Chapter 27
Daisy
What a day. The party stayed active well into the next morning, but it was fun. I finally met Penny and we spoke for a long time. She was a smart girl attending college. She said she didn’t mingle with the club, but I swore I caught her checking out one of the guys. I thought his name was Red. There were so many it was hard to keep track. Especially when they didn’t really talk to me. Most of them barely looked at me, except some of the older guys. But they seemed to take me in, then congratulate Falcon on his trophy or something. They didn’t ogle after that.
Some more women had shown up, but everyone was friendly and gave me and Lacy ideas about work if Mama Hen’s club didn’t pan out. She shut that down pretty quickly, though. I wasn’t sure if it was for her sake or Falcon’s. I still had to talk to him about that. I appreciated everything he was doing, but I also needed to have a sense of self preservation. I needed my own money. Hell, I needed a phone.
I also still needed to figure out how to get my driver’s license replaced. Maybe I could just go online? But I hadn’t seen a computer around, although I heard them talking about Keys. He seemed like the computer whiz around here. But if he was what they made him out to be, he probably had some fancy setup that I couldn’t touch. And I’d be shocked if I was allowed in his space.
Falcon usually kept me in direct sight except when they all went off down that hallway. I had walked back there earlier when I was supposed to be in the kitchen. I wanted to see what kind of shit they did in there.
The room mostly looked like a conference room. But there were photos, some older, of guys in the Destiny’s Enforcers cuts and a huge picture of their patch hanging at the head of the table and banner on the opposite wall with names embroidered into it. I wondered what they were for–new members, special members, or what. I didn’t recognize the names and I couldn’t ask about it since I wasn’t supposed to be there. It was weird because it wasn’t centered, but from what I gathered women weren’t allowed in that room. Leave it to a bunch of men to decorate and something was bound to be off-center. Other than that, the room seemed pretty dull. I still had questions but nothing pressing, and I didn’t need to stay too long and get caught. I finally snuck out and found Mama Hen in the kitchen and I did what I could to help with the party.
She seemed to know I was up to something but only grinned before she shoved foil pans at me to help carry to the tables setup for the barbeque. Then she, Lacy, and I helped load up meat from the various grills around the compound and kept everything covered. She was pushy and bossy, but in a good way–something I never got growing up.
“Mama Hen, what about all the desserts?” I asked after Lacy and I wandered back to the kitchen.
“Leave ‘em in here for now, hon. Otherwise Falcon might annihilate them before we eat dinner.”
I smirked. “He has a sweet tooth, huh?”
She let out one of her belly laughs as Lacy snuck a cookie off a tray. “It’s bad. But that boy has a high metabolism.”
Jeannie flung the door open and hustled over, pitching in. “Who we talking about?”
“Falcon and his sweet tooth.”
Jeannie nodded. “Oh yeah. They all have a thing, though,” she said as she handed me a Jello shot from the fridge and gave one to Mama Hen, Lacy, and one of the other bunnies. I didn’t remember her name. Just like with the guys, there were so many and some of the women who hung around weren’t mainstays; I only saw some at the parties.
We all did a little toast then sucked down the red shots. I winced and let out a howl. “Whoa, those are strong. Who made these?”
“Penny,” Mama Hen said. “She don’t drink much so she gets a heavy hand. She doesn’t know how strong they are. Works out for us!”
We all had one more and I asked, “Are we taking the rest outside?”
Jeannie and Mama Hen grinned like Chesire cats then Jeannie said, “Shhh, these are just for us. Girls just wanna have fun.”
Mama Hen grabbed my arm and Lacy snuck one more Jello shot as all of us filed out of the kitchen and headed back outside.
The rest of the party had been fun and full of laughs. If I hadn’t been told it was a memorial, I would never have known. And while Sugar was around, she stayed away from me and Falcon, all day. But I did catch her looking at me with a sneer a few times. As long as she stayed away from us, she could give me all the side-eye she wanted.
There was lots of music, eating, drinking, and games like horseshoes outside and darts inside. Falcon tried to help me shoot them, but between the pregame Jello shots and beers I lost count of, I was shocked I didn’t hit someone in the head. After Hawk made his speech, I was feeling some kind of way again. Maybe I should dissect why stressful situations did that to me. But for now, I’d just enjoy it. But I had to hold off until he was done since he was called away to the secret room I wasn’t supposed to know existed.
It hadn’t been any time at all, but this place felt like home. These people felt like home. At least what I imagined a real home would be like. And while I’d made some dumb choices before, it was different with Falcon.
It wasn’t superficial. Whatever we started as probably was mostly physical, for both of us. But deep down I wondered if it was more than that for him. I wanted to believe I could trust that he’d care for me and protect me, not just use me for his own ego, then go crazy. And he certainly wouldn’t be forcing me into doing anything with another man. He made it abundantly clear that I was for him only, even before today.
I was so damaged and untrusting that instead of just talking to him, I waited to have a nervous breakdown before my feelings came out. But once we laid everything out, it clicked. It was right. We were right. And looking around, this was right. Having Falcon at my side was amazing, but for the first time I felt like I really belonged somewhere.
I found Lacy and Jeannie with some other girls at one of the picnic tables and Mama Hen came up behind me and wrapped her arms around my neck in an embrace. Swallowing hard, I fought back tears. My own mother hadn’t hugged me since I was young, before I started my cycle and started filling out. After that, she always accused me of trying to flirt with her flavor of the month. When I was in middle school that had been incomprehensible. It confused me what she even meant. When I got into high school and understood boys flirting with me, her accusations clicked. But they were never warranted. In fact, it was the complete opposite.
