by Joy Blood
"She will." I sound so fucking confident, I almost believe myself, but I know that girl. She’s stubborn as fuck and believes I truly hate her.
"Right." He finishes off his bottle, then places it on the bar. "I need to get ridin'. I'll be back this way in about a week." He walks away without another word. I want to tell him not to bother coming back, but I hold my tongue out of respect and start toward the hall to get to my room. When I swing open the door, my blood starts to boil. She's packing her bag.
"The fuck are you doing?" My voice has a flame to it that makes her freeze.
"I thought I could do this, but you are just so...argh!" She tosses her shoes into the bag in frustration. "Why do you have to be such an asshole? That is not how I wanted him to find out. It wasn’t your call to make, Rico," she tells me, making me feel like a little bit more of a dick.
"You agreed. You’ve still got a few days, then you can do whatever it is you fucking want to do. Until then, you're mine." My voice rises with each word, and so do I, right out of my chair, taking slow, calculated steps toward her.
"Stop saying that! I’m not yours, and I never will be, especially if you’re going to keep acting like this!" My hand goes up to her mouth, stopping her words.
"You made an agreement.” I bring my tone to a soft whisper, then take my hand down and replace it with my mouth. Pressing hard, I meld her unmoving lips to mine and snake my hands around the back of her neck and lower back, bringing her flush to my body. "Open for me, girl." I pull back and whisper against her lips, flicking my tongue over her soft flesh. One more brush of my lips gets her to open for me.
I glide my tongue along hers, dueling for dominance. She’s a headstrong woman and doesn’t listen for shit, but I will get her to submit to me. Might not be today, but soon. She will want only me. Not fucking Premo. At the thought of him, I pull back and look down at her flushed face. "You can’t be fucking him anymore," I state, and she immediately recoils.
"Seriously? Rico, you can't just stake some claim on me and expect me to accept it. I'm not your woman or your old lady. For fuck's sake, I'm hardly your friend." She pushes away and goes to her bag again, unpacking it this time. That’s something. "I will stay. But you can bet your ass I’m not going to like it." No doubt she will make it as miserable as possible. She mumbles a few more choice words as she starts shoving her things into the small closet. The last thing to go in is the small suitcase, and she isn’t quite tall enough to get it on the top shelf. Each time she tosses it up, it only falls back down. I grin as she fights with the black bag, then finally gives up and lets it drop to the floor. When it lands, she promptly kicks it across the room. That breaks my smile into a full-blown laugh. I laugh so damn hard, it hurts my cheeks, pissing her off further.
"The hell are you laughing at?" She huffs and crosses her arms, scowl firmly in place.
"That was..." I can’t finish I’m laughing too hard.
"I hope I’m entertaining to you because that’s about all you are going to get," she barks.
"Oh, believe me, girl, that was entertainment enough," I chuckle. She cracks a smile, but quickly hides it before she stomps out of the room. "Three, two..." Slam! The door flies shut from the force of her swinging it, and I let out another laugh. She's cute when she’s pissed off. I’ve seen her mad before, even yelling at me a time or two...or three, but that little temper tantrum…shit.
Going over to the bag, I catch sight of my message alert on my center computer. I toss the bag onto the bed and get back into my chair. I’m not getting back out of it until the day is done. Rolling over to my computer, I pull up the message.
Got this info. Nothing more I can dig up.
I had one of my contacts in the Cental PD check out their old child abuse cases to see if I could get a hit on the person Rock’s looking for. I read through the file, but don’t see much. The hospital contacted the police and CPS, but nothing was followed through because the suspect had gone missing. The missing person report is the next file I read through.
Four-year-old Steven Rocardio. Mother: Stephanie Rocardio. Father: Unknown
There were no arrests made, and the missing person case went cold. No known address for the mother. I’m guessing she jumped town. She was never tried for the disappearance of her son.
Just a few months ago, Rock found out he may have a sibling out there somewhere—one he never knew about. But now, finding out there was a missing person report filed after suspicion of abuse, locating the kid doesn’t look like it will be happening anytime soon. Guess that’s why he didn’t want to let Buggs know what was going on. Girl gets all worked up about shit, especially when it comes to family.
