“Shit,” I gasped, yanking my face away from Cam’s.
“Come back,” he murmured, smiling.
“Unless you wanna leave without your balls, you’ll put my daughter down,” my pop said quietly, making me jump.
“Put me down. Put me down,” I ordered frantically, pushing at Cam’s arms.
God, I’d set out to not kiss him and I’d ended up eating his face in front of my parents. How the hell did that happen?
“Relax, Sweetbea. Your dad’s not gonna cut off my balls.” He chuckled, letting me slide down until I was on my feet.
“Don’t bet on it, Hulk,” my pop warned, making me take a giant step backward.
“Seriously, man?” Cam asked in irritation, glancing at my parents, who were standing on the porch. “We gonna do this every time you see us together?”
“We’re not together,” I cut in eagerly.
Both men ignored me.
“You can call me, ‘sir’.”
“Fuck off.”
My pop started laughing, the chuckles coming out deep and raspy, and I couldn’t help but smile along with him. My dad was a good-looking guy, but he didn’t smile very often—so when he did, it was staggering.
“I’ll follow you over,” Pop said with a nod once he’d caught his breath.
“I’ll be here to pick you up at one for lunch, Bea.”
“I’m having lunch with my mom—”
“No, you’re not,” my mom argued.
“See ya in a few hours, little liar.”
I stood with my hands clenched as Cam strapped his helmet on his head and fired up his bike.
“Seriously?” I griped at my pop as I brushed past him. “What the hell was that?”
“Watch your mouth,” he warned, following me into the kitchen.
“You pretty much just gave me to Cam, but I still can’t swear in front of you? You do realize, he doesn’t want to play charades at night, right?”
“Watch it, Little Warrior,” Pop said softly, reaching past me to get a cup of coffee before kissing the side of my head. “Knowin’ you’re an adult is one thing. You rubbin’ that shit in my face is really fuckin’ different.”
“Sorry,” I replied glumly.
“What the heck, Trix?” my mom asked in surprise as she finally followed us into the kitchen. “You’ve been after that kid for years, and now that you have him, you don’t want him?”
“I had a crush on him when I was young—that’s it.”
“Not five years ago you broke a girl’s cheek for sitting on his lap,” my pop reminded me with a smile.
“She was a bitch.”
“Of course she was.”
I rolled my eyes at him and pushed him roughly out of the way so I could get my own coffee.
“You’re acting weird,” I accused, staring at my dad as he relaxed back against a kitchen chair.
“I’m taking a shower,” my mom announced, walking over to give me a kiss. “You guys need a couple minutes.”
“Nothin’ weird about it,” Pop said, watching me closely after my mom was gone.
“So, you’re okay with Cam living with me? Since when?”
He sighed and scratched the side of his head.
“Don’t like it, no.”
“Then what was all that?” I bitched, flinging my arm toward the front porch.
“Ya gonna give me time to speak before you fly off the handle?”
My mouth snapped shut, and I crossed my arms over my chest.
“You realize your ma is the only woman I’ve ever let speak to me like that—right?”
I nodded.
“Still stands.”
Point taken.
“You and Cameron—” he sighed again. Good grief, get to the point already. “I’ve never liked it.”
I tilted my head to the side, waiting for him to finish. I wasn’t going to get yelled at for interrupting.
“Fuckin’ weird the way he let you follow him around. I hated that shit. But hell, after the shit you and your mama went through—I couldn’t force you away from him. He wasn’t doin’ nothin’ wrong, and neither were you. He helped ya with your shyness, made ya more outgoing. And as he got older, he made sure there was enough distance between ya that no one ever got the wrong idea.”
I remembered that. Around the time Cam started high school, he stopped hanging out with me as much. It had hurt my feelings, until my mom sat me down and explained that Cam was working at the club more, so I had to stop whining about it. I hadn’t realized that he’d stayed away for a different reason altogether. Made sense, though.
