Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
FREAK
Ace can’t stop talking about how great his aunt is as we leave Flagstaff and head home on the highway.
He hardly pauses to take breath as he explains what he liked best about our short trip away.
He recounts the things he’s seen and done as if I hadn’t been there to experience them with him, and interspersed between his recollections are numerous comments about how he can’t wait to see Toni again.
He doesn’t seem to need any input from me, so I just let him prattle on, engrossed in my own thoughts.
I’d gotten far less from our trip than I’d expected.
Whatever the logistics, I thought Toni and I would find some time to ourselves, and that I’d have spent the nights in her bed, or at the very least, have found some way to get my dick in her pussy.
The phrase where there’s a will, there’s a way seems to echo around my head.
Sure, we’d shared some kisses, but otherwise nothing.
Not even a meaningful conversation after Ace had gone up to his room.
Could it be the feelings I’d thought she’d reciprocated back at the compound had cooled?
Or was it simply what she’d said? That she wanted Ace kept in the dark about a relationship, which, as she pointed out, was new.
Whatever, I’m driving home disappointed, and not certain where I stand.
For once in my life, it’s not me pulling the strings, and I don’t much like it.
Ace finally runs out of things to say. Instead, he tunes the radio to a local rock station.
I drive on automatic, and remember again the declaration I’d made before we spent that memorable night together, the one where I insisted all I could offer was a one-night stand.
I recall how she didn’t attempt to persuade me otherwise.
Was that really all she had wanted? She’d been fire that night.
Over this weekend, she was ice. Fuck, she’s got me tied in such knots, I hardly recognise the man I see in the mirror.
How have I, Freak, the Kings’ enforcer, gotten my head in such a spin about a woman?
I start searching for excuses to explain her behaviour.
Perhaps my turning up and staying for the weekend, when she’d only expected Ace, had thrown her off balance.
Could she simply have been annoyed with me as I’d cramped her style when she’d wanted time alone with her nephew?
Apart from the lack of warmth toward me, there’s nothing else I can criticise about her.
She’d given Ace a great weekend away, every activity catered to what she’d expected he’d like.
And, although I was the interloper, pushing in as an unwelcome third, I’d also enjoyed the sightseeing.
Does it simply come down to my hurt feelings that my cock had stayed firmly zipped in my pants?
Am I being childish, resenting her nourishing a relationship with him, when I’d hoped to use the opportunity to get closer to her as well?
Ace might have had the time of his life. Me? I’m driving home feeling unsettled. It concerns me that she didn’t jump at the chance my presence offered.
It also niggles me that she didn’t jump at the chance to be involved in the preparation for Ace’s birthday. I can’t reconcile that with her desire to be an involved aunt. Unless it’s because I’d be there too, and it’s me she’s developed a problem with.
Or am I just being stupid? Over-analysing everything. She’s shown she puts my son first. I shouldn’t complain.
Fuck, what a wimp I’m turning into.
Fed up with being confined in a cage, I’m relieved when, at last, I park on Ma’s driveway. As Ace and I get out of the truck, Ma opens the door, holding her arms wide open for my son. Leaving me to collect his bag, he runs straight to her.
“Nana, I had an amazing time. Aunt Toni is incredible. She took us to…” His voice trails off as Ma leads him inside, leaving me to follow.
Deciding I won’t stay, I don’t need another rehash of the weekend, I drop his duffel at the bottom of the stairs, and call out, “I’m going back to the club, Ma. See you later, Ace.”
“Bye, Dad.” He shouts his response, only momentarily pausing his gushing summary of what a great time he’d had. He doesn’t bother to come and talk to me in person. I just roll my eyes. Seems like I’ve been relegated to being his chauffeur.
Ma pokes her head around the kitchen door. She mimes holding a phone to her ear and mouths the words, Call me.
Knowing after she’s heard her grandson’s side of the story, she’s going to want to hear mine, I raise my chin, giving her the confirmation that I’ll update her as soon as I can.
Then I exit through the front door, wait until I hear her lock it behind me, then go to the truck and head back to the compound.
After I’ve parked, I walk around to the front of the clubhouse, detouring to rest my hand for a moment on the saddle of my Softail, wishing I’d been riding her instead of driving in a cage.
Maybe I’ll take a trip up to Flagstaff on my own – if Ace isn’t there acting as a cockblock, maybe Toni will go back to being the woman who’d enjoyed being in my bed.
Not tonight, though. I’ve had enough of the open road for one day. My mind set on getting my throat wet. I walk inside.
“Hey! Look who the fuck it is,” Winchester shouts.
“The wanderer returns.” Words raises his beer to me.
“Bet your dick’s ready to fall off after all the use this weekend,” Rattler contributes.
I ball my hands into fists but hold back. He doesn’t know the true situation, and as far as I’m concerned, he’ll never know I slept on the sofa. So I settle for shoulder-checking him as I pass, saying, “You’re just fuckin’ jealous.”
“Me?” He’s completely unfazed. “I’ve enjoyed a variety of pussy, while you’ve been fuckin’ just one.” Grinning broadly, he adds, “You should have seen some of the ass that came to last night’s party. And you think I’m the loser?” He gives a disbelieving shake of his head.
Not rising to the bait, I continue walking until I reach the bar, only to find Trixie behind it. “Where are the prospects?” Fuck my life.
