by Joy Blood
I hang back as he goes to the desk to talk to a woman with a headset strapped to her, talking animatedly to the person on the other line. I can only see his back and just the slight tip of his chin, but it is enough to tell that he’s annoyed with the woman. I can just picture the scowl he is giving her right now, a scowl I have been on the receiving end numerous times. He waits until she finally gets done and checks him in. He comes back to me and parks his chair next to the seat I took—the last one in the row so he could sit next to me. I’ve never put much thought into his injury. I never thought it held him back or took a toll on him. He never let on otherwise, and there is that little fact that whenever we do talk, it’s usually the both of us throwing barbs at each other.
"Mr. Cabrera." The name doesn’t register to me until Rico starts rolling toward the nurse who called his name. Rico Cabrera.
"Come on." He jerks his head in the direction of the door. He wants me with him? I furrow my brows, but rise from the chair and follow him in silence. More turns, then we come to a room. She takes his vitals before walking out the door while telling us the doctor will be with us in a minute.
Twenty very awkward minutes of complete and utter silence later, the doctor walks in. I squint my eyes, trying to figure out where I’ve seen him before. He…performs surgery...
My head snaps to Rico. "Hello. I’m Doctor Lodestone." He extends his hand toward me, which I take, ignoring the way Rico tenses.
"Ari,” I reply, getting a big smile from him.
"Yes. You’re one of the nurses over at the hospital. Can’t believe we haven't met until now." His warm introduction goes on a little longer than necessary, getting uncomfortable. Rico clears his throat, and the hand I was shaking pulls back fast. I sigh in relief.
"Got any results for me, Lodestone?" Rico asks.
"Yes. I do. Good news. The scans we took are ideal for the type of surgery I would like to perform. Though, I still have to tell you it’s risky, as is every surgery, but this one has that eighty percent chance of recovery."
"Wait. What? What are you talking about?" I interrupt, and they both turn my way as if just remembering I’m here. "Can I see his chart?" The doctor shoots Rico a questioning look. When he gets a head nod, he hands over the small tablet, and I scroll through the information. After looking at the films and the procedure he wants to perform, I hand it back. "No. Absolutely not. Rico, you can still walk. If you do this, there’s a huge chance you won’t ever again. You might lose all feeling in your legs. No, I won’t let you," I say, putting more emphasis in my last words.
"Miss..." Dr. Lodestone tries, but Rico cuts him off.
"Already decided." Rico's words are definite, unchangeable, hitting me in the chest.
"So, what was this? You bring me here to break the news? What the hell, Reek?" My voice gets louder, and I barely register the doctor saying something about giving us a minute before leaving.
"Ree…" He pauses, rubbing his hands on his denim clad thighs. "I’m in constant pain. It’s getting worse..." Another pause, then he lifts himself to stand in front of me. I catch the slight grimace on his face before he quickly hides it. "I want to be able to do more than just sit behind a computer for my club. Hell, I can’t ride a bike and I’m in an MC. How fucked is that? I’m still shocked they patched me in. I want to be able to help you with our baby, take care of you both. I can’t do that stuck in a chair. Stuck in constant pain. And face it, Ree, I can’t be stoned all the time around the kid." For the second time this week, my jaw is on the ground. This Rico standing in front of me is nothing like the one I met all those years ago—the one I’ve been at constant odds with since that day.
"I don’t know what to say to that." And really, I don't.
"Nothing to say, girl. Just is what it is. I’m getting the surgery, end of," he tells me, matter of fact, then goes to the door to open it a crack, enough to yell for the doctor to come back. I sit there in my chair and listen as the doctor goes over what to expect from the first surgery and the multiple ones he may have to endure if the results aren’t satisfactory. That is…if the first surgery even goes as planned and he doesn’t end up losing the use of his legs altogether on the table. They schedule the surgery two weeks from now, then we head out.
"What just happened?" I ask as we draw closer to the parking garage, still pissed off he’s going to take such a risk.
