The next few minutes played out as one would expect. Kelly screamed, yelled, and ultimately resisted arrest, which led to her being taken to the ground and handcuffed before being shoved into the back of the police cruiser.
“I’m assuming you want to file some trespass notices, possibly a restraining order?” the officer asked.
Kellan nodded. “Yes, I do. She’s been a nuisance since we divorced, but I will not tolerate her showing up here and harassing Avery.”
“No problem. We’ll get her down to the station and then I’ll swing back by with the paperwork. We’ll also arrange to have her car towed,” the officer said.
“Thank you,” Kellan said.
The two officers got back into their car and drove away with Kelly in the back seat, clearly screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Come on, sweetness; let’s go inside,” Kellan said and started to usher me back into my living room.
“Are you married?” I asked shakily.
“No, Avery. Not anymore. I was married to her for about two years before we divorced.”
“She said you have fake divorce papers,” I pointed out. I hated that her words had so easily created a river of doubt between us.
He shook his head. “I can show you how to pull them up from the county’s judicial records online if you want to see them for yourself.”
“I do. I’m sorry, but I just—”
“Don’t apologize. If I had a problem with you wanting to see them, I wouldn’t have offered to show you.”
“Why did you get divorced after only two years of marriage?” I asked.
He sighed and sat down on the sofa. “She was my high school girlfriend. And believe it or not, she used to be different. She wasn’t the greedy, gold-digging evil bitch that she is now. I’m not sure when she changed, but I didn’t notice it until it was too late. Or, hell, maybe she was always that way and hid it very well. Anyway, I got off work early one day and came home to surprise her, but the surprise was on me because I found her fucking a neighbor from down the street in our bed. As soon as I saw them, things clicked into place and I knew right away it wasn’t the first time she’d cheated. After that, I filed for divorce. She fought it every step of the way, and it took me almost two years to get rid of her.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” I said.
He gave me a small smile. “Thank you. I was pretty devastated by it at first, but it didn’t take me long to realize I was in love with the idea of her, not her.”
“So, she’s done stuff like this before?” I asked.
He nodded. “She has. When I filed for divorce, I moved in with my grandfather because she refused to leave the house and I couldn’t stand to be around her. She started showing up at his place at all hours of the night. When we put a stop to that, she started calling. She showed up at my job, the grocery store, restaurants. It was exhausting. I picked up an extra part-time job so I could get out of my grandfather’s place and spare him from her bullshit.”
“She hasn’t left you alone since your divorce?” I asked in surprise.
“She disappeared for a few years and I thought that was the end of it until she showed up at the gym yesterday.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“Well, she drug our divorce out for two years. We had a decent house and two cars, but no kids. She was just trying to get every cent she could from me. But after the accident, my grandfather pointed out that she could be held liable in a civil suit since we were still married. She agreed to the terms and signed the divorce papers within a week. I’d heard she found herself a sugar daddy, so I’m guessing her relationship with him has ended and she’s looking to replace him.”
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t strike me as the sugar daddy type,” I said honestly.
He laughed. “I’m not,” he said and then a look of realization washed over his face. “Fuck. I know why she’s back. She’s after my money.”
“What money?” I asked and slapped my hand over my mouth. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”
“It’s fine. When my parents died, their life insurance money went into a trust for me. I started receiving monthly payments when I turned eighteen and would get a lump sum every five years on my birthday once I reached twenty-one,” he explained.
“Does she really think you’ll go back to her when you’re having a child with someone else?” I asked, partially in disbelief and partially because I needed the reassurance.
He moved closer and pulled me against his chest. “Yes, she thinks that highly of herself, but, sweetness, there’s no way in hell I’d ever go back to her.”
24
Savior
Avery’s surgery did wonders for her. She went from being sick multiple times a day and feeling miserable in general to being the stereotypical glowing pregnant woman. Since she was better, I wanted to introduce her to my brothers and their women. Layla, River, and Leigh had been hounding me about bringing her to the clubhouse.
Coal and I were still alternating morning and evening shifts at the gym, so I usually stopped by Avery’s house to spend some time with her before I went in for an evening shift. She always answered the door happy to see me, except for one particular day.
“Hey,” she said with a huff and immediately turned to stomp back to the kitchen.
“Something wrong?” I asked and followed her after closing the door.
“Yes! Look what these idiots have done!” she fumed and waved something in front of my face.
I took it from her and glanced over it, but I had no idea what I was looking at nor what was wrong with it. “I’m going to be honest, babe, I have no idea what the problem is with whatever this little paper thing is.”
“It’s a bookmark that I designed for one of my clients. And that is one of the most well-known models in the indie romance community. He has been on ninety-something book covers. And they cut off his nipple! They maimed a legend! Now, she has five hundred bookmarks with a uni-nip!”
“It’s like a reverse nip slip,” I chuckled.
“It’s not funny!”
“It so fucking is!” I laughed so hard I bent forward and held my stomach. “Oh, shit, sweetness, this is classic.”
“Stop laughing,” she giggled. “Her book is coming out soon and she has an event this weekend. She can’t give these out.”
