Chapter 13
Fox
“Don’t even think about sitting down or fucking about, I need all hands on deck,” Marx growls as Nitro and I enter the clubhouse. He narrows his eyes at me, then Nitro, then looks us up and down. “What the fuck happened to you two?”
I look down at my good jeans, no holes, rips or fading, my navy button up and my clean boots.
I don’t even turn to look at Nitro because he’s wearing his dark pants that make his thighs look phenomenal, and a clean, crisp white shirt with the top few buttons undone.
We look hot as fuck, but also incredibly dressed up.
“We had an appointment with Jazz’s class to model, so we thought we’d make a good impression.”
He stares at us as if we’ve grown two heads. “I don’t give a shit what you’re wearing. Why are you both walking like you stepped out of the wild fucking west? Legs all fucked up.” He waves at our stances and I can’t argue.
My legs are killing me, and don’t get me started on my tender balls after Nitro fucking slipped and punched them.
“Those little snots got ya, huh?” Pops asks, beaming at our pain.
“You know what? I don’t give a shit. We’re leaving to go find the cock suckers who bugged the station.” Marx growls.
“Chewy got a hit on the address?”
“Yeah, so if you don’t want to ruin your fancy clothes, you might wanna get changed.” He stomps out the door barking more orders to the other brothers.
You don’t have to tell me twice. I head out the door, jumping down from the wrap around porch heading toward mine and Nitro’s trailer.
We have a house planned, but until then we’re still in the trailer that was assigned to us when I was shot in the gut.
I shake off those memories, the ones that remind me how fucking scared I was that I was going to die before I told Nitro how I felt about him.
They don’t matter anymore. Not when I’m here living one half of my greatest fantasy, to fully be with my best friend.
The other half of that fantasy is somewhere freaking out about going on a date with us, I’ll bet.
A friends date. But it’s still one, nonetheless.
“Babe, stop daydreaming, we gotta go,” Nitro says, patting me on the ass as he heads out the door in messy ripped jeans on stiff legs.
I shuck off my good jeans, replacing them with buttery soft jeans that have been broken in for years.
I hobble out of the trailer, letting the door shut behind me.
No need to lock anything when you live in an MC compound.
I follow my man to our parked bikes, our brothers all mounted up waiting for us.
Seems almost the whole club is riding out, apart from Niko who stands on the porch with his mom, along with Pops and Mad Dog.
Someone needs to stay here and protect the women, even though I know for a fact they’re pretty fucking dangerous on their own.
I move to throw my leg over my bike and fuck me if it doesnt hurt like a bitch just trying to mount my girl.
Goddamn! Darting my eyes to Nitro, I notice he’s not faring any better either, his jaw clenching in pain.
Starting up my Harley Davidson Road Glide, I let the vibration rattle through me, soothing me and helping me forget the ache in my balls.
Marx circles his finger in the air, Judge nods once and we slowly pull out onto the road, in our usual formation, Nitro at my side.
We ride out of town, headed toward the neighboring town where rich fucks like Roman live.
Not too far from ours, only around a 20 minute ride, but the differences between the two are like night and day.
Where Rose Grove is somewhat old fashioned and run down, Wexler is built on old money and new crime lords. Case in point: Roman.
Cruising down the main road it’s not hard to see the wealth.
There are women in the street mincing around in their pencil skirts and high heels.
Ana makes a helluva lot more sense to me now.
I always thought she was out of place with the rest of the MC women in her fancy silk blouses and shit.
But seeing these women and knowing Ana’s office is in this town, it all makes sense.
Rider catches my eye as he winks at a blonde in the street who blushes at him before catching herself and plastering a hoity toity look on her face. He laughs, shaking his head, following close behind Marx who takes a few turns before stopping in front of a jeweler.
“You sure this is the place?” Marx rasps, eyeing the fancy as hell font on the front window.
“Does Chewy ever make mistakes with this shit?” Rhodie raises a brow at his brother.
Marx tips his chin before swinging his leg over his bike.
The rest of us dismount and I shake mine a little, limbering them up.
I’ll need to if I need to chase down anyone I guess.
