She laughed and gave me a hug.
“Are you sure you should be wearing that?” I asked, following her into the living room.
“You sound just like mom,” she said. “Relax. Nothing is going to happen to my necklace. If I do lose it, somehow, it’s insured.”
“Okay.”
When we reached the living room, my mother was already there. She was sitting with another woman I assumed was Frannie.
“Terin!” she cried, jumping up from the sofa. “Look at you. You look so pretty!”
“Thanks mom,” I said as she pulled me into her arms. “You look very nice yourself.”
She stepped back and smiled down at her blue jeans and white, satin blouse. “Thanks. Frannie helped me pick it out. By the way,” she turned to the other woman. “By the way, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Frannie. This is Terin.”
The other woman stood up and we shook hands. She was about my height, with medium length blonde hair and laughing eyes.
“I’ve heard so much about you,” said Frannie, giving me a warm smile.
“Oh, crap,” I said, smiling back. “I hope she didn’t talk your ear off too badly.”
“Not at all. It’s been nice hearing about you and Torie. My own daughter has been away for the past three weeks and listening to your mother talk about the two of you has been refreshing.”
“Where is she? Vegas?” I asked.
“Yes,” said Frannie. “She was married there a couple days ago.”
“You don’t look too happy about it,” I said, noticing that her smile had waned.
She sighed. “Don’t get me wrong… I’m happy for her, just a little perturbed that they didn’t invite me to their wedding.”
“Didn’t she say it was a spur of the moment thing?” asked my mother.
“Yes, and… they’re supposed to be renewing their vows when they get back into town. I guess I’m just old fashioned,” said Frannie. “I’d have liked to have been at their original wedding.”
“What’s your daughter’s name?” I asked.
“Jessica,” she replied. “Jessica Stone, now,” she replied.
“The bus is here!” cried Torie, staring out the window. She turned and smiled at us. “Are you ready for a ‘what happens on the party bus, stays on the party bus’ kind of night?”
“Oh my,” said Frannie, smiling again. “I have a feeling I’m going to need some aspirin tomorrow morning.”
“That makes all of us,” said my younger sister. “If you do it right, that is. Let’s go ladies!”
***
There were fifteen of us all together, including mom and Frannie. As we stepped onto the bus, we were given cocktail mugs with colorful penis straws, soft feather boas, and tiaras.
“Okay everyone!” called out my sister’s best friend, Amanda, as we put on our boas and tiaras. “You’re all getting a scavenger hunt activity sheet, too.” She explained that we would get points for everything that we did on the list and at the end of the night, someone would get a prize.
I stared at some of items that we could do to earn points, including dancing on a table, getting a stranger to French kiss you, and dirty dancing with two guys at the same time.
“Looks like I’m going to fail this challenge,” I said dryly.
“Don’t be a party pooper,” said Torie.
“I’ll try not to be,” I said, staring at another activity. “Give your panties to a stranger? Does that mean we have to have sex with them?”
“Only if you want to,” said Amanda.
“Oh my,” said Mom, pointing to the list. “Am I reading this right? Get a stranger to buy you a Blow Job?”
“That’s a shot,” I told her.
She laughed. “Oh. I’d like to see what that looks like.”
“It’s actually pretty yummy,” said Amanda.
“So is the shot,” said my sister, winking.
“Torie,” laughed Mom. “Keep that to yourself!”
“You wanted to come, Mom,” she said, smiling. “You can only blame yourself!”
“Speaking of coming, we have male dancers meeting us in two hours,” said Amanda, looking at her watch with a devilish smile.
“Then let the party begin!” hollered Torie, raising a bottle of champagne.
Two night clubs and several cocktails later, most of us were feeling no pain. Including my mother and Frannie, who I could tell were having a blast. In fact, by the time we were leaving for the next bar, they had almost all of their activities checked on the scavenger hunt list.
“I’m so glad that you joined us!” hollered my mother to Frannie over the music.
