by Naomi West
This had gone tits-up, far as he was concerned. And, from just looking at Blade's hands he knew the old man needed help, and needed help fast. But, if things came down to taking the blame, he'd accept all the responsibility in a heartbeat. Half a heartbeat, even. These men were out here helping him with his problem, as much as with the Blood Warriors. He couldn't expect Blade to take the heat.
Of course, he didn't need to have an argument with the president of the club, and definitely not in front of the other members. No sense in pressing the point now. Besides, if you were a member of the club, you followed orders. Right now, the most important thing was to get him some help, and to get it fast.
This had been a waste, all a stupid waste. And, on top of everything, Blade had hurt himself while he was saving Tanner. If he hadn't thrown Tanner to the ground, it would have been his face, instead of Blade's back going up in flames like that.
Worst of all? They didn't even find out any thing useful.
Tanner sighed as, together, they climbed on Tanner's bike and took off down the dirt road. Tyke and Cam were right behind them.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Tanner
They rode nearly an hour away from town, to a small emergency room Blade knew about. Clearly, this wasn't his first rodeo when it came to getting patched up out of sight from the cops.
“Pull up here,” Blade shouted in Tanner's ear as they got into the parking lot.
Tanner shut off his bike and helped the older man through the automatic sliding doors. This was his first chance to see the damage the explosion had done, and the sight wasn't a pretty one.
Blade had lost a big patch of his long hair, which had been singed off by the fire that had caught on the back of his vest. Instead of the Blood Warriors symbol and Blade's patch, there was a large, blackened crater. His upper back would be a mess, Tanner knew, and maybe one of his shoulder blades. But, he was a tough old bird and would be able to handle the pain.
His right hand, though, looked worse. The skin was blistered horribly, and covered in dead purple and red skin, like he'd stuck his hand into the fire, rather than just tried to protect his face.
“Get out of here,” Blade whispered. “I can handle this.”
“Hell you can,” Tanner said. “Unless you went southpaw on me during the ride over.”
“Fuck you,” Blade mumbled, clearly resentful of the need for help. “But, thanks.”
They shuffled up to the admittance counter and got the nurse's attention, a big red-headed woman who looked like she'd seen it all. She sucked in a breath, though, when they showed her Blade's hand.
“Second and third degree, it looks like,” she muttered as her eyes flickered back and forth between the two bikers. “Can your father fill out his admission paperwork?” she asked Tanner.
He shook his head. “Nah. And he ain't my dad, neither.”
She shrugged. She clearly didn't care one way or another, but just handed over a clipboard with a stack of paper on it.
“Now, we've got a wait, but not too bad of one. We'll get you in soon as we can.”
Tanner led him over to an empty seat in the waiting area. She was right, the number of people ahead of them wasn't too heavy.
They sat down and started to go over Blade's information, with Tanner filling out the forms in his chicken scratch. Aside from inventory, this was probably the most writing he'd done since high school.
“What are you going to tell them happened?” Tanner asked when they'd finished.
“Late night grilling gone wrong,” Blade replied with a wince as he tried to move his hand.
“Hell of an accident, you ask me.”
“Well, you try grilling steaks in the dark,” Blade said with a pained grin.
“Stop fucking moving it, old man. You ain't making it any better.”
Blade sighed and dropped his hand to his lap so he could cradle his burn protectively. “I know, I know. Just hard to sit here and do nothing. Especially since I know it didn't work.”
“Well, steak doesn't always come out the way you want it,” Tanner mumbled.
Blade chuckled, hissing as the laugh jostled his hand. “Don't I know it? Life ain't always exactly what we want.”
“Yeah,” Tanner agreed.
“Speaking of which, how're things with you and your ol' lady? Or whatever the hell you're calling her these days?”
He debated whether or not to tell his old mentor the truth. Finally, honesty and a need for advice won out. “Did a pregnancy test today.”
“And?”
“She's pregnant.”
Blade nodded, then shook his head as he chuckled. “And you still came out with us?”
“Yeah, of course I did. It's my fight with these guys, not just the club's. Whoever that guy is, I think he's got it out for me.”
“Sometimes, Tanner-boy,” Blade said, “you gotta know when you have a good thing. I've seen the way that young lady looks at you, and now you're gonna be a daddy on top of it all?”
Tanner chewed on the end of the pen, not even thinking about which hands had previously held it, or how sick they may have been.
“Don't get me wrong, though. That's good news, boy,” the old man said, bumping into Tanner's shoulder with his own. “Isn't it?”
The news was good, Tanner admitted to himself. In fact, finding out about Star being pregnant had been the best thing he'd heard in years. “Yeah,” he said. “It's good.”