“Sure she can. Make it a thing like they do with those stuffed animals that have errors on the tags. Do you have the rare bookmark with a one-nippled version of Romancelandia’s hottest cover model?”
Her mouth dropped open and she held one hand up. “Hold on; how in the hell do you know about Romancelandia?”
“Fuck,” I breathed. “Uh, that term came up when I was looking at some of your designs online.”
“So, you were cyberstalking me. Should I be worried?” she joked.
“I was not. I was showing Judge and Copper your work, and I couldn’t remember the name of your website. So I searched your name, and that’s where I saw that term,” I explained.
“Mmhmm, I’m not sure I believe that story.”
“You can ask Judge and Copper this weekend.”
She cocked her head to the side. “This weekend?”
“Yes. Three brothers are getting married the weekend after next and they’re having a huge combined bachelor/bachelorette party this Saturday. It’s an all-day thing starting with a family barbeque. Then, they’re going to have a big slumber party set up in one of the rooms for all the kids so the adults can have their fun once the kids have gone to sleep. I want you, Riley, and Braxton to come with me.”
“There will be other kids there?” she asked.
“There will be a lot of kids there. Several of the brothers from the Croftridge Chapter have children. Actually, I think Keegan’s little sister is around the same age as Riley. They’ll probably be the oldest kids there.”
“And this is a safe environment for kids?” she asked carefully.
“I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t. I know motorcycle clubs get a bad reputation, but just because some are bad, it doesn’t mean all are bad,” I explained.
Her cheeks flushed and she looked away from me. “I’m sorry; you’re absolutely right. I’ve only had a few interactions with the members of your club and they’ve been nothing but nice to me.”
“That’s part of why I want you to come spend some time at the club and get to know everyone. They’re not just my friends; they’re my family,” I explained.
“Okay,” she agreed. “Do I need to bring anything?”
“Just whatever you and the kids will need to spend the night. Oh, and bathing suits. I heard Layla talking about renting one of those inflatable water parks for the kids to play on.”
“Oh, the kids will love that,” she said excitedly.
And they did. A few days later when we went to the clubhouse for the party, the kids had a great time playing on the inflatables. Layla had arranged to have a large inflatable waterslide as well as an inflatable water park/obstacle course. I don’t think we would’ve gotten them to go inside if Leigh hadn’t thought to set up an ice cream sundae bar.
“Are you sure you don’t need some help getting them to bed?” Avery asked Leigh.
“Oh no, as soon as the sugar rush wears off, they’ll all crash from how hard they played today. I’ve been doing this for years and I’ve never had one last more than twenty minutes into the movie,” Leigh said proudly. “But I’ll be sure to come get you if there’s a problem.”
Just as Leigh disappeared into the clubhouse, Batta shouted, “Let’s get this party started!” I turned to see him at the top of the waterslide. He jumped in the air, landed on his stomach, and went head first down the slide.
“Oh, shit!” I said and pressed my fist to my mouth. Batta’s big body shot down the slide like a rocket, hit the landing pool, and went straight over the inflatable barrier. He slid across the wet grass and came to a stop twenty feet away.
He groaned and rolled to his back. “Fuck! Can somebody see if they can find my nipple? I think I lost it at the halfway mark.”
Avery slapped her hand over her mouth trying to hide her amusement. But I couldn’t let the opportunity pass. “Batta, you ever thought about being on a book cover? I hear there’s a new one-nipple trend.”
Batta sat up with a confused look on his face. “How much have you had to drink, brother?”
Avery lost it. She started laughing and then suddenly slapped my arm and took off for the clubhouse. “You’re going to make me peeeeee!”
“You’re in big trouble now,” Annabelle laughed. “You never make a pregnant woman laugh that hard.”
I pointed at Batta like a petulant child. “He did it!”
Batta threw his hands in the air as he walked toward us. “All I did was ask where my nipple was. I’m too scared to look. Is it still there? Fuck it, I’ll have it tattooed back on if I lost it.”
“Yes, it’s still there you big fucking baby,” Bronze said and proceeded to give Batta one hell of a titty twister.
“Owww!” Batta yelled and grabbed Bronze. “Ooooey! I got your barbell. Whatcha gonna do now, fuckhead?”
“Knock it off before one of you gets hurt,” Copper ordered. “Besides, I think the ladies have some party games they want to play.”
“Listen up!” Layla shouted. “No bachelor/bachelorette party is complete without a few games. And since this is a combined party for three couples, we worked really hard on putting together some new games to play. For the first one, we want to see just how tough our big, scary bikers are. So, I need five of you boys to volunteer.”
When no one moved or uttered a word, Layla sighed. “Bronze, Judge, Carbon, Duke, and Shaker, get your asses over here.”
“What about me?” Batta asked.
Layla arched an eyebrow. “Have you and your nipple recovered enough to play?”
“You’re lucky I like you,” Batta joked as he grabbed a chair and made his way over to Layla. He placed it beside the other guys and dropped into it while crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m playing, too.”
“Suit yourself,” Layla teased.
