“Then what the fuck are you waiting for?” Animal asked.
Wheelie lifted his shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. “Nothing. It’ll happen.” He took a pull from his beer bottle. “How’s is going with Lucy?”
“Real good. We kinda had a breakthrough the other night. Anyway, I got in touch with her fuckin’ mom and told her to give Lucy a call. Can you believe the bitch hasn’t reached out to Lucy since she abandoned her. I could fuckin’ strangle her.” Hot anger burned through Animal.
“Fuck, bro,” Wheelie replied.
“That’s damn tough,” Rags chimed in and Bones nodded.
“Some moms can be a real piece of shit,” Hawk said. “I know ’cause mine was. That’s tough on Lucy. You gotta be there for her, man, and be damn patient.”
Animal bumped fists with Hawk. “I know, bro. I’m trying, but damn, if this parenting shit isn’t hard as hell.”
Banger and Hawk laughed, then the president winked at Animal. “Wait ’til Lucy’s a teenager—you’re gonna wish she was seven again. Tough doesn’t even begin to describe what’s ahead of you.”
“Ah, shit. I need another drink,” Animal said.
Smokey walked up to Animal and handed him a bottle of Coors. “Here you go, bro.”
The men laughed and Animal’s fingers curled around the beer. “How the hell did you hear me?”
“What?” Smokey took out several joints and passed them around to the group.
“He said he needed a drink, and then you showed up with one. Fuckin’ eerie,” Rags said as he took out his lighter.
“You just looked like you needed one,” Smokey said, clinking his bottle against Animal’s.
“He did,” Hawk said. “Banger just told him what to expect when Lucy becomes a teenager.”
“Yeah … that’s gonna be tough. Remember how we were, and our sisters?” Smokey said, putting the bottle to his lips.
“I’m so fucked,” Animal replied, and the men all busted out laughing.
Soon the conversation turned to motorcycles and the upcoming rally in Loveland. After a while, the only ones left were Animal, Bones, and Smokey. Banger had gone to his office to work on club business, Rags had left with Throttle to attend to their landscaping business, and Wheelie had to return to the carwash.
“You don’t got shit to do?” Bones asked as he followed Animal and Smokey to a table.
Animal shook his head. “I’m free until I have to pick up Lucy. I took today off.”
“Doesn’t it kickass to be your own boss?” Smokey stretched out his legs. “No orders from anyone, you can do whatever the hell you want, and most importantly—you make the fuckin’ rules.”
“Fuck, yeah,” Animal said.
“I’m good with just working at the different club businesses,” Bones said.
“But it’s still not like working for some tight-ass boss. The time you spend is not only for the club but for your own share of the income too.” Smokey gestured Rosie over.
“That’s true. I got fired from every job I had before becoming a patched member. I couldn’t stand no one telling me what the fuck to do,” Bones said.
“Whatcha want?” Rosie said, running her hands over Smokey’s broad shoulders.
The club girls had stayed away after church had let out based on the loud and angry voices of the members. Most of the time they were waiting in the main room to either serve the men their drinks, get them something to eat, or give them pleasure—but whenever the climate was hostile, they stayed away until the mood lifted.
Smokey smacked Rosie on her nice, plump butt then drew her to him and kissed her hard. “I want what you’re offering a little later on, but first we need some food. You got any burritos in the kitchen?”
Rosie ran her glitter-tipped fingernails down Smokey’s neck. “I think so. Is that what you want, baby?” She pressed his head against her ample tits.
“You’re killing me,” Smokey said in a thick voice.
“I’ll take a couple of burritos,” Bones said, rubbing his hand over her ass.
Rosie looked over her shoulder at him and winked. “Okay.” She glanced at Animal and licked the top of her lip. “You want the same thing, baby?”
“Sure, why not?” Animal glanced at his phone to see if Olivia had responded to his text. He’d sent it to her the night before, asking her what times would work for tutoring Lucy. Olivia had mailed him a copy of Lucy’s reading assessment along with a note that she’d shared it with the principal at Slavens. Mr. Lorry agreed with Olivia that Lucy was in need of extra help and gave his approval for her to spend a few hours a week after school to help the young student.