“Me too!” she hollered back. Her tiara was crooked and her lipstick was smeared. But she wore a big smile. “I haven’t had this much fun since I was in college!”
“Where are we going next?” I asked the bus driver. I’d been nursing most of my drinks, knowing that we still had a long night. I also knew that if my sister and mother were going to be getting drunk, one of us had to keep their wits together.
“Rumors,” he replied.
Thirty-nine
Cole
As part of my reward for getting patched, the guys brought me to an upscale gentleman’s club, in downtown Jensen, called Goddess. Knowing that there was a dress-code, we left our cuts behind and wore black, silk seersucker shirts with the Gold Vipers emblem etched on the back. They were used for formal occasions by patched club members only.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t any alcohol allowed at Goddess, so after my second lap dance, we headed across the street to Rumors for a couple of beers.
“Isn’t this the place that your ex-girlfriend works at?” asked Tail as we walked across the street. There were seven of us – Tank, Raptor, Chopper, Horse, Tail, Hoss, and myself. Grover had borrowed a limo from someone who owed him a favor, and he’d dropped us off at the strip club. He was now on stand-by, waiting for further instructions.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“You’ve been here before?” he asked.
“A couple of times. It’s really not my thing,” I answered. “What about you?”
“I’ve been here a number of times and usually get lucky. In fact,” he grinned. “I have a hotel room on reserve up the road. Just in case.”
“Won’t you get charged if you don’t use it?” asked Chopper, walking next to us.
“Believe me, before the night is over, it will be used. Hell,” he grinned at me. “Even better idea, since this is your night, I say we get you laid first.”
“I’m game for that,” I answered, especially after having two strippers crawl all over me at Goddess. Funny thing was, the first one I’d selected, looked almost like Terin, only with fake tits. I didn’t realize it until Tank had made a comment about it. Afterward, I selected a blonde with tats all over her body, wanting to get my mind off of the detective before I did something stupid. Like drunk texting her later.
“One thing I hate about these places,” said Tank, when we walked into the main part of Rumors, which was dark, packed, and so loud we had to holler at each other. “All they play is fucking pop tunes.”
“Women love dancing to this shit,” said Tail, winking at two girls who were already checking us out.
“Tell me about it,” said Raptor. “Adrianna has it blasting through the house every fucking morning.”
“Why do you let her if it irritates you?” asked Tail.
“Because she isn’t a morning person and if I take that away from her, then we’ll both be irritated,” he replied.
“You learn to pick your battles,” said Tank.
“Another reason why I’m single,” said Tail. “My house. My music.”
“That’ll change,” said Tank, smirking. “You just wait.”
“I hope that doesn’t happen until I’m forty,” said Tail. “Until then, I’m going to fuck all the girls you can’t and tell you how great it is.”
Tank and Raptor both flipped him off.
“This place is crazy,” said Hoss, frowning at the crowd. “Maybe we should just go to Griffin’s?”
“No. This night is for Ice. He’s not going to get laid at Griffin’s. At least not by anyone new,” said Tank.
“He’s right. Relax Hoss. You might even get laid in this place,” said Tail.
Hoss’s eyes lit up. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have a couple of beers. Hell, we’re already here.”
“Damn, I’m so horny I can barely see straight,” said Tank as we made our way through the crowd and toward the bar.
“Oh my God, you guys are Gold Vipers? Can I get a selfie with one of you?” squealed some chick in a pair of jean shorts that had more holes than fabric.
“Here, sweetheart,” said Hoss. “You can take one with me.”
The chick looked at me and pointed. “I was thinking him. No offense. I’m trying to make my Ex jealous.”
“And he wouldn’t be jealous of me?” asked Hoss, looking offended.
“You’re just not might type. Danny would never believe that I’d hook up with you. Sorry,” she said and then looked at me again. “Would you mind?”
