“I’ll meet you guys outside.” I grabbed my purse and headed out, pulling my phone out of my pocket. The last time I had heard from Lo was over three hours ago, and I missed hearing his voice.
After swiping his name, I put the phone to my ear, but it went directly to voicemail. What the hell? “Hey, it’s me,” I rattled off, “We’re just leaving the dress shop. We should be home within the hour. I’m not sure what you wanted to do for dinner, but I thought maybe we could just hang out in our room. I miss my Lo time. See you soon, I love you.” I shoved the phone back in my pocket just as the girls started pouring out the front door.
“I’m gonna head out.” Jackie pulled her keys out of her purse and beeped open the locks of her SUV. “Marcus called, wanting me to bring home fried chicken and whipped cream.”
“Oh, sweet Jesus, stop right there. I don’t want to hear anything about your kinky sex life.” I put my hands over my ears and shook my head.
Jackie hugged all the girls bye and flipped me off as she got in her car. “Ah, sisterly love,” Cyn said, tossing her arm over my shoulders.
“She loves to torture me. Even though we’re both grown adults, she still tries to annoy the shit out of me.”
“We should stop and eat. Oh, Mexican!”
“Sorry, no can do. I plan on slipping into the Lo Daze and not surfacing until morning.” I steered Cyn over to the car, eager to get home.
“Well, I want Mexican. Maybe I could get Rigid to help me cook.”
“Oh, I can help you!” Marley called.
“Abort, abort,” I whispered.
“You know what, on second thought, why don’t we grab the guys and make them take us out,” Gwen chimed in. I had a feeling that everyone knew about Marley’s lack of cooking skills.
“Perfect idea,” Cyn slid into the passenger seat while Marley and Gwen wedged themselves in the back again. “You sure you don’t want to come with us? You could always have your Lo time after.”
“I’m sure. I tried calling him earlier, and he didn’t answer. He’s probably in the garage working on paperwork or something.”
The girls chatted the whole way home, gushing over the dresses we had found today, but all I could focus on was the sinking feeling in my stomach that something wasn’t right.
________
Lo
“Yo, Cyn just called. We’re all going out for Mexican. You and Meg want to come with?”
I stared at the closed door, Rigid on the other side and took a swig from the bottle of 12 year Jameson that was dangling from my fingertips. After spending more than an hour at Gravel’s and Mom’s, I was more than ready to go home. I didn’t know what to feel or think.
She kept telling me over and over that she wasn’t going to die from this, but I didn’t hear it. The word cancer just kept rolling through my head, beating me down, making me feel like I had already lost her.
“King, you in there, man?” Rigid tried the handle, but I had locked the door, not wanting to be disturbed.
“I’m staying in tonight,” I called. I didn’t want to be out, having a good time while my mom was probably at home, throwing up and losing her hair because of the chemo she was going through.
“Suit yourself, brother.” I heard his retreating footsteps and took another drink. I grabbed the stereo remote, cranking up Five Finger Death Punch.
Life sucked at the moment, and the only thing that was going to make it better was Meg and this bottle of Jameson. Meg wasn’t here, so it was time to drown in Jameson.
________
Chapter 11
Meg
“Hey, are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”
This was the fifth time Cyn had asked me to go with them, and I was getting a tad bit annoyed. “I’m sure. We’ll hang out tomorrow, okay?”
She nodded her head, giving me a quick hug and headed out the door, following behind Marley and Troy. I tossed my purse behind the bar and grabbed a wine cooler from the mini fridge and popped it open. Rigid had told me that Lo had gotten back from his mom’s over an hour ago and headed straight to his room. Lo wasn’t one to hang out in his room alone when all the other brothers were around. Something was going on, and I was worried.
The common room was quiet, everyone either going out for Mexican or out in the garage to work on cars. I headed down the long hallway, slowly making my way to our room, wary of what I was going to find.
The closer I got, the louder the music thumped, pounding against the walls. I turned the handle, but it didn’t budge. I dug my keys out of my pocket, opening the door and slowly pushed it open. The room was pitch black, and the music was loud.