After a few of her boyfriends started hitting on me, I began sneaking out with the idiot boys from school. I didn’t want to be trapped in my room if her men stumbled into my space after she passed out. Eventually, older men found me at the different spots we finagled our way into, so I ditched the guys my age and that’s how I ended up deciding to leave home as soon as I could. One of them took me to a club for fun, and I loved it. Not watching the women, although they were beautiful, but I was envious of them. They were so in control and men were tossing money at them without even touching them.
Even when they did table dances, I noticed they could rub all over the men, but the men didn’t touch them. The idea of it was exhilarating. I asked that guy to take me back a few more times and buddied up with a few of the dancers. Once I graduated high school, I was able to crash with them until I worked a few shifts and could make a deposit on my own place.
“You good, girl?” Lacy asked.
Her touch on my arm broke me from my thoughts. “Yeah. Too much to drink, I guess. Long day.”
Mama Hen still held me with one arm but rubbed my hair with the other. “Maybe next time, not so many Jello shots for you. Once they’re done, I’ll have Falcon take you to bed.”
I nodded, staying tight-lipped so I didn’t cry again. The whole day was a bit overwhelming, even if in a great way. I had been on autopilot for so long it was odd to actually feel anything other than scared or just going through the motions of existing. I didn’t even know I wasn’t feeling anything until I actually did. And now all I could do was feel. Everything .
I was still scared, but not for my life. Now I was scared of losing all of this. I think that’s why I lost it in the truck. I already got comfortable and could stop being worried every second of the day, so when I thought I messed it up, I freaked out. Falcon was amazing, but I didn’t just want him, I wanted this life. A real life. With friends. Lacy was my friend, but what we shared was born of something traumatic. It was a different bond. One nobody would be able to break. But here, I had some semblance of a family, and friends that were friends just because we clicked.
Needing some space to gather myself, I patted Mama Hen’s arm, and she squeezed me, then pulled away and helped me from the bench. “I need to break the seal. I’ll be back soon, unless Falcon finds me first.”
They all whistled at me and banged on the table then continued their conversation. I walked inside through the bar and was headed to the hall that had a small bathroom when I felt a tap on my shoulder.
After dealing with handsy pricks and a few jealous ladies over the years, I was quick to react. Spinning on my heel as I grabbed the hand that tapped me, I came face to face with Sugar.
“Let me go, bitch!” she screamed.
I squeezed her wrist and yanked her closer. “You touched me first. What the fuck is your problem?” She slapped at my hand, trying to pull away, and I decided she wasn’t worth my time, so I shoved her arm away. “Stay away from me.” I started to turn and leave but swung back, got closer, and said, “And stay away from my biker.”
Her eyes squinted as she scowled, but she didn’t say shit, so I turned to go. I had taken several steps away before she called out, “He’s not yours, bitch. Don’t get comfortable.”
He told me to do what made me happy. At that moment, it seemed like punching her in the face would make me happy, so I did just that. She threw an open-handed slap toward me when I ran at her, but I grabbed her hand before it connected then threw a closed fist right at her nose. She stumbled back, but I couldn’t stop.
We fell to the ground and her arms flew around wildly, but she was just slapping me. I blocked her with one arm, pushing hers down and out of my way before I threw a punch to the side of her head. She kept smacking at my arms but somehow pushed me off her and we rolled across the floor. She managed to get on top of me but just grabbed my hair. I clasped my hands together and slammed up, hitting her chin like a volleyball. Her teeth clattered and it stunned her long enough to push her off me.
I climbed back over her. She covered her face and I only hit her a couple more times before I was flying through the air, kicking and still throwing my arms around trying to connect with something.
“Okay, Tyson. I think you’re good.” Falcon’s low voice pulled me from my rage, and I stopped kicking. I was still catching my breath as he let my feet hit the floor and turned me, pulling me close against him. “Great work. I think you broke her nose,” he said with a look of approval.
I turned around and watched as Sugar helped herself off the floor while the guys all stood around. Mama Hen came over and I shrunk down. “Mama Hen, I–”
“About damn time y’all had it out. Falcon, go take care of our girl. I’ll get Sugar’s nose tended to.” She patted my arm and gave me a warm smile. She wasn’t mad at me. She didn’t even look disappointed. She almost looked proud.
Falcon put his arm around my waist and turned us toward the rooms. The commotion died down before we made it to the hallway leading upstairs. I had to fight back more tears the whole way up. I hated that I cried after stupid shit, but between the drop of adrenaline and the relief that everyone was cool with what just happened, I barely could keep the tears in.
Once we walked through the door, though, I couldn’t hold it back any longer. I stopped in the middle of the room and covered my face. My shoulders bounced and I held my breath, trying to keep it all from happening. But when his large body enveloped mine, I melted into his warmth. It was so dumb to be crying, but I couldn’t believe nobody was upset.
“Let it out, Daisy.”
The dam broke. I was a sniffling, trembling, heaving mess and my tears dampened his shirt. He only wrapped me up tighter, my face smashed against his hard chest. He didn’t tell me to stop. He didn’t tell me to get over it. He just held me.
“Falcon?”
“Yes, darlin’?”
I sniffled a few times and kept my head down. “Tell me this is real.”
He grabbed my chin between his thumb and fingers and tilted my head back. “This is real, Daisy. I’ll show you. Every day. You just have to let me.”
His gaze softened into the one I’d only seen aimed at me. He was always serious and determined. But when he looked at me, the determination turned into something else. It was like those hazel eyes took in every single angle and plane of my face.
“When you look at me like that, I wish I knew what you were thinking.”
“I’m thinking I’m one lucky man.” He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “Lucky to have something so precious to call mine.”
I loved that I was his. Each time he said it, it felt more real. But I still needed something more. “Falcon?” He gave an acknowledging grunt, so I asked, “If I’m yours, does that mean you’re mine?”