Chapter 16
Switch
My gaze follows Joy as she moves toward the bar at our last stop before the clubhouse. Her head is held higher than I’ve ever seen it, her shoulders nowhere near her ears like they have been the whole time I’ve known her.
“She’s doing well, brother,” Tank says, slapping a hand on my shoulder and taking a seat next to mine. His eyes glued to his own woman who is flapping her hands around, a huge smile on her face as she says something to Joy.
I watch as Joy smiles at Mira, her face lighting up and I wish it was me who did that. Who caused her to glow in that way. Don’t get me wrong, I get other smiles. Shy smiles. Small smiles. But not ones quite like the one that’s just lit her up from the inside.
“Give her time,” Tank murmurs, bumping me gently with his shoulder.
“I’ll give her all the time she needs, it’s just -” I run a hand down my face. “She’s just so fucking beautiful. Not just on the outside, but inside too.”
I’ve never met anyone so gentle, so kind, so goddamn fucking pure and yet she was treated to the worst of fucking humanity when she married that douche Hitchens.
She spent years under his thumb and yet she’s out here reclaiming who she once was, piece by piece and I’ve had the privilege of watching it happen.
I’m a fucking asshole to wish for more, but I want the privilege of watching her become happy. To become whole.
“Yes she is, and she’s also strong and capable and not fucking blind. I don’t know whether you’ve noticed this, brother, but she looks for you. Whenever she’s uncertain she’ll seek you out. As soon as she sets eyes on your massive fucking ginger frame, she relaxes. She sees you, brother.”
I tear my gaze from Joy to look at Tank, eyes still on his woman. “When the hell did you get so wise?”
“I could bullshit you and say I’ve always been like this, but I think it’s probably all Mira and her books. Somehow that shit’s downloaded into my brain. Everywhere I look I’m seeing tropes and storylines.”
I snort. “Yeah? What trope am I?”
Tank tips his head to the side, gaze flicking between me and Joy then back again. “Friends to lovers, single mom, grumpy sunshine. You’re hitting all the popular ones.”
I open my mouth to argue with his assessment, before closing it.
She is a sunshine single mom and I am a grumpy asshole.
And you know what? I’ll fucking take friends to lovers too.
I’ll take whatever Joy can give me. I didn’t become a doctor accidentally.
I became one because I was so fucking single-minded in what I wanted to do with my life.
I trained for years, worked hard and reached my dream.
That same single-mindedness is going to win me my Ol Lady.
No matter if it takes me years, Joy and Kit will be mine.
Fox
“You’ve got everything set up, right?” Nitro asks, gaze intense as he stares at Jazz, stiffly walking with her sister to the table the women have taken over at our last stop.
“Babe, what do you think?” I roll my eyes, turning back to the bar to get our drinks. Water for Jazz and two lemonades for Nitro and myself. With Jazz alternating whose bike she's on the back of, we both need to be on our game. Nothing can happen to her.
Nitro’s shoulders relax a little as he grunts at me.
I understand his bitching. But at the same time he needs to get off my ass.
The massage table is all set up in our spare room, as is the hot tub on our back deck that I’ve been hiding for the past 24hours while I got it set up and filled.
She’s going to love it. And in turn, so will I.
My luscious woman sitting in the hot tub, sore joints and tired muscles relaxing as the water glistens on her big tits, Nitro behind her fingering her tight pussy?
Fuck me, my cock throbs behind my zipper.
Nitro growls before nipping at my throat, soothing the sting with his tongue. “Soon, baby,” he whispers, pulling back with a cockteasing smirk as he picks up Jazz’s glass and swaggers in her direction.
“So, things look like they’re going swimmingly with you all,” Rider snorts, holding up his beer at me before stalking to the corner, phone in hand, thumb flying over the screen.
“He’s got a woman. I’m fucking sure of it,” Pops growls beside me.
“Who? Rider?” Chewy’s narrowed gaze flies to Rider, lips pursed. I know that look. That’s the look of someone who has a puzzle to crack.
“Hear me out, let's just leave it and see what happens.” I take a sip of my lemonade.
