Chapter 9
WHITE BOY
Pacing Hunter’s bedroom in my boxers, I suppress the millionth sigh as Bitty goes off on me over the phone.
“Why did you take her to dinner and not tell me? She was on the back of your bike.”
Apparently, someone at the bar tonight is friends with Bitty and stuck their goddamn nose where it doesn’t fucking belong.
Now, while I’m tryin’ to calm my ass down about Viper and his shit, I gotta deal with this, too.
I don’t have the patience. I’ve made it abundantly clear from the get-go that Jade, Hunter, my mom, and the club come before anyone else.
Scrubbing a hand down my face, I keep my trap shut as this infuriating woman yaps, yaps, yaps. For the most part, I put her on ignore in favor of checkin’ my texts, which are also blowing up tonight. I can’t catch a fucking break.
Prez: Heard about Viper. We cool? Or do we need church?
Bitty goes on about me not giving her what she needs as I reply to Big.
Me: We’re cool.
We’re not, but I’m not lettin’ our prez get involved in this.
Viper’s a manwhore. Of course, he’d go sniffin’ around Jade.
I mean… can ya blame him? Look at her. She’s…
well… she’s Jade. She’s always been a smokeshow and will always be a smokeshow.
He’d be a moron not to shoot his shot. Still, she didn’t have to dance with him.
She could have said no. She could have socked him in the face when he touched her ass, but she didn’t.
She let him put his hands on her. She didn’t stand up for herself.
His hands were on her ass. On it. Full fucking palms, groping and… I…
Gritting my teeth at the memory, I pull up Viper’s thread. As I jab out a colorful response, one from him pops up with a photo attached of his ugly mug.
Viper: Ya got me good, brother. Busted nose and a black eye. Two for one. Those bitches were damn good in bed. You really pulled through, and Jade’s a good wingman. Thank her for me, will ya? Oh, and don’t worry, I’m not movin’ in on your territory. She’s all yours.
Oh. That’s how it is.
Fuck him for using her to get pussy after all she’s been through. Prick.
Me: Don’t touch her again. We clear?
Viper: Crystal. So, we good?
Me: Yeah. For now.
Viper: Hands off. Got it.
Me: Next time, I’ll put a bullet in you.
Viper: I hear you.
Me: Good. Now fuck off.
Viper: Love you, too, bro.
“White Boy, are you listening to me?” Bitty shrills.
I run my fingers through my hair. “Hmm?”
She squeals in annoyance. “You know what? Screw you. I deserve better than this.”
She’s right, she does. When I hum the affirmative like a dick, Bitty screams a solid paragraph of obscenities and hangs up.
Sighing in relief to be done dealing with her silly blowup, I flop onto Hunter’s bed and stare up at the ceiling covered in posters of hot women, courtesy of the brothers. I rest my phone on my chest and tuck my arms behind my head.
What a night.
When I got out of the shower, Jade was already in bed. I need to apologize to her in the morning for my behavior. Giving her the cold shoulder was uncalled for. I got caught up in my feelings and took it out on her. That’s on me.
Fuck. Why are relationships so damn complicated? It doesn’t matter if it’s a friendship or more. There’s always something poppin’ off.
There’s a bang on the front door, and my phone buzzes with a security alert. Before I roll my ass outta bed, I open the app to see who’s interrupting us at midnight.
It’s my mom on the steps, and Blimp’s on his bike, parked out front.
I connect the chat feature on the door camera. “What do you need, Mom?”
She squats down to put her entire face in the frame. “To talk.”
“I have a phone.”
“It has to be in person.”
Of course it does. Whatever’s convenient for her.
“It’s after midnight.” Any normal person would wait until morning, out of respect.
“Please, Josh.”
The wobble of emotion in her voice gets my ass in gear. On a loud sigh, I get up and meet her on the front steps, where we sit side by side to have this chat—her in a Cher wig, leopard-print pants with a black crop top, and matching thigh-high boots, and me in white boxers.
Mom wrings her fingers in her lap as Blimp lights up a fat one on his bike.
I know him well. We’ve been close for a long time.
Even before I joined the club, he was my mom’s preferred brother.
They were fuck buddies for what feels like close to a decade, so he’s been around a lot.
If he’s riding her over here at this hour and giving us space to handle our business, it’s important.
“I’m sorry,” my mom croaks, side-eyeing me.
“I… I should have told you. I should have told you her plan. I know you’re mad at me.
I know I fucked up. I… I just want to see her and you.
I don’t want you to hate me.” Wiping the back of her hand across her face, she sniffles, and it hits me right where it always does, square in the center of my chest. It’s always like this with us.
She does something stupid, I’m mad for a while, and she apologizes.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Given I’m her son, it should be the other way around, but it’s not and never has been. I’m the steady in her life.
I bump my shoulder into hers, so she knows I don’t hold a grudge. “Mom, did I hate you when that dick Carl beat the shit out of me after I threw his needles in the trash, so he’d stop gettin’ you both high?”
“Yes.”
“And for how long?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. That was a long time ago.”