“No,” I said, amused. I moved next to her. “So, you’re trying to make your Ex jealous, huh?”
“Yeah. The bastard cheated on me,” she said, holding her phone toward us. “I want him to see what he’s missing.”
I slid my arm around her waist. “Let’s do this right then,” I said, pulling her closer. I bit her lightly on the ear as she snapped the photo.
“Thanks,” she replied, shivering. I could see fresh goosebumps on her arms as I pulled away.
“My pleasure,” I said.
She checked the picture and then noticed Tail. “How about you. Can I get one with you as well?”
“Sure, but instead of playing these games, why don’t you just fuck him out of your system?” said Tail, putting his arm around her. “They say that works sometimes.”
She stared up at him and smiled. “Are you offering?”
“Sure, why not?” he answered. “But only if you buy me a drink first. Then you can have your way with me.”
“Fair enough,” she said, dragging him toward the bar.
“That lucky, fucking bastard,” said Hoss, staring at them in disbelief. “Not only is he going to get laid, but she’s paying for his booze, too.”
“He’s something else,” said Tank, smirking. “I would have gotten slugged saying something like that.”
“Me too,” said Raptor before motioning toward the bartender. He ordered a round of beers and took out his credit card.
“I’ll got the next round,” said Tank.
“Damn right you will,” said Raptor.
“Hoss. Check those two out. Maybe you can make a Hoss sandwich,” said Tank, pointing toward the dance floor. There were two chicks grinding against each other.
“I’ll even supply the Hossy sauce,” Hoss answered, wiggling his eyebrows.
We all laughed.
“Holy shit,” said Tank, staring in disbelief toward the other end of the dance floor. “Is that Frannie?”
We all turned to find Tank’s stepmom dancing with a group of women, all of them wearing tiaras and boas.
“Looks like a bachelorette party,” said Raptor, handing out beers as the bartender gave them to him.
“That’s right. She mentioned it to me the other day and I completely forgot that it was tonight,” said Tank just as Tail walked back over to us, alone.
“What happened?” I asked. “You were just about to make use of the hotel room.”
“Apparently, her Ex just showed up. If I’m going to get laid, I’d rather find someone without baggage,” he said, ordering himself a beer.
“No shit,” I replied and then saw a familiar face on the dance floor.
Terin.
She was with the bachelorette party.
“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” said Hoss, now standing next to me.
“Nothing’s wrong,” I said, unable to tear my gaze away from Terin. She look sexier than hell, and damn if the woman didn’t know how move her hips.
“Look at Frannie go,” Tank said, chuckling. “I wonder if she ever got down like that with my old man.”
“The woman has skills,” said Chopper, also smiling.
“Of course she does. Women over forty have lots of skills,” said Tail, paying for his beer.
“Let me guess – your first lay was a woman over forty and you’ll never forget the experience,” said Hoss dryly.
“No, but I have had two twenty-year olds at once,” he joked, shoving his wallet back into his jeans. “And I’ll never forget that.”
“So, you’ve never had a woman over forty?” asked Hoss.
“Honestly, not until tonight,” said Tail, heading toward the dance floor with his beer.
“Don’t you dare!” hollered Tank.
Tail looked back at us and smiled wickedly.
“I swear, if he tries hitting on Frannie, I’ll kick his ass to kingdom come,” said Tank, taking a swig of his beer.
“I think she can take care of herself,” said Raptor.
“He’d never fuck her,” said Horse. “She’s untouchable. He knows that.”
“Actually, check it out, I think he’s going for the bride,” said Raptor, pointing.
Sure enough, Tail had entered the circle of women and was now dancing with the blond wearing the mini veil. His hands were around her waist and they were both smiling at each other.
“Hope she’s not supposed to be virgin or the groom is going to be in for a big surprise on their wedding night,” said Hoss, taking a swig of beer. “Especially after Tail gets done with her.”
“If he’s not careful, she’ll be pregnant by their wedding night,” said Tank, chuckling.