“Sit,” my pop ordered as I shifted from one foot to the other.
As soon as I was seated, he leaned forward in his chair and braced his forearms on the table. “Do I like ya with him? Fuck, no. I don’t want ya with anyone, but that ain’t reasonable or normal. You’re a full grown woman.”
He reached out and pulled at my messy hair.
“If somethin’ happened to me—”
“Don’t say that,” I blurted. I never wanted to have that conversation. Ever.
He glared at me, shutting me up. “Somethin’ happened to me—that boy would protect you until the day he died. Doesn’t matter if you were with him or married to someone else. His loyalty to you is unquestionable—”
“He fucks anything that moves!” I argued, scowling.
“That ain’t the same and you know it. He could fuck half the country and it’d still be you he came home to.”
“You don’t care that he’d cheat on me?”
“Course I’d care—don’t want you hurt—but that ain’t my business.”
I scoffed in disbelief and leaned away. What a shitty thing to say.
“Stop poutin’ and fuckin’ listen for a minute. Jesus Christ, between you and your ma…”
“Fine.”
“Look at me, Little Warrior.” He waited until I met his eyes, then continued speaking. “Hulk is loyal to you. As much as I hate the thought of you with anyone, he would die for you. I might hate it that you’ve got a man, but I’ve gotta be thankful for that shit, too.”
“Oh good, you’re thankful,” I said derisively, ignoring the scowl that grew darker and darker on my pop’s face. “It’s fine with you that he’ll fuck around, just as long as he keeps me safe from some invisible boogeyman. Makes perfect fucking sense.”
“Goddammit, Bellatrix!” he yelled, slamming his hand down on the table. “You need to listen to what I’m sayin’.”
“Enough,” my mom ordered, coming into the kitchen with her hair still wrapped in a towel. “You need to get to the garage.”
“Talk to your daughter,” Pop snapped back, standing up. “She doesn’t listen to a fuckin’ word I say.”
“Oh, I heard plenty,” I mumbled, rolling my eyes.
“Are you fuckin’—”
“Out!” Mom ordered again, pushing at my pop until he moved toward the front door. “I’ll see you later. Love you.”
“Love you, too, baby,” my pop said, his eyes growing soft as he shrugged his cut on over a plain t-shirt.
They walked out to the porch and after a few minutes, my mom came back in alone. It was almost funny how little I looked like her. She was petite, pale and freckled with wild red hair that she kept long because my pop loved it. I was tan year-round, with thick black hair that had lost its curl as I got older and enough junk in my trunk for us to share.
“What was all that about?” she asked softly when she got a good look at my unhappy face.
“Cameron.”
“Ah.”
“Pop was acting weird this morning.”
“Yeah, well, lots of stuff happening at the club, I think,” she said, grabbing her mug from the counter so she could sit in Pop’s vacated chair.
“What’s going on? No one tells me shit—but Cameron’s living in my apartment all of a sudden. It’s annoying.”
“They don’t tell me much, either,” my mom said ruefully, pulling t
he towel out of her hair. “But your pop’s not sleeping, and things are tense.”
“Maybe I should just move back in here.”
“You want to move back in?”
“Not really.”
“Do you want to stay with Cam?”
“Hell, I don’t know.” I dropped my forehead and proceeded to bang it against the tabletop as my mom laughed.
“Shit, don’t do that. You’re going to leave a bruise,” she worried.
“Not everyone bruises like you, Princess Peach,” I replied, turning my head to the side so I could look at her.
“You’ll figure it out—we all do.”
“He’s a manwhore.”
“He’s a guy.”
“Did Pop ever cheat on you?” I asked, making her jolt in surprise.
“No way. I’m your dad’s be-all-end-all. I don’t think he’s ever even been tempted.”
“It’s not like that with Cam.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s exactly like that,” she commented dryly.
“He’s a whore. He’s slept with freaking everyone. I can’t even walk into the club without tripping over a chick he’s had sex with.”
