by Blair Grey
“Telling you my middle name. Sounds like it might’ve been a mistake.” He tweaked my nose, which no one had ever done in my life. “Go inside. Do your laundry. We will see what you feel like doing once you’re done with your chores and your motherly duties. You know where I’ll be. And did I happen to mention the spa-tub that I have in my hotel room?” He turned then blew me a kiss. “I’ll be in my room if you should want to make a visit. I’ll be up all night, waiting.”
“Don’t wait up for me.” I wasn’t going to go to his room. “I’m serious. Tommy goes to bed about nine, but I am not coming to your hotel room, Clyde Karol.”
“We will see, Tequila Rose.” He climbed onto his bike, then left me alone, standing on my sidewalk as I watched him go until I couldn’t see him any longer.
“Who was that?” I heard someone say from behind me.
Spinning around, I saw Tommy standing at the front door. “I thought you went with your grandmother.” His presence rattled me in ways nothing ever had.
“With this?” He gestured to his black eye and busted lip. “No way. I stayed here. And I saw you kissing that man. So, who is he?”
Going inside, I wasn’t about to start talking about that man with him. “He’s just a friend from my biker club is all. He wanted to give me a ride on his bike and I kissed him as a thank you. You know, a thank you kiss.” I hurried to the kitchen to get myself a bottle of water, then gulped it down as he stood there, looking at me with distrust on his face.
Arms akimbo, he asked, “Does he have a name?”
“Not that you need to know.” Pulling the gallon of ice cream out of the freezer, I thought that would be a great way to get him off the subject of the man he should know nothing about. “How about a banana split?”
Getting out a couple of bowls, he wasn’t about to turn down something that yummy. “He was carrying you. And he picked you up really high. That’s not normal.”
“Yeah, you’re right. He’s not a normal guy.” I grabbed the jar of cherries out of the fridge, wiggling them at him. “Any of these?”
“No thanks. But lots of chocolate.” He got the bottle of chocolate sauce out of the pantry. “And caramel too.” He got that bottle out as well, preparing to make one hell of an ice cream treat. “Are you going on any more dates with that guy?”
“Dates? Him? No?” I scooped out some vanilla ice cream then plopped it into one of the bowls he’d left on the counter. “That wasn’t a date. That was a meeting. He’s a client.”
“I thought you said that he was a guy from your MC.” Tommy’s green eyes bore into mine. “So, which is it?”
“Both. Well, he’s a client. He’s in an MC. Not mine though.” I had no idea lying to him would be so hard. “He’ll be around for several months. Our company is going to train him for security. He’ll take what we teach him back to his MC. He’s like the head of security for them.”
“If he’s the head of security, then why do you need to teach him about something he should already know how to do?”
“Yeah, you’re right. But we have to anyway. I’ve got no idea why he doesn’t know how to do what he needs to. But he must not know because he came to us for help.” I finished putting the ice cream into the bowls, then went to put it back in the fridge. “So, pour on the sauces and we’ll get to eating.”
Tommy put lots of sauce on his, then a little on mine. “Here you go.”
Quirking my lips to one side, I wondered how long ago he had realized that I always limited my calories, carbs, and fats. However long ago it was, it was nice that he did that for me. “Thanks, Tommy. You’re a keeper. You know that, right?”
Taking a seat at the table with me, he nodded. “Yep. I am a keeper.” He took a bite, smiling as he did. “The coldness helps with the pain of my stitched-up lip.”
Running my hand over his head, I felt sorry for him about what he’d gone through. “I bet it does. I sure wish you hadn’t gotten hurt, Tommy. I hate to see you this way.”
“Well, I hate to see you this way too. You looked happy with that guy. You were smiling like crazy. I can’t remember ever seeing you smile that much.”
I had to smile.
“He’s funny is all. He makes me laugh.” I took a bite of my ice cream, telling myself that’s all it was. Clyde Thomas was a funny man who made me laugh. And he had magic hands that made me melt. It was the rest of the things he had that made him an impossibility for me.
“I like to laugh,” he said as if I didn’t already know that. “So, why can’t I meet him, so he can make me laugh too?”
“His jokes aren’t for kids.” It wasn’t a lie.
“I’m sure he has jokes for kids too.” He took another bite as he eyed me, waiting to see what I would come back with.
“I’m not so sure that he does.” Somehow, I had to get off the subject of the man I never wanted Tommy to meet.
“If not that guy, then who?”
“I’m not sure what you’re getting at.” I got up to put the half-eaten bowl of sugary goodness away in the sink. I never ate all of anything, leaving at least a quarter of all foods in their containers. It was one of the ways I had managed to keep the weight off. Weight would be a lifetime battle for me. But it would be one that I kept winning.
“You’ve got to find a man someday. So, if not him, then who?” he asked as if that was a simple fact that I’d overlooked. “You can’t stay single forever.”
“I don’t see why I can’t.” Washing my bowl, I dried it then put it away as Tommy finished his ice cream, then brought me his empty bowl.
The way he looked at me made me feel stupid. “You can’t stay single forever.”
I could stay that way until my life was easier and I didn’t have to worry about being such a good influence on young people. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m doing just fine.”