“Decided what you're gonna name it?”
“Probably after my dad,” Tanner said, without even thinking first. The answer had just popped into his brain. “Logan's a good name.”
“What about a girl?”
“Haven't thought about it, really. Hadn't even thought about a boy's name, either, till you asked.” Tanner said with shrug “Just feels like a boy to me, I guess.”
“Well, you'll be a fine Daddy. Just like yours was.”
The big red-headed nurse called out for them. They had a room ready.
Tanner went with the old man back to the examination area.
“Listen,” Blade said, “you go ahead and get out of here. Head on home, alright? I gotta girl out here that still likes to see my ugly mug every now and then, and I think I can lay up at her place for a couple weeks till I heal and things blow over.”
“You sure?”
“Would I be telling you if I weren't?” He clapped his good hand onto Tanner's shoulder. “You're a good man, Tanner. You'll do what's right for the club, and your family, and that baby on its way. Or I'll kick your ass up and down the county.”
Tanner grinned and clasped his hand to Blade's. “Yeah. Get in touch when you're better.”
“Will do,” the old man said with a nod, then ushered him out.
Tanner stepped out into the emergency room examination area, then let himself back out the way he'd come.
He was bone-tired. He knew he should just go home, but he was worried the nightmares would just return like before. The nightmares about that big bruiser of a Wolf, standing over him with that murderous look in his eyes.
Instead, as he hopped on his bike, he decided he'd return to Star's. She might have been pissed at him still, but that didn't matter. He needed her, and her comforting presence, by his side if he was going to get any rest tonight.
# # #
Star
“Can I come in?” Tanner asked. He stood there, framed by her front doorway, just as sexy as when he had left. In fact, he was positively smoldering. The smell of smoke wafted off him, even after his long bike ride.
Star stood there in just panties and an over-sized pajama top. She'd been just about ready to turn in for the night.
“Do I want to know?” Star asked. But, after one look up and down his sooty clothing, she didn't need him to tell her that he didn't. Instead, she just stepped aside and ushered him into her apartment.
“Want me to answer that?” he replied as he walked past her.
She shook her head. “You're right. I was just about t
o go to bed,” she said as she shut the door behind him. “Today's been . . . a day.”
He smiled that sexy smile of his, with those deliciously full lips. This time, though, she could see the hint of exhaustion and bone-deep weariness.
Their earlier argument about their relationship, about what would happen with the baby, about his putting himself in too much danger, seemed to melt. The memory of their shouts all evaporated as she looked into those icy blue eyes of his. The worries about the future, about whether there was even a future for them -- she forgot them.
She reached down and grabbed his hand. “Come on,” she said. “Let's go to bed.” She led him back into her already-dark bedroom and climbed beneath the covers.
He stripped down to his boxer briefs and crawled into bed next to her.
She curled up against him, resting her head on his shoulder. “Some night, huh?” she whispered.
He nodded. “You have no idea.”
“Why'd you come here instead of your place?” she asked.
His hand went down to her belly and began to gently caress her abdomen. “I sleep better with you next to me,” he murmured.
“Same here,” she whispered back, a smile on her lips.
A moment passed as she just listened to the sound of his breathing. The steady inhale-exhale was soothing, comforting, like the tick-tock of a human clock.
“I didn't want this baby, you know,” he said after a while, his voice already groggy and heavy with sleepiness.
“I know.”
“But, I care about it.” He paused and licked his lips. “I dunno why.”
“Well, maybe it's not that oil is thicker than blood.” she asked, thinking back to the big Blood Warriors flag he had hanging in his bedroom at home. “Maybe, they're just about the same.”
“Maybe,” he whispered back.
After a few moments of silence, she realized that he was out like a light. Star smiled, leaned up, kissed his cheek. Soon, she too was drifting off.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Star
“Oh my god,” Tova said as she leaned down in front of Star's nonexistent belly and nearly hugged it. “I'm gonna be a Grammy?”
She and Tanner had swung by his mother's house to check on Brendon, and to see how everything was going. They stood in the living room, where Tanner had called both of his family members in and just announced the good news.
“I'm gonna be an Uncle Brendon, you mean,” Tanner's brother said from beside their mother. He looked way better than the last time she'd seen him, and was beaming like he was the father or something, not Tanner. But, at least he'd progressed from his status as a walking corpse, and had approached something resembling living.
Star laughed, taking it all in. She'd never had a home life like this, and it was a nice change of pace. Even if the way his mother stared at her belly did make her a little uncomfortable.
“Guess it's not soon enough to tell if it's a boy or girl, is it?” Tova asked.