At first Animal was pissed that Olivia hadn’t walked the damn report over to his house, but the more he thought about it, the more smug he became: Olivia didn’t come over because she couldn’t trust herself with him.
His pride quickly turned to irritation, because no matter how hard he tried, Animal couldn’t get her out of his mind. If he were that type of guy, he’d probably admit that he might even be obsessed with her and that irked the hell out of him, especially since Olivia had been avoiding him at all costs. Even now, as he briefly closed his eyes, the image of her nipples hardening under his touch as she kissed him filled his mind. Dammit! Animal wanted her in the worst way.
He knew he should just forget about her and concentrate on hanging out more at the club, but the women were too easy for him. Sure, they loved to have a good time, but there was no pursuit. All Animal had to do was snap his fingers and point at Tania and Charolette, who were currently sitting on the couch, and they’d be all over him like flies on sherbet. But Olivia was a whole different story; she played hard to get, and it got his blood boiling and made his mind fucking screwy.
Animal leaned back in the chair, a smile lifting his lips. There was no doubt that his sexy neighbor was driving him crazy, but he liked the challenge of winning her over, as he knew he eventually would. So he’d just bide his time and wait.
“Here you go,” Rosie said as she brushed up against Animal before setting the plate down. “Do you need anything else, baby?”
“I’m good. Thanks, Rosie.” Animal picked up the fork and dug into the smothered shredded beef burrito.
“This is fuckin’ good,” Smokey said as he cleaned his plate. “I heard Kristy made them.”
“Kristy can cook.” Animal pushed the empty plate away from him. “I wonder if it’s hard to make these.”
“Becoming domestic?” Bones sniggered.
“Not by fucking choice. Lucy’s getting sick of pizza, takeout, and frozen dinners,” Animal replied.
“You need to get a club girl over to your house and let her cook for you and Lucy. Then when the kid’s in bed, you can have some fun.” Smokey bunched up his napkin and put it on the plate. “It’s been a while since you’ve seen some action with one of the club women.”
“Are you getting it from a citizen?” Bones asked.
“Maybe that cutie who lives next door to you?” Smokey said.
“I told you I’m not interested in her. She’s just helping Lucy with her reading.” Animal stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankles.
“I heard she showed up at the party last Saturday,” Bones said.
“Yeah—she came with a friend,” Animal replied.
“Kennedy.” Smokey snorted. “Fuck, that chick’s wild.”
“Olivia isn’t. I think she got in over her head, so she left early.” Animal glanced at his phone again. Nothing.
“I can’t believe Kennedy didn’t warn her.” Smokey took out a joint and lit it.
“Me neither. Anyway, I got her out of here. Just thinking about her being at a club party makes me bust up laughing. She’s so fucking green,” Animal said.
“So, are you gonna go to the Loveland rally?” Bones asked, changing the subject.
“If Jada can stay with Lucy for the weekend. What about you?”
Bones nodded. “I got a chick waiting for me there.
We meet up a couple of times a year. She’s fuckin’ insatiable.” He laughed.
“I’m going this year too,” Smokey said as a cloud of smoke rose above him. “I think most of the brothers are going to this one. The winter was so fuckin’ brutal this year that it’ll be good to do a road trip.”
“If it doesn’t snow,” Bones said.
“Yeah, but the rally’s in a few weeks, so we should be okay,” Smokey replied.
Before Animal could put in his two sense about the crappy springs in Colorado, his phone rang. Rusty’s name flashed on the screen.
“I wonder why the fuck the prospect’s calling me,” Animal said as he brought the phone to his ear. “Talk to me.”
“There’s a chick here who says she knows you. Her name is”—Rusty paused for half a second as if trying to read the print on the woman’s driver’s license—“Olivia Mooney. You know her?”
Olivia? “Yeah, send her through.” Animal clicked off the phone and slipped it into the inner pocket of his cut. His mind whirled, trying to figure out what the fuck she was doing here.
