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“Are you going to act like you didn’t walk in last night with Memphis all over you?”
I scoffed and dropped into the chair next to Playboy. “She wasn’t all over me.”
“Well, maybe not in the normal sense of the word, but compared to the way you two normally are, I would say things were definitely different between you two.”
“Um, what?” Raelyn asked, shocked. “You didn’t tell me anything about this.”
“Because you were passed out when I came to bed last night.” Playboy put his arm around Raelyn’s shoulders. “And then you were grumpy as fuck this morning before you had your coffee.”
“I was not grumpy,” Raelyn pouted.
“Right,” Playboy drawled. “Just keep drinking your happy juice, baby. I’m gonna need to put a coffee pot next to the bed so you can start drinking before you even get out of bed.”
“We’ll discuss that later.” She folded her arms over her chest. “I want to hear more about Memphis and Six-Gun.”
“Nothing to tell.” I reached for the box of cereal in the middle of the table and poured a little into my hand. “We went for a ride after work, and then, her butt was numb.”
Raelyn twirled her finger in the air. “Hold up; you need to explain to me how those two relate to each other.”
“Damn,” Playboy laughed. “How long of a ride did you guys go on?”
“A little over two hours.”
Playboy cringed. “And I’m going to assume she hadn’t been on a bike for longer than about fifteen minutes at a time.”
Raelyn raised her hand. “Hello,” she called. “Confused girlfriend here.”
“Your butt and basically the whole bottom half of your body starts to go numb if you go for a long ride and you’re not used to it,” Playboy explained.
“Yeah, maybe I should have turned us around a lot sooner, but it was up to Memphis how long we rode.” I popped the cereal into my mouth. “She about fell on her butt when we got back to the clubhouse.”
“At least it would have been a numb butt,” Raelyn laughed.
“Things better between the two of you?” Playboy asked.
I shrugged. “Not really sure. I’m letting her call the shots. I’m up for whatever she wants.”
“Aw,” Raelyn sighed. “You’re such a sweetheart, Six-Gun.”
“Right,” Playboy drawled. “Sweetheart to the core.”
“Well, maybe not when it comes to you guys, but with Memphis, I hope he is.” Raelyn patted Playboy’s arm. “You’re a lot sweeter with me than you are with any of the guys.”
I walked into the kitchen area and grabbed a bowl and spoon. “Pretty sure if I was sweet to Tank or Jet, they’d punch me in the face and ask what the hell is wrong with me.” I filled my bowl with cereal and topped it with milk.
“So, what now?” Raelyn asked.
I shrugged and shoveled a spoonful into my mouth. “Just gonna do the same thing. This is all up to Memphis. Hell, she may tell me to fuck off today. Ya never know.”
Playboy chuckled. “I doubt that will happen.”
“I need to run over to Woodland today. I was going to see if she wanted to take the ride with me.”
“You really think she’ll be up for that after the ride you gave her last night?” Playboy asked.
Raelyn laughed. “That sounded much dirtier than it actually was.”
“Gotta strike when the iron is hot. If I wait too long, she might shrink back into her shell, and I’ll lose any chance of breaking down her walls.” We were going to do this on her terms, but that didn’t mean I had to stop giving her opportunities to be with me.
“This is like one of those Hallmark movies.” Raelyn sighed. “I get to watch it in real-time.”
I shook my head. “Hardly. Last I checked, those movies are full of pussy ass men who don’t have an alpha bone in their body.”
“Well, you would be right on that one. They aren’t men like the Royal Bastards in those movies.” Raelyn smiled wide. “You guys can be like Jax and Tara from Sons of Anarchy!”
Playboy choked on his coffee. “Baby, both of them die.”
Raelyn waved her hand at Playboy. “Details,” she muttered.
“That’s a pretty big detail,” I laughed. “Hopefully, Memphis and I don’t have that same outcome.”
I finished my breakfast while Raelyn and Playboy bickered back and forth about what movie couple Memphis and I could be.
I headed down the hallway when Raelyn suggested Romeo and Juliet. Playboy was sputtering, trying to tell her how crazy she was.
With my coffee cup in hand, I knocked on Memphis’ door.
I heard a muffled call but couldn’t make out what she said. The door swung open, and she stood there with a toothbrush in her mouth. Spit dribbled down her chin, and she was still in the pajamas I had given her last night.
“Morning.”
She smiled and pulled the toothbrush out of her mouth. “Uh, hey.”
“Sleep okay?”
Memphis nodded and wiped her chin with the back of her hand. “Surprisingly, yes.”
I nodded and took a sip of my coffee.
She looked side to side. “Uh, how about you?”
“Good as can be.”
She cleared her throat. “Was there anything else you needed?”
Jesus. I was just so glad she had opened the door to me that I completely forgot the reason I had knocked on the door. “Oh, yeah. I’ve gotta take a ride over to Woodland later. Did you want to come with me? That is, if you aren’t too sore from last night.”