"I just set up my appointment. It's going to work. You don’t need to worry. I trust the guy knows what he’s doing…even though he could hardly pull his eyes from your tits when he introduced himself. At least he has good taste," he grumbles, and I balk.
"My tits?" I look down at my t-shirt. My bras have been getting tighter and uncomfortable, so I opted for the thin sports bra, without the padded barrier. "Oh, good god," I say, trying in vain to cross my arms and hide my erect nipples. Rico chuckles.
"Man is lucky I don’t feel threatened." He gets to my car door and opens it. "You know you really should lock your doors," he scolds, moving out of my way and holding his hand out to help me in.
"How come you don’t feel threatened by him, but you do by Premo?" The words leave my mouth, and I want to smack my forehead for speaking my thoughts out loud.
"Not threatened by him either. He just needs to figure out who you belong to. Get in." He nods to my car, but I still don’t move.
"Who I belong to?" I drag my hand over my face. "Rico, I’m not yours. I’m not Premo's either. Just because there’s a fifty percent chance of you being this baby's father doesn’t make me your old lady." Exasperated, I let out a sigh.
"Maybe not yet, but you will be. And the kid is mine. Don’t care whose DNA it has. Half of you is plenty for me. Now, get in the car. I'll meet you at Jake and Kimi's place." He rolls away to his truck parked two spots down, and there goes my jaw dropping again. Who is this Rico and what happened to the one I’ve known? Part of me wants to go after him and help him get into his truck, but I know that will only piss him off. Instead, I get inside my car and start it up, waiting a few minutes before I pull away and drive to Kimi's house, Rico not too far behind me.
Chapter Eight
Ari
Kimi and Jake live out of town near her mom and dad. Well…her adoptive mom and dad, though I don’t think they ever actually adopted her with her being nearly eighteen when she went to live with them. Kimi and I were roommates in college and have been inseparable ever since. She’s the reason the clubhouse took me in after the accident, that and maybe because they felt they needed to help since the accident was club related. The club, along with Vin and Ellie, have become such a big part of my life and more of a family than my biological one.
I pull up to Kimi's house, and park right behind the white SUV Jake got her the day they found out she was pregnant with baby number one. I swear, he drove straight to the dealership to buy the safest thing he could find. The vehicle fits eight, and Jake wants to fill as many of those seats as they can. I think the man would keep her knocked up year-round if he could. I haven’t even told her yet about my upcoming little rug rat. Meeting up with Kimi this morning was supposed to be when I told her.
I step out and start toward the house as Rico’s truck comes down the driveway, not waiting for him before I go inside. As I reach for the screen door, Jake pulls it open with a welcome nod. "Key's inside," he whispers, leaving me to walk into the house by myself as he starts for Rico's truck. I refer to Jake as the silent brooder. He can’t talk louder than a whisper because of a bullet he took to the neck. That and the look he always has on his face, which puts a whole new meaning to stoic, gave him the name.
"Keeks, where art thou?" I call out, walking farther inside. I laugh when I hear her talking to her oldest.
"I know, Finn, but you can’t just go pee on the trees in the park. There are other people at the park." The kid is like a dog marking his territory, peeing on every tree he can find. Alpha biker in the making.
"Hey there," I say, leaning against the doorjamb to Finn' s room.
"Still marking trees?" I ask with a smile, getting an eye-roll from her.
"Yes. I could kill Gin for teaching him that. And Jake for letting him," she grumbles.
"Bikers."
"Tell me about it." We both smile as she leads the way back to the kitchen. "So...you fell asleep?" she asks, taking two cups down to pour us both coffee, which I take gratefully.
"Yeah. It’s been a long week. Nightshift." She nods in understanding.
"Oh, I know. I love my days off right now. My first rotation starts with nightshift when I get back next week, but then I’ll be back on the same schedule as you for another three weeks." She beams a smile at me and takes a sip of her coffee. Our rotations are so screwed up. When we first started, we were on the same schedule, then the hospital had to cut hours, and then they downsized the staff, creating even more of a workload for the people who survived the cut.
