“Thank you, Tia. You’re the best friend a girl could ask for.”
“No need to thank me. I love spending time with my nephew. He kinda makes me want a little rugrat of my own. Text me later. Love you,” Tia says, ending the call.
I grab my purse, slide out of the booth and exit the diner waving a goodbye to Belle in the process. She looked so thankful yet again and it only makes me realize just how big of a heart Dixon has. Honestly, it makes me like him even more.
I head off in the direction he parked his bike and see he’s there, holding a helmet. “You ready for this, Zen?” He asks, seeming hopeful.
“As ready as I’m going to be. I’ve never been on a motorcycle.” I admit.
“Alright. First things first, put this on.” He unbuckles the helmet and waits for me to approach him, setting it on top of my head. Then he adjusts the straps so it’s snug on me, but not too tight.
“Oh boy, now I’m even more nervous.”
He chuckles for a second, “There’s no need to be nervous. I’ll take it easy. Promise.”
“Okay,”
Dixon puts one leg over the bike and mounts it, holding a hand out for me. “Now do what I just did.”
“Alright,” I nod, lifting my leg over the bike I settle onto the middle of the seat and see two metal type bars that stick out. I suppose those are where my feet go, so I put them there. “Uh, what do I hold onto?”
Dixon turns his head back toward me, “Zen, you’re so fuckin’ adorable. You hold onto me.” He takes ahold of my hands and pulls them around the front of his torso. “Hold on tight.”
He starts up the bike and backs up. When he pushes on the throttle I slide forward a bit until my entire body is basically pressing against him. “Zen, you’re gonna have to be glued to me. Alright?” He hollers over the sound of the motor.
“Okay!” I reply back, putting my chin on his shoulder.
He turns the throttle again and suddenly we’re off. While this is nerve wracking, it’s also exhilarating. Never in my life did I think I’d be on the back of a motorcycle, but I’m ready for any type of new experience.
We stay on the road for what I think is a few miles, but I’m too busy paying attention to the scenery. Being in a car and on the back of a bike are two totally different things. I’m able to appreciate the desert a bit more, smelling the fresh air, seeing the orangish-pink sun setting in the distance.
Before I realize it Dixon is pulling off down a dirt road. It has a bit of gravel, but not much. He slows down a bit and I see plenty of structures. As we venture closer, I notice a couple of them are stick-built houses while others are mobile homes. He continues forward until we’re parked up against a row of other bikes. He shuts the engine off, props up the kickstand and we both sit on the bike for a couple of minutes in silence.
I’m amazed because this already seems like some sort of community, not a crazy outlaw biker club. “You ready to go in?” Dixon asks me softly.
“As ready as I’m going to be,” I reply, taking his hand as I dismount the bike. He hops off and stands beside me, looking toward the front door.
Furrowing my brows, I can’t help but feel like something is off. “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, I’ve just never brought a girl to the club before. Not like this anyway.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, well. I’ve never brought a girl back to the club that wasn’t anythin’ more than a quick lay. That’s not what you are though, I hope you know that.”
“So, am I your first real relationship?” It feels weird to ask the question, but I need to.
“We’re in a relationship?” Dixon asks, wiggling his eyebrows.
“You first,” I laugh.
“We can get into that later, Zen. It’s a long story and I’m just... I’m havin’ such a good time with you and I don’t wanna put a damper on the evenin’.” Immediately I know Dixon has some sort of hurtful story. It might not be like what I had with Cornell, but, it’s obvious to me it’s troubling him.
“Okay, we can talk about it later. Now, let’s go inside before I get too nervous.”
“Aw, shucks. There isn’t a thing to be worried about,” Dixon chuckles, taking my hand in his he leads me inside.
Before we’re even through the door I hear the melody of Dear Agony by Breaking Benjamin. We walk through and a few heads turn in our direction. A couple sits on a couch with two babies in rockers. Meanwhile, a man is sitting on the couch across from them with a dark-haired woman sporting a smaller baby bump.