“Yeah, and I’m here talkin’ to ya, aren’t I? So, it wasn’t forever, was it? I’m allowed to be pissed at you. What you did could have taken her from me. If she died, I would have hated you, but that’s not what happened.” Thanks to me, but I don’t say that aloud. It’s not constructive.
She sniffles like a broken little kid. “I’m sorry.”
“I know you are. But she’s mine, Mom. Not yours. She might be your best friend, but you know the deal,” I remind her, in case she forgot.
Mom huffs a watery laugh and wipes her eyes. Streaks of black mascara run and stain her cheeks. “I’ll never forget the day you told me. You were sixteen, standing in our living room.” She reaches out and pats my knee.
“And what did I say?”
“That she’s the only woman you’ll ever love.”
Exactly.
“And even if she’ll never want me, I’m okay with that. I’m here for her and Hunter. That’s it. I can love her for the rest of my life, and as long as she’s okay, that’s all that matters.”
“But what about you?” she asks.
I shrug. “What about me?” Nothing has ever been about me. Why should it start now?
“What if she doesn’t come around?” she whispers as if she doesn’t dare say it out loud.
“Mom, I’m not waiting for her to ‘come around,’” I air quote and scowl at her for even thinking I’d be waiting around for something like that in the first place.
“I love her. Love is a choice. It’s a selfless act.
If I end up with someone, or she does, that’s life.
But that’s not gonna change my feelings, and I’m not gonna be any less happy for her.
As long as it ain’t one of the brothers, then I’m good.
‘Cause I’ll slice a brother’s throat before he takes her for his old lady. ”
From his bike, Blimp snorts.
I flip him off, and he grins.
“You’re pussy whipped,” he teases, blowing a cloud of smoke in the air.
“Says the man who rode his woman over in the middle of the night to talk to me,” I quip.
“Never said I wasn’t.”
Touché. “Good. ‘Cause Mom owns your balls.”
Blimp grips his cock and winks. “She owns everything, brother. She owns everything.”
Gross.
I pull a face to lighten the mood, and we share a collective laugh.
I understand why my mom is worried. I’ve been in love with Jade since the first time I saw her in a tankini, swimming in her pool, wet, dark hair down her back, covered in tattoos, curvy in all the right places, and thick in all the others.
Any red-blooded man with functioning eyes should want her.
They’d be fools not to. But my attraction to her takes a backseat to everything else.
My wants, my needs, none of that influences how I take care of her.
Well, alright, maybe it does a little, subconsciously.
But I’m not sittin’ here cooking, cleaning, dropping her off, and picking her up from work to get something out of it.
That’s not the point. There is no endgame.
Mom and Blimp stay a bit longer, and we shoot the shit about easy stuff like me punching Viper out.
The conversation doesn’t return to Jade, and for that I’m grateful.
It’s almost two by the time they ride off down the street, and I return inside to hear Jade screaming again.
Only this time, things are different—my name is on her lips.
In a dead sprint, I race into Jade’s bedroom to find her thrashing again.
Her lights are on, and she’s drenched in sweat.
Her clothes are also off. I don’t know how, but she’s naked, on top of the covers.
I don’t bother to wake her when I run to the living room and grab a throw blanket to cover her with, before I hop into the bed beside her.
This time, I’m not quiet when she screams, spine arching off the bed, thrusting her chest into the air and out from under the blanket.
Her nipples are rosy. So pretty and damn…
I get hard.
I shouldn’t, but it’s Jade, and her tits are magnificent.
Ignoring my body's reaction, I peel the sticky mess of dark hair off her forehead as her face scrunches in pain.
“Jade.” I gently jostle her shoulders, and it does fuckall to rouse her.
Heels digging into the mattress, she bangs her fists on the bed. “Josh! Help! Please!” Tears drip down her flushed cheeks.
My heart cracks in two.
This is fucking horrible. She doesn’t deserve this.
Stupid tears well in my eyes as I lie down beside her in hopes that what I did yesterday fixes what’s broken.
This time, I’m less gentle about it. I drag her to me, flip her onto her side, and spoon her from behind.
I don’t care that my cock is hard, pressed against her ass, the one Viper pawed today.
I lock my arm around her waist, and she sighs, relaxing against me.
It’s instant. Her body sinks into the mattress.
Claiming my arm, the same as last night, Jade stuffs it between her breasts.
Only this time, they’re warm and damp and… bare. Fuck… they’re bare.
But I’m a gentleman. A fucking gentleman, you hear me?
Slowly breathing in, holding it for a million, and breathing out, I will my body to get with the program. Even if my heart is damn near beating out of my chest, and my balls ache, it’s fine. This is fine. It’s not a big deal. I’m here for her.
To drive that point home to the base, Neanderthal part of my brain, I kiss Jade’s sweaty head and get drunk on her intoxicating scent—green soap and flowers—the best smell in the world.
“I’m here. I got you,” I whisper between kisses. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Jade hums in contentment and snuggles her ass deeper into my pelvis. I live in hell on earth as I try my damndest to fall asleep.
It evades me for hours as I listen to her sleepy little sounds with her warm and, oh-so-soft body in my arms—the perfect fit.
Because she is…for me.
The one.
Perfect.