Chapter Four
CHAPTER FOUR
Thorn
"What’s up with you and Oakland?"
I think about the question as I spin the ratchet around one final time, finally hearing it click.
"Why?" I ask, wiping the sweat from my brow with the back of my arm before looking directly at Knox.
"Just curious," he shrugs. I swear he needs his man card revoked.
"Is this what we’re doing now? Sitting around talking about bitches and knitting sweaters?" I lift a brow and ask, only slightly kidding.
Knox throws his head back and laughs.
"I’m not trying to bust your chops. I’m just sick of G asking. I told her men don’t sit around talking about shit like that," he says once he’s sobered.
I draw in a breath and let it out slowly as I pick my words wisely. "Truthfully?"
Knox nods.
"She’s fine as fuck and makes my dick hard."
"Another one bites the dust," Kidd sings the words from the other side of the shop and when I look over, he’s got a shit-eating grin on his face.
Lifting my hand, I flip him the bird, making him laugh.
"Is that finished?" Wrath asks, shouldering around Knox and eyeing the bolt I just tightened down.
I nod, tossing the wrench into my toolbox. "Yeah. She should sound like a fucking beast now."
"Thanks, brother." He claps me on the shoulder.
Just as I’m about to suggest we grab a few cold ones, raised voices coming from outside catch both of our attention.
"What the hell?" I mutter, exchanging a look with Wrath before we both take off out the door.
When we step outside, the last thing I expect to see is Harley and Sage in each other's faces.
"What the fuck?" Wrath growls, fists clenching as he prowls over to his woman.
What the fuck indeed, but the better question is what the hell is Sage doing here?
It’s fucking Sunday—family only.
"You're such a bitch!" Harley snarls, her face red.
"Me? You're the one who?—"
"Enough!" Wrath roars, silencing everyone instantly. "What the fuck is going on here?"
I turn, quickly scanning the area for Mila.
She doesn’t need to see this shit.
A knot starts to form in my stomach when I don’t see any of my girls.
My girls?
I shake off the idea and look back to the shits show as Harley turns to Wrath, her eyes blazing. "This bitch was trying to start shit with Oakland."
Hearing that little piece of information, I lose my fucking cool. "The fuck you think you're doing here, Sage?"
"I came to see you." She pouts.
"What the hell for?" I should have known this bitch was going to be a problem.
"I just thought…"
"That was your first mistake," Harley growls.
"Fuck you, " Sage hisses.
Harley lunges for Sage but Wrath grabs her around the waist and pulls her back.
"Why were you fucking with my girl?" Fuck, there I go again.
"Your girl?" Sage’s eyes narrow before she quickly recovers. "I was just talking to her," she lies, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "Not my fault your new little whore can't handle the truth."
My fists clench at my sides as I look over my shoulder at Harley. "Where is Oakland?"
Harley jerks her thumb toward the clubhouse. "She took the girls inside when this one started running her mouth. They're probably in the kitchen."
I hurry towards the clubhouse, leaving Wrath to deal with Sage and her bullshit.
Pushing through the backdoor of the clubhouse, I hear soft voices coming from the kitchen.
I can’t hear what they’re saying but judging by the giggles that follow they all seem to be okay.
When I round the corner into the kitchen, I find Oakland, Mila, and Morgan, huddled around the stainless-steel island with a plate of cookies between them.
"Everything okay in here?" I ask carefully, my eyes going straight to Oakland's to gauge her mood.
She gives me a small smile, but I can see the tension around her eyes. "We're fine. Just needed a little break." I nod, reading between the lines. She didn’t want either of our little girls to see the drama happening out back.
“Daddy, why was that lady yelling at Harley?” Mila asks before shoving a cookie in her mouth.
I sigh, brushing my hand across the top of her head. “I don’t know, baby. But Uncle Wrath is taking care of it. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
Oakland stands up, brushing crumbs from her hands. “I think it's probably time for us to head out. It's getting late.”
A pang of disappointment hits me, but I keep my mouth shut. I have no claim or say when it comes to Oakland.
For now.
