by LeAnn Ashers
I suck in my lips, trying to control my laughter—she just gave him Wilder’s number. This is going to be epic.
We throw out our trash and hurry to the door. I look back one last time to see the guy mouthing something to me.
I cover my mouth, trying not to laugh right now. “He just mouthed to me to check my phone.”
She snorts with laughter, and we hurry to the vehicle before he finds out.
Wilder
Unknown: You’re beautiful.
What the fuck?
My phone starts ringing, and Joslyn’s picture pops up on the screen. “Hey, Baby.”
“Hey.” I can hear the smile in her voice. “Brittany gave out my number to a guy that asked me out—just a heads up.”
Well, that makes sense then. “I got the text, I was wondering.”
She laughs and tells Brittany that I got the text. “I will see you in a couple hours, Wilder. Bye.”
“Bye, Sweetheart.”
She hangs up, and I reopen the text. I am going to have fun with this fucker.
Me: Thank you.
A few seconds later, he replies.
Unknown: Meet me now, let me take you to dinner.
Me: Where?
Unknown: Jabos Grill.
Me: Send me a pic of you.
Unknown: Anything for you.
What a creep.
He sends a picture of himself and I laugh. This guy is a puny fucker. “Derek, want to meet a guy that asked Joslyn out on a date?”
“Fuck yeah.” He follows me out of the clubhouse.
As I’m leaving the clubhouse, Joslyn drives in. She rolls her window down. “Where are you going?”
“To meet the guy that asked you out.”
Her mouth opens, and she looks at Brittany and back at me. “Are you serious?”
I lean in, kissing her, and then drive away, living her speechless.
* * *
When I walk into the restaurant, the fucker is in a booth near the back. I wave at him, and he looks around as if there were someone behind him. I grab the chair directly in front of him, and his eyes widen as I sit down.
“Can I help you?”
“You asked me out, remember?”
His mouth opens and closes a few times. “Look man, I guess the chick I asked out earlier gave me the wrong number. Fucking bitch.”
The fuck he say?
“That was my woman who gave you my number.”
“Oh fuck,” he says over and over, as he slowly stands up. “I didn’t mean...” He shakes his head. He is standing up now, and I notice the wet spot in front of his pants.
The fucker pissed his pants; this has to be a new record. “You have me beat.” Derek sighs, handing me a hundred-dollar bill. We started this bet years ago, and he has won up until now.
“Nice pants.” I chuckle, and he puts his hands in front of his pants to hide himself. He runs past me out of the restaurant.
“That was fun.” I laugh, and Derek is holding his stomach from laughing so hard. When it comes to Joslyn, I can’t even stand this shit. I don’t even like guys looking at her for that matter. This guy approached her, asked her out.
Which is why I had to show up: she is mine.
Joslyn
A Couple of Hours Later
I cannot believe Wilder is going to meet the guy who asked me out. That is hilarious. Wilder is crazy, but I have to admit I like that possessive side of him.
I put the cakes in the oven and lean back against the counter, watching Brittany peek around the corner into the main room to stare at Derek. “Why don’t you just ask him out?”
She scoffs at me and goes back to staring at Derek. “I am not that brave, Joslyn. If he wants me, he will come for me. I do not chase anyone, I just drive them crazy.” She gives me a sly look. Like I said earlier, I strive to have her confidence. “You will die when you see the Originals.”
“Why?”
She shakes her head, clutching her chest. “Because all five of them, besides Tristan, are silver foxes. They are the hot older men who were the original bad boys.”
I get what she is saying. Smiley is one hot man for being an older guy. Age has done him very well and his woman, Adeline, is just as beautiful. She is like a ray of sunshine, absolutely beautiful and sweet.
They are two different people, but they fit. He is the dark to her sweet, but that does not mean that Adeline has had it easy. I heard her story, and it is not the best. Honestly, I don’t know how she is even standing, but her strength is unwavering.
“Now Tristan’s dad is one of the Originals. Tristan just got out of the marines and went along on the trip with the Originals before he joined the MC full time like the rest of the guys. Tristan is fucking hot too.” She does not look up from the crack in the doorway.
I hope she and Derek both get their heads out of their butts so they can be happy. They would be the cutest couple. She is the exact opposite of Derek—he is quiet and broody, and she is goofy and loud.
“Joslyn, are you in here?” Wilder pops around the corner.
“Here I am.” I smile, taking a step closer to him. He wraps his arms around me, kissing the top of my head.
Is it bad that I missed him already? The moment that Wilder declared me his, it changed the game between us; we are closer and more open. We aren’t in that weird place between friends and something more. Now I know where we stand.
“The guys are here, let me introduce you to them.”
I throw the dish towel I was holding onto the counter, and Wilder pulls me close, leading me out of the kitchen. Six men are standing in the middle of the huge room.
The opening to the clubhouse is really one huge room that is sectioned off. There are more rooms in the back, including a playroom for kids. The main room has a huge living room section and dining room section where they have dinners.
When we approach the men, they all turn at once to look at us. I bite my lip to hold back my gasp at all of these beautiful men at once; I can see why Brittany acted the way she did.
