Tattered on My Sleeve

by Autumn Jones Lake

  Z waves his hand in the air, dismissing Dex’s sage advice. “Nah, she loves me.”

  I shake my head.

  Dex and Murphy head out. Z fills me in on the trip.

  “Seriously, he didn’t look at another chick the entire time,” he says.

  I shrug. “Is that supposed to be a surprise?”

  Z tilts his head and stares at me. “It’s fuckin’ weird, that’s all.”

  “I thought you liked Hope?”

  “I do. What’s that got to do with anything?”

  I make my For fuck’s sake face at him.

  Z lowers his voice. “Don’t tell me on your next trip out there you’re not gonna hang with Sha—”

  My hand squeezes the back of his neck. “Worry about where you park your own dick, brother.”

  He slaps my arm away. We’re interrupted from further discussion by the couple in question coming down the stairs.

  “Hey, porn stars,” I call out. Hope’s finally wearing her property patch. The sight of it knocks the breath out of me.

  Z goes on to do exactly what Dex warned him not to do, almost getting an ass-kicking from Rock. I sit back and enjoy not being on Rock’s shit list for once.

  “Are you still in pain?” Rock asks her after I have to sit through the two of them playing an extended game of tonsil hockey.

  “A little.” She reaches over and taps my leg. “That’s why Wrath offered to get me high.”

  Thanks for bringing that up, Cinderella. “See, I told you I’d take good care of her.” I smirk at Rock.

  Sparky surfaces and asks for Rock’s help. Once they disappear downstairs, Hope turns to me with a sly smile. “Enjoy Trinity’s new outfit?”

  Well, now. Cinderella came to play. Let’s see if she can take it or only dish it out. “I sure did. Heard you got one just like it. That what got prez so worked up?”

  Her cheeks turn bright red. Just as I thought. She taps my side with her fist. “Jerk.”

  “You started it. I’m not sure if you noticed, but no one’s sex life is a secret here.” Fuck, that’s the understatement of the year.

  “I’m a bit of a prude, aren’t I?”

  Well, at least she’s self-aware. “We’ll work it out of you. Oh, and I gotta tell you, the idea of you and Trin trying that shit on together is going straight into my spank bank.”

  Her face flushes even redder. “Oh my gosh! It wasn’t like that. And ew.”

  My star patch on the side of her vest catches my eye. On Trinity’s vest, the star would be over her heart. Am I ever going to get there with her? I feel like her finally confiding in me last night moved us closer. I’m not jealous of Rock. Not exactly. But Trinity grew up in the life and understands the significance of a property patch. The fact that Hope—who had no fucking clue anything like that existed before she met Rock—is wearing one first, frustrates the fuck out of me.

  Rock’s gone for a while and I can tell she’s getting anxious.

  “Wrath?”

  “Yes, sugar.”

  “What’s downstairs?”

  I chuckle. “The club business.” She doesn’t laugh. Motherfucker. “Rock still hasn’t told you?”

  “Geez, don’t tell me it’s more strippers,” she grumbles.

  “No strippers.”

  “Porn studio?”

  “No sugar. Noting like that.”

  Rock chooses that exact moment to come back upstairs. I turn and glare at him. “Can I have a word with you, brother?”

  “Not now, we’ve got a problem,” he answers, dismissing me.

  “Why don’t you take Hope on a tour of downstairs?”

  Rock’s jaw sets in a hard line. “Not now.

  Hope sits up. “Wrath, it’s fine. I—”

  “What the fuck you waiting for? You patched her.”

  Rock clearly wants to knock me the fuck out, but this is getting ridiculous. The girl’s here all the time. She should know the risk she’s taking.

  “Fine. You wanna see what’s downstairs, baby doll?” he asks her.

  Hope’s gaze swings between the two of us. “If you want me to.”

  “Christ, it’s not that big a deal at this point.” I say.

  “Shut up. Remember, you started this,” Rock growls.

  He leads her downstairs and I wait for the fallout.

  Maybe half an hour later, they return. Hope seems to have survived. Rock looks like he wants to punch something. Probably me.