There’s a bar with a guy who looks like one of those fuck boys. He has tattoos all over his arms, neck and there’s a Latina woman sitting on the barstool. Then I see Sakura sitting next to her. She seems a bit shocked at my arrival and immediately slides off the stool, walking over to us.
“What in the world? I didn’t expect to see you here so soon.” Sakura says, pulling me into a hug.
“Yeah, well I wanted to come here and get a look at the club myself.” I inform her. I won’t tell Dixon yet, but I’m glad I came in unannounced. I feel like if they knew I was coming and they were doing something shady, it would’ve been the perfect opportunity for me to catch them. Although, all I see is a group of like-minded individuals spending time together.
“She wants to make sure we’re not big, bad criminals.” Dixon jokes, giving me a playful look.
I roll my eyes, “I didn’t word it like that.”
“You didn’t have to.” He retorts, obviously getting some amusement out of this.
Overall, I’m glad he brought me here. It gives me the opportunity to see the club tonight, and I can make a decision on whether or not I want to explore this with him.
Chapter Twelve
Always speak how you feel & never be sorry for being real
~ Unknown
Dixon
A slap hits my back and Hawk comes into my view. “What in the actual hell? I kinda thought you’d fuck this up. No lie.”
“Whoa. Thanks for the vote of confidence, fucker.” I grumble, sipping on an ice water. I have to drive Indra back to her car so I don’t wanna drink anything right now.
“I mean, you said you were looking for the real thing . . . but lots of guys say that.”
Rolling my eyes, I respond. “Not all men are like me, brother. I don’t just say shit without meanin’ it. You’ve known me long enough to understand that.”
“Yeah, just never thought I’d see the day. Your girl seems to be getting along with the ladies well.” I shift my gaze over to where the group of women are all congregated around Ivy and Kat. Indra is sitting next to the First Lady of the club herself. For the first time in a hell of a long time I’m seein’ Kat with a ridiculous smile on her face.
Raven and Sakura are over there, just like Tania and Camila now too. Hell, if I’m not mistaken every ol’ lady in the club is here minus Izzy. She’s been workin’ real hard these past few weeks according to Cobra.
“I’m hopin’ she’ll give me a chance after tonight. Never had to prove my worth to a woman, but she was a ball of nerves about the club . . . so I offered for her to come out here and take a look for herself.”
“Wow. Really?” He asks.
“Yep. I think she thought we were doin’ some illegal shit or somethin’.”
“Yeah, well we do, but the women don’t know about it.” Hawk replies.
“Exactly. We only do shit like that when it’s necessary, but we don’t skate the line of being innocents either.”
“Ain’t that the fuckin’ truth.” Hawk cackles.
A set of boots hitting the floor tells me someone else is coming our way and Damon comes up. “Your girl is a nice one. Where’d you find her?”
Now Hawk is smilin’ like the fuckin’ Devil. “I didn’t find her. Hawk and Sakura set me up with her.”
“No shit, really?” Damon chuckles.
“Yep. Indra works at the jewelry store where I got Raven’s ring and t
he girls’ their jewelry.” Hawk tells him.
“She’s also a yoga instructor,” I inform them.
Hawk and Damon share a sinful glance. “Fuck, she must be flexible as can be.” Damon’s the one who says it, and Hawk mutters something I can’t make out in response.
“Wouldn’t know,” I reply.
“You haven’t hit that?” Hawk is the one who questions.
“Nope. I haven’t. It’s not that I don’t want to, but Indra . . . I’m the first man she’s dated since her husband was killed so I wanna take shit slow with her. I’m afraid if I rush it, everythin’ will be fucked up.”
“Shit. Good on you for respecting that.” Damon says.
“Yeah,” I mutter, starin’ over at her, wonderin’ how in the fuck she had the strength to get through it. If it were me, I don’t think I ever would’ve been that strong.
“How’d he pass?” Hawk asks.
I keep my voice low, not wanting her to overhear and get upset with me. “He was drivin’ and they got into an accident.”
“Shit, that’s the worst.” Damon mutters, shakin’ his head.
