Cowboy Chapter 13
Waltzing into the clubhouse tonight to hang with my brothers was extra special, and it was all due to the woman on my arm.
Nothing could bring me down. Saranya had admitted that she loved me and agreed to be my old lady.
And she was thinking over the proposal for her clinic.
After we’d recovered enough to clean ourselves up and redress, we’d gone back to the house and talked everything over.
I got her to agree to moving in with me, even if she didn’t build the clinic here.
However, I would do my best to persuade her to do it.
While I didn’t anticipate trouble, I would feel better if she were close to the club. Usually, there was at least one of us at the compound. If members weren’t, there were prospects.
And in the prospect area, we were in luck. Tonight, the club would officially meet the two new prospects who were coming on board. They’d been presented and approved in church after Micro vetted them. There was a lot to celebrate.
It was seven-thirty, and the place was almost full of our club members and their families.
Only a couple of single guys were missing, but I knew they’d come wandering in shortly.
Jaycee was playing around the room with Isis and Fenrir.
At the moment, I noticed Dozer was staying next to Swerve.
The three other old ladies were there with Chasin and the babies.
I liked seeing how Diablo and Scorpion handled fatherhood.
True, Diablo had experience from Brooklyn all those years ago and his grandkids, but still, he hadn’t hesitated to dive in again with Jauhnna.
He was the example that Scorpion modeled himself after since his dad was gone.
I noticed there were others here tonight. I needed to introduce Saranya to them, but first, I needed to make my big announcement. Impatient, I went for my cell phone. I’d text the stragglers, Wolverine, and our secretary, Thunder. My phone never cleared my pocket because Butcher strolled up to me.
He leaned in to whisper, “I messaged Wolverine and Thunder to get their asses here so we can make the announcement. Since most will celebrate more for you and Sari, we’ll introduce the prospects first, then you have the floor. Diablo thought that would be best. Are you okay with it?”
Leave it to Pres to have everything in order. I’d called him earlier to let him know that I would be telling everyone tonight that she said yes.
“That’s perfect. Thanks, Butcher.”
“No problem. I might dislike you for winning her first, but I like Sari, so I’m being nice.” He grinned. When I gave him the middle finger, Butcher laughed loudly, making heads turn.
“Why are you flipping Butcher off? What did he do?” Saranya asked.
Leave it to the enforcer to clutch his heart and give her a pathetic look, which wasn’t working with the size of the man. No one would ever look at him and think he was unable to defend himself.
“Sari, you wounded me, darlin’. I did nothing but be friendly. Cowboy is jealous of how much you adore me.”
“Oh, is that why? I don’t know what to tell you, other than get used to it,” was her comeback.
“If you run away with me, it would solve the issue,” Butcher fired back.
“It would, because I’d have to kill you,” I told him happily.
Our teasing antics had those close enough to overhear us grinning and chuckling.
A sharp whistle got our attention. Diablo was standing up front, holding Kody in his arms. The baby had some tiny earmuffs on that kept out the noise. He was sound asleep.
“Now that everyone is here, we have some announcements to make. The first is that we have finally found two new prospects, so Boden won’t have to do so much.”
I noted the look of relief on Boden’s face.
He’d been doing an exemplary job as the only one for months, but the guy needed a break, and he would most likely soon become a member in less than a year.
Once the new ones were shown the ropes, it would be up to the members who endorsed the new guys to ensure they did their job.
Anyone prospecting had to have a member who would endorse them and take responsibility for them while they were prospects.
“This is Pierce, and this fella is Adrian. Make sure to introduce yourselves and welcome them. We’ll be nice tonight and then let hell commence tomorrow,” Diablo stated, wearing an evil grin.
Adrian and Pierce were strong, well-built men in their late twenties.
Both were good-looking without being pretty.
They each held up their hands when their names were announced.
Pierce was a guy who had been working at Wrath’s Repo, our repo business under Butcher’s management.
It was our enforcer who recommended him and agreed to be responsible for him.
Adrian had been a friend of Toretto's growing up.
They had lost touch and then reconnected a year ago. Toretto was to be his mentor.
“Welcome” was called out by several, and others clapped. When Diablo held up his hand, the room got quiet.