Grinning, she offers the explanation. “They’re cleaning the heads.” She leans in and adds confidentially, “Not that I know the ins and outs, but they’ve obviously committed some transgression.” Chuckling, she straightens, tilts her head, and examines me. “Beer and whisky chaser,” she concludes.
As she’s right, I don’t correct her.
When she places the opened bottle and filled shot glass in front of me, she asks, “Ace have a good weekend?”
Remembering how she hadn’t been enamoured with Toni, I feel my lip curl as I answer. “The fuckin’ best. Toni is absolutely great with him. She went out of her way to give him a good time.”
Surprising me, she gives a genuine smile. “I’m glad. He deserves it.”
Wondering whether she really means it, but not bothered either way, I take my drinks and turn away. Tempest is playing pool with Woody, so I cross the room to join them.
“The prodigal son returns.” The sergeant-at-arms chuckles.
“I see no fatted cow being slaughtered,” I remark.
“Oh, Trixie will probably make you something if you’re hungry.”
I’d rather throw together something myself if I were.
In truth, though, Ace and I had stopped off for something to eat on the way home, and hunger isn’t the appetite I currently have.
Eyeing Paint getting a blow job from Star, and seeing far more of Genie’s backside as he pumps into Heaven than I want to, my dick reminds me I’ve had two days of disappointment, where I’d had to resort to my hand instead of the pussy I’d thought I was going to enjoy.
It’s a temptation when Sweetie sexily saunters toward me. “Want me to help you brush off the dirt from the road?”
Fuck yeah, my cock says. Fuck no, my brain says.
If I hope to have any chance of getting things back on an even keel with Toni, I’ve got to remain faithful to the woman I’d been considering as a permanent fixture in my life.
That’s still the case, isn’t it? Is that still the way the wind is blowing?
To be honest, I don’t know. It all depends on her.
One thing I do know, if she doesn’t warm up to me soon, my embryonic feeling for her will surely grow cold.
I don’t hang around where I’m not wanted.
“Nah, darlin’, not tonight.” I let her down gently. “Gonna drop my pack off in my room. I’ll be back down later.” The excuse is to Tempest, who greets it with a raise of his chin.
Going back to the doorway where I’d left my duffel when I entered, I juggle my drinks as I hoist it onto my shoulder and climb the stairs.
Once there, I down the whisky, then take a few swallows of the beer.
After I’ve wetted my throat, I take my phone from my pocket, and select the number I want to call.
It rings for a couple of seconds, then is answered. Toni’s voice sounds breathy, as if she’s been…
“I’ve just run down from upstairs.”
Immediately, I accept the explanation. Sitting on my bed, I summon up the words. “Don’t feel we had much time to talk this weekend.”
“We didn’t,” she agrees. “But Freak, I was only thinking of Ace.”
“I know, darlin’.” And I appreciate her for it. “I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“I’m glad you called.” Her voice sounds steadier. “I take it you got back safe?”
“Yeah.” Placing the beer on my nightstand, I ease myself onto the bed and lean back against the pillows. “Dropped Ace with my ma, now I’m back at the club. I’m wishing you were here, darlin’.”
There’s a pause, then she says, “I miss both of you, too.”
“I kinda want to jump on my bike and ride up to visit you. Show you what you were missing over the weekend.”
Another brief silence, then she giggles. “It’s too long a journey. The night will be over by the time you get here. And anyway, I’ve got my vibrator.”
Air leaves my lungs in a rush. “Fuck, did you have to give me that visual?”
And there goes that attractive laugh. “I trust you’ll be using your hand.”
“Ain’t going to be anyone else to get the job done, Toni.” Then, with a sense of insecurity I didn’t know I had, I ask gruffly, “We okay?”
“More than,” she answers. “I liked getting to know you. Without the pressure of sex, I mean. I got to know the man under the exterior.”
“You too, darlin’. But next time, Ace or not, I’m going to be in your bed.”
“But Ace…”
“Is coming up on sixteen, not six. And you know he’s trying to set us up. He’d be over the moon to see signs that we’re together.”
She’s silent for a moment. “I like you, Freak, really like you. But we’ve still got a lot to learn about each other. I don’t want to get Ace’s hopes up only for them to be dashed.”
“Can’t see me changing the way I feel about you.”
“Problem is, Freak, I feel too much. And that’s what’s making me cautious. You’re a biker. I always saw myself with a nine-to-five man, not an outlaw.”
“Just adds a bit more spice in your life.” I grin as I say it.
“I want to be sure this is going to work.”
“Why don’t you come down here? I can show you it will.” We were off-the-scale hot in bed together.
“Maybe I will. What about for Ace’s birthday?”
That’s weeks away. “How about I come up there when he comes to stay with you when summer break starts?”
“Uh-uh,” she replies with a lightness in her tone. “Not in front of Ace until we’re sure, remember?”
“I’m already sure,” I respond. “Just waiting for you to get on the same page.”
“I’m reading the same book.” She sighs. “For now, that has to be enough.”
“Hey,” I start. “How do you feel about phone sex?”
“Goodnight, Freak.”
I’ll take that as a no. Smiling, I tell her, “Goodnight, darlin’. Dream of me.”
“Always,” she whispers, then ends the call.