Primal Heat

by Piper Davenport

  “Yeah. Maybe I should talk to Luca first.”

  “If your brother gives me any shit—”

  “Auntie, we’re home!” Felix called, and I heard the door close indicating Luca was close behind.

  Felix appeared in the kitchen doorway and stalled. “Hi, Stoney.”

  “Hey, bud, how was your night?”

  He frowned. “Are you my auntie’s boyfriend now?”

  “No,” I rushed to say as Luca walked in. “We’re friends. All of us are friends. Right, Luca?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Luca said, scowling at Stoney. “We’ll go with that.”

  “Let’s get your jacket put up,” I said, unzipping Felix’s coat. “What did you guys do?”

  “We played glow golf,” Felix said. “And I had two hot dogs.”

  “Wow, two? That’s a lot.”

  “And fries.”

  “Whoa, fries, too?” I exclaimed. “That’s crazy talk.”

  He grinned. “It was so fun. Uncle Luca only said two swear words, so he owes you two dollars.”

  “I think that’s a record,” I said.

  “That’s what he said.”

  I ruffled his hair. “Did Uncle take you for dessert?”

  “He said you’d want me to have that here.”

  “I bet he did.”

  I’d made the stupid mistake of telling my brother that Stoney was coming by to talk about Felix, so I had a feeling he made sure they cut their night short.

  “Come on,” I said. “I’ve got ice cream in the freezer.”

  “Mint chocolate chip?” he asked, hopefully.

  “Of course it’s mint chocolate chip. I’m not a monster.”

  Felix laughed and followed me into the kitchen where we walked into a rather heated something between my brother and Stoney.

  “Fox wants some ice cream,” I said, glaring at both of them. “Would you like to join him?”

  “Yeah,” Luca said. “I could eat.”

  “Great. How about you get the bowls and the spoons, and I’ll get the ice cream and the scooper? Then we’re all going to sit here and chat. Like one big happy family.” I jabbed the scooper toward my brother. “Got it?”

  He raised his hands, then set the bowls on the island. “Yeah, sissy, I got it.”

  I scooped up the dessert and the four of us sat at the table and ate. Felix chatted between bites, filling us in on all the excitement of glow golf.

  Once he was done with his treat, I told him to get ready for bed, so he headed upstairs.

  “Okay, quickly,” I said. “You need to figure your crap out because this dick measuring contest is getting old.”

  Stoney’s mouth twitched slightly, while my brother just glared at me.

  “Got it, Noah?” I pressed.

  “Yeah, babe, got it.”

  “Luca?” I narrowed my eyes at Luca. He didn’t answer so I rolled my eyes. “His is probably bigger. Get over it.”

  Stoney’s head dropped back, and he roared with laughter while my brother let out a series of curses.

  “Uncle Luca!” Felix admonished. “You owe Auntie...,” he counted with his fingers, “...twelve dollars.”

  “Good math, bud,” Stoney said.

  “I thought you were getting ready for bed,” Luca growled, lifting Felix above his head.

  Felix squealed with laughter. “I forgot to take my shoes off.”

  While Luca kept Felix in his arms, I tugged off his shoes. “Up with you.”

  Luca lowered him to the ground and patted his butt. “See ya later, bud.”

  “’Night Uncle!” Felix ran up the stairs again.

  “I’ll walk you out,” Luca said to Stoney.

  “Or, you can go, and Stoney and I can finish our conversation,” I countered. “You know, the one you so obnoxiously tried to cut short.”

  “I’m not leaving you and Felix alone with a Howler, Bree.”

  “Jesus,” Stoney hissed.

  “Stop,” I warned, grabbing Luca’s arm. “Out.”

  “Bree—”

  “Get out of my house, Luca,” I ordered, pushing him toward the door.

  “Okay, okay, I’m goin’,” he said. “You call me in an hour or I’m comin’ back.”

  “God, you are such a pain in the butt,” I snapped, shoving him out the door.

  Hard to do considering he had six inches and at least forty pounds on me.

  “Love you, sissy,” he said, kissing my cheek, then jogging to his car.