Star and Tanner both shook their heads. “It's only been a couple days, Mom,” Tanner said. “Takes a while for that.”
“Oh,” Tova said as she went and sat down on her old couch, “I think it'll be a boy. Boys run in our family.”
“And, if it's a boy,” Brendon piped up, “you can name 'em after me, right?”
Tanner and Star both laughed. “Well, I haven't really thought about names yet,” Star said as she glanced to the father of her child. He got a look on his face like he had, though.
Thankfully, he kept his mouth shut. She didn't exactly want to have a fight over baby names in front of his family.
“Well, if I get a nephew,” Brendon continued as he took a seat in a big, ugly easy chair to the side of the couch, “that means we can take him out riding. Out to the woods, like when Tanner and I were kids, when Pops taught us how to ride our first bike.”
Star didn't know how she felt about that, either. She loved riding on Tanner's motorcycle with him, even though she knew it was the most dangerous thing she did on any given day. The thought of having her child on one of those things . . . well, it kind of made her stomach turn now that she actually considered the prospect.
“And we can make him a little Blood Warriors vest,” Tova said, laughing. “I always wanted some for you and Brendon, Tanner, but I never had the chance to make them.”
Brendon laughed. “Geez, does this mean we need a crib at the clubhouse?”
“Well, when I take the baby out to see his daddy, it might be a good idea,” Tova said, actually thinking about it. Her eyes turned to Star. “What about you? What do you think?”
Star didn't really know what to think, but she knew enough to not say that. Not in front of his mother, at least. Instead, she just smiled and shook her head like she was still coping with everything. Which, to be fair, was partially true.
“You told the boys yet?”
“No,” Tanner said, then seemed to consider his words more carefully. “Well, I told Blade the other night when I saw him. Not the rest of the guys yet.”
“You should tell 'em, man,” Brendon said.
“Figure they'll just give me a boat load of hell about it, about settling down. Don't know if I can deal with the razzing right now.”
Brendon laughed. “Yeah, they'll probably give you a ribbing over it. But, man, they'll be as excited as we are to see a new little Blood Warrior.”
“What about you?” Tanner asked his brother. “You gonna try and join back up?”
Star swiveled her attention from one brother to the other, trying to gauge both of their reactions. The club was the most important thing to this family, and Tanner had told her that Brendon leaving was what was behind the condition on his having a child to get the inheritance. This was a big deal for Tanner, as big as it had been for their father.
Brendon's expression went back to dead sober again, and he shrugged a little. “I've been thinking about it. I still don't know if they'll accept me back, though. I kinda did a cut-and-run.”
Tanner nodded, agreeing with him. “Yeah. You did. But, nothing's ever set in stone, man. You can always ask for forgiveness.”
“I guess so,” Brendon said as he idly scratched his arm. The track marks were still visible there, Star noticed. Some of them were scars that would be there a lifetime, a constant reminder of Brendon's fall from grace and his time on the street.
“Just means,” Tanner said with a knowing grin, “they might go harder on you this time around, is all.”
Brendon laughed. “I think I can handle 'em. But, I don't want to go back if they don't want to take me back.”
“Well, you gotta prove it,” Tova said, piping up for the first time when it came to club business. “You gotta prove you want to be with them, that you want to be part of the family. But, I can say this -- those boys looked for you just the same as us. They wanted you back, and safe, just like your blood family.”
“I hadn't really thought about it like that, Mom,” Brendon said after a while, his head bobbing as the thoughts rolled through his mind. “I guess, I see what you're saying.”
“Soon as Blade gets back in town,” Tanner suggested, “I can let him know you want to join back up. If you want to, of course.”
Brendon nodded, a smile growing on his face. “Yeah,” he said, clearly starting to like the idea, “yeah, that sounds good, Tanner.”
Tova glanced up at the clock on the wall. “It's about lunch time. You two want to stay for sandwiches or something?”
Tanner glanced at Star, and Star looked back at him. She really didn't want to stick around for lunch, or listen to Tova talk about all the plans she had for her unborn child.
“I think,” Star said, “I better get home. I'm pretty tired after all the good news this week, and better lay down to take a nap.”
“You're probably right,” Tova said, a smile on her face, but not in her eyes. “Young lady like you needs her rest.”
That was when the thought entered Star's mind, n
ot for the first time, that Tova Rainier still thought she wasn't good enough for Tanner.
Not as a fling on the side. Not as his ol' lady. And definitely not as the mother of his child.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Star
“The potatoes weren't undercooked?” she asked as he cleaned off his plate.
He shook his head, his mouth full of barely-cooked vegetable.
“And the roast wasn't too tough?” she asked.