“Before you do your introductions, there’s another important update you all need to know. Come on up,” he called out.
I knew he meant me. As I moved to where Diablo stood, I took Saranya with me.
I shook Pres’s hand. He smiled at Saranya.
Faint whispers were coming from all over.
Looking out at the sea of faces, I saw the smiles.
My announcement wouldn’t be unexpected, but I still wanted it done right. I held onto Saranya’s trembling hand.
“For those who were in church on Monday, we talked about several things. I’d like to say that one of them I brought to the table has been accepted, thank God.
As our family, I would like to introduce you to my old lady, Saranya.
I know we usually have a property cut to present, but this wasn’t planned to occur this fast, so when Thunder gets hers in, I’ll rectify that.
I can’t tell you how damn happy and proud she’s made me feel to have her be mine. ”
I turned to face Saranya. Her smile was beaming. Loudly, so the entire room heard me, I said, “I love you, Anya.”
“I love you, too, Cowboy.”
She rose on her toes as I leaned over and our lips met in the middle.
We had the background symphony of hoots, clapping, hollers, and a few whistles to kiss by.
When I eventually ended it, it was time to be hugged, hands shaken, and, in her case, kissed on the cheek, except when it came to the old ladies.
They kissed my cheeks, too. Diablo was the first.
As he kissed her cheek, he murmured, “Welcome to the family, Sari. You make this bastard smile more than I’ve ever seen him do it. Thank you.”
From there, it became a blur. People were conversing with Adrian and Pierce, while others came to Saranya and me.
I was able to make introductions to the three people in the common room she hadn’t met.
First was Jamila, Scorpion’s mom. She moved back to St. Augustine after Scorpion met and claimed Paige.
She couldn’t stay away from her grandchildren.
Hanging closely by her was Alvin. He was the older former neighbor of Paige’s.
He’d been made an honorary family member.
Paige had no parents, and he fulfilled that role better than her actual folks ever had.
Plus, he seemed to have taken a shine to Jamila.
They were often together. We thought they might be more than friends, but nothing had been said.
The final person was no stranger to the club.
His name was Sledge, and he had been a founding member and best friend of Diablo’s dad, Fiend.
While he still had his mind, his arthritis made it too hard for him to ride anymore, so he retired from the club.
However, he still retained the right to hang with us.
He was coming around more over the past three years since Diablo claimed Jauhnna.
Sledge said that having Jaycee, followed by the addition of Chasin, and then the babies, had given his old bones new life.
It took a while to get through everyone, including Saranya and me, as we greeted the new guys. When we were finished, both of us were parched and in need of a drink. I took her to the bar.
“What do you want to drink, Anya?” I asked.
I asked because at her parents’ and out to meals, she drank iced tea or various sodas. Tea hadn’t been something stocked at the clubhouse until the women began showing up. I ran through the list of the non-alcoholic drinks available, then tacked on the end the types of alcohol we had.
“I feel like celebrating, and since we don’t need to drive, I wouldn’t mind a cranberry and vodka if you have it… Oh, wait, I see a bottle of Peach Crown Royal on the shelf. It’s amazing with sweet tea. You have tea. right?”
“We always stock sweet and unsweetened tea. Give me a second to look up the portions of that drink. Sounds good, though,” Boden said.
We waited for him to check his phone. After a brief pause, he poured six ounces of the black tea over ice and two ounces of the Peach Crown. Then he topped it with two teaspoons of simple syrup and mixed. He slid it to her.
“Tell me how it tastes. If it’s too sweet, I can cut back the syrup.” As he waited to hear the verdict, he got me a shot of my favorite whiskey, Knob Creek.
Her soft moan said it all. He’d gotten it right. For me, the moan made me think of her stripped naked on our bed. I had to push that thought away or risk popping a boner in the common room.
“Perfect, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll have to try that one for myself,” he replied in a friendly manner.
We stepped aside to allow others to bombard him with their orders. Some of the guys, wanting only a beer, got behind the bar and snagged them to help out. Saranya and I sat down on one of the couches along the wall. She snuggled in under my arm, exactly where I wanted her.