River stepped forward with a bowl in her hands. “Each one of you will reach into the bowl and pull out one piece of paper. You can look at it, but don’t tell us what it is until we ask.”
“Okay, starting with Batta, each one of you tell us what your paper says,” River instructed.
“Forehead and cheeks,” Batta said.
“Armpits,” Bronze shared.
“Legs,” Judge called.
They continued with Duke having chest, Carbon’s was stomach, and Shaker had arms.
“Keegan, Reese, Harper, and Annabelle, we need your assistance.”
“What are they doing?” Avery asked.
“I have no idea, but I can’t wait to find out.”
A few minutes later, the girls returned to their seats after smearing something black onto the body part assigned to each man.
Layla cleared her throat and struggled to stop giggling long enough to explain the game. “We have smeared the guys with a blackhead removing face mask. It’s supposed to do wonders for your skin, if you can stand to peel it off. Since I know none of you will be able to peel it off without crying out in pain, the winner will be whoever can go the longest without making a sound. Are you ready?”
“Fuck, yes!” Batta roared.
“Go!” Layla shouted.
“Ahhh! Motherfucking son of a cocksucking bitch!” Batta blurted. “Oh, fuck! Do over! Do over!”
“Sorry, Batta, you’re out!” Layla laughed.
“Need help, Bronze?” River teased.
He frantically shook his head and waved her away with his hands. He was visibly struggling to pull that from his armpits without making a sound.
“Fuck this shit,” Duke announced. “I give up.”
Judge was doing well until River grabbed what he had pulled up and yanked. “Fuuuuccck!” he bellowed.
A high-pitched, ear-piercing shriek filled the air and we all looked to see Bronze hopping in a circle on one foot. “Put it back! I want my skin and hair back, right now!”
Keegan had snuck up behind Shaker during the commotion. She ripped the mask from his arm causing him to shout out in pain.
Carbon stood proudly and flashed us all a wicked smile before he silently ripped the mask from his chest and tossed it aside. “Looks like I win, motherfuckers!”
I was laughing so hard I had tears running down my face. Avery was cradling her stomach and desperately trying to catch her breath. Bronze came over and sat down beside her. “What about one bald pit? Is there a trend for that?”
25
Avery
I had so much fun at the combined bachelor/bachelorette party for Kellan’s friends that I didn’t want the night to end. We talked and laughed until the wee hours of the morning.
To my surprise, the party continued the next day. As soon as the kids were up, they were outside playing on the inflatables. “When do you have to return those things?” I asked Layla while we were eating breakfast.
She shrugged. “Any time in the next day or two. Copper is friends with the guy who owns the rental company. He let us have those for free and told us to call when we wanted to have them picked up.”
“Do you have his contact info? I know both of my kids will be asking to have something like that for their next birthday party.”
“I don’t have it handy, but I’ll ask Copper to give it to Savior for you.”
“Thank you.”
River came barreling into the room with a frantic look on her face. When her eyes landed on me, she made a beeline for the table. “There you are! I was afraid you’d already left.”
I immediately went into mommy mode. “Why? Did something happen to Riley or Braxton?”
“Oh no, nothing like that,” she said quickly. “I wanted to ask you if Riley and Braxton could be in the wedding
. Riley would be a flower girl with Gabby, and Braxton would be a ring bearer with James.”
“Um, it’s fine with me, but they’ve never done anything like this before, so I can’t guarantee their behavior.”
River laughed. “Oh, don’t worry about that. This is a biker wedding; we don’t expect anyone to behave.”
“Okay, then, but I did warn you and I have witnesses.”
“Leave me out of this,” Layla joked.
“Just let me know when and where they need to be.”
“Let me get your phone number and I’ll text you all the details. I know it’s super short notice, but could you meet me tomorrow afternoon for a dress and tuxedo fitting for the kids?”
“Sure. Any time after they get out of school will be fine.”
She blew out a slow breath and leaned back in her chair. “Thank you so much. We did a trial run this morning, and Gabby couldn’t pull the wagon with little Raven in it by herself. Then, James would only walk down the aisle if someone was holding his hand. I had a moment of panic.”
“Do you want them to come inside and do a practice run with you?” I asked. I loved my children, but they could be just as stubborn as any other kid from time to time.
“We’re actually practicing outside. They’ve been looking over like they were interested, but I wanted to run my idea by you before I asked if they wanted to join us.”
I pushed to my feet and picked up my plate. “Let me drop this in the kitchen and we’ll go see if my monsters will cooperate.”
“I got it, sweetness,” Kellan said and took the plate from my hand. “Grab a bottle of water and sit in the shade. It’s already hot as hell.”
“Bossy,” I teased.
“Concerned,” he said and rubbed my stomach. “I’ll be out there in a few minutes.”
To my surprise, my children were thrilled to be included in the wedding. They both listened attentively and carefully followed the instructions they were given. James was thrilled to walk down the aisle with a friend and Riley and Gabby could easily pull the wagon down the aisle together.
Savior (Blackwings MC - Devil Springs Book 3) Page 12