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“I think you’ve been in the hospital enough. I think it’s someone else’s turn.” Memphis laid her hand on mine. “Seriously, I’ve never known you to be this dramatic.”
Raelyn scoffed. “You think maybe we should wait until she’s out of the hospital before we start yelling at her for getting hurt?”
I rolled my eyes and squeezed Memphis’ hand. “I guess I’m just into having all of the attention,” I joked.
Memphis sighed. “I still can’t believe that happened.”
Neither could I.
Two nights ago, I had gone on the craziest ride of my life, right into a field.
One minute, I was just bopping down the road with my music cranked, and then the next thing I knew, I was flipped over on my side with my arm pinned. “I will tell you I will never drive with my windows down again.” I tried to wiggle my fingers on my injured arm but couldn’t. Tears welled in my eyes. The doctor didn’t know if I would regain full use of my hand. Everything was so swollen and banged up right now that they were just waiting to see what was going to happen. Every broken bone was set, and I was going to be in a cast for a good eight weeks, if not longer, if things didn’t heal correctly.
“Hey, no more making her cry,” Monk called. “What did I tell you two about that shit before you came in here?” Monk leaned against the door frame and folded his arms over his chest. “There is no fucking crying in here.”
Memphis swiped at her eyes and pasted a smile on her face. “No one’s crying,” she wheezed.
Raelyn laughed. “Come on,” she pleaded. “We’re girls and one of our sisters almost died.”
“Again with this sister thing?” I laughed. “I really think we need to come up with a better name. It sounds like we’re part of a convent.”
“Really?” Raelyn laughed. “I thought it sounded like we were a band of badass bitches who don’t take shit from anyone.”
Monk rolled his eyes. “Not at all.”
“But you guys call each other brother,” Raelyn replied. “It only makes sense that we’re sisters.”
Raelyn just wasn’t going to get it. We were going to be stuck as the sisters no matter what. “Maybe we could be Badass Sisters or something like that.”
“BS,” Monk called. “You would literally be BS. Bull. Shit.”
I flipped him off. He wasn’t helping at all. “We won’t go by initials. We’ll just be Badass Sisters.”
“Oh,” Memphis squealed. “We could get shirts made.”
“Jesus Christ,” Monk groaned. “You guys are killing me.”
“Knock, knock,” someone called behind Monk. “I’ve got your dinner.”
“And on that note, you two are getting your asses out of here. Mitzy needs to eat, and then she needs to rest,” Monk ordered.
Raelyn rolled her eyes. She leaned down to hug me and whispered in my ear. “See, Monk and Mitzy makes sense.”
I wasn’t going to argue with her. After two brushes with death, I wasn’t going to run away from Monk just because I was afraid. “I suppose it has a certain ring to it,” I agreed begrudgingly.
“Out,” Monk called. “You can see her when she gets home tomorrow.”
Memphis patted my arm. “I hope you put this man in his place, Mitz. That ain’t no way to be talking to a Badass Sister,” she spoke loudly.
“Memphis,” Six-Gun called from the hallway. “Get your ass out here. You’re gonna piss off Monk, and then you’re gonna have to go in hiding again like you did last time when you tried to prank him.”
Memphis’s jaw dropped. “I did not go into hiding,” she insisted.
“Really? You told me you were going to call in sick to work for a couple of days, and if I went to the clubhouse, you weren’t going to come with me.”
“Judas?” Raelyn called. “Is that you?” Raelyn tsked. “Betraying your own ol’ lady by telling her secrets.”
“You told me the same thing, Raelyn,” Playboy hollered.
“Be quiet, Judas’ friend,” Raelyn hissed. “I can’t believe the broken loyalty in this room right now. Thankfully the Badass Sisters don’t have to deal with this type of hypocrisy.”
“I don’t think that word means what you want it to mean,” Monk drawled. “Why don’t you go get yourself a dictionary while Mitzy eats and rests?”
Raelyn glared at Monk and flipped off Playboy. “Just know my finger is meant for you, but I’m not quite ready to be that badass of a Badass Sister.”
“You’ll get there,” I called. “See, watch this.” I flipped off Monk and waved my middle finger around. “One day, this will be you.”
Memphis raised her middle finger in the air and pointed at Monk. “One day, this will be directed at you.”
Raelyn and Memphis strode out of my room but then popped their heads back in. “But just know, when we do flip you off, there will be love behind it,” Memphis promised.
Six-Gun grabbed her around the waist and hauled her out.
“Yeah, what she said,” Raelyn called. “Fuck you with love.”
“Fuck sake,” Playboy muttered. He spun Raelyn around, planted his shoulder in her stomach, and hoisted her over his shoulder. “Feel better, Mitzy,” he called.
Monk shut the door.
A knock sounded again, and he growled.
“What?” He barked.
A woman with a tray cowered behind Monk. “Uh, sorry, sir. I need to actually get in the room.”
I smothered a laugh and watched as Monk stepped to the side and apologized.
The woman set the tray on the table next to me and sprinted out of the room.
Monk shut the door behind her and sighed. “Fucking hell. Memphis and Raelyn are going to be the death of me.”
“Well, with Barracuda being back, maybe you won’t have to deal with them as much,” I suggested.
Monk moved to the table next to me and adjusted it ‘til it was overreaching over my bed. “I’m afraid Raelyn, Memphis, and I have a rapport that isn’t going to change even if I’m not acting as prez anymore.”