“Yeah, I dealt with that, too.”
“You did?”
“When we got here, your pop was with someone.”
“I don’t remember that.”
“Yeah, well, she wasn’t around for long. She glared at you one day and I knocked her ass out.”
“Go, Mom!” I sighed in surprise. My mom was not the type to get into it with another woman. I couldn’t even imagine it.
“Not my finest moment.”
“Sounds pretty great to me.”
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think Cam would cheat on you, and neither does your pop.”
“Yeah, he already said it wasn’t his business.”
“Trix, babe, you’ve always been able to read between the lines with your father. So why the hell are you missing the point today?”
“I got his point,” I argued.
“Your dad is in an awkward position, alright? He loves you more than anyone on this earth—maybe even me. But he has to work with Cam, he has to trust him, and one day, he’s gonna get the gavel and he’ll have to lead him. If he thought Cam would hurt you—emotionally or physically—he would’ve never let him near you. But he can’t step in later if Cam’s being an asshole—not if you’re Cam’s old lady. Okay?”
“Yeah, I get it,” I mumbled back, letting her words roll around in my brain. “You don’t think he’d cheat?”
“Let’s put it this way—are you a virgin?”
“No.”
“Have you ever slept with Cam?”
“No.”
“So, you’ve slept with other men?”
“Obviously.”
“You love Cam?”
“Yeah, but we weren’t—ahh, I see what you did there.”
She stared at me silently.
“Fine,” I grumbled, standing to stretch. “I should probably go smooth things over with Pop.”
“That would probably be a good idea, baby. He’s wound pretty tight already, doesn’t need to be fighting with you, too.”
“You wanna walk over with me?”
“Nah, I’m going to mop the floors.”
“Have fun.”
I left the house and walked slowly toward the clubhouse in the distance, swishing my feet through the long grass. Apparently, when I was little, my mom had dropped me out her window and I’d had to run across this same field to get my pop when her psycho estranged husband showed up. I didn’t remember any of it—which was probably a good thing—but I’d heard the story a dozen times. I think whatever happened that day had been the reason my parents never moved off the club’s property. Her first husband was dead, but my pop was still crazy protective of us, which made what I’d insinuated that morning even shittier.
Cameron made me crazy. He always had. After our little make-out session when I was seventeen, I’d lost my ability to be rational about him. While my mom had made a valid point about my sexual history and the hypocrisy of judging Cam because he’d fucked other women, I still couldn’t get over the number of women he’d been with. I’d slept with two other guys—both boyfriends. Cam, however, was indiscriminate in his bed partners.
I couldn’t decide which of us was worse—me, who’d been in actual relationships with other men, or Cam, who’d never cared about any of the women he slept with.
Chapter 3
Cameron
“That girl’s gonna give you trouble,” Grease informed me, pointing at Trix as she crossed the field, coming toward us. “Glad I’m done with all that.”
I took a drag off my cigarette and nodded. I knew she was. “Got any advice?” I asked, glancing at him before looking back at Trix, who looked pretty deep in thought.
“Yes, dear,” he said in a completely subdued voice before slapping my shoulder and putting out his cigarette. “Only two words you need to know.”
“You’re so full of shit,” I scoffed.
“You’ll figure it out, we all do.” With a slight nod, he walked away as Trix reached me.
“What’re you doin’ here?” I asked, dropping the butt of my cigarette so I could wrap my arms around her.
“Need to talk to my pop, you know where he is?” she asked, gripping my biceps hard.
“Everything okay?” I asked, going in for a kiss that she surprisingly gave me without a fight.
“Just need to apologize,” she replied with a huff as I pulled away.
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, not my favorite thing to do.”
“He’s in the second bay, I think. Want me to come with you?” I didn’t like that she was apologizing. That meant she’d done something to piss her old man off.
“I think I know my way,” she teased with a small smile, stepping back.
“Find me when you’re done?”