A part of him wanted to meet her outside so he’d have some private time with her, but the other half of him was just a bit too self-satisfied that Olivia had come to him. I knew you couldn’t stay away, baby.
The soft scent of vanilla and caramel reached him, and Animal knew she’d just entered the room. The perfume lingered in the air, conjuring up images of holding and kissing her.
“Fuck, that’s her,” Smokey said under his breath.
Bones’s eyes looked like they would pop out of their sockets at any moment.
Animal casually looked over his shoulder and ran his gaze languidly over her wickedly curvy body. He groaned inwardly at her short black skirt, deliciously tight around that sweet, soft ass, and then at the form-fitting top, which accentuated her squeezable tits. Fuck. He shifted in the chair when his dick twitched.
“Hiya, Teach,” he said, barely able to contain a smirk.
“Hello, Mr. Walsh,” she answered as she approached the table.
“Are we back to that?” He winked at her, but Olivia ignored him.
“Hey, who’s the chick?” Bones asked.
Before Animal could utter a single word, Olivia extended her hand to Bones. “Olivia Mooney.”
Bones looked at her outstretched arm and laughed. “So, are you applying to be a club girl?”
Her face fell and crimson streaks colored her cheeks and chin, and Animal almost felt sorry for her … almost. He chuckled and kicked out the chair next to him.
“Have a seat,” he said. He overheard Bones ask Smokey who Olivia was and he whispered something inaudible to Animal. Then Bones nodded and settled back in the chair, his gaze fixed on Animal and Olivia.
She slid on the chair and kept her hands in her lap, clutching a small purse.
“I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d take a chance and see if you were here. I want to talk to you about scheduling Lucy’s tutoring sessions.”
In the neighborhood? What a load of BS. “You coulda just come over to the house or called … or maybe answered my damn text.” Animal bit back a smile when he saw her squirm and the streaks deepen. Yeah … he was really enjoying this.
“I could have, but I was in the neighborhood—”
“Yeah … that’s what you said.” Animal picked up his beer and took a long, slow drink, his gaze fixed on hers.
Olivia looked away. “Anyway, we need to set up a schedule. I work at the dental clinic two days a week—today is one of them, so it would be better for me to help Lucy on the days I’m at school. I’m thinking two days a week?”
Animal kept staring at her.
Olivia smoothed down her skirt then tightened the grip on her purse; Animal saw her fingers turn white. Oh yeah … he was loving every second of Ms. Mooney’s discomfort. She’d been teasing the fuck out of him for far too long now, so it was about time he gave her a taste of own her medicine.
“Are you in agreement with that?”
He didn’t answer and his gaze never wavered from her face.
She inhaled deeply, and Animal wondered if she was aware how her tits stood out more when she did that. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Smokey and Bones drooling, and he wanted to punch both of them in the face. Hard. Then Olivia exhaled.
“Stop acting like a child. The intimidation and mind games you’re trying to use on me aren’t working. We’re talking about your daughter, okay? Do you want me to tutor her or not?”
“Yeah, I do.” Irritation pricked his skin as his two friends looked over at him. “You’re pretty feisty today, aren’t you?”
“Not really, I’m just tired and don’t want to play your BS biker games.
Bones’s snigger pissed Animal the hell off and he turned and glared at his brother. The grin on Bones’s face fell and he cut his gaze back to Olivia.
“I can do whatever’s convenient for you. I just want Lucy to get the help she needs, so you decide,” Animal said.
Olivia took out a pencil and a monthly planner and chewed on the eraser while she glanced at the calendar. “Monday and Wednesday afternoons will work for me. I usually have street duty, and then some paperwork, but I can meet with Lucy in my classroom at three forty-five. The sessions will last forty-five minutes, so we should be finished at four thirty. I’ll make sure Lucy is in the after-school care program until I come get her. Does this work?”
Olivia was being all professional and businesslike, but she didn’t fool Animal one bit. There was no fucking way she just stopped by the clubhouse to go over Lucy’s schedule. Maybe she wants me to invite her to one of the rooms. Animal wasn’t sure what her deal was, but he was 100 percent positive that she wasn’t “in the neighborhood.” He wanted to yank her to him and kiss those soft lips of hers while her tits pressed hard against him.