“Let me walk you out?”
Her eyes search mine for a moment before she nods. “Finish your cookie, Morgy.”
Morgan looks down at the cookie in her hand, shrugs, then shoves the whole thing in her mouth.
“Really?” Oakland laughs, using her thumb to wipe away the smeared chocolate from the corners of her daughter’s mouth.
After cleaning up the kitchen, we gather up the girls' things and make our way to the parking lot.
As we approach Oakland’s car, I can’t help but notice how she keeps glancing over her shoulder like she’s expecting someone to pop out. "Something wrong?"
Her head swings around, her eyes lifting to mine. "What?"
"You keep looking around." I thumb behind me where she keeps looking.
She glances ahead at Morgan and Mila, then shakes her head. "It’s nothing."
"Babe."
She sighs. "It’s probably nothing but I’ve had this strange feeling all day like someone’s watching me. A little paranoid, right?"
"Not paranoid," I admit, stepping back as she pulls open her door.
“I guess,” she sighs as she looks to Morgan, motioning for her to get in the car. “Get yourself buckled in, Morgy.”
When her eyes come back to me, she forces a smile, and I know whatever went down with Sage has put a roadblock between us.
"Thanks for walking us out," she says, sliding behind the wheel of her car.
"My pleasure,” I confess as Mila starts bouncing on her feet in front of me, demanding to be picked up.
“Pick me up, pick me up!” Reaching down, I grab her under her arms, lift her off her feet, and settle her onto my hip.
“Can Morgan spend the night?”
“Not tonight, kiddo.”
“Damn,” she sighs.
I shake my head. “You’re killing me, kid.”
I feel her shoulders shrug.
“Wave, goodbye.” I lift my hand and wave at Morgan in the backseat as Oakland closes her door.
As I turn to head for my truck, her car lets out a loud whining sound a second before it sputters and dies.
Rrrrrr. Rrrrrr. She tries again.
I sit Mila down on her feet and move to Oakland’s window. "Pop the hood.”
She pulls the release, then opens her door and looks around the side of it to watch as I lift the hood and bend to see what’s going on. Instantly, I see a problem. The battery terminals are corroded, and one of the cables is shot.
“It’s the battery, I think. Hard to say for sure without having it at the shop, but I’m almost certain that’s it,” I explain, closing the hood. "I can fix it, but not tonight."
Oakland tips her head towards the sky and lets out a heavy sigh. "Just what I freaking need."
“Baby,” I start.
Oakland lowers her head, and her glassy eyes connect with mine. “It’s not a big deal. I’ll give you and Morgan a ride home and first thing in the morning I’ll get Easy to tow it to the shop. Won’t take me an hour to get her up and running again.”
Oakland hesitates, glancing at Morgan in the backseat. “I can’t really afford?—”
“Babe. Ain’t charging you nothing,” I say, leaving it at that.
If things go the way I want, she won’t have to worry about this kind of shit anymore.
“I can’t?—”
“Babe. Leave it.” I lift a brow, hoping she’ll see it’s a done deal.
“You’re kinda bossy.”
“He always is,” Mila chimes in.
“Watch it,” I lower my voice and growl, making them both laugh.
“You’re sure it’s no bother?”
"Scouts honor," I assure her, holding three fingers up.
Her face softens. "Why do I have a feeling you were never a Boy Scout"
I put down my hand and smirk. "I knew a Boy Scout once."
Oakland shakes her hand, a grin lighting up her face. “You’re a slick one,” Still grinning she leans back into her car, says something to Morgan, grabs her bag, then moves back out and closes the door behind her.
“Here, you’ll need these.” She offers me her keys.
“Right,” I smile, slipping them into my pocket before moving around the side of Oak’s car to get Morgan’s booster.
"Where to, babe?" I ask once I’ve gotten both girls situated in the backseat of my truck.
Oakland rattles off the address on the other side of town and we’re off.
The ride is mostly quiet as Mila and Morgan doze in the backseat and Oakland stares out the window.
The second I pull into her driveway, I know something’s wrong.
"Stay here," I order as I put my truck in park and hop out.