"So, I have some news..." I start, but don’t get far before Jake and Rico come into the house…Rico without his chair. I want to tell him if he’s in so much damn pain to keep his ass in his chair and not push himself, but he starts talking before I can.
"That better be decaf." His voice is stern as he nods toward my coffee.
"Why would it need to be decaf? I can have regular," I argue, forgetting our audience. I tend to do that when Rico talks, probably because when he talks we argue. Like the argument we’re about to have.
"Girl, are you ever not going to argue with whatever I say? I read one of the books last night, and it said no caffeine." I roll my eyes. "Said you need pills too. Should have stopped at the store before I headed out of town, but you were driving your car so damn fast, I wanted to stay behind you in case you went off the road," he bites out, scolding me like a child.
"I have some already. I’m not stupid, and I was driving the speed limit. And I get one cup!" Maybe that last part was a little loud, but it was enough to make Kimi clear her throat to get my attention. My head snaps her way, and she raises her brows.
"Am I missing something here?" she asks. "Since when are you two willingly talking to each other, and why is he acting like you’re pregnant?" She crosses her arms, waiting for one of us to talk. I glance over to Rico to see if he is going speak, then to Jake, who’s standing next to him, smirking at the situation.
“‘Cause she is," Rico says, and Kimi gasps.
"You're having Premo's baby?" I can’t even get a word out before Rico is talking. Will I be able to speak? Ever?
"Fuck no. Kid is mine. Not that assholes," he barks, raising his voice.
"You need to quit saying that. You don’t know for sure," I toss back.
"Oh, wait now. When did you two...? Oh god, I leave for a few days, and all hell hits the fan."
"You mean shit?" I question.
"Whatever. Something is hitting someone’s fan right now. What the hell, you two?" She gets up from her chair and looks down the hall, then back to us. "Keep your voices down. And, Rico, stop swearing." She grabs one of the dining room chairs and pushes it over to him. "Sit down," she commands, and Jake’s shoulders shake in quiet laughter. Rico catches the chair that comes at him with force.
"Sorry, Kimi," he relents, sitting on the chair as instructed. She is going to have to teach me how to get him to listen.
"Now," she sits back down, "let me get all this straight. You two slept together?" We both nod. "Around the same time you saw Premo?"Again, I nod, ignoring the scowl on Rico's face. "You don’t know which one is the father?" This time, I shake my head. "Are you going to do an amneio? You can find out before the baby is born."
"Oh no. You know how scared I am of needles." I hold up my hands in emphasis.
"What’s an amneio?" Rico asks.
"A series of tests that can determine the health of the baby and also tell you who the father is," Kimi explains.
"Let’s do that then. Get the bullshit out of the way," he says, and I scoff.
"The needle is like a foot long. I’m not letting someone stick me with that! I almost passed out when they drew blood!" I wince when I realize I’m shouting again. "Sorry," I say to Kimi, who waves her hand in dismissal.
"Fine. We can wait. Kid's mine, though," Rico says, and I growl at him.
"I can’t do this anymore," I groan, then turn to Kimi. "Can we maybe catch up this weekend? When there are no men around." I glare in the direction of the bossy man child sitting in the chair opposite mine. Kimi lets out a laugh.
"Yeah. We could use a girls’ day. Shopping and mani-pedis. I'll get mom and the girls in on it." She offers a sympathetic smile that tells me she knows what I mean. Jake isn’t far off when it comes to being as bossy as Rico. He’s just let off a little more now that they’re married and settled. And I'll be damned if I’m going to marry Rico just to get him to back off. I might be attracted to him, but being attracted and being in a relationship are two very different things. Especially if we can’t be with each other for more than three minutes without tearing out each other’s throats.
"Sounds good to me." I smile and stand to give her a hug.
"Good luck, Ar," she says with a hint of sarcasm, and I narrow my eyes at her.
"Yeah. See you later, Keeks," I say, and walk past Rico. "Hurry up, Puerto Rico, or I might leave you in my dust." I make sure I shake my ass as I walk away from him to my car and start it up. He hasn’t gotten halfway to his truck before I’m flying down the driveway, literally leaving him in the dust.