  I closed and locked the door, turning to find Stoney in the foyer watching.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Just makin’ sure I didn’t have to step in.”

  I pointed a finger at him. “Don’t be part of the problem, Stoney. You keep poking the bear that is my brother, he’s gonna bite.”

  “Your brother doesn’t scare me.”

  “Well, maybe he should. A little, at least.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna head out. Let’s wait to talk to Felix. I’d rather do it when he’s not about to go to bed.”

  I nodded. “That’s probably wise.”

  “Thanks for dinner, Breezy.” He smiled, grabbing his jacket and helmet. “It was as good as you said it was. I’m officially ruined for any other lasagna.”

  I chuckled. “I’ll make it whenever you want it.”

  He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “I’ll hold you to that.”

  I blushed, stepping away from him slightly.

  “You wanna call Felix so I can say goodnight?”

  “Oh, sure.” I called up the stairs, and Felix came down, already in his PJs.

  Stoney hunkered down in front of him. “Just wanted to say goodnight. I’m gonna see you on Saturday, though, then next week, we’ll go to the Summit. Sound good?”

  “Yes,” he said, pumping his fist in the air. “Can I have pizza?”

  “You can have whatever you want.”

  “Awesome. Goodnight, Stoney.”

  “’Night, bud.”

  Felix ran back upstairs, and I watched Stoney climb on his bike and ride away.

  Crap.

  I was in trouble.

  Sabrina

  Saturday night, I loaded Felix into the car, set food and wine on the floor in front of him, and took off for the Howlers’ compound.

  I was admittedly nervous, but Stoney had assured me that everyone would be on their best behavior and there’d be other kids Felix’s age to play with.

  I pulled up to the gates, but this time, a biker was out front and opened them without me needing to roll down my window. He waved me through, and we drove down the road to where another biker was directing folks into parking spaces. Once I parked, I texted Stoney to let him know we were here, then I released my seatbelt.

  “Wait for me, honey,” I directed to Felix as he tried to get out of his booster. “I need to get the food first.”

  I slid out of my car and walked around to Felix’s side just as Stoney walked up to us.

  “Hey, Breezy.”

  “Hi.” I smiled, pulling Felix’s door open.

  Felix waved. “Hi, Stoney.”

  “Hey, bud. You ready to play some pinball?”

  “You have pinball?” he asked, his eyes wide.

  “We sure do.”

  Felix bounced in his seat as I pulled the shopping bags out of the back.

  “I brought you a lasagna,” I said. “You can either put it in the fridge and eat it this week, or freeze it for when you need something easy.”

  He smiled. Slowly. “You made me a lasagna?”

  “Yes. Is that okay?”

  “You have no idea how okay that is.”

  I shivered, feeling the heat creep up my neck. I handed him the bags and turned away. “Come on, Fox, you can get out now.”

  He jumped down and took my hand as I slid my purse over my shoulder. We followed Stoney inside, and I was a little taken aback by the sight of bikers, women, and children milling about. I didn’t see anyone s
moking inside, and it appeared whatever drinking they were doing was in moderation.

  “Sabrina!” Wyatt called, grinning as she walked toward me. “Welcome.”

  “Thanks, Wyatt. This is my nephew, Felix.”

  Felix held his hand out and Wyatt shook it. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too, sweetheart. Do you like hot dogs or hamburgers?”

  “Both,” he said.

  “Well, lucky for you, we happen to have both. And we have brownies and cake for dessert.”

  “You do?” he asked, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head.

  “Yeah, and if it’s okay with your aunt, you can have whatever you like,” Wyatt said.

  “It’s good with me,” I said.

  “Yes,” Felix said and did his little fist pump.

  “Let me put this stuff in the kitchen and I’ll show you where the food is,” Stoney said.

  We followed Stoney into the huge, industrial kitchen and he pulled out the lasagna, along with a six-pack of beer, a bottle of wine, and two bags of chips.

  “I didn’t really know what everyone liked, so I picked Fox’s favorites.”

  “Like the beer choice,” he said, setting it in the fridge.

