Chapter 12
Holly – Two Weeks Later
Laughter and joy fill the room, an air of family and love, and I smile as I look around the dark oak common room.
The kids are playing, all content. Brothers are chatting.
The women, who I’m told are clubwhores—a word I really don’t like—are plotting in the corner.
They eye the brothers while scowling at the women I’m told are old ladies, women that the brothers claim in the eyes of the club or something or other.
Apparently, the clubwhores only attend family day if they dress appropriately and stay away from the brothers, but I’ve seen a few try to get the brothers' attention, especially Ace, who I’m told is the biggest player in the club now that most of the officer brothers, had settled down.
Apparently, it’s just Ace left, which I found confusing, because I thought Alex was single?
Or is he back with his ex, and I didn’t know?
No, he can’t be. He keeps calling and messaging me, for three weeks, he’s continuously making contact with me.
But we’re just friends.
I shake my head and turn towards the prospect as Alex calls them from behind the bar, and he gives me a cocky grin and asks, “What can I get ’cha, toots?”
I smile. “Just a water, please, I’m driving,” I reply, and he gives me a wink before getting what I requested, and I look back out into the common room, feeling surprisingly at home here, a feeling I haven’t had in a very long time, not since before my parents kicked me out.
Other than the constant glares of a woman who looks like she should be on the cover of a magazine with her platinum hair and deep hazel eyes, everyone has been nice and welcoming.
They’ve all accepted me into the fold and Ice and Honey had stolen my daughter as soon as we arrived.
I must admit, allowing my daughter and her best friend to convince me to be here today wasn’t such a bad thing.
To be honest, trying to say no to one child pouting and giving me puppy dog eyes was bad enough, but two?
Yeah, nope. I was a goner. So here I am, at the clubhouse for a family day, despite them not being my family.
My eyes find Alex talking to a man he calls Trigger, who has his arm wrapped around a beautiful woman with blonde hair and green eyes, while a boy no older than ten stands beside them grinning, holding a cute little baby who, yes, I want cuddles with.
Tyson, the little boy, was born early. According to Alex, Trigger messed up a lot with his woman and even now, I can see her looking at him with hesitation but also hope.
Alex mentioned she doesn’t come to the club much so I’m guessing this is a big step for her.
The fondness Alex shows her makes me feel jealous, even though I shouldn’t. It’s something I never felt with Adam. I mean, yes, I was hurt when he cheated, terrified when he tried to crash the car or well, did crash it, but I never felt jealous….
It’s a feeling I don’t like because I know he’s burying himself deep inside my heart.
“I heard a rumor,” a voice says to my right, taking my attention away from Alex, gently cupping the baby’s head, and I look and lock eyes with the deep hazel ones that have been glaring at me all afternoon, just like they are right now.
“A rumor?” I ask as the man behind the bar places a bottle beside me, and I say, “Thank you,” and he gives me a soft smile before I focus back on the woman who is, yes, still glaring.
“Apparently, you’re trying to trap a brother like you tried to trap your brat's father,” she accuses with a gleeful sneer like she has me figured out, “I heard you’re poking holes in condoms to get knocked up by Dirty, that you’re trying to do something Cheryl failed at like a whore!”
I raise a brow at her and don’t react even though I really want to punch her for the crap she’s just said about my daughter.
She stands there rigid, clearly pissed she didn’t get the reaction she wanted as a throat clears behind her, but I don’t look.
I felt him approach—my body humming, still scaring the living daylights out of me—as he stalked over when she began talking to me all while his brother, Trigger, stands nearby, smirking, while his wife winces.
The woman doesn’t turn around; instead, oblivious to her surroundings, she hisses, “Get your brat and get the hell outta this clubhouse and away from Dirty. I see to his needs. He doesn’t need you to try and trap him just because your brat's daddy didn’t stick around when you tried to trap him!”
Wow, she has literally made a story up in her head and ran with it.
Instead of answering the woman, I look around her and ask, “Since when were we having sex? I thought we were just friends?”
Despite the anger radiating from him, Alex smirks while the woman, who isn’t very smart, furrows her brows at me.
“Who in the hell are you talking to, you weirdo? Turn around and get out before I drag you out!” the woman snaps, and I side-eye the sudden quietness, the brothers all looking with smirks.
Uh-oh…
“Okay, why do I have a feeling something big is about to happen?” I mutter, and the woman curls her lip at me like I’m the biggest crazy person going until Alex confirms, “Because there is,” his voice deep and growly, and the woman freezes, her eyes wide.
I sigh, “Who did you think I was speaking to?” and she blinks, then blinks again, before very slowly turning around, coming face-to-face with an extremely pissed off Alex, just as Doc steps up beside him, then Stone.
Oh crap, the president and vice president…
I swallow hard. Even I know this can’t be good, and I know nothing about Motorcycle Clubs.
“D-Dirty, I-I,” she stutters, and he raises a brow.
“You what?” he asks calmly but I hear the edge to his voice.
I side-eye the room again, looking for my daughter and Caleb, but don’t see them. My heart rate kicks up a notch with worry as I turn my head, looking around as everyone watching Alex.
“They’re outside on the swings,” Ice mentions, seeing where my attention has gone and I nod, the tension leaving me before I look back at Alex and see his attention on me. A soft smile appears on his face, which soon turns into a grin and I know my cheeks are heating up.
“Such a fucking darling,” he mutters before Doc demands, “Answer him, Dolly!”