Chapter Nine
Rico
"Hands full with that," Jake says from behind me on the deck as I watch Ari peel out of the driveway.
"Don’t I fucking know it," I grumble. "You hear back on the place I asked about?"
He nods and reaches into his back pocket to produce a card. "Call 'em. Said it was available," he rasps. I say my thanks before walking back to my truck. Ari better be at the clubhouse and in a talking mood because I have more to say, and she won’t be running away this time.
Pulling up to the clubhouse, I catch sight of a bike I know all too well. Slamming my truck into park, I swing open the door, shift myself to get out, and make my way to the two people talking and standing way too fucking. "Reek," Premo says, stepping away from Ari to extend his hand. I take it, out of respect for the club and my brothers, not because I want to.
"Premo. What brings you around?" I grip his hand tight in mine—two men in a pissing match disguised as a handshake.
"Me and Screen are headed to Iowa. Thought I’d stop by to see Ari on my way through." He smirks, taking his hand away, and turns back to where she stands. Way too fucking close again. Countless times, I’ve seen them together, and it ends right fucking now.
"Ree." I keep my tone level and narrow my eyes, catching sight of the scowl she shoots me. Premo looks between the two of us, confused. The dumb fuck.
"Uh, Premo, we need to talk about something," Ari says, looking down at her feet as she drags the tip of her shoes through the rocky sand.
"Yeah? Well, we can go for a ride? Or maybe inside—"
"Fuck no," I growl, and Premo directs all his attention toward me.
"Something wrong, Reek?" The line between his brows deepens, frustration and annoyance clearly written on his face.
"He's just—"
"She ain’t fair game no more." Ari and I speak at the same time, and she narrows her eyes at me again.
"Rico, you don’t just get to—"
"Yeah, Ree. I fucking get to." Keeping my eyes focused on Premo, I continue. "She's mine. Having my baby. Whatever it was between the two of you is done." Her shriek of curses is muffled by the pounding in my head. My back is killing me, and the pain is starting to get to that unbearable state. I haven’t been using my chair much this morning, and it’s taking its toll. Shifting from one foot to the other, I don’t anticipate the small hand that flies across my face.
"You are such an asshole! Why can’t you go back to avoiding me!" Ari yells in my face. "I will tell you who this baby belongs to. Me! This baby is mine.
Not yours!" she yells some more, then turns without another look back and storms off into the clubhouse.
"That went well," College booms out, chuckling as he gets closer. "Do I need to stick around and make sure the two of you don’t kill each other?" He looks at a shocked Premo and me, then back toward the clubhouse. "I might need to actually make sure Ari doesn’t kill you, brother."
"Think we'll be good, College," Premo says, shaking himself out of the blunder he was just thrown into. "I’m heading in to get a drink before I leave." He looks me in the eyes for a moment before walking inside.
“Might want to back off a bit,” College says, pulling my attention from Premo’s back.
“The fuck you say?”
“Just sayin’ you might want to lay off her. She’s only going to push back harder.”
“Listen, I know you two got history, but she ain’t your concern,” I snap, then start back to my truck to get my chair. Little fucker. Kid went to college with Ari and Kimi. Name’s Sam, but we call him College ‘cause he’s the only one of us who’s been. He had a full football scholarship and a bright future until he blew out his knee. He came to us and started prospecting after he found out he could no longer play ball and the university revoked his scholarship. It was shortly after that I found out about his brief history with Ari.
Rolling inside, I try avoiding Premo sitting at the bar, but the prick stops me. "When the hell did you two happen?" he asks, taking a pull of his bottled water.
"Night the bomb went off in the clubhouse." His brows knit together as he takes another drink and crinkles the plastic under his palm.
"Times like this I want a fucking drink," he grumbles under his breath. "She’s pregnant, and either of us could be the father?" I nod, deciding to put the man out of his misery. "You're claiming her?" I nod again. "Didn’t sound like she agreed with that decision."