“Yeah, and she has a two-and-a-half-year-old named Jalen.” I say.
“You’re dating a girl with a kid?” Hawk says. Obviously, he didn’t know she was a single mother.
“Yeah. I like kids.”
Hawk makes a funny face, but he can’t say shit ‘cause I play Connect Four with Danica and Bridget all the time. Lemme tell you, those girls are good at kickin’ my ass. “Yeah, I know you do. The girls love it when you play board games with them. They call you their favorite biker uncle.”
I chuckle, “Those girls are such a joy. If their fuckin’ ol’ man wasn’t in jail I would’ve driven up there to break every bone in the fucker’s body.”
“You and me both,” Hawk growls. Bridget and Danica are Raven’s half-sisters. They share the same biological father, and accordin’ to what Raven’s told us, he skipped out on her when she was a kid. Legit left his fuckin’ family and started a new life. Raven shared how she couldn’t remember much about him and when she and Hawk were on their way to Vegas she ran into her father in the airport and everythin’ came rushin’ back. Imagine that shit. She remembered every single thing. Turns out her biological father wasn’t a gem. He was one of those sick fucks who like to feel up lil’ girls. So, if he ever gets released, the Reapers MC are gonna pay that motherfucker a visit he won’t ever forget. Long story short, Raven was able to get guardianship over her little sisters because their mom passed away.
“You heard anythin’ about the Lucifer’s Heretics?” I ask Damon, figurin’ I should change the subject.
“I haven’t heard a peep. I’m not dumb enough to believe nothing is going on, but I won’t worry until we have to. We still need to be cautious about Sakura’s father. From what I can tell, he believes his wife is still alive. Eduardo agrees, saying all of his intel is reporting he’s in Tokyo, pissed at Sora for galivanting around, but thinks she’s just doing typical Yakuza shit.”
“How long do you think it’ll be before one of her people picks up on the fact a whole group of them went missing?” Hawk asks.
Damon shrugs, “No idea. We’re only focusing on making it look like Sora’s still alive. Lucian’s been doing a great job at it. I’m just glad we have a connection with the Steele brothers and they have one of the best hackers in the fuckin’ world on their side.”
“Bet Mouser is too,” Hawk adds. “Losin’ Sakura would wreck him like nothing else.”
“Yeah, he loves her so much.” I speak up.
“They make quite the team. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m thinking about patching him in soon. He’s really proven himself over the last few months. Hell, the last fuckin’ year. I’ve never seen a prospect like him. Most are nervous, shaking like fuckin’ scared little dogs. Not Mouser though.” Damon mutters lowly, lookin’ around to see if anyone’s eavesdropping.
“The Reapers are in his blood. Of course, he’d be good at this.” I state. Kade, Zane and Damon are all good at this. Honestly, I think they have some sort of natural ability because they were born into MCs. Not that the rest of us suck or anything, but you know.
“Now, don’t take this the wrong way, but isn’t it gonna suck not having someone to do the shit work like cleanin’ off our bikes and whatnot?” Hawk says. I roll my eyes at the bastard. Of course, he’s thinkin’ about how not havin’ someone to boss around is gonna be frustratin’.
“Well, now that you say it. Zane gave me a heads up we may have a new potential prospect comin’ our way.”
“Now this is some interesting stuff. Give us the deets, Prez.” Hawk smirks, leanin’ up against the wall.
“You two know how the Skulls Renegade MC may have had involvement with the FBI a bit, right?”
“Are you talkin’ about how we’re not supposed to know Elena was a field agent?” I ask. Elena is Reed’s ol’ lady. He’s the Prez of the Skulls Renegade MC. She came in to take down their club years ago because everyone thought they were into human trafficking when they were actually buying women to save them from the alternative. Anyway, word is Elena fell hard for him and left the job she loved to be with the man she loved.
“Why do I even bother telling you this shit,” Damon grumbles. “You heard about what went down with that Kristie chick when Bull and Alexa were first a thing, right?”
“Not really, but I don’t need the details. Did they break up?” I state.