“See what happens?” Chewy asks in what I’m guessing is her shocked voice. “When have I ever ‘left it and seen what happens’?”
I blink slowly at her. “Are you telling me all the weird fucking things you do when you’re interrogating have been well thought out and planned and you know the exact outcome?”
“Of course I do. I wouldn't do them if I didn’t already know the outcome.” I raise a brow at her. “Well, OK, I didn’t quite know that Renae Sullivan would explode, but really, I don’t think anyone figured that would happen.”
“Chewy, anyone who has seen Looney Tunes would know.”
“I don’t know what a Loony Tunes is.” She gives me a weird look before walking off, her slightly rounded belly pressing against her tight Metallica shirt.
Pops has his gaze narrowed on Rider across the bar, his face lit up by his phone screen as he grins down at it.
“He deserves to find someone,” Pops says in a quiet voice.
“He’s a good boy. A pain in the fucking ass, but a good boy.
Hopefully whoever he, or she is, they bring him happiness.
” I take in the old man. Since the first day he stepped foot on DRMC dirt, he’s been our biggest pain in the ass, and our biggest champion.
“Hopefully they make him jump through some hoops first because damn, someone needs to pay that fucker back for all the annoying shit he gets up to.” He slaps me on the back harder than he really needs to, and wanders off to get in Switch’s face. Probably about Joy.
The shy woman seems to be opening up a little, with the help of my Ol Lady and her gang of unruly women.
As far as support systems go, it’s a pretty fucking good one.
Jazz’s gaze meets mine and she beams at me, making my heart skip a beat.
Like a damned tractor beam I move through the crowd toward her, bending to press a kiss to her lush lips before plonking my glass down on the table, hooking her under her arms and stealing her seat, placing her in my lap.
She giggles, then settles into me, her left hand finding Nitro’s leg in the seat beside us as she carries on her conversation with Joy as if nothing happened.
Marx’s loud as fuck whistle breaks through all the chatter and laughter at the bar, all our attention on our Prez and his Ol lady who are standing at the front of the bar.
“So, as you all know this poker run is to raise money for the DRMC Community Center. As all of you are aware, the Center helps people finish their education, helps with training for the work place, and gently helps people get back on track. This money will go towards keeping our programs running. A portion of it will also be used to celebrate the first students to graduate-”
“We may be old, but we got there!” A jovial voice calls out from the back, beer raised.
“Thats right, you fucking did!” Marx whoops. “So, raise your glasses, bring up your poker hands and let's celebrate the achievements of the Community Center graduates!”
“Wait! One more thing!” Judge yells from his position. “She said yes!” His voice booms out through the bar just before a deafening roar fills the space.
Jazz claps and bounces in my lap, not helping my dick situation one bit, but fuck, who am I to complain?
She slowly gets up to her feet, the hours of riding on the bike obviously causing her some discomfort.
She figured the frequent stops would help with that but clearly I need her in that hot tub sooner, rather than later.
Before I can say anything she's off with her girls, celebrating Kaia.
“We should really ask Jazz to -”
“Don’t. Fucking. Think. About. It.” Jules growls from behind us. How the hell the Tombs move all sneaky like that I have no clue.
“Why the fuck not? She’s our woman, we can propose whenever we like,” Nitro hisses.
“Just make sure it’s after tonight.” Jules’ gaze moves to Vi, softening as she laughs like a fucking maniac from across the room. “I have plans. Miss Flora is already at our house, getting things into place.”
Nitro relaxes a little and I grin up at Jules. “Aw, so that will make us brothers-in-law!”
Jules stares at me, giving nothing away other than a twitch of his lip before spinning on his heel and leaving.
“That guy is hot as hell but damn he has the personality of an evil vampire.”
Nitro snorts before slapping a hand on my thigh, so high that his pinky brushes my hardness. “Come one babe. Let's collect our woman and get her home. I have visions of licking her pussy while it’s stuffed with your cock.”
“I fucking love you.”
“I fucking love you too.”
“Aw, what about me?” Jazz’s playful voice sounds out from behind us.
Nitro and I turn at the same time, Jazz’s gaze bouncing between me and our man.
“I love you, forever.”