A soft knock on my door drags my attention from the report, and I call out for whoever it is to come in. I hear it open, but no one talks. Before I turn around, I feel soft hands on my shoulders, then a familiar floral perfume fills my nose. "Hey, Reek. You need any laundry done?" Cira purrs into my ear, then trails her hot tongue up my neck to the shell of my ear.
"No, C. Thought I told you I was done with this?" I try to keep my voice level as I pull my head away from her. Last thing I want to do is hurt her. She, like the other girls, is here for my brothers, but she seems to keep gravitating toward me. The morning after the explosion, she tried giving me a lap dance and practically dry humped me in the bar until I pushed her off.
"Oh please. I know you and Ari aren’t a thing. The girl hates you, and I didn’t think you liked her much either," she complains, still trying to press her lips to my ear. I won’t deny it, the girl still gets my cock stirring. I am only a man. She has plump lips and wide thighs I don’t mind getting lost in for a couple hours. She isn’t Ari, though. She never will be.
"Get off me, C. Shit isn’t happening anymore. And what’s going on between Ree and me is no concern of yours." I push away from the computer desk, effectively removing her from me. "We fucked a lot. That’s all. You’ll just have to find someone else’s bed to warm. There are plenty of them around." My voice is getting edgier, and slight tears well in her eyes. All the girls here have a good standing with one another; I don’t want this to put a rift in the camaraderie.
"Yeah. Okay." She sniffs and starts to leave.
"I don’t want this causing shit in the clubhouse. You hear me?” She nods her head and walks out the door. I hope to fuck she listens. Last thing we need is a catfight breaking out.
Chapter Ten
Ari
"Ari." Cira greets me with a smile, and I take that as my invitation to sit down. She’s been cold to me all night, and I can only assume that it has something to do with Rico.
"How have you been, Cira?"
"Thought you couldn't drink." She nods toward my brown glass bottle.
"Kimi bought me these." I show her the label. "Thought it would be funny. All it does is remind me I can’t drink." I take another sip. "What did Rico say to you?" I ask, cutting to the chase.
"Not going to beat around the bush? All right then." She pauses to take a swig of her brown bottle, presumably with something very different than mine inside. "He told me we couldn’t fuck anymore and not to start shit with you." Wow. I did not see her coming at me with the bluntness.
"Okay then. I’m sorry about all this. You have no idea. Honestly, I don’t even want to be staying in his room, but he really didn’t give me much choice."
"That’s men. It’s always about what they want." She shrugs.
"Do you love him?" I ask, not knowing if I really want to hear her answer.
"I don’t know. Maybe? Or maybe it's just because he's the nicest out of them all." This makes me laugh.
"Well, I have yet to see this nice side of him, so I will just take your word for it."
"It's time for bed, Ree," Rico's gruff voice interrupts our conversation. I look over to see him narrowing his eyes at Cira.
"I'm a big girl, Puerto Rico. I think I can decide my own bedtime, and don’t look at her like that. We’re just talking," I snap.
> "You got off your shift this morning and took a short as fuck nap. You need sleep. Don’t fucking make me tell you again." My teeth grind together as I stand to leave.
"See you tomorrow, Cira." I walk over to the trash to toss in my bottle, the glass clinking against the rest of the empties. The fucking audacity. My arms cross over one another as I storm into the clubhouse, nearly running into Sam on the way.
"Hey there, Ari. Slow down. Any faster, you might trip." His hands going to my shoulders to halt my steps. "What did Reek do now?"
"Just being Reek. You know him." He lets out a chuckle at my annoyance.
"That I do. Give in a little, yeah? The guy doesn’t know how to act like anything but an asshole to you ‘cause that’s what he's made himself do for the past few years." His words catch me off guard, and I recoil. What would Sam know about it anyway?
"Made himself? What are you even talking about?"
"You don’t see the way he looks at you when he thinks no one is watching, Ar. Guy has got it bad for you. I know, ‘cause I might have looked at you the same way once upon a time." His words hit me hard in the chest. "Hey, Reek," Sam says, and my back stiffens.