I fall in line behind Tank and Nitro, following Marx and the rest of the officers as they walk through the front door, not giving a shit that guys like us don’t set foot in places like this.
“Don’t say a word, just point me to the backroom,” Marx growls at a rail thin blonde with too much Botox.
Before she can raise a red tipped finger in the direction a nerd comes running out from the back, headed for the door.
“I don’t think so,” I say, stepping in front of him.
He locks eyes with me through his thick as fuck glasses, something flickering in his eyes before he strikes me in the solar plexus, then the throat, kicking my leg out from under me, all before I can react.
I hit the ground, landing on my ass, coughing hard, trying to draw a breath. Fuck. Glasses really have it in for me today. I blink to stop the watering in my eyes, looking up to find Nitro with his gun pressed to the nerd’s head.
“You good?” Nitro asks, lips twitching.
I narrow my gaze at him, and accept Savage’s outstretched hand. I appreciate it, seeing as my legs are still locking up every so often.
Marx and Rhodie come storming out of the backroom with another geek. Marx corrals him to stand next to the one that kicked my ass, while Rhodie tips his head at Wire who makes his move to check out whatever set up these guys have. Hopefully the Computa’s will be able to work their magic.
“Lets ride out,” Marx growls, shoving the geeks toward the door.
“You didn’t see anything, sweetheart. Got me?” Rhodie says, staring down at the clerk who nods her head like a bobblehead as she huddles in the corner.
Stepping outside, I follow Nitro and the geek that put me on my ass, raising a brow when I notice Chewy’s murder van parked across the street, Niko in the driver’s seat.
“Thought he was guarding the women?” I tip my head in Niko’s direction.
“Chewy sent him. Had a feeling we’d need the extra transport,” Gus says, stepping up next to us with a briefcase of sorts in his hand.
“Whats with the purse?” Rider asks, shit eating grin on his face.
“The shit that will help us find out who’s pulling the strings,” Gus answers, letting Rider’s teasing roll off his back. He’s probably used to shit talking with his brothers.
“Tav!” Gus calls over his shoulder, “Jules! Need you with me.” Both brothers nod, following Gus inside to where Wire is working his magic.
“Church in two hours,” Marx yells at their back, Jules throwing a wave up in acknowledgement, “Right men, let’s take the long road home.”
Jasmine
“Here you all are,” I say, poking my head into the nursery to find all the Girl Gang members.
“Yep, come in!” Lovely says, cuddling Bee on her lap.
Looking around the room the women are dotted all over.
Blanche is lying on a toddler bed with her little girl, Vi is on the floor with Juno, and surprisingly, Laney is playing blocks with Nat’s little girl Rosie, and Ana’s son Jr. Usually Chewy doesn’t allow Laney to play with anything not educational, so it’s nice to see her doing something more in line with a child her age.
Pops is in a plush breast feeding chair, and Mad Dog is lounging on a purple velvet chaise looking ridiculous in his heavy black boots and leather cut.
“Where are the other kids?”
“My two are probably on their phones somewhere,” Kaia says.
“Jovie is with Elio and Cove, so they’re probably plotting to blow something up,” Remy says with a grin.
“Who cares about the kids, we need to work out a plan for your sweet little keister,” Mira says, waggling her brows up and down.
“Oh, ah, no we don’t. I’m just going to hang out with Fox and Nitro as friends, nothing else.” I say, making eye contact with everyone in the room, to show I’m serious.
Vi snorts and rolls her eyes so dramatically I’m afraid I’ll never see them again. “Look, I love you, sister mine, but you need to stop blaming lupus for stuff and instead grab life by the balls.”
Mira snorts, “In this case, life is Fox and Nitro. And balls are, well you know what balls are.”
“It’s not as easy as that! I’ve been living this life for years now.
I know what I can and can’t handle. I know how hard and lonely and shitty it is.
I know how to deal with it. I can’t ask anyone else to join my life.
Not even as a bystander. It’s not fair to them.
” I flop into a bean bag and let out a long, low groan.