Memphis laughed and patted her butt. “Just a little sore, but not too bad. I guess I’m not that big of a wuss.”
“That means you want to come with?” I asked, hopefully.
“I’m supposed to work tonight. Will we be back in time?”
“Yeah. It’s not that far away. I just gotta talk to a guy, and then, we’ll head back.” Monk had found a guy in Woodland who might have some info on who killed Leona. I tried to talk to him on the phone yesterday, but he refused to say anything. He had thankfully agreed to meet me today when he was working. I was hoping he had some good information since he didn’t want to talk on the phone.
“I guess so.”
“We could stop for lunch on the way back if you want.”
“Maybe I should start with having breakfast,” she laughed. “I was going to come and grab something once I was dressed.”
“You want me to grab you something? There’s a bunch of cereals laid out this morning, but I’m sure I can find something else.”
She bit her bottom lip. “Uh, I have a pack of brown sugar Poptarts hidden in the back of the pantry.”
“Oh,” I laughed. “You’re learning to hide the food you want for yourself.” I had done that a time or two. It sucked when you bought food you were craving and when you went to eat it... it was gone.
“I learned the hard way. Tank ate all of my Poptarts the last time.”
Tank ate like he was always eating his last meal. I wasn’t surprised he had eaten them. “I’ll grab them. You want coffee?”
“You don’t have to wait on me, Six-Gun. I can come get breakfast once I get dressed.”
I shook my head. “I’ll be back in two minutes.”
I headed back to the kitchen and opened the pantry. “Didn’t you just eat?” Raelyn called.
“Yup.”
I found the box of Poptarts and pulled out a package. I tucked them in the pocket of my cut and moved to the coffee maker.
“What’s that in your pocket?”
Fucking Tank. “Nothing. When did you finally get back to the clubhouse?” I asked.
Tank leaned against the counter and folded his arms over his chest. “Last night.”
“What happened with you and Rain?” I grabbed a coffee cup and filled it.
“Chick is fucking psycho. I’ve been trying to cut it off with her for months, but she keeps reeling me back in.”
“That’s the power of the pussy,” Playboy called.
“That’s the damn truth,” Tank grunted. “I think she finally got the hint that we are over.”
“I didn’t know you guys were ever an official thing.” I grabbed the creamer from the fridge and poured a glug into the cup. “I thought she was just your hookup.”
Tank sighed. “I didn’t even know we were a thing until she acted like a damn psycho. I mean, hell, brother, she was sleeping with Rebel the same time she was sleeping with me. That seems pretty fucking casual to me, doesn’t it?”
I shrugged. “I mean, yeah. I never understood how you and Rebel could sleep with the same chick and not have it come between you two.”
“Because as big of an asshole as I sound, she didn’t mean anything to me. She had set the pace when we started, and that pace was we weren’t ever going to be anything more than hooking up.”
I shook my head. “Sounds like her heart got involved, and neither of yours did.”
Tank scoffed. “More like her psycho heart got involved. First, she tried tricking Rebel into thinking she was pregnant, and then, she pulled the same shit with me.”
I clapped him on the shoulder. “Well, at least you’re out of whatever the hell you two were in.”
“Let’s fucking hope so. I couldn’t have spelled it out any clearer. I just hope it sinks into her head and she leaves me alone.”
“Maybe this is your sign to start looking elsewhere for your next girl.”
“Fuck that,” Tank laughed. “I’m swearing off women. I’ve got two hands and a fleshlight. I am more than good without a woman.”
“Ew,” Raelyn cried. “I could have lived the rest of my life, not knowing you own a fleshlight.”
“Oh, come on,” Tank scoffed. “Every guy has owned one in his life.” He pointed to me. “Don’t fucking deny it.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, but hopefully, I’ll be giving it a rest soon.”
Raelyn gagged. “Oh, God.” She covered her eyes with her hand. “I can never look at any of you ever again.”
Playboy moved his arm from around her shoulder and cringed. “You probably shouldn’t look in my bedside table then.”
Raelyn shot up from the table. “I need to go bleach my brain from any memory of this moment.” She clamped her eyes shut and bumped into the table. “Someone tell me which way the bathroom is.”
“Baby, open your damn eyes,” Playboy laughed.
“No, no,” Raelyn muttered. “If I do that I picture you and them...” She visibly shivered. “I either need bleach or a bottle of rum to erase this.” She waved her arm around. “All of this.”
Playboy stood and grabbed her hand. “You’re a fucking nut, Rae.”
She tried to swat him away. “I’d rather be a nut than one of you guys.” She opened her eyes. “Are there not enough girls around here that you couldn’t entice one of them to your bed? I mean, come on.”
“I don’t know about you guys,” Tank drawled. “But my fleshlight doesn’t talk, which is honestly the whole appeal of it to me.”