Frannie, recognizing Tail, began to laugh. Then she turned and saw us watching by the bar.
“Oh, here she comes,” said Tank. “Best behavior guys.”
We knew the drill. Tank loved Frannie like a mother and wanted us to be respectful around her. None of us had any problem with that, considering she was one of the nicest women around. Plus, my nephew now called her grandma, which meant that she was indeed the matriarch of the family.
“What are you boys doing here?” she asked, after making her way off of the dance floor.
“Ice was patched tonight,” said Tank, putting his arm around my shoulders. “We’re whooping it up.”
“Congratulations,” she said, beaming a smile at me. “I know how much this means to you.”
“Yeah. It means a lot,” I said, grinning humbly.
“What in the hell is that?” asked Tank, pointing to her drink. There was a straw that was shaped like a penis.
Frannie took a drink from it and grinned. “Isn’t it great? We all got them.”
Tank laughed and put his arm around her. “You behaving yourself, Ma?”
“Probably a lot more than what you boys are,” she answered.
“What are you talking about? We been as good as choir boys,” he replied.
“Since when do choir boys wear perfume?” she answered, wrinkling her nose.
Tank’s face turned red. “Uh, Tail bought me a lap dance over at Goddess.”
“You’d better make sure Raina doesn’t smell that on you when you get home or you’re going to be in big trouble,” she replied, looking amused.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t even touch the girl,” he replied, holding his hands up. “Here, smell my hands.”
“Uh, I’ll take your word for it,” said Frannie.
“He’s right. You really can’t touch the strippers,” said Raptor.
“Is that what you’re going to tell Adrianna?” she asked. “Because if you are, you’re going to need to douse yourself with vinegar to get rid of the stench of that perfume. Good Lord, do they shower in it?”
“Apparently,” said Raptor, smelling his shirt. “Don’t worry, Adrianna doesn’t get
jealous. She has no reason to.”
“Neither does Raina,” said Tank.
“I wish I had someone at home who’d get jealous,” said Hoss, sucking in his gut. “Hey, hot chicks coming this way. Ten o’clock.”
Frannie looked over her shoulder. “Oh, hey… here comes my friend Tracy. She’s the one who invited me to the bachelorette party.”
We turned and saw a woman around Frannie’s age heading toward us. Behind her was Terin. Our eyes met for a brief second. Recognizing me, she looked ready to bolt.
Forty
Terin
When I saw Cole, I couldn’t deny it. As much as I wanted to believe that he meant nothing to me, my pulse raced knowing that he was only a few feet away.
“Tracy and Terin,” said Frannie, when we approached. “I want you to meet my stepson Tank and his friends.” She then proceeded to introduce us both to the bikers.
“We’ve met,” said Cole, staring at me, an amused expression on his face.
“Yes,” I replied, my eyes dropping to his clothing. He wore a black, short sleeved dress shirt that emphasized his muscular frame. If it were any possible, I thought that Cole looked even more handsome than ever.
“You’ve met? Oh,” said Mom. “Are you the young man who helped her at the deli last week?”
“Yes he is, Mom,” I said, answering for Cole.
“Thank you,” she said, her eyes softening. “For helping Terin. I don’t know what would have happened if you wouldn’t have showed up.”
“I would have been fine, Mom,” I said, a little too firmly.
“I’m sure you would have but… you have to admit, it was very kind of him. He could have went on his way and stayed out of it. But he didn’t.”
“Yes, he could have walked away.” I glanced at Cole. “She’s right. Thank you, for your help,” I said, feeling as if everyone was staring at me.
“Like I said before, it was my pleasure,” he said, his mouth twitching.
“I love those new shirts, Tank,” said Frannie, as if somehow knowing that it was time to change the subject. She touched the fabric of his. “I’m so glad you let me order them for the club. You boys look so handsome.”
Loving The Biker (MC Biker Romance) Page 16