  He keeps going right upstairs even though Hope stops to talk to me. “Rock?” I call out, but he ignores me. Shrugging, I turn to Hope. “What did you think?”

  “Pretty cool.”

  What crawled up Rock’s ass then? “You’re very unpredictable, Hope.”

  She pats my arm and takes off after Rock.

  They’re barely gone a minute, when she comes racing back downstairs. “Hope! What’s wrong?”

  She’s shaking her head and I can tell she’s close to tears. Before I can grab her, she darts out the door.

  Motherfucker. I’m gonna wrap my hands around Rock’s neck and squeeze really hard. How dare he take her on a tour of our entire operation, then piss her off so bad she storms off afterward.

  I’ve been doing better without the crutches, but the stairs are a pain in the fucking ass. I’m livid by the time I reach Rock’s door, so I pound on it extra hard. “Rock! Open the fucking door.”

  After a minute, he opens it wearing a towel.

  “What the fuck did you say to her?” I snap at him.

  “Who?”

  “Hope, you asshole. She just took off in fucking tears.”

  He glances around the room then back at me. “She’s not going to run to the cops, if that’s what you’re worried about. She thought Sparky and his setup were adorable.”

  Now I really do want to choke him. I know she isn’t gonna run to the police. But we also don’t need her sobbing to one of her girlfriends and mentioning our grow house in the process. We do not need is a pissed-off woman who not only knows where our clubhouse is, but what’s in our basement running around.

  He promises to go talk to her and I hop next door to my room before I really do knock his ass out. No fuckin’ way am I making it back downstairs anytime soon.

  My room’s surprisingly clean and dust free considering I haven’t been in it in weeks. I assume that’s Trinity’s doing.

  I roll onto my bed and stare up at the ceiling. Remembering the conversation Trinity and I had about my sister, I reach out and snag the second drawer of my nightstand. My only photo of Faith is tucked into a silver frame. Both of us are actually in the cheesy Sears portrait. I can’t stand looking at what a goofy kid I was, but Faith’s just as adorable as I remember.

  I set the frame on top of the nightstand so I’ll remember to bring it back downstairs with me.

  Z shoves my door open. “What’re you doin’ in here?”

  “Didn’t you ever learn to knock?”

  He snorts and steps inside. “You and Trin okay?”

  “Yeah. I came up here to choke Rock.” We’ve all been friends for so long, this doesn’t phase him.

  I give him the concise version and he laughs. “She ain’t gonna run her mouth. Even if she’s pissed at him, he’s got her pretty well dick-whipped.”

  A harsh laugh explodes out of me. “I’d love to see you say that to her face.”

  He grins. “I gotta run out. You need anything?”

  “Nah. I’ll hop back downstairs eventually.”

  After he leaves, I end up dozing off.

  My phone buzzing in my pocket wakes me.

  Where are you?

  Something about Trinity asking where I am makes me grin like an idiot. I let her know I’m upstairs and dial Rock.

  “What?” he snaps. Typical.

  “Where are you, dick?”

  “At Hope’s.”

  Thank fuck. “She okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you guys okay?”

  In t
he background I hear Hope say. “Awww” and it makes me chuckle.

  “Yeah, we’re good,” Rock answers.

  “Are you coming back up tonight?”

  “Yeah, we’ll be up in a little while,” she answers.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake, are you going to turn into one of those annoying couples who answers every phone call together?” I snap, but I’m laughing the entire time.

  “Bye, Wrath,” she says and hangs up on me.

  I’m still shaking my head when Trinity knocks on the door.

  “You don’t have to knock, angel.”

  She shrugs. “Do I want to know?”

  At first I think she’s joking, but then I notice how nervous she looks. “I came up here to kick Rock’s ass and was too tired to hop back downstairs,” I explain.

  “Oh.”

  I pat the bed. “Come sit. I want to show you something.”

  She rushes over and sits next to me. I pull her down for a kiss. “You’re not gettin’ rid of me, if that’s what you were thinking.”

  “No?”

  “No. Even once you finally let me publicly claim your ass. I think I’d rather stay downstairs with you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, really.”