“Does that mean you secretly like growling at them all of the time?”
Monk shrugged and lifted the cover off my food. He cringed and pinched his nose. “Dear God. What in the hell did you order tonight?”
I looked down at the large, muddy brown piece of meat and smiled. “Liver and onions with a side of brussels sprouts and applesauce.”
His eyes darted to the other plate of food that was still covered. “I told you to order my food,” he gasped.
I shrugged and snatched a brussels sprout off my plate. “And I did.”
“If you ordered me that shit, Birdie, I’m afraid I’m gonna have to see if I can get a pizza or something delivered.” He slowly reached for the lid and raised it. A whoosh of air rushed out of his lips, and he smiled. “Thank fuck.”
I rolled my eyes and reached for my knife. “I know liver is only liked by people with taste, Monk. That’s why I ordered you the chicken fingers. You’re a man with simple tastes, while I’m a woman who has complex taste.”
“And who enjoys eating animal organs.” Monk grabbed his plate and set it on the counter behind him. “I don’t want your liver anywhere near my chicken.”
I scoffed and held out the knife to him. “You don’t have to eat it, but you’re going to have to cut it up for me. I’m an invalid while my arm is in this cast and sling.”
He grabbed the knife and scowled at my plate. “If this doesn’t prove that I like you, I don’t know what the hell does. I can put up with your sass and mouth, but cutting up liver is pushing the limits, Birdie.”
I laughed and watched with amusement at the many faces Monk made while cutting up my diner. He set down the knife and visibly shivered. “I’m as manly as the next guy, but fuck that.”
I stabbed a piece of liver and popped it into my mouth. “The only thing that would make this better would be a hot fudge sundae.”
Monk sat down in his chair and shook his head. “You are one strange woman, Mitzy. Tough as nails but eats liver and onions while daydreaming of hot fudge sundaes.”
I savored the chunk of meat in my mouth and smiled. “I have impeccable taste, Monk.” I swallowed and took a drink of my water. “I did choose you, after all.”
Monk winked and ripped open a pack of ketchup. “I guess I can’t argue with you on that one.” He tossed the packet in the garbage and licked his fingers. “Now eat your liver like a good girl, and I’ll see what I can do about getting you a hot fudge sundae.”
I stuck a huge piece in my mouth and pointed my fork at him. “For the record, I’m only eating this because I want and not because you told me to.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Monk laughed. “That’s what you always say.”
I finished half of my liver and started in on my brussels sprouts. “So, can we talk about how I ended up in that field on my side?”
Monk looked up from his food. “It’s getting handled, Mitz.”
I rolled my eyes. “Did you really say that and think I was just going to be good with it?” Maybe this man didn’t know me as well as he said he did.
Monk shook his head. “No, but I figured with your arm being in that cast and your body banged up that I could get a head start, and you wouldn’t be able to keep up.”
“I’m out of here tomorrow, Monk. Unless you plan to figure out who tried to kill me for the second time tonight, I think you’re gonna have to include me in kicking someone’s ass.” He had another think coming if he thought I was just going to sit by idly.
He set his fork down and sighed. “Someone loosened the lug nuts on your right front tire. About five seconds before it fell off, Jinx knew what was about to happen, but he couldn’t make it stop.”
I had slept all day yesterday, and today, I had been in and out of the room getting casted and whatnot so I hadn’t had a chance to actually talk to Monk about what happened. “I saw him flashing his headlight at me, but I lost control before I could even think.”
Monk nodded. “Yeah, but you tried. I don’t think anyone could have handled that any better than you did. You scared the living shit out of Jinx. I’m pretty sure he’s never going to be able to drive past that field again.”
I had scared the hell out of me, too. I remembered everything, but now I wanted to know why. Why was someone trying to kill me?
“What happened at Rain’s when you went to look?” I asked.
Monk held up a zero with his hands. “Nothing. There wasn’t even any furniture in the place, and no sign of Tank anywhere.”
“So, she doesn’t even live there anymore?” Rain had never mentioned she had moved, and she was always one to be telling everyone her business because she thought she was that important.
“Rebel kind of thought we were going to come up with nothing because the times he had trailed her, she had been going to a place over on Barter.”
“That’s the opposite side of town.”
Monk nodded. “It is. And as of right now, Rain is the only person he has seen come or go at the place.”
“Well, now we need to go check out her new place, right? Or are you thinking Tank has nothing to do with her?”
Monk shrugged. “I don’t have a fucking clue. All we’re doing now is searching places, so we can eliminate them as possibilities of where Tank could be.”
So next onto the house on Barter street. “Should we talk about how crazy it was that Barracuda showed up out of nowhere?” I laughed.
Monk chuckled. “I will tell you right now, that was a fucking scene out of a movie. As soon as he stepped off his bike, I knew it was him.”
“You know what this means, don’t you?”
Monk shook his head.
I couldn’t hold back my smile. “It means your average went up, and you’re a B+ prez now.”
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Nah, I’m a B+ VP now. Barracuda can take back the brunt of the stress from the club now. My number one priority is finding out who’s trying to hurt you and taking them out once and for all.”
“Then your rating can go up to an A, right?”
“That mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble one day, Mitzy.”
I brushed my lips against his again. “Only with you. And I’m kind of hoping it’s soon because you said you were going to fuck it out of me, right?”
“You can bet your ass on it, Birdie. As soon as you’re better, that ass is mine.”
That was the kind of promise I liked.
*