I felt around on the wall, searching for the light and flipped it on. The room illuminated, and my eyes landed on Lo, who was sitting in the recliner in the corner, a bottle of liquor to his lips. “Lo! Turn it down!” I yelled. He stared at me, making no moves to turn down the stereo. One look at him, and I knew he was well beyond buzzed and headed to shit faced. After walking over to the stereo and turning it down, I turned around and looked at him, my hands on my hips. “Looks like you started the party without me, hunny.” A loopy grin spread across his lips, and he took another swig from the bottle.
“It’s far from a party. Come here,” he slurred. Even piss drunk and slurring his words this man still called to me. I went to him without hesitating and climbed up on his lap, straddling him.
I rested my hands on his shoulders. “What’s going on?”
“She’s dying.”
“What? What do you mean she’s dying?”
“Mean exactly what I mean to mean.” This might be a bit harder than I thought it was going to be.
“Who is dying, Lo?”
“It’s cancer, babe. It’s cancer, and I can’t do anything,” he mumbled, burying his face in my hair. “I can’t fix it.”
I wrapped my arms around him, still not quite understanding what he was talking about, but I could tell it was tearing him up. “Are you talking about your mom, hunny?” I felt him nod his head yes, and my heart dropped.
Ethel had cancer. I pulled back and cupped his face with my hands. “How bad is it? Is she getting treatment?”
“Yeah. I went… I went…” He licked his lips and looked away from me.
“Do you wanna talk about it, hunny? Or maybe later?”
“I don’t know what to do, Meg. I try to fix everything, be the man I know that I am, but this I can’t do anything about. I can’t fight it for her. I can’t make her better.” Tears were streaming down his cheeks, each tear ripping my heart open wider.
I reached over and grabbed the bottle from his hand and took a swig. “Holy fuck, what the fuck is that?” I asked, sputtering. I don’t know how the hell Lo was drinking this shit straight up. I swear to Christ I just drank gasoline.
Lo grabbed the bottle from me and put it to his lips, taking three huge swallows. “Jameson,” he slurred.
He set the bottle on the floor next to the chair and popped up the footrest, catapulting me into his chest. “Sweet Jesus, warn a girl, would ya?” I laughed, wrapping my arms around him, settling into him. I rested my head on his chest and listened to his heart beating. “Your mom is strong, handsome.”
He wrapped his arms tight around me and held on like he was afraid I would slip away. “I needed you before when you called, but I didn’t know what to say.”
“That’s all you would have needed to say, handsome. You’re there for me all the time, now it’s time for me to be there.”
“If I lose her, I don’t… I just…”
I leaned back, looking him in the eye and put a finger over his lips. “Don’t even go there, handsome. Your mom is still here, and if I know her, I bet she has no plans of going anywhere for a long time.”
He kissed the pad of my finger, and I laid back down, my head to his chest. “I love you with everything I am, Meg.”
“I love you, too, Logan, and I promise, no matter what happens, I’ll be here.”
> ________
Lo
“I love when you hold me, handsome, but my stomach is about to start rioting.” Meg tilted her head back, a smile on her lips. She had been in the chair with me for over an hour, just letting me hold her.
“I suppose I should feed you.” I pushed the footrest down, and the chair tilted forward as Meg wrapped her arms around my neck. “You say everyone went out to eat?”
She nodded her head yes and climbed out of my lap and stood up. “Cyn and the baby were craving Mexican.”
I sat back in the chair and looked Meg up and down. She was so fucking beautiful, sometimes I wondered what the hell I did to deserve her. “Did you have a good day, babe?” Here I was acting like a fucking asshole, totally ignoring Meg.
“Yeah. It was good. I found my dress and so did the girls. There was a near death experience thanks to Barb, but we all managed to walk out of the shop alive.”
“I should probably be concerned that you went dress shopping and almost had a near death experience, but I’m not.”