“You’re scared, girly.” Pops says, his gold eyes studying me from his position in the big, poofy armchair. “I get it. But you can’t let your fear hold you back from living a life that’s more than you ever thought you’d deserve. I took a chance and now I have the love of the woman I adore.”
I take him in, his weathered face, still youthful despite his age. The twinkle of mischief always present in his eyes, and yet the way he’s looking at me is making me think that maybe I could take a chance. Maybe I could have more.
“It is scary.” Lovely’s soft voice says, breaking my gaze from Pops’. “I didn’t think I could ever have what I have now. But if I didn’t take a chance I wouldn’t have all this. Friends, family. A man I love and a daughter that adores him.”
“Same here. If I didn’t take a chance I would never have met Wire, my soul mate.” Remy smiles softly.
“If I hadn’t taken a chance and forgiven Judge, I’d still be that frazzled single mother at the diner,” Kaia adds her story to the others.
“I wouldn’t have a man and daughter I adore,” Vi says, smiling softly as she brushes Juno’s hair off her frowny little face.
“If I didn’t let Savage chase me, I wouldn’t be here with my man and my little girl,” Nat adds.
“I wouldn’t have Gus.” Ana says, gazing out the window.
“I was a foster kid, and my whole life every time I had something that was just mine, it was taken away from me. When I met Gus I fought like hell to push him away, knowing that if he was taken from me, or left me, I’d be devastated.
Instead, I’ve got more than I ever dreamed I could have. ”
“If I didn’t take a chance and harassed that big man and flashed him my boobs I would never have been arrested and thrown into the cell next to Tank. I wish I could find that man who called the police and thank him,” Mira says, eyes all dreamy as I snort.
“I took a chance on Tav and I’ve never been happier,” Blanche says, shaking Tess’s hand. “Yes, that’s right baby girl, I took a chance on daddy and now you’re here,” she says in baby talk to her daughter.
We all sit in silence with our thoughts, and I notice one by one we all start to look in Chewy’s direction. Everyone has shared their stories and I wonder if Chewy has a similar story.
“What?” she says, brows furrowed.
“I think we’re just wondering if you have a story to share,” Lovely asks in her sweet voice, a smile on her face.
Chewy’s frown deepens, “Of course not. I don’t take chances. I plan everything to a high level and then take a calculated risk.”
Ana rolls her eyes at her sister-in-law and I can’t help the smirk on my face. “Are you telling me that you won Rhodie over by taking a calculated risk?”
“Well, no. That was just raw attraction, pheromones and my amazing sexual prowess.”
Pops smiles wide. “Runs in the family, kiddo.”
“Jesus Christ,” Mad Dog growls.
I can’t help the snort that escapes at Ana’s eye roll.
“Anyway, enough about the famous Tombs’ sexual prowess, we’re here to talk about you,” Mira says.
“I know that you don’t think anyone will love you because of your lupus, but that’s not your whole identity.
You’re cool and fun and you have that class full of kids that make people feel bad about themselves.
” Her eyes go extra wide and I’ve seen her do this before, “Ohhhh, this is good. Jasmine, the kindly school teacher with the special needs children and a chronic illness, Fox and Nitro, the hot bad boys who love each other but have enough love in their hearts to find a woman to spoil. Fox will win her over with his gentle ways, while Nitro will protect them all with his life.”
“Wait, why does that sound like a familiar story line?” Remy says, squinting at the ceiling.
“Because it was the exact storyline in the second blue alien book!” Nat says with glee.
“Star-crossed and Cross Thrusted!” Nat and Remy yell at the same time before we all burst into laughter with Mira smiling proudly from her bean bag chair.
“That’s the one with the blue vibey dicks?” Pops asks, his brow furrowed.
“The very one, Pops.” Lovely blushes.
Pops fixes his gaze on me. “Well girl, if two blue alien dudes with vibey dicks can love on a woman with a chronic illness, then Fox and Nitro can too. If you give them a chance.” He peers at me.
I look around at the girl gang, women I respect and enjoy the company of. At one time they were all brave enough to take a chance. I’m taking a chance at seeing Fox and Nitro as friends, but am I brave enough to see them as more?