"Mind taking your hands off my girl, College?" Rico says from behind me, using Sam's nickname. He doesn’t wait to see if Sam does as told before rolling past us to the hallway leading to the rooms.
"Have a good night." Sam winks before he walks outside, presumably to find his bedwarmer for the night.
"Yeah. Thanks a lot, asshole," I grumble to myself as I start walking to Rico's room.
Each step I take is slow and calculated, taking as much time as possible to reach that door. I have halted his efforts so far, but when I think back on the kiss we shared just two days ago, my body heats. I reach for the doorknob, but stop, my hand midair. A flash of the night we spent together assaults me. Hands. Lips. His tongue. Exploring my skin. Drawing in a ragged breath, I clasp my fingers around the knob and turn. The usual smell of pot hits my nose as the door swings open. I catch Rico at his computers in my peripheral, but ignore him as I go about getting ready for bed. Even when I have to walk past him to go into the bathroom, I pay him no mind. He does the same.
The clicking of the keyboard pings at my ears, then pauses before his lighter flicks and he sucks in a hit from his glass pipe. His back must be bothering him tonight if he’s hitting the weed this hard. I haven’t smelled the smoke this strongly in here since I started staying in the room.
I go about washing my face and brushing my teeth, then change into my usual tank top and shorts before stepping back out into the room. Still ignoring him, I pull back the blankets and climb into bed. The dim light above his computers is still on, as well as the glow of the screens, but I don’t care. I pull the covers up over my head and block out the light, doing my best to get comfortable with the one pillow I have. It isn’t enough, though. I toss and turn a few more times before giving up and laying directly on my back, staring up at the ceiling. A large flag spans the plaster, the Hell's Riders flaming motorcycle and rider stare down at me as I lay there in frustration.
"Not supposed to lay on your back, Ree," Rico says, making my mood that much better. Not.
"And why the hell not?" I grumble, rolling my eyes even though he can’t see me do so.
"Book says it."
"Oh, and we must do what the book…" my words die in my mouth when I feel the strangest sensation in my lower abdomen. Flinging the covers away, I sit up.
"What?" Rico's voice draws closer with an edge of concern.
"I...felt...something," I say, waiting for the feeling to come back. My hands go to the hem of my shirt, and I pull it up enough to expose the tiniest little bump. The flutter happens again, and I let out a small laugh. "It's moving." I can feel the smile growing on my face.
"Yeah?" Rico's hand comes out and covers mine over my belly. I instantly grab hold and place the calloused hand over my abdomen. The flutter happens again, and my eyes shoot to his, which are focused right on our hands.
"Can you feel it?"
He shakes his head. "Nah, girl. Won't be able to feel him move for a couple more months." He sounds so sure.
"Book tell you that too?"
"Yeah." My hands leave his so I can lean back and rest on the bed, but his stays in place, adding the other to caress my bare skin. "Starting to get a little bump here," he tells me with a slight smirk before backing away. "Looks good on you," he tells me before rolling back to the computers. I stay in the same spot, but pull my shirt back down, watching as he shuts down his computers and takes one more hit from his pipe.
"Your book say anything about secondhand smoke?" I raise a brow. He looks up at me, expressionless, then takes another hit. "Is it bad today?"
"Little," he admits on an exhale, then places the pipe and lighter down onto the desk. "Right or left?" he asks, rising stiffly from his chair.
"Left or right what?"
"Bed. Which side do you sleep on?" His steps are slow but sure as he reaches the bed and places one knee, then the other, on the mattress, straddling my leg. "I prefer the right, but would be willing to give it up." He gets closer, hovering over me as I press back into the bed.
"What would I have to give you?"
"Not a damn thing. Just being hospitable." He shrugs, shifting himself so he’s now lying beside me, on the right side. "Get some sleep," he orders before reaching behind the bed and flicking a switch I hadn’t seen until now. The light above the computers shuts off, bathing us in darkness. "Night, Ree."
"Goodnight, Rico," I whisper into the darkness, then somehow find sleep.