She shrugged her shoulders, “I guess you’re just finally getting used to me,” she laughed.
I doubted I would ever get used to Meg’s crazy ways, but I wasn’t so shocked anymore. After the whole getting Marley drunk and shoving her in the bathroom with a pot of coffee, I just learned to roll with the punches. “How’d you almost die, this time, babe?” I stood up and grabbed my cut that I had tossed on the bed earlier. I stumbled a bit, realizing the half bottle of Jameson still might have a bit of a hold on me.
“I love watching you when you’re drunk,” Meg laughed. “Your own drunkenness surprises you. I saw that you totally thought you were fine, and then you almost fell on your ass. Priceless,” she giggled.
I managed to wrestle myself into my cut without falling over and sat down on the bed. Although, I’m sure it was more of a sit/fall. “Happy to entertain you,” I chuckled.
She held her hand out to me, and I grabbed it as she pulled me up. “Barb tried to hide my curvy curves, sucking me into a death contraption that one of my legs couldn’t fit into. Cyn and Barb both had to pull and tug to get me in. By the time they did, I was at about thirty percent oxygen level and falling. I’m pretty sure my lips turned purple.” She wrapped her arm around my waist, and we headed down the hall to the kitchen.
“I hope you didn’t get a dress that is going to hide all those curves I love, babe.” I slid my hand down her back and cupped her ass.
“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” she giggled, grabbing my hand, leading me into the kitchen and pushing me up against the counter. Sitting or leaning was probably my best bet at the moment. “You stay there and help me figure out what to make for dinner.”
“You know I’ll eat whatever you make, babe.”
She opened the freezer, sticking her head in, “You’re half drunk. I’m betting something greasy and beyond fattening is right up your alley right now. My stomach growled at her words. She peeked her head out and laughed. “I’m going to take that as a yes.” She pulled out a package of hamburger buns, tossed them on the counter and pulled out a pound of hamburger meat. “Juicy, greasy, messy, fall apart in your hand, burgers it is.”
After pulling all the fixings out, Meg pulled out a beer and handed it to me. “You trying to keep me drunk?”
“Maybe I have plans to take advantage of you later.” She winked at me and turned back to the counter, pattying up the burgers. “You feel like talking about your mom anymore?”
No, not really. I wish I didn’t ever have to think about her and cancer again, but I knew that was reality. “What do you want to know?”
“How long has she known?”
“A month.”
“What! She’s known for over a month, and she didn’t think that was something she should tell anyone?”
I shrugged my shoulders and took a swig of beer, “I don’t know. Gravel said she didn’t even tell him until the day of her first chemo appointment. To say that he was pissed is an understatement.”
“What the hell, did she plan on keeping it from everyone the whole time?”
“I think so. It was almost like she was pissed when I found out. I don’t believe she wants to be a burden to anyone or some shit like that. The woman took care of me all my life, now it’s my turn to help take care of her. My only problem is she doesn’t fucking tell me when she needs help.” Damn woman was one of the most stubborn women I knew. I had to basically force her to tell me when her next chemo appointment was. After fifteen minutes of insisting knowing when it was, she finally told me. I planned to be at every appointment that I could make.
“Did you tell anyone?”
“No, she asked me not to. She said the only one I could tell was you.”
“Well, that sucks. She does realize this whole clubhouse treats her like she’s their mother, right?” Meg slid the burger patties onto a grill pan she had heating on the stove and grabbed an onion. She sliced it open, her knife slamming down on the board.
“I know, babe. I’m sure eventually she’ll say something, but as of right now, she’s asked we don’t tell anyone.”
She mumbled under her breath, working on the burgers and toasting the buns in the oven. I loved watching Meg cook. It was incredible how she could take something so simple as a burger and turn it into the best thing I had ever eaten. “Homemade potato chips okay?” she asked, grabbing four potatoes from the pantry. I nodded my head, tempted to tell her again I would eat anything, but I knew she heard that all the time.
“She’s going to beat it. I know she will, Lo.”