  “But—” She stops and looks around my room. “This is a nice room. You earned it, being one of the officers of the club—”

  “Trin, look at me.” I wait until she does what I ask. “Don’t give a fuck about that. I like being away from all the stuff going on up here. Unless you don’t want me…”

  “No.” She glances around again and I can almost hear her thoughts. “I’d like that.”

  “We can talk about it later.”

  “Okay. What’d you want to show me?”

  Picking up the silver frame, I glance at it one more time before handing it over.

  “Oh.” Watery honey eyes blink up at me. “She’s so pretty, Wyatt.”

  A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. “Yeah.”

  “Look at you. All those blond curls.” She chuckles while running her fingers over the glass.

  “I look like a doof.”

  “Oh, no. You’re both so sweet together. Can I bring it downstairs with us?”

  “Yeah, of course.” I shove over to make room for her and pat the bed. “Come here.”

  Slowly, she lies down next to me so we’re both staring at the ceiling. “I used to hate coming in here…before,” she says quietly.

  “Why?”

  She turns her head, staring at me. Hurt crosses her face and I know what she’s going to say. “I never knew who or…what I’d find in your bed.”

  Shit. The idea of her cleaning up after…It probably occurred to me once or twice over the years, but never like this. “I’m sorry.”

  She shrugs and turns away. “It was my own fault. I deserved it.”

  “Don’t say that, Trinity.”

  “How many times did you run into me leaving—” She chokes on a sob and finishes her thought by flinging her hand in the direction of the hallway.

  “Too many. And I hated it every time.”

  She laughs and sniffles at the same time. “I guess we’re even?”

  I catch her hand in mid-air and bring it to my mouth, kissing her fingertips. “We’re done hurting each other.”

  She nods and swipes her cheeks.

  “Let’s go back downstairs, Angel Face.”

  We all knew it was coming. Rock was never going to be satisfied with just the property patch.

  On a chilly winter day, he proposed to Hope. Wrath and I were at the clubhouse and celebrated with them.

  Somehow I get dragged along to celebrate her engagement with her friends the following Friday.

  I chose a simple outfit of jeans and a soft, sparkly sweater. Hope went all-out. She picked a blinding-pink dress, gray tights and shiny heels. Rock got one look at her and we almost didn’t make it out of the house.

  Wrath pulled me in for a hug right before we left. “Have fun, angel.”

  I don’t know about that. Lilly and Sophie start teasing Hope about her dress almost immediately.

  “What? I think it’s cute,” she says.

  “I like it too,” Mara says, reaching over to give Hope a quick hug. This is the first time I’ve met Mara. Supposedly she’s married to a judge or something. She seems really sweet and shy though. I don’t get to talk to her much because she’s at the opposite end of the table.

  “Her man almost didn’t let her out of the house when he saw her tonight. You’re lucky I got her down here,” I explain to the girls.

  “Seems like a good time to hand you this, then,” Mara says, picking up a shiny pink gift bag from the floor.

  “I’m scared to open it,” Hope jokes.

  She should be too. She pulls sex guides, sex toys, lube and finally, a paddle out of the bag. Hope’s a good sport. “Really? Have I given any of you the impression we need help in that department?”

  Imagining Rock’s reaction when Hope tells him her friends think he needs the Guy’s Guide to Going Down has me falling out of my chair with laughter.

  They joke around a little longer. I guess Mara’s not so shy after all.

  Sophie kills the laughter. “Are you going to take your time planning this wedding?” She waves her hand in the air, almost smacking Lilly. “You and your mother threw the last one together so quick, we all thought you were pregnant.”

  Hope looks like she was punched in the gut and I have to stop myself from jumping over the table and smacking the shit out of Sophie. Hope just lost a baby. What the fuck is wrong with her friend?

  “Fuck, honey. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean… I forgot. Shit, it just happened, and wow, I’m sorry,” Sophie mumbles.

  Not ten seconds later, Sophie brings up Hope’s first wedding again. What the hell is wrong with this chick?

  I glance at Lilly. “So, Lilly, are those knockers real?”