  He grabbed a post-it note, and wrote ‘Stoney’ on it, adhering it to the lasagna and also putting it in the fridge.

  “You ready for meat?” he asked Felix, but I felt like it was a bit of a double entendre and I forced myself to keep breathing.

  “When can we play pinball?” Felix asked.

  “After you eat, honey,” I said.

  “Okay.”

  We followed Stoney out of the kitchen, and through some French doors to an enclosed patio with two large grills set up, along with several picnic tables. It was cold, so the freestanding outdoor heaters were on and made the area kind of cozy.

  “Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll get plates,” Stoney offered. “You want to start with a hot dog or a burger, Fox?”

  “Burger, please,” he said.

  “Cheese?”

  “Yes, please,” Felix said.

  “Me too, please,” I said, and I guided Felix to one of the empty tables.

  “Am I allowed a soda, Auntie?” Felix asked.

  “Let’s see what they have. If they have soda, it’s cool with me. Just no caffeine.”

  He was already going to be hopped up on sugar and adrenaline, I really didn’t need the kid caffeinated as well.

  “Yes,” he said, bouncing in his seat.

  I smiled, ruffling his hair. Stoney returned with three plates piled high with food, setting them on the table, then grabbing condiments and napkins.

  “He good with Sprite?” he asked.

  “Yeah, that’s great, thanks,” I replied.

  “What do you want?”

  “Water’s good. Thanks.”

  Stoney nodded, opening a cooler, grabbing a pop for Felix, water for me, and a beer for himself, then sliding onto the bench across from us.

  “This place is kind of amazing,” I said.

  Stoney smiled. “We like it.” He nodded to the grills. “We usually have those gates open, but with kids and their desire to climb all over our bikes, we close them for family nights.”

  “Smart.”

  “You’ll have to come back one day when it’s just us.”

  I studied my food.

  Oooh, lordy. It was a promise and it made me want to learn more about Stoney, particularly when it was just us.

  “Done!” Felix said. “Can we play pinball now?”

  I rolled my eyes. “How about we wait for Stoney to finish eating?”

  “Oh, right. Sorry.”

  “It’s all good, bud,” Stoney said. “I’m done. Let’s play.”

  Felix climbed off the bench and jumped up and down.

  “I’ll clean up,” I offered.

  “The machines are inside around the corner,” Stoney said.

  “Okay, thanks. Have fun.”

  They walked back inside, and I got rid of the trash and wiped down the table.

  “You’re new.”

  I turned at the sound of the deep voice and found myself really close to another ridiculously good-looking biker, a little older than Stoney, but no less gorgeous.

  “I am,” I said. “Stoney invited me. I’m Sabrina.”

  “Rocky.”

  The patch on his vest said, ‘VICE PRESIDENT.’

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “Why are you out here alone?” he asked.

  “Stoney took my nephew in to play pinball.” I frowned. “Am I not supposed to be out here alone?”

  “No, you’re good. Just don’t like to see a beautiful woman—”

  “Rocky, fuck off,” Stoney growled, and Rocky’s head turned slowly toward him.

  “That’s a ten-dollar word,” Felix said. “You have to pay Auntie ten dollars.”

  “Put it on my tab,” Stoney retorted, glaring at Rocky.

  “What’s tab?” Felix asked.

  I rushed over to them and raised an eyebrow at Stoney. “I’ll just take Felix inside while you two deal with whatever that was.”

  Stoney nodded, and I guided Felix back inside.

  “What’s tab?” Felix asked again.

  “Sometimes when you know you’re going to spend more money in a period of time, you can say ‘put it on my tab,’ so that you just pay for everything at once. It’s kind of a grown-up thing.”

  “So, Stoney was saying he’s going to swear more?” he asked, his mouth dropping open.

  I hunkered down in front of him. “He probably will, sweetness, and unfortunately, we can’t really stop him from doing it, because he’s an adult. He’s a lot like your uncle in that he gets angry sometimes and swears. We need to forgive him for that, but that doesn’t mean you get to swear, you got me?”

  “Yeah, Auntie, I got you.”