I walk up the sidewalk around the side of her trailer and my stomach drops.
Every single one of her windows is broken. There are shards of glass and pieces of mangled metal from their frames scattered everywhere. Stepping carefully, I climb the rickety steps onto her porch and freeze.
What the fuck?
Oakland’s flimsy door is hanging off its hinges, giving me a perfect view of her living room which is a fucking wreck. I peek around the frame and see that the whole place has been turned upside down.
"Fuck," I growl, turning around to head back to the truck and damn near barreling over Oakland whose eyes are wide with shock.
"Oh my God," she whispers, her hand covering her mouth.
Grabbing her arm gently, I pull her back toward the truck. "You’re not staying here. It’s not safe."
“But... this is my house—our things—where the heck are we supposed to go? Her voice cracks as she looks through the windshield where Morgan is sound asleep in the backseat of my truck.
“Baby,” I say carefully, waiting for her eyes to come back to me. “You can’t stay here with your daughter. It’s not safe. Whoever did this could come back.” Her eyes grow huge, but I keep going, “And you don’t want Morgan seeing this. For now, until I can figure out who did this, you and Morgan are going to come home with me and Mila. No arguments.”
For a moment, I think I went too far with the whole no arguments bit and she might protest, but she surprises me instead, saying, “You’re right. Morgan doesn’t need to see this.”
“Good girl.” Not wanting to give her time to overthink the plan, I lead her back to the passenger side door and help her into her seat.
I rush around the hood of my truck and get us back on the road.
"We’ll figure this out," I say, breaking the silence. "I’ll send Easy to secure your place the second we get home, and I’ll have Dex and George start looking into it, yeah?"
Oakland turns to look at me. "Thank you, Thorn. I don’t know what I would have done if..." Her voice trails off, and I see her eyes glistening with unshed tears. Without thinking, I reach over and take her hand in mine. "I’ve got you, babe."
She gives me a watery smile, and I feel something tug in my chest.
"This is your house?" Oakland asks when we’re pulling into my driveway.
I glance over, seeing a surprised look on her face. “What’s wrong with it?”
She blushes, shaking her head. "Nothing, I just... I didn’t expect a biker’s house to be so cute."
“Cute?” I pop a brow, fighting a grin.
Oakland shrugs.
"Come on, let’s get the girls inside." As we carry our sleeping kids into the house, I can’t help but feel a sense of rightness settle over me.
Oakland follows me up the steps to Mila’s room. I tuck Mila in on the top bunk and move back so Oakland can settle Morgan in on the bottom.
I pull the door closed behind Oakland and lead her down the hall. I push open the door and sweep my arm out in front of me. Oakland smiles, steps around me, and pauses. “Uh… is this your room?”
“Yep,” I close the door behind me.
Oakland’s brows go up to her hairline. “Well… Uh… I can sleep on the couch.”
“That’s not fucking happening.” I’ve waited weeks to get her under me and she’s not about to sleep on my damn couch.
"Oh," she says softly, a blush creeping up her cheeks when she realizes what I’m saying.
I smirk. "I’ll be a perfect gentleman."
Oakland bites her lip, her cheeks turning pinker.
Yeah, babe. I’m full of shit.
“I need something to sleep in,” Oakland says softly.
I rummage through my dresser, pulling out an old t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.
"These might be a bit big, but they should work," I say, handing them to her.
Our fingers brush as she takes the clothes, and I feel a jolt of electricity shoot through me and from the way Oakland’s breath catches, I know she feels it too.
"Thanks," she murmurs, clutching the clothes to her chest.
My eyes stay glued to her ass as she disappears into the bathroom and damn near pop out of my head when she strolls back out.
The sexy-as-sin woman is dressed in nothing but my shirt, with her bare legs on display.
It’s at this moment, that I know I’d give my left nut to have her in my bed every night.
"The pants were too big," she whispers, pulling me from my thoughts as she hands me the sweats.
"Right," I sigh, taking them from her and tossing them onto my dresser with one thought in mind.
It’s going to be a long fucking night.