I bumped fists with Tank. “Right on, brother. I’m running to Woodland with Memphis. We’ll be back before she has to be to work tonight.”
“Meeting up with Mick?” Playboy asked.
“Yup.”
I headed back to Memphis’ room and knocked on the door. “It’s me,” I called.
“Come in!” she called.
Well, that was new. I opened the door and set the coffee and Poptarts on her dresser.
“I’ll be out in just a minute. I decided to shower because I didn’t last night,” she called from the bathroom. “I smelled like the club.”
It didn’t sound like she wanted me to leave. I could count on one hand the amount of times I had been in her room, so I took this as an opportunity take a look round.
The top of her dresser was littered with the usual girl shit—makeup, jewelry, and hair ties. I looked in the small mirror she had sitting on the edge and busted out laughing. It looked like one of those circus mirrors that distorted and zoomed in. “What the hell would she use this for?” I wondered out loud.
A night stand stood on one side of her bed, with the mini-fridge she had bought on the opposite side. Other than that, she didn’t have much. No photos of family or anything personal.
A bright yellow comforter covered the bed along with four overstuffed pillows, and a hamper overflowing with clothes sat in the corner.
“Checking out my room?”
I turned around and came face to face with the most beautiful sight ever.
Memphis’ hair hung damp around her shoulders while her face was fresh and glowing. Black jeans with rips at the knees encased her legs, and a long-sleeve thermal shirt stretched snug over her breasts. Her feet were bare, and a hairbrush dangled from her fingertips.
“Uh, yeah?” No use in denying it. It wasn’t like I was dumping out her drawers and snooping.
A laugh flitted from her lips. “Well, you are honest.” She moved to the dresser and looked down at the mess of makeup and shit. “I hope you didn’t judge me off the clutter. I never seem to be able to keep my makeup and hair stuff straight. One day I organize it, and then, the next day, its strewn all over.” She grabbed a tan bottle and twisted off the lid. “I just need to make myself presentable, and then, we can go.”
“Presentable?” I asked.
She glanced up and looked at me through the mirror. “Pretty sure I’ll scare small children right now, Six-Gun.”
“I don’t think we’re looking at the same person, doll. You took my breath away.”
She scoffed and shook her head. “Right.”
“You’re fucking beautiful, Memphis. You have to know that.” What in the hell did she see when she looked in the mirror? She was beautiful when she had makeup on, but right now, with nothing on her face, she was angelic. I didn’t know how she did it, but I never wanted to take my eyes off her.
If there was any doubt before of whether or not I was into Memphis, there wasn’t now. This woman was what I wanted to wake up to and fall asleep to every night.
She had knocked me over like a ton of bricks, and she didn’t even know it. Her broken, yet healing heart, was going to be mine.
“I’m serious,” I called. “You don’t need makeup.”
Her eyes connected with mine. “Please don’t feed me a line of bull, Six-Gun.”
I stepped toward her. “I’m not. I know you got a lot going on, but I just want you to know you’re beautiful. You don’t need to hide behind makeup or anything. The world deserves to see you like this.”
She looked down at the bottle she was holding. “Well, I don’t fully believe you, but I guess I don’t really need a full face of makeup right now, do I? I can always do that before I get ready for work.” She set down the bottle and grabbed a slim tube. “I am going to put on some concealer and eyeliner though. No one needs to see the bags under my eyes.”
I held up my hands. “Do whatever makes you comfortable, doll. I’m just telling you what I see.”
She laughed and opened the tube. She swiped the goop under eyes and grabbed a small sponge off the dresser. “Maybe we should stop and get your eyes checked on the way back to the clubhouse.”
“Got twenty/twenty vision.”
I watched as she pressed the sponge to the makeup she put on and then sprayed some mist all over her face. She grabbed a pencil and drew on her eye. At least, that’s what it looked like she was doing. My eyes watered just watching her stick the pencil so close to her eyeball.
She grabbed a pink tube of Chapstick and smeared it all over her lips, then dropped the tube on the dresser and turned around to look at me. “All right, Six-Gun. Let’s go scare some kids.”
I chuckled and nodded to her bare feet. “You might want to put some boots on, doll.”
She tapped her nose. “That might be a good idea.” She pulled a pair of black boots out from under the bed and sat on the edge of the mattress to put them on.
“Those are what you should be wearing when you’re on the back of my bike.”
She stood and looked down at the boots. “They’re too big to stick in my bag, and I don’t think they would go well with my waitress outfit.”
“You’re probably right.”
She grabbed a black sweatshirt and pulled it on over her head. “Now am I ready?”
I nodded and held out my hand to her. “Let’s ride, doll.”
She hesitated for a second, her eyes on my hand. She licked her lips and sighed.
Whether or not she took my hand was a deciding factor right now. The choice was hers, and I prayed to God she chose me.
She placed her hand in mine and looked up at me. “Let’s go.”