  “Do you want to show me the pinball machines?”

  “It’s Teddy’s turn,” he said, “so we might not be able to play right now.”

  “That’s okay,” I said. “Show me anyway.”

  He took my hand and walked me over to the pinball machines where a giant man in his forties was absolutely murdering the buttons that controlled the flippers and jumping up and down.

  I pulled Felix closer, but he tugged on my hand. “That’s Wyatt’s brother. He’s very nice, Auntie. Don’t be shy.”

  I nodded and we continued to the small group forming around Teddy.

  “Great job, Teddy!” a young man said, slapping the big man on his back.

  “Shotgun,” Teddy squeaked as he jumped up and down, clapping his hands and I realized he might have some challenges.

  “Right, sorry, bud. Great job, Shotgun.”

  Teddy looked over my head and grinned big. “Stoney! I beat my score.”

  “You did? That’s great, bud,” Stoney said, strolling toward us with a smile.

  Teddy ran over to him and hugged him, and Stoney slapped him on the back returning the hug. I was quickly realizing I had judged Stoney and his club way too harshly. There was way more to these men than I’d given them credit for, and I was a little embarrassed by my rush to judgment.

  “It’s your turn, Felix,” Teddy said, and the young man who’d been encouraging Teddy earlier, pulled a step stool over.

  “Thanks, Orion,” Felix said, stepping up to play.

  “I’m gonna get a beer,” Stoney said. “Want anything?”

  I shook my head. “No. I’m good, thanks.”

  Orion stepped over to me and smiled. “I’m Orion. My wife’s around here somewhere.”

  “Sabrina. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Your kid’s pretty awesome,” he said.

  “Agreed.” I chuckled. “I think I’ll keep him for a really long time.”

  A gorgeous brunette wrapped her arms around Orion from behind, holding a beer in one hand. “Beer, my liege.”

  “Thank you, wench.” Orion chuckl
ed, taking the bottle. “Baby, this is Felix’s aunt, Sabrina. Sabrina, my wife Raquel.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” I said.

  “You too.”

  “Orion!” a young voice bellowed.

  Orion turned with a grin and knelt down as a boy about Felix’s age made a run for him, almost knocking him over.

  “You’re gettin’ big, bud. Soon, I won’t be able to keep from fallin’ on my butt.”

  The kid laughed and eyed the pinball machine.

  “Come meet Felix, Sammy. Then you can play.” Orion led the boy over to the machine and they waited for Felix to finish. Once he did, Orion helped him off the stool and settled one hand on his shoulder, the other on Sammy’s. “Felix, this is Sammy. He’s eight and he’s Talon and Darcy’s kid. I figured you two might have a few things in common.”

  “Hi,” Felix said. “Do you want to play pinball?”

  “Yeah!” Sammy said, and Orion helped him onto the stepstool.

  I felt a gentle hand on my lower back and looked up to find Stoney next to me. “How you doin’?” he asked.

  “I’m good.”

  He smiled. “Good.”

  “I think you have some layers.”

  Stoney chuckled. “I’m a regular fuckin’ onion, baby.”

  “I love onions,” I whispered, and Stoney grinned big.

  “Stoney, do you wanna play?” Felix asked.

  “Nah, I’m good, bud. You guys keep goin’.”

  “I gotta potty,” he said, staring up at Stoney.

  “Let me show you where the bathroom is,” he said, and we headed down the hall.

  While we waited for Felix, Stoney and I were left alone in the hallway and I smiled up at him. “Thanks for this. He’s having a ball. Your club’s really nice.”

  “You’re both welcome here anytime.”

  “When do you want to take him out?”

  “You tell me. Wednesday is the only night that’s iffy for me. Club meetin’ and sometimes I’m required to be there.”

  “How about Thursday?” I suggested.

  “Works for me.”

  “We can tell him everything then if that’s okay.”

  “Yeah, it’s good.”

  I smiled. “Great.”

  “All done,” Felix announced, walking out of the bathroom.

  “Did you wash your hands?” Stoney asked.

  “Yep.” He held them up. “See?”