  Well, that’s certainly one way to take the focus off Hope. But I swear to God, if Sophie says one more thing to upset Hope, I really am going to kick her ass.

  Eventually, guys show up. More lawyer friends. Adam and Ross. They’re nice enough. Then our guys show up. Well, Rock and Z do.

  Z smirks while Rock gropes his woman in the middle of the bar. Then he pokes me. “Your roommate’s waitin’ outside.”

  What the fuck? Why can’t he come inside like a normal person? We had this sweet and honest moment the other day. He’s been after me to announce our relationship, but he can’t even come inside and sit with me?

  I’m so irritated, I barely listen to the conversation around me.

  When we all get up to leave, I stick with Hope. Wrath’s leaning on my Jeep facing the door when we step outside. He glances up and smiles when he sees me.

  My heart skips.

  “You could have joined us,” Hope says.

  “Nah, I’m good, Cinderella.”

  Mara giggles when she hears that, so Hope introduces them. He’s actually being civil. So why couldn’t he come inside and do that?

  He raises an eyebrow at me and I ignore him.

  When we’re down to just Rock, Hope, Wrath and me, Wrath snags me around the waist and yanks me against him.

  “Why you ignoring me, Angel Face?”

  “Trin, you okay to drive?” Rock calls out.

  “Yup, only had water,” I shout back.

  He waves and takes off.

  “Let’s go,” I say, wriggling out of his hold and unlocking the car.

  Once we get on the highway, Wrath sighs. “How was your night?”

  “Fine.”

  “You mad at me?”

  “Nope.”

  “Yeah, you are. Why?”

  My hands tighten on the steering wheel. “Why couldn’t you come in and sit with me? You keep saying you want to announce us to everyone, but then you don’t want to be seen in public—”

  “Trin, what are you, five-seven, a buck twenty-five?” I snort because
he’s being awfully generous there, but he ignores me. “I’m more than twice your size. You have any idea how uncomfortable those tiny fucking buildings down here are for a guy my size? Got nothing to do with how I feel about you. Fuck I didn’t even think my shoulders would fit through the door. Then with the cast, I’m even more clumsy and awkward—”

  “Oh.” Wow. I feel like total shit. He’s always so cocky, and sure of himself, it never occurred to me something like that might bother him.

  “You got your issues. I got mine,” he says, staring out the window.

  He’s right. He’s so patient with me and all my emotional fuckery.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper.

  He reaches out and squeezes my leg but doesn’t say anything else.

  We drive up the long road to the clubhouse behind Rock’s vehicle. As I back into my spot, Wrath snorts.

  “Looks like Rock has his hands full.”

  “Aw, he’s so sweet.”

  Wrath glances over at me.

  “What? He is.”

  Rock’s trying to juggle carrying Hope and getting the front door unlocked. Wrath chuckles. “It’s sad that you gotta keep druggin’ your girl to get her up here.”

  Rock’s laughing so hard, I barely make out the “Fuck you” he responds with.

  He jerks his head at his car. “Grab her stuff for me?”

  I open the front door and as I turn to get the stuff out of the car, I see Wrath already grabbed it. “Nice pink bag.”

  He grins and lifts it up and down. “What the hell’s in it? It’s heavy.”

  How to explain? “Books and sex toys,” I answer through giggles.

  He raises an eyebrow at Rock who shrugs. “Her friends’ idea of an engagement present,” he explains.

  Of course Wrath takes that as an invitation to start pawing through Hope’s stuff. He cracks up when he gets to the paddle.

  “Give me that,” I snap, snatching the bag out of his trouble-making hands. “I’ll drop this in front of your door, prez,” I say as I jog up the stairs.

  On my way back, Wrath’s laughter reaches me before I see him. “Sure, whatever you say, Cinderella.”

  I guess Hope’s awake.

  “There’s a guy’s guide for going down on his girl. You can have that since Rock doesn’t need it.”

  Oh, boy.

  Wrath laughs even harder. He gasps. “Trust me, neither do I.” As soon as he spots me, I cringe, fearing what he’ll say. “Right babe?”