Chapter Eleven
Rico
I watch her lie there, twitching every so often in the early morning light. She should be waking up shortly now that the sun is starting to shine on her face. Leaning back on the wall, I scroll through my emails on my phone and find the one I had been waiting on. "Ree,” I reach down and nudge her shoulder. "Wake up."
"Go away," she mumbles, swatting her hand at mine. I laugh.
"You need to get up. We have shit to do today." She’s on her right side, head still on the pillow and eyes closed.
"No." More grumbling before she rolls over, putting her back to me. The girl kicked me twice last night and smacked me in the face with her arm. The bed isn’t small, but it isn’t big either. There’s only so much space between us, not that I want any. If it were up to me, she would have fallen asleep in my arms, not as far away from me as she could get. I want her to come to me willingly, but I’m thinking that isn’t going to happen and I’m running out of time. Maybe today when I show her what I have planned she’ll start to see the big picture.
"Not going to ask again, girl. Wake up." I give her a hard smack on her blanket covered ass and laugh as she yelps.
"What the hell, Reek!" She turns to face me. "It’s my day off. I want to sleep in!" she shouts, then burrows back under the covers, covering up her face from the natural light pouring into the room.
I lift from the mattress and move my stiff muscles to the foot of the bed. "Not happening today. I’ve got something to show you." She doesn’t answer or move, so I take the bottom of the sheet and blanket, and in one swift pull, yank it from the bed. She’s instantly up and yelling something I don’t hear because I’m already in the bathroom, closing the door behind me.
I flick on the shower and start stripping off my clothes. I hadn’t even given a shit when I fell asleep last night with my jeans still on. Letting the rumpled clothes drop to the floor, I pull back the curtain and step under the hot spray. The shower has been filled with so much of Ari's shit, it takes me a second to find my single shampoo/body wash bottle. It’s behind some tall blue bottle that states it’s safe on colored hair. Squirting some in my hand, I go to work washing myself, taking in all the products she has lined up in the shower caddy and along the shelf built into the wall. Foot scrub. Face scrub. Deep conditioning something or another. How much does a woman need in the shower? She can’t possibly
use all of this, can she? My back starts protesting more, so I hurry with my task and turn the tap off. The sound of the door creaking open catches my attention. "I...uh…I need to pee. Like, really bad."
"Help yourself," I tell her, stepping out of the shower, completely naked and dripping with water. I make no hurry to cover myself with the towel I grab to dry my face. Her eyes are locked on me. On my half hard cock, to be exact.
Dragging the towel down my chest, I stay locked on her. Her eyes dilate, and that pink tongue of hers darts out to wet her lips before she realizes what she’s doing and drops her gaze to the floor. "Can you...uh...cover up, please?"
"You walked in on me, Ree. Enjoy the show?" She huffs and bustles into the bathroom, then starts to pull down her shorts.
"I did enjoy the show. Are you going to stay for this one?" she dares.
"Not my thing. Grab a shower if you want. We’ll leave in thirty," I tell her, still not wrapping the towel around my waist. I can feel her eyes on me as I leave the bathroom and close the door behind me. She wants me, it’s just getting her to act on it that will be the challenge.
* * *
An hour later, I finally get her out of the clubhouse and decide she does, in fact, use every fucking bottle in that shower because she took a very long one. "Are you going to tell me why you had me wake up at the ass crack of dawn on my day off?"
"Hardly the ass crack. It’s ten." I flick on my blinker and turn the truck down the empty street. "I said I had something to show you. Wanted your opinion on this."
"On what?" she questions, confused.
"This," I say, pulling into the drive of a one level three-bedroom house in Cental.
"A house?" She shifts in her seat and stretches over the dashboard to look over the place.
"Yeah," I confirm, putting the truck in park and stepping out before she can say much more. My lower back jolts as my feet hit the cement, but I push past the pain. I’ll be damned if I’m letting that shit ruin this. I found this place not too long ago. No for sale sign out front, but no one living in it. The realtor Jake hooked me up with emailed me and said we could check it out. Place is all one level and only two blocks from the hospital. Perfect.