They are gorgeous.
One of the men, who is standing directly in front of me, is staring at me hardcore, a staring-a-hole-through-me kind of deal. This man is around six-foot-four with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes that are similar to my own in color and shape.
“Joslyn, this is Walker Brewer.”
I smile slightly, sticking out my hand for the man in front of me to shake. He takes my hand gently. “Nice to meet you, Joslyn.” He smiles back. He really is handsome, and I can tell the guy standing beside him is his son.
Did he say his last name was Brewer? “My last name is Brewer, how ironic.”
Walker jumps like I shocked him, and he takes a step closer. I immediately burrow into Wilder’s side.
“What is your whole name?” His voice is really deep, like he has something in his throat. He is looking at every single detail in my face.
“Joslyn Diane Brewer.” My voice is barely above a whisper. I am getting really uncomfortable, and Wilder’s grip is tightening on me.
“What is your mom’s name?
“What the fuck is wrong with you, man?” Wilder says, moving me farther back.
Walker’s face softens. “What’s your mom’s name, Sweetheart?”
“Trisha Hensley.”
“Fuck!” Walker’s hands go to the back of his head, and he looks absolutely furious.
“Wilder?” I whisper. I look around the room to see everyone watching this go down with the same confused expressions.
Walker stops pacing and looks at me once more. “How old are you and where were you born?”
“I am twenty-three and I was born three counties over, in Roberts County.”
“Who is your father?” He whispers this part, and he has moved directly in front of me once more.
I shake my head. “I never met him, my mom told me that he never knew about me.”
Walker clenches his eyes closed, and Tristan stares at his dad and then
at me. Wilder is holding me so tightly my feet barely touch the ground. I can tell he is pissed off. I am just confused.
Walker is a big scary guy, but he looks defeated right now. “I believe you’re my daughter.”
11
Joslyn
Did he really just say that? Did he just say he believes that I am his daughter? I shake my head. Is this really happening? This is too crazy.
I start laughing. “Good prank, guys,” I tell them, but nobody laughs along with me. Everyone is just looking at both of us, trying to see a resemblance, I guess. “I don’t understand.”
“Let’s go talk in one of the rooms...”
Tristan heads to a side room before his dad can even finish this sentence. Walker follows and I am just standing there, watching. This is not happening. I rub my chest. My heart hurts—if this is a joke it’s very cruel. A father is all I ever wanted in life when I was growing up—this is not funny.
“Joslyn?” Wilder turns me around to face him. His eyes narrow and they are filled with tears.
“What is happening, Wilder? I don’t understand,” I whisper, but he just looks confused and sad.
Sighing, I pull Wilder along with me, following the man who claims to be my father.
Wilder drags out a seat beside Walker, sits down, and pulls me onto his lap. I am glad. I need him at this moment.
Maybe he is thinking of the wrong Trisha? I reach into my pocket and take out my phone. “This is my mom.” I slide the phone across the table, and he takes it.
“Yeah, that is the Trisha I was thinking of.” He rubs his face roughly.
“Can you explain why you think I am your daughter?” Tristan does look like me. We have the same hair and eye color and cheek definition.
“I met your mom twenty-four years ago, and we had a fling for like three months. She ended up pregnant the moment we broke up. I wasn’t going to get back together with her, but I told her I would raise my baby, and three days later she told me she had an abortion.” He looks deadly as he says the last part. “I have never been that mad at anyone in my life. She killed my baby.”
My heart sinks. I’ve always wanted to think my mom had some redeeming qualities, but I don’t think she does. She is a mean, vile person who has done nothing but cause pain and misery for everyone but herself. Looking out for herself has always been her first priority.
“My mom told me that my father didn’t know about me. She said there wasn’t any use, he wouldn’t want me. She would never give me his name. I was born three states over, but I know we moved to Kentucky when I was a baby.”
Wilder kisses my cheek softly, his hand running up and down my back, comforting me. Walker watches Wilder’s movements.
“Would you be okay with a paternity test?”
I nod immediately. This is the only way to get an answer to this mess. “That would be fine. Doesn’t it take a long time to get the results though?” I twist my hands in my lap. I want the answers as soon as possible, and waiting seems impossible right now.
“A few hours, we have some connections.” Walker is still mad. He takes out his phone to make the calls and walks out of the room, leaving just me, Wilder, and Tristan.
The silence is a killer. The room must be soundproof, because I cannot hear anyone in the main room. Turning around in Wilder’s arms, I lay my head on his chest, needing a moment to myself to wrap my head around what is happening.
This is wild. I never expected this to happen. Tristan walks out the door and, rising, I look at Wilder. His jaw is clenched hard, his body tense.
“Wilder?”
“I am fucking pissed. If he was not my MC brother, I would have him lying on his ass for making you upset.”
“Everything is okay, Wilder, you cannot protect me from everything.”
“I may not be able to protect you from everything, but I sure as shit will try to.”
I smile, kissing his cheek before pressing my forehead against his cheek. He is crazy, but he is Wilder. I wouldn’t want him any other way.
Walker walks back into the room. “The person with the DNA test will be here in a few minutes.” He sits down.
