Chapter 11
Zombie
Two weeks had flown by following the club’s Halloween Bash. Life was good. Better than I ever recalled it being and it was all because of the beautiful woman making a salad at the island.
I couldn’t take my eyes off Trixie—like ever. When she was near me, I had her in my direct line of vision and tracked her movements.
If we were out in public and another man checked her out, I gave him a deadly death glare and I was prepared to beat the shit out of him if he dared to cross me.
Trixie was mine. I might sound possessive, but it was the truth. She was mine and would be until I drew my last breath. I wouldn’t lose Trixie to another man. I’d do whatever it took to keep her, which meant not giving her a reason to dump me.
I hated how fast the days passed from one to the next. Before I knew it, I’d be an old man, and my life would be over. After being miserable for most of my life because not many people understood me, all I wanted was to be happy.
Trixie made me happy.
Which was why I wanted us to get a place of our own. It was stupid to waste the time we had because tomorrow wasn’t promised to any of us. I wanted to make the most out of the time we had together.
And we needed privacy.
Before Trixie, I liked living on the compound with my MC brothers. What single dude wouldn’t? I didn’t have to do anything and had a bunch of hot club girls cooking for me and cleaning up after me. The Knights were my family, and there was no other place I wanted to be.
But now I wanted something traditional for Trixie. She’d grown up in a normal household, with two parents who loved her and no scantily clad women around to remind her I’d had sex with them.
We didn’t talk about the Kittens and my relations with them. They were a topic we both didn’t want to discuss. We’d agreed to leave the past in the past and only look forward. Trixie was the best and I was the luckiest man on the planet to have a woman as understanding as her.
After supper we were going to go look at a rental house. I’d finally found a place that was perfect for us. If we both liked it, I was ready to sign the lease and put down a deposit.
The only downside to it was the move-in date, which was the week before Thanksgiving. I was ready to begin my life with Trixie, and I could tell she didn’t feel comfortable staying at the clubhouse. Although, she never complained. But I sensed her feelings as if they were my own.
Our situation wasn’t ideal and only temporary. Neither of us wanted to be apart more than necessary. Since Trixie lived with her folks, I couldn’t stay at her house. Her parents were old-fashioned and wouldn’t allow it. So, she stayed with me.
I was confident the small house I found would be perfect for our needs. It had two bedrooms and one bathroom. A good-sized kitchen and a small backyard. A heated garage where I could store my Harley during the brutal Minnesota winters. What more would we need?
Eventually, we’d get married.
I was shooting for summer to make her officially and legally my mine. Even had my friend, who owned a jewelry store in Fargo, making a custom engagement ring for Trixie. I’d propose Christmas morning. I hoped she would be pregnant with my baby by then, too.
I was all in with her and couldn’t wait to begin the next phase of our lives.
Too fast?
Maybe.
In a few months, I would be twenty-eight, and I was ready to be a dad. I sort of felt like we needed to just keep moving forward and if everything worked out, awesome.
Lucky for me, Trixie was so easygoing about everything. She wanted what I wanted, and if she wasn’t ready to be a mom, I’d wait. But she promised me that she didn’t feel pressured to have a baby. We were actively trying, and I couldn’t wait for the day she told me she missed her period.
My woman sashayed over with a bright smile and kissed my lips. “I’m almost finished helping the girls. I’m watching the clock too, so we’re not late for the house appointment.”
“Trix, you are ready for this next step, right?” The muscles in my jaw tightened as I watched her searching my face.
“Yes, I’m ready. Are you having second thoughts.”
“No. I just want to be sure you’re not having them. I know we’re moving fast. We can slow down if you want.”
“I don’t want to slow down.” She sat on my lap and hooked her arms around my neck. I loved it when she did that little move. It made me feel owned and all hers.
“Good. Me either.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed hard. “What about having a baby?”
I was asking all these questions with Sugar and Dawn not six feet away. They heard everything but I didn’t give a damn who was listening. I needed to know Trixie and I were still on the same page.
“I’m all in, handsome.” She kissed me, then pulled away, and stood. “The food should be ready in five minutes. We’ll scarf it down quickly so we can leave.”
How did I get so lucky? I hoped Trixie felt just as lucky.
Twenty minutes later, we were on the road.
We ate quickly as Trixie had said and got out of the clubhouse before most people arrived for supper.
My MC brothers would have been fine, but their wives would’ve asked a million questions and held us up because Trixie would have gotten caught up chatting with them.
She loved the old ladies, and they seemed to love her right back.
The drive to the rental house was only fifteen minutes from the compound. I couldn’t get over how perfect it was for us. As I watched Trixie look around, I could see she loved the place.
