make sure none of the kids nor the women tripped or hit something.
It was quite comical, so comical, in fact, that I laughed.
Gage looked down at me, winked, and then started walking. We followed him into a massive kitchen. Once he sat the tray of tamales on the table, a woman turned, looked at it, then at Gage, and asked, “What is that?”
Gage looked down at me with a smile on his face and said, “Conleigh made tamales.”
With a brow raised, she asked, “Conleigh?” Was that excitement I heard in her tone?
That was when Gage nodded over at me. The woman’s smile was instant as she abandoned the dish she was stirring and walked over to me. Yeah, that was excitement.