What do I say? What do I do? These questions flow through my mind.
“Joslyn, I am going to be fucking blunt with you, I believe you’re my daughter,” Walker says.
I move away from Wilder. “We have the same eyes.”
Walker nods and stares directly into my eyes, smiling happily for the first time, and I smile back.
What if he is my dad? Where do we go from there? Will he want me to be a part of his life?
“How have you been, Wilder?” Walker asks.
“This is fucked up.”
I laugh at Wilder, and I feel his lips move as he smiles against my neck. Walker laughs along with me.
Tristan walks into the room a few minutes later, followed by a woman carrying a case. She sets it down on the table and starts taking stuff out.
“How long will it take for the results?”
She doesn’t look up from her stuff; I guess this woman is strictly business. “A few hours once the payment is sent.”
“The payment has been sent,” Walker tells her.
She swabs my mouth and puts the swab in a test tube. Then she moves to Walker, does the same thing, and walks out.
Well, I guess that is that.
“Now we wait.” Walker walks back out of the room to join the party.
I groan. “I hate waiting, I am not patient.”
Wilder shakes with laughter. “Oh Baby, I know that.”
I smack his arm gently, and he retaliates by smacking the side of my butt. This causes a flat-out war. I pinch his thigh and he laughs. He grips my arms so I can’t do anything but be at his mercy.
He leans forward. “Don’t you dare,” I hiss.
He presses his beard against my neck, rubbing and tickling me. I am extremely ticklish. You can just poke my neck and I am laughing.
I throw my head back laughing, trying to dislodge him, and he just does it ten times worse. At this point I can barely breathe, and I am nearly peeing myself.
A few more seconds pass and he gives me a break, kissing my lips tenderly, my hand pressed against his cheek. “Thanks for that.”
He kisses my cheek next. “Anything for you, Baby, I love to hear you laugh.”
This is a perfect example of him being the sweetest man alive. I do not know any other man who would say that or do the things he does. I am a very lucky girl, that is one thing I know for certain.
How I got a man like Wilder in my life is a question I know I will be asking myself a lot. Someone above was really gunning for me to be happy. I am beyond thankful, and I will not take Wilder for granted. I know we are in the early stages of whatever this is, but I am hopeful about what we could be one day. Anyone would be. There is nothing wrong with seeing a future with someone; anyone in my shoes would think about these things. Wilder is the perfect man—any woman can see that.
“Let’s go and join the party, there is no point sitting here.”
“You’re right.”
Wilder stands up with me and turns me so I am facing him. “Doll, no matter what, I am here for you.”
Too sweet. I lean forward and hug him tightly. God, he smells so good. “Let’s go join the party.” I let go of him reluctantly.
Wilder
Well, if this isn’t a mess. I never would have thought, in a million years, that this would happen. The fucked-up thing is they do look alike. Their hair, eyes, and facial features look similar.
I want Joslyn to have family, but I don’t like this shit screwing with her and making her upset. She has dealt with a lot of that in her life.
If she does end up being his daughter, I hate the fact that she had the life she did, because it could have been different. She could have had a dad who would have loved her and taken care of her.
Walker is a good man. I have grown up around him; Tristan and I are the same age. Lane, Travis, Tristan,
and I all grew up together. Speaking of Travis, where is he?
Joslyn walks out of the room with me on her heels, and that is when I see Travis walking into the main room.
“I am going to go help Brittany and the girls,” Joslyn tells me.
“I will be right here, Baby.”
She smiles, walking away. She is fucking strong—she was just hit with a huge curveball, and she is letting it roll off of her like it’s nothing.
Travis stands beside me, staring at everyone in the room, ready for anything. One thing about Travis is he is loyal to a fault.
“Shit hit the fan, Travis.” I finally let my anger come through. I didn’t want Joslyn to see that shit.
“What is it?”
I tell him everything that went down, and he stares at Walker and Tristan. My guess is that he’s looking for a resemblance. It’s there.
“Fuck man, this is a mess.” He laughs—of course he laughs. This is Travis. He will laugh while killing your ass.
Tristan walks over and stands beside me. “Well, this is a mess,” he says glumly. We are all confused as hell.
“How did you meet her, Wilder?” Tristan asks.
“I will explain that later.”
Tristan grins at me and nods toward his father. “If she does end up being my sister and my father’s daughter, you are fucked.”
Walker is a crazy motherfucker, that is for certain, but there is one thing he doesn’t need to worry about, and that is Joslyn. I will take care of her and protect her with my life, and she will not have a worry if I can help it.
I look Tristan up and down, getting pissed. I am not in the mood to be fucked with right now. “It changes nothing between with me and Joslyn, she could be your sister but she is my woman. Get that through your skull now.”
Tristan grins. “I was just fucking with you.”
Travis laughs, like this is the best day of his life. Joslyn walks out of the kitchen and looks at me then at Tristan. The anxiety is eating her up; I can see that from a mile away.
Joslyn
A Few Hours Later
From the corner of my eye, I see Walker on his phone. My stomach clenches and my hands start shaking, not knowing what that phone call could be. It could be the results we have been waiting for, or it could totally be nothing.