“So, what you’re saying is that it’s okay to go around kissing people to thank them?” he asked, knowing I had not meant that at all. Baiting me was a thing he loved to do.
“You’re going to grow up to be a lawyer,” I told him as I took him by the shoulders, turning him around so that we could go watch some television in the den and let this line of conversation go. “And you’re going to make so much money, asking people questions that they don’t want to answer.”
“You’re probably right.” He ran around me, taking the chair he knew was my favorite. “I call the recliner!”
One day, I’m going to buy a recliner for every member of this household!
“So, cartoons or a movie?” I asked as I took a seat on the couch and grabbed the television remote.
“A movie. You pick it out.” He leaned back, pulled the small blanket off the back of the chair then covered himself up with it. “Something funny. You and I both like to laugh.”
“Smartass.” The kid knew how to keep on giving the hits even once I had thought he was done with them. “How about Dumbo?”
“Sounds good to me.”
What sounds good to me is a life where everything is fair, and people never hurt each other.
Chapter Eleven
Clyde
Lying in the bed at the hotel, I couldn’t concentrate on the movie I’d put on the television. My eyes would close and there Tequila would be, taking my attention.
What is it about that girl?
Something told me that I needed to prove myself to her if I wanted to be more to her than a passing fling. And I did want more than that.
Pulling out my cell, I typed in, things to bring to a woman to prove you’re a good man, into the search engine. Surprisingly enough, there wasn’t anything that told me straight-up what to get her.
So, I went one step further and typed in, spur of the moment gifts that show a woman that you care. Now that got me a few suggestions. But not much that I could go to a nearby store to grab really quickly.
Flowers were about all that stood out to me. And everyone likes chocolates, so I thought about adding some of those
to my, show her that I care list of goodies.
Something for her son?
Every kid likes ice cream, but some are lactose intolerant. With no idea what kinds of allergies her son had; I was stuck with getting him something uneatable.
Most boys liked sports. What if he’s not like most boys?
Genius struck me like a bolt of lightning. A baseball!
Baseball had been my game back in my day. As a pitcher, I’d learned all kinds of pitches that I could teach the kid. And what better way to get into her heart than through her son?
I had a whole arsenal of pitches I could teach him. If he wasn’t interested in baseball, he would be by the time I was finished with him.
The changeup was one of my specialties. A deceptive pitch, meant to look as if I was about to throw a fastball, it would move so slowly that the batter inevitably would try to hit it, making him gain a strike. I would use it on the last strike to make sure I struck the batter out.
There were so many things I could teach Tommy about the sport that I’d loved so much. I hadn’t played it in what seemed like forever though.
After graduation, I went to the military where there was little to no time to play around. Then I got out and started prospecting the Iron Cobras.
When one wants to join a biker gang, one does not play baseball with the neighborhood kids or one gets laughed out of the biker bar before he ever gets a chance to prove he’s a badass.
Putting my hands behind my head, I leaned back against the headboard, imagining the boy going into his first tryouts with all the knowledge I could fill his head with.
My greatest feat was the forkball. Using the index and middle fingers, I would literally jam the ball between them. Snapping my wrist when I pitched, I could make the ball sail through the air in a straight line, but then, just before it reached the batter, it would move downward, making for another easy strike. Again, used on the third strike was the idea behind throwing that pitch as it was a bitch to make, so I didn’t use it often.
Teaching Tommy baseball would earn me a place in Tequila’s heart for sure. But it might earn the kid a place in mine as well.
You ready for that?
Kids had never been on my radar. Being some sort of an influence on a child wasn’t a thing I’d ever done before. Dating a mom isn’t going to be a cakewalk.
At least I had a long list of pitches that I could use to come over to teach Tommy. The two-seam fastball, the splitter, the slide, the sinker, the screwball, curveball, and the knuckle-curve. So many days that I could make great excuses to stop by for a visit with Tommy that would end with a visit with Tequila.
Is it wrong to feel brilliant to have found such an in with a woman?
Shaking my head, I knew men throughout the ages had searched high and low for plausible reasons to spend time with their love interests. Why would I be any different?
Checking the time, I found it to be nearly eight in the evening. Tequila had said her son went to bed at nine. Knowing that my first unannounced visit should occur while her kid was sleeping, I got off the bed to get ready to go.
The worst she could do was stop me at the door, take the things I’d brought for her and Tommy, give me a kiss, then send me on my way.
I could use a kiss.
With a confident stride, I went to my truck then headed to the nearest mega-store where I could find all the things I needed. What type of flower to get her sat at the forefront of my mind.
When dating, if it’s not one thing, it’s another.
Not knowing someone well made it hard to pick out appropriate gifts. So, I relied on what I thought she might like. Lucky for me, just as I entered the store, a brilliant yellow bouquet caught my eye.
Instantly, I was reminded of the rose bushes that lined the porch of the house across the street. Crystal’s house.
She would often stop and smell the flowers before heading for the school bus. The memory of her made my heart ache a little. I wonder where she is now.
I knew the family had moved away not long after I’d left home because my mother had told me that much. After that, I had no idea.