“No, they didn’t break up. Fuck, but yeah, you’re right. It doesn’t matter. Kristie is Elena’s best friend. They go way back. Now Alexa isn’t much of a fan of Kristie, but word on the street is Kristie wants to try out the MC life. She’s seen how other people can be happy with it and she’s about ready to put her handler hat down.”
If I’m not mistaken, federal agents have to be in their 50s to retire. “How old is Kristie? No fuckin’ way she can be in her fifties.”
“Did I say she was in her fifties? I think she’s in her mid or late thirties. Why?”
“She retirin’, or?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no. I don’t think so. Why?” Damon asks.
“It seems a bit odd to me she’d be wantin’ to get in the club when she’s probably within fifteen years of retiring. All of that hard work, just goin’ down the drain? I don’t like it, Prez.”
“Yeah, well you don’t have to like it. I’m the one makin’ the decision, along with Zane.” Damon states, lookin’ to both Hawk and I.
I glance over and see Indra yawnin’ and figure it’s my time to go. “I’d better go get this lady back. She has a little one to put to bed,” I state, walkin’ away from Damon and Hawk. Indra smiles widely when her eyes fall on me. “Now, I apologize for stealin’ Indra away from you ladies but I’d best get her back to her car before the little man of her house and I get off on the wrong foot.”
The women all giggle sweetly. “As long as you promise to bring her back,” Kat speaks up.
Shit. Kat isn’t the type of woman who takes a likin’ to anyone this quickly. Indra must’ve really made an impression. “As long as she wants to,” I say, meeting my eyes with Indra’s.
“I believe you might be seeing me for quite a while,” Indra immediately tells the women, and they all bust out into one of those adorable ‘awes’. She stands up and comes over to me, taking my hand. “See you ladies another time.”
We both say our goodbyes and make our way out of the clubhouse. I really do need to get her back to her car before it gets too late. I can only imagine how badly she wants to put Jalen to bed.
Chapter Thirteen
“It all comes down to the last person you think of at night, that’s where your heart is.”
~ Unknown
Indra
It’s just past ten in the morning and Jalen finally went down for his morning nap. Normally he fights me tooth and nail before he lays down, but he was up most of the night. My poor little man. He didn’t have
a fever or anything like that, so I’ll just figure it’s nothing more than being a bit restless. I have nights like that too, where I’m tossing and turning, unable to get much rest.
Honestly, I could go for a nap too but I have a Skype call with my parents. They usually make time for me around their lunch hour on my one day off every week, but they had a meeting cancelled and texted me a few minutes ago saying I could video chat them earlier.
I’m finally finishing up some of my morning chores. The dishes just finished getting washed and while I let them dry, I folded the laundry and put it away. The glass and plates are probably still hot so I’m going to wait until after my call to put them away. Fingers crossed Jalen is still tuckered out. The more he sleeps, the less cranky of a toddler I’ll have.
I go over to the small circular wooden table in my eat in kitchen and open up my laptop. After I type in my password and the laptop starts waking up, I see if I need to charge it. Luckily, I don’t think it needs to be charged before the call. So, I pull up Skype and call my mother. My father typically goes into her office for the chat. Paralegals don’t usually have offices, but I guess that’s the luxury of being a partner’s spouse.
“Hello sweetheart. How are you and our precious boy doing?” Immediately I can tell she’s had an amazing morning. She’s so cheerful, and I’m over here looking like I could drown in some coffee.
My hair is sticking up in every direction, pulled back by a thick headband. I don’t have an ounce of makeup on, and I’m sure the bags under my eyes are more than evident. “Hey. We’re alright. Jalen had a rough night, so he’s catching up on some sleep right now. Me on the other hand, well, moms don’t get a break. I just finished doing some housework.”
“Oh sweetie. You should try to relax a bit too. You need to take a break sometime, you know? You’ll work yourself into the ground.” She’s always trying to get me to quit either the jewelry store or the yoga studio. They offer to send Jalen and I money, but I don’t want to take it. I figure I should be able to make it with working two jobs, and while we barely scrape by, I don’t need a handout from my parents.
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