Outlaw grinned at her. He put his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The man with her growled and moved to push between them. “Woman, if you keep trying to run off with men, I'm going to spank that ass. You’re mine and you know it. Stop chasing these young bucks. They can’t handle you.”
“Waylon, no one can handle her. And if I’m not mistaken, aren't you younger than Ms. Marie? Wouldn't that make you a young buck,” a Dublin Falls’ Warrior named Voodoo asked. He was part of the group we were talking to along with his wife, Nevaeh. He was grinning at Waylon.
“I’m a tad younger and it takes every trick I know to keep her in line and happy, in and out of bed,” Waylon said with a wink. Marie laughed. I heard one of the other men groan like he was in actual pain. His name was Menace according to his cut. He had a woman with him whose cut read Siren.
“I don’t wanna hear about you doing anything in bed with my grandmother! Jesus, Waylon, I knew I should have never let you near her. Guys, we’re going to have to kill him,” he said to the others. They all cracked their knuckles and looked at Waylon with a gleam in their eyes.
Siren laughed. “Menace, you knew when you claimed me, my grandma came with me. She’s always been like this. She’s never going to change.”
“I know, but she didn’t have a man friend then! She flirted, but I didn’t have to imagine her doing more. God, I need a drink.”
“Suck it up, buttercup, you’ll live. I may be old but the coochie still needs a smoochie, if you know what I mean,” Ms. Marie zinged back with a smirk on her face. Menace groaned and closed his eyes.
We could hear him muttering, “She didn’t say that. You’re imaging it. There are meds for this.” Their fun banter had the whole group laughing. I couldn’t help but join them. When we quieted down, Ms. Marie leveled her gaze on me. Uh-oh.
“So, Bear has an adult daughter. Nice to meet you, Tarin. I can see why Outlaw fell for you and snapped you up. You’re beautiful. I knew Bear wasn’t as pure and sweet as he seemed. Ilara, I think I need to talk to you and Tarin about him. He’ll need extra help to stay in line, but that’s nothing to what Outlaw needs.”
“Hey, Ms. Marie, that’s not fair! I can behave. I promise I’ll make sure Tarin has everything she ever wanted or needed. There's nothing I wouldn’t do for my jewel.” He gave me a loving though heated look.
Marie fanned herself. “Oh, it’s getting hot in here. Come on, Waylon, we may need to take a little break.” Waylon's face lit up. Menace got pale and Siren just laughed. Marie blew kisses at us and walked off after saying, “I’ll come find you ladies later.”
When she was gone, it was Menace who broke the silence. “I swear to God, Alannah, if she keeps it up, I’m locking her in her apartment! She’s seventy. She needs to act her age.”
“Menace, she’s never going to act her age. She might be seventy but she feels forty, she told me. Waylon is good for her. She hasn’t had a relationship with anyone since my grandpa died years ago. You should be happy to see her like this.”
“Why should I be happy?” he asked her with a puzzled look on his face.
“It means when we’re her age and even older, you’ll still be chasing me around the house and I’ll still be giving it up.” His face lit up, and he growled as he pulled her to him and kissed her.
“Lord, it’s getting graphic over here. What did I miss?” Joker asked as he joined us. We spent a few more minutes with them and then it was off to another group.
It was maybe an hour later, and it was close to midnight. Some people had gone to their rooms for the night. The clubhouse was full and the other townhomes and the houses like Dad’s, Bull’s, Demon’s, and the other couples, who had spare rooms, were being used. “Outlaw, I’ll be back. I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Do you want me to go with you, baby?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“I need to go too. Come on,” Ilara said. She hooked her arm through mine and we went down the hall, hunting the bathroom. We had to wait since someone was in there. As we did, Ilara started chatting.
“Tarin, we haven’t had a chance to talk about the day of your accident. I’m so sorry that you got hurt. They were both dumbasses, but I know their hearts were in the right place. I’m hoping since you’re here tonight, it means you’ve forgiven them and will be staying.” She gave me a hopeful look.
“Ilara, I don’t know. Yeah, I’ve gotten less angry. I know why they did it, even if I hate that they did. Outlaw has been reassuring me over and over again that he’ll never do anything like this again. What if he does? What if he can’t resist? Some things I think should be left for people to either tell others or keep to themselves.”
“Maybe that’s true, but keeping it bottled up can do more harm than good. Have you talked to Brielle, Ashlee, Wren, or Bryony yet?”
“No, Outlaw said they had things happen to them and the clubs know. He wants me to meet them.”
“I think you should. Let’s go find them once we’re done.” I wanted to tell her no, but I didn’t because she had a determined look on her face. She’d get Dad and Outlaw to take me if I did.
After we took our turns in the bathroom, I hobbled behind her. She was looking around. I saw her take out her phone and type for a few minutes. Once she was done, she pointed to a corner where there was a couch. No one was sitting there. We went there, and I dropped down. This cast was a pain in the ass.
“I should go tell Outlaw where I am.”
“I sent him and Bear a text to let us have girl time. Also, I texted the ladies. They should be coming any minute…” she faded off as I saw a group of women headed our way. Only it was more than four! Some I’d met tonight. The rest I hadn’t. When they got to us, there were over a dozen of them plus all the Hunters Creek old ladies.
“I asked Dad if we could use their church room. He said we could. Let’s go. This should be just us ladies,” Harlow said as she took charge. Ilara and Devyn helped me off the couch. I followed them, wondering if I should make a break for it or not. What in the world were they going to say or do that demanded we be in private?
I looked around the room with interest. I’d never been in it. The others were looking as well. Harlow sat down at the massive table. The rest of us pulled out chairs. I clenched my hands. Ilara was the one to say something, not Harlow.