DOTTIE

I’m not a smoker, but now I see the logic behind carrying a lighter in my pocket at all times regardless of if I smoke or not. “Maybe I should add a lighter to the number of items I carry around on my person,” I muse.

“We should add some pepper spray too,” Bull suggests. “Never know when you’ll need to protect yourself, Dottie.”

“I carry a Swiss Army knife,” I admit. “My brother gave it to me last year for Christmas. It stays on my keyring unless I’m working. It’s against the school’s policy to have a weapon of any kind, and even though it’s tiny, it’s still considered as being a weapon.”

“So, if one of your students gets rowdy, how do they expect you to protect yourself?” he questions.

“We have school security that roams the hallways, Bull. We just have to hope that another student can go get help and have them in our classrooms before things become violent. They’d prefer for us to talk the student down but if warranted we can manhandle them carefully as long as we don’t leave any physical marks on their skin. It’s ‘highly suggested’ in the teacher’s handbook that as the adults in charge, we contain the situation ourselves as non-violently and as non-confrontationally as possible.”

“And if this student is twice your size—?” he asks, leaving the sentence open-ended.

“We pray,” I answer shortly. “It’s not a perfect resolution, but there are guidelines by the state that we have to adhere to.”

“Don’t like it,” he growls. “It’s bullshit. They need to come up with something else. Something that keeps you safe and your other students better protected.”

“Luckily, the school I teach at has a track record which is pretty clean. We haven’t had any incidents that require a teacher to physically restrain one of our students. That’s not to say there haven’t been any squirmishes, but that they’re easily broken up with a stern tone.”

When we make it to the sidewalk that leads up to Master and Aspen’s place, the cursing and threats coming out of Aspen have Bull doing an about face. “I’ll wait at our place.”

“I think I’ll join you,” I state, my jaw dropped at some of the things coming out of mild-mannered Aspen’s mouth.

“Did she just say—? I ask, slack jawed.

“Yep,” he snaps, emphasizing the P.

“Is that even possible?” I ponder.

“To cut off someone’s dick and toss it in the blender then afterward feed it to the birds like a worm? It’s doable, just not likely to happen seeing who her old man is,” he contends.

“That's… that’s just.” Words escape me, because yuck.

“Scary as fuck considering Charlee just offered up her machete and Cameron told Aspen she has a blender on standby,” Bull acknowledges with a full body shiver attached with his thoughts.

“It’s a bit… dramatic wouldn’t you say?” I wasn’t in the room when my niece or nephew were born, and haven’t had children of my own, so I have absolutely no clue if how Aspen’s acting is normal or not.

“I’d say,” he agrees, lacing our fingers together and steering me away from the potential murder. “What’s the matter? Want me to say I never heard Master’s death being plotted?”

“Yep. We both need to be able to plead the fifth if we’re asked.” I can’t help but giggle at the absurdity of the situation considering it’s darker than a total eclipse so the likelihood of Aspen even seeing Master well enough to actually do what she’s threatened is slim and none.

“Plausible deniability. I like it,” he teases, squeezing my hand while winking down at me.

“Lead on,” I say, wielding my hands through the air, aiming for the direction that’ll guide us far away from them and their threats of death and dismemberment. “Oh my God!” I exclaim when I hear the latest threat. “I think she needs to be medicated. Or maybe Charlee and Cam should be because they’re egging her on at this point.”

“Yeah, things are starting to get somewhat intense,” he comments with a blasé attitude.

“Getting? Somewhat?” I squeal. “I’m concerned for Master’s continuation of life.”

“Once she pushes that baby out, Aspen will forget all about wanting to filet Master alive,” he barters. “You’ll see, in a few hours from now, they won’t be able to keep their hands off of one another, and everything will go back to normal.”

“I’m thinking we may need to hire a life coach,” I murmur. “Possibly a therapist who’s willing to live at the clubhouse full-time because this can’t be healthy in the long run.”

“Years of attitude and life can’t be undone, Dot. Everything will be fine, don’t worry so much.”

“Don’t worry he says,” I whisper to myself. “Master’s dick has been contemplated as being used for bird food, his heart being ripped straight from his chest, and his head being staked on a spike in their front yard. I’d say there’s plenty of room for worry, Bull.”

“Gunner won’t let that happen,” he argues.

“Well. As long as Gunner has it all under control, I’ll forget all about it,” I lie, rolling my eyes.

Because as far as I can tell, and from what I’ve seen so far, the overall illusion may be that Gunner has everything all nice and copasetic, but the reality is, the existing old ladies, specifically his sister and his old lady, run the show.

The irony is the men don’t even realize it at this point.

“Come on, Polka Dot, let’s go relax for a little while away from all the noise,” he encourages, taking my hand in his again.

“Not much we can do right now until Pops turns the lights back on,” I muse. “It’s kinda sad, though, because if Stella and Jessia hadn’t miscarried, we’d have three new babies to welcome into the family instead of just one.”

“Yeah, their doctor said stress likely caused them both to miscarry, which is probable simply because the Crumley brothers have been fucking with us for so long. But yes, it’s terrible, Dottie. Hopefully, once they get the green light, they won’t have any further problems.”

Deciding to change the subject, I nudge him and ask, “So, what were you wanting to do when we get back?”

“Oh, what I’ve got planned doesn’t need lights,” he replies. While I can’t see him, I know without a doubt he’s got that sexy-as-fuck smirk on his face. The one that causes my core to tighten in anticipation.

“As I already said, handsome, lead the way.”