Dolly clears her throat as she fidgets and stutters, “I-I, w-well, I-I heard, I-I mean, I-I…”
“Now I know you are not about to make up some lie that I can dismantle within seconds?” Alex demands, taking a step forward and she clears her throat as giggles echo into the room which instantly has my back up.
“Alex!” I warn instantly, not wanting this in front of the kids, whatever this is because I know, this is going to end in tears, I can feel it.
His eyes come my way and I subtly shake my head just as Lyra crashes into me and I grunt, “oof,” as I look down at my daughter with a grin while Caleb looks around and asks, “Which club girl messed up this time?”
What?
I shoot my head up, my eyes wide, but Caleb isn’t looking at me, he’s eyeing the women in the room.
Seriously?
“Caleb,” I try but Alex smirks my way stopping me.
I furrow my brows at the man, but my mouth soon opens when he says to his son, "Bud, what would you do if Dolly here demanded Ms. Robins leave the clubhouse or she’d drag her out by her hair?"
“Okay, I really think he needs to call me Holly outside of school,” I mutter just as Caleb states, “I would put in a club vote to have her kicked out of the club!”
Oh wow.
“Caleb!” Dolly gasps in shock, but her head shoots back to Alex as he says, “Good idea, son.”
“Alex –”
He cuts me off, looks around the room, and calls, “I hereby put in a vote to have Dolly removed from the clubhouse effective immediately.”
Oh my….
“All in favor, say Aye!” Doc says loudly, and Stone begins the vote, “We’ve already seen what happens when clubwhores believe they own a brother, Aye!”
Dolly chokes in shock as Trigger calls, “Aye,” and one by one, every brother agrees, not one declining, and I blink in shock.
What is happening right now?
Caleb jumps in and says, “Aye,” along with my own daughter, and I blink again.
“All the Ayes have it. Buck, help Dolly pack,” Doc commands and Dolly sobs, "She-she’s a patch chaser. She-she already tried to trap a man. Now she wants a brother for her brats' daddy!”
She really wouldn’t think that if she knew who Adam was.
I roll my eyes, but soon stiffen when Lyra chimes in, “Actually, lady, I don’t have a daddy. It’s just my mama and cousin Matty. Matty isn’t happy with Mama right now though because she made his legs, and in between them, look like a lady."
Oh, come on.
I drop my chin to my chest as everyone laughs and Ace calls, “I think she may be worse than Annalise…”
“Dolly, go pack to your shit, you’re done here,” Alex growls before shoving her away, and he grabs Lyra, picking my seven-year-old up who instantly wraps her arms around his neck.
“How mad was Matty?” Alex asks, side-eyeing me.
Lyra replies, “Very mad,” as Dolly chokes back a sob and says, “I’m sorry,” before she storms away and I frown.
Yeah, she was a bitch, but that didn’t mean she deserved to be thrown out.
“Hol,” I hear Doc call, and I look his way.
He gives me a small smile and says, “She isn’t homeless, her parents are rich as fuck, and on the edge of town, she goes there every Sunday for dinner.
She knows the rules. If we, us brothers, invite someone to the club, they keep their mouths shut, she broke the rules. ”
I wiggle my nose, and Alex sighs, “Clubwhores have caused a lot of trouble over the past, fuck, two years or so, darling. I won’t have someone who I used to…” He pauses and looks at Lyra who grins at him while I raise a brow as he clears his throat and mumbles, “Play with…”
Play with, seriously? Is that what we’re calling sex now?
I narrow my eyes at his description while Doc bites his lip, stopping himself from laughing, but Alex ignores him and explains, “I won’t have her start shit when you’ve done nothing to warrant it.”
“Mr. Dirty,” Lyra whispers, and Alex grins, “Yes, cutie?”
“What does trapping mean?” she asks, and I snort but cough to cover it up while Doc's laughter comes out, and Alex pales.
“Hey Lyra,” Ice calls, saving his son who physically relaxes as she looks his way, “if it’s alright with your mama, do you want to stay the night and have a campout with Caleb?”
Lyra’s eyes light up, and she looks at me and puts on the look, you know, eyes wide, pouting lips, fingers linked underneath her chin.
“Not the look,” I whisper and Alex grins widely and repeats, “I still really don’t understand how you are a teacher, darling, especially when you cave with your own child,” and I stick my tongue out at him, making him laugh.
Sighing at the look, I nod to Lyra, who squeals in delight as Alex puts her down.
She rushes over to me, hugging me tightly, and I murmur, “Be good, sweetheart,” and she nods as Caleb hugs me too, making me grin widely as I run my fingers through his hair.
“She’s a fucking natural,” I hear someone say, but I don’t look their way as I watch the kids run after Ice and Honey just as I feel Alex stand closer to me.
“She’ll be alright,” he says, and I give him a smile just as we hear, “Look, I’m sorry, please, I just, I thought he and I had something…”
Alex’s jaw ticks, and I wince, suddenly thinking maybe she took something the wrong way or he made her feel a certain way until I hear, “Yeah, along with half the brotherhood, right? I mean, didn’t you have Thunder’s dick in your mouth this morning?”
Okay, never mind.
“So, we’re both now childless, what do you say we go back to mine and enjoy the peace, friend?
” Alex says, and I narrow my eyes at the way he said friend, and before I can decline, not needing to be alone with this man, with how he makes me feel, with how I’m trying my hardest not to give in, he adds, “Unless you want to face the wrath of Matty?”
Crap, I forgot about Matty who as Lyra said, is really mad at me.
My eyes widen, and I quickly say, “Your house,” and he laughs as he nods to the door, every eye on us, but I try to ignore them and walk out the door.
One drink, then I’ll face the music.