Of course, there had been a lot of females who I’d had relations with that I had no idea where they were or what they were doing. But Crystal was the only one I had ever wondered about.
If she liked yellow roses, then Tequila might too.
Somehow, the two reminded me of each other. Though different in personalities as night and day, they shared something in their faces. Their smiles were comparable. So were their skin and hair colors. Both had inner and outer beauty that outshined others.
Picking up a dozen yellow roses, I found a nice glass vase to put them in. After grabbing a fancy box of candy, I went to find a baseball.
In the sports section of the store, I found the balls and went ahead and grabbed two baseball gloves – one for me and one for him. The idea of playing catch in the backyard with the kid did things to my insides that had never happened before. A warm sensation filled me as I went to pay for my purchases.
It’s like I’m some man with a wife and kid.
I’d been a Marine and a biker and nothing in between in such a long time. Adding in something more felt right. Knowing I would have to move slowly where a kid was concerned, I tried to figure out how to slow my pace, which wasn’t going to be easy.
Finding lights on inside the house, I also saw Tequila’s car in the drive. I wasn’t sure why I felt so nervous, but my heart pounded as I went to the door with the vase full of flowers in one hand and a gift bag holding all the other stuff in the other.
Feeling stupid for all the nerves that filled me, I took a deep breath then rung the doorbell. “Shit! I hope I didn’t wake Tommy up with the doorbell.”
I should’ve texted Tequila to let her know that I’m here.
But it was too late for that as someone opened the door. A man stood there, looking at me with narrowed eyes. “And you are?”
“Clyde. Clyde Thomas.” Sweat began to bead on my forehead as the guy stared me down. “I’m here to see Tequila.”
“You shouldn’t be here at all.” He looked at the things in my hands. “It seems you’ve come bearing gifts as well. So, am I to assume that you have designs on my sister then?”
“No.” That wasn’t exactly true. “Well, I do like her and wanted to give her these.” Holding the flowers out, I had no idea what I thought he was going to do with them.
Looking down his nose at the gifts I’d brought, he snorted. “She’s not interested. I can assure you of that. You need to go. And don’t come back, Clyde Thomas.”
“Clyde Thomas?” an older woman asked from somewhere inside the house.
“Yes,” the guy said.
“Look, I’m sorry for coming over unexpected.” This was a huge mistake. Then it occurred to me that this guy hadn’t even introduced himself to me at all. “And your name is?” I moved the bag out of my right hand to extend it to him for a handshake. “I’m sorry that I forgot to ask that in the first place. Kind of rude of me, I have to admit that.”
“Edward, not that you’re going to be around to call me by it, Clyde Thomas.” His hand went to his hip as he cocked his head at me, scanning my entire body.
A woman in a white robe came up behind him with a frown on her face. Then she saw me, and a glare replaced the frown. “I have no idea why you’re still holding the door open, Edward. This man is not welcome in this home.”
“Hello, ma’am, I’m Clyde Thomas,” I tried to say but she slammed the door in my face.
Through the door, I heard a shrill voice calling out, “What the hell are you two doing?”
The door flew open and a wide-eyed Tequila came out fast, closing the door behind her. “I’m so sorry about that.” She took my hand, pulling me along with her all the way back to my truck where she opened the passenger door then got inside. “Let’s go down the street to the bar.”
Stupefied and more than a little confused, I had no idea what was
going on or what to even say. So, I just went along with what she wanted. “Well, okay.” I handed her the things I’d brought. “I got you flowers, chocolates, and some things for Tommy too.”
With a slight smile, she shook her head. “You shouldn’t have. I mean that. You really shouldn’t have.”
What the fuck does that mean? Closing the door, I went around to get inside. After I’d put on my seatbelt and had taken a deep breath to chill myself out, I finally asked, “What the hell was that all about?”
“That?” She sniffed the flowers then wedged the vase in the cupholder. “These are nice. Thank you.” She looked inside the bag, pulling out the box of candy. “Chocolate, my favorite.” Pulling out the glove and baseball, she frowned. “And this must be for Tommy.”
“And you’re wearing a frown, so what’s that about?” I had loads of questions for her. “Who was that guy? And was that your mother? Why do they hate me? Did you tell them that I’m in a gang or something? Is that the problem they have with me without even getting to know me first?” I had to admit that some people wouldn’t like their family members dating a man in a biker gang. “I get it.” But Tequila was in a biker gang as well. “Wait. No, I don’t. You’re the president of an MC. And you can’t tell me that your MC is totally legit.”
“As far as my family is concerned, my MC is legitimate.” She put the things I’d gotten for her kid back into the bag. “The guy is my brother, and that was my mother. They’re – well, protective over me.”
It was more than just that. “Tequila, they looked at me with pure hatred in their eyes. Now, why would they do that to me? You must’ve told them something about me to make them form such a harsh opinion of me. And don’t say that it wasn’t personal. Your mother said it perfectly clear that I was not welcome in your home. So, why is that?”
“She’s hormonal is all. It’s the change of life stuff she’s going through right now.” Reaching over, she took my hand then pulled it to her heart. “Feel that?”