“Is that acceptable?” Her lips drew into a thin line, an exasperated sigh escaping from her nostrils.
Animal sliced his eyes to hers. “Yeah, that sounds fine. When do you wanna start?”
“Next week.” She broke contact with him and busied herself with unzipping her briefcase and placing the planner and pencil into it.
“If Lucy can’t make it after school sometimes, then we can do it at my house … or yours.” Animal looked for those crimson streaks to appear on her cheeks.
Olivia slowly brought her eyes to his, her face clear of any red markings, and said, “I don’t think that would work out. If Lucy misses a class, then we can make it up on another day.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Ms. Mooney. My interest here is helping my daughter.”
She didn’t flinch or turn away; she held his gaze steadily. “We’re definitely on the same wavelength, Mr. Walsh. It always helps when a student has the support of her parent.” She glanced over his head at the clock on the back wall. “I have to get going. Thank you.”
Animal watched her walk away, admiring those long and sexy legs in sheer black stockings and high heels and her swaying hips causing her short skirt to swish. He imagined her standing before him, naked except for those stockings and shoes, and his dick twitched as his mouth went dry.
Smokey pushed a bottle of beer into his hand and slapped him on the back.
“You so wanna fuck your neighbor, dude.”
Bones guffawed, then wiped the back of his neck. “Shit … you’re screwed, bro.”
Animal ignored them. What the hell could he say? They were right: he did want to fuck Olivia and he was screwed.
The scent of her perfume still lingered in the air, and he stared at the door far longer than he should have, in hopes that she’d come back in, but she didn’t. Animal took out his lighter and lit a joint, took two deep drags and stubbed it out. He then rose from his chair, bumped fists with Smokey and Bones, and walked out of the club.
Chapter Fourteen
Inside the employees’ lunch room, Olivia stood patting Ivy’s hand, feeling helpless by the sorrow confronting her friend
. Tears streamed down Ivy’s face. Her shoulders shook.
“I was such a stupid fool,” she said, her voice quivering.
“Shh,” Olivia whispered. “It’s not your fault. Kennedy and I didn’t know either … It’ll be okay, Ivy,” Olivia said, brushing her friend’s bangs away from her face. “It’s just going to take some time … heartaches always do,” she soothed, although her stomach churned at the words.
“I know,” Ivy stammered as she patted her eyes with a tissue. “I just can’t believe he lied to me. I’d never have gone out with a married man.” She sniffled.
“I know that. Brady is a total jerk. He’s an asshole at school too. What he did was despicable.”
Tears welled in Ivy’s eyes again, and she threw her arms around Olivia’s neck. Olivia patted her back, anger burning through her. Brady Sickles was lower than scum, and he’d hurt Ivy very much. When Ivy had come back from lunch sobbing, Olivia couldn’t imagine what had happened. She grabbed her friend’s hand and took her back to the lunchroom, then listened in disgusted disbelief as Ivy recounted how she’d bumped into Brady in the drugstore. He’d seemed super nervous and kept trying to get away from her until a woman appeared with two boys in tow. The woman stared at Ivy, who stared at Brady, and when the jerk introduced the woman as his wife and the boys as his kids, Ivy had rushed out of the store. Olivia couldn’t even imagine how humiliated Ivy must’ve felt, but then the image of Kory banging the butterfly-tatted woman flashed into her mind. Yeah … that was pretty bad, but Olivia didn’t love Kory the way Ivy loved Brady. Ivy was really suffering right now.
“How did I miss the signs?” Ivy asked.
“When you’re in love, the signs aren’t as obvious.” Olivia broke away and pulled a chair out for Ivy, who sank down into it. “If something bugs us, we ignore it or rationalize it away, because being in love feels so good.”
Ivy nodded as she wiped her nose repeatedly. “I love him so much it hurts. He was weird with the sex stuff, but if I told him to stop, he would; outside of that, he was wonderful. I still can’t believe it.”
Animal’s Reformation Page 15