“She said she wasn’t going to let this get her. The doctor said if she did all her treatments and shit, she should go into remission. He thinks they caught it soon enough that they can beat it.”
Meg set the knife down she was using to slice the potatoes and walked over to me, resting her hands on my shoulders. “She’s going to be okay. She has to be. Your mom is the person who brought us together.”
“I’d like to think I would have found you eventually, but my mother finding you for me worked, too.” I reached up and brushed the hair out of her face. “I did make you pretty fucking tongue tied that day.” I still think back on that day, remembering Meg tripping over her words and the way her eyes had roamed over my body.
“The second I laid an eye on you, my brain stopped working, and all I could think of was where those tattoos on your chest started and ended.” She tugged on the hem of my shirt and pulled it up, her hands gliding over my stomach. “I liked what I saw,” she looked down where her hands were, “still like what I see.”
“You need to figure out how hungry you are, babe. You keep doing what you’re doing, we won’t be eating dinner for hours.”
“Hmm,” she hummed, her fingertips grazing over my nipples. “I’m hungry for both food,” she glanced over her shoulder at the burgers cooking away, “and you,” she purred, looking back at me. She pressed her lips to mine, teasing me with what I wanted, but slipped away before I could take it.
“Did you just choose food over me?” I chuckled.
“Not really, I mean sort of. Although, it’s not like the option was only food or only Lo. I just decided food now, Lo all night,” she purred, glancing at me over her shoulder.
Son of a bitch, I loved this woman.
_________
Chapter 12
Meg
“I don’t know how you did it, babe, but that was the best fucking burger I’ve ever had.” Lo fell face first on the bed, his arms and legs sprawled out.
“Seasoning and don’t pack your meat too hard.”
Lo flipped over, a grin spread across his lips. “So that’s your secret, you know how to handle the meat.”
“Shh, don’t tell anyone,” I winked, walking into the bathroom. “I’m gonna shower quick, try not to pass out before I get out. I’ve got plans for you.”
“Hmm, I’ll be right here.” I closed the door and leaned against it. I reached o
ver, flipping on the light switch, and finally breathed.
When Lo had told me about his mom, all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry. Except I couldn’t do that, because Lo needed me to be strong for him. From what he had told me, Ethel was going to be okay, but it was still terrifying. The word cancer was terrifying by itself. When the name of someone you loved was tacked on to it, it took on a whole new meaning.
“Babe, let me in.”
I spun around, ripping open the door, fearful that Lo was about to be sick. During dinner, he had managed to drink three more beers. “Are you okay?”
He was leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. “I think I’m about as good as you are.”
“Well, if you’re going to puke, I think I’m a little better than you are.”
“I can’t remember the last time I puked from drinking. I can hold my own. I meant are you okay.”
God dammit, I was supposed to be the strong one for Lo, and here he was, making sure I was okay. This man was amazing, and I was unworthy of him. “I’m fine. I think it’s kind of sinking in that your mom is sick.”
“I know how you feel.” He reached out and wrapped his arms around me. “Turn on the shower. I need one, too.”
I turned around and walked over to the tub and turned on the water, adjusting the temperature till it was just right. “You know, I should be the one comforting you, not the other way around.” I turned around, and my jaw dropped. In the time it had taken me to get the water just right, Lo had managed to strip all his clothes off and was standing there naked as the day he was born. Well, and also sporting a huge hard on.
“I think I know of a way you could comfort me.” He reached down and stroked his cock, and I swear I came right then and there. He slid his hand up and down his hard shaft, and my desire pooled in my panties.
“Um, I think you might be thinking of a different kind of comfort.”
“Take your clothes off, Meg.”
“Do you really think this is the best time for this. You just found out about your mom and maybe you should… just, you know, try…” My words trailed off, and all thought left my brain as Lo squeezed a drop of precum from his ever growing dick. I licked my lips as my gaze stayed glued to his hand that was stroking his cock.
Devil’s Knights MC Box Set 2 Page 23