“Sure.”
She spun and walked toward the garage bay her dad was working in, and I couldn’t help but stare at her ass. She was wearing a pair of jeans that were snug in all the right places. Damn.
“You gonna help me finish this or what?” my little cousin, Will, griped, sticking his head out of the garage. The kid was twenty, but I swear to God he was still growing. His dad, Grease, was a big guy, so everyone had expected him to be big, too, but not this late in the game.
“You juicin’?” I asked, stalking back into the garage. “You’re pretty damn pissy lately.”
“I’m not usin’ steroids, asshole.”
“Gettin’ bigger,” I murmured, watching him closely.
I didn’t give a fuck what the other guys did. I wasn’t their daddy. As long as they did their jobs and had my back—we were cool. But my little cousin was a completely different story, and he still wasn’t as big as I was. I’d kick his ass.
“Steroids don’t make you taller, idiot.”
“Fillin’ out, too.”
“Yeah, because I’ve been working out and eating a shit ton of food,” he snapped, leaning under the hood of the Chevy we were working on.
“Just lookin’ out,” I said calmly, still watching him.
“I don’t need you to look out for me!” he roared, making my head jerk back in surprise as he came out from under the rusted hood. “I’m a grown ass man—”
“Yeah, little tantrum you’re throwin’ sounds real manly,” I shot back. Where the fuck was his attitude coming from?
He took a step toward me and I braced my feet. I didn’t think he’d be stupid enough to take me on, but I wasn’t letting him knock me off balance if he tried to take a—yep.
I guess he was feeling stupid.
“This will not end well for you,” I growled, dodging his fist.
“Pussy,” he sneered, swinging again, this time making contact with my lower ribs. Fuck, that didn’t feel great.
“Will!” Slider yelled, making Will freeze. “Take that shit away from the cars
!”
I nodded and turned toward the open doors, catching a glimpse of Trix’s worried face as I moved outside. I didn’t make it two feet before Will took a cheap shot. My head snapped forward and I stumbled onto the gravel.
I was suddenly just as pissed as he was.
“You fuckin’ kiddin’ me?” I yelled, spinning to face him and slamming my hands into his chest.
No way the kid wasn’t on steroids. No fucking way.
He spit on the ground between us.
My hand swung out without conscious thought, and I watched with satisfaction as I connected with his jaw, knocking him back a pace. All around us, the boys had come to watch, keeping their distance and staying mostly quiet.
“Takin’ cheap shots at family? The fuck is a matter with ya?” I asked as he swung again, his fist glancing off my jaw as I dodged him.
“Not my family,” he spit back.
I hit him again. And again. And again. I hit him four or five times before he fell, and I ignored the throbbing points where he’d gotten me back as I watched him land hard on the gravel.
“The fuck was that?” I asked quietly, breathing heavily as I met our VP Poet’s eyes.
“Get him up, boys,” Poet ordered. “Find one of the girls to patch him up. Christ, we need a fuckin’ doc.”
“You start that?” Grease asked as I finally made eye contact with Trix. She looked completely freaked out as her pop held her tight against his side.
“Hell, no.”
“Alright,” he said with a small nod, following the guys carrying Will inside.
I prodded the inside of my cheek with my tongue and found two cuts from my teeth. I spit the blood out of my mouth with a grimace, finally feeling the full extent of Will’s fury. I was going to be sore as hell tomorrow.
“Take the rest of the day,” Slider said calmly before walking away.
“Christ,” I mumbled, shaking my head. Then Trix was there.
“What the hell happened?” she hissed. “I’d barely walked away and all of a sudden, you’re having a schoolyard fight with Will.”
“Hell if I know,” I answered, bracing my hands on my hips. “Damn, that boy’s got some mitts on him.”
“Yeah, you look like shit.”
“Don’t feel real great, either.”
She sighed, reaching up to wipe gently at some of the blood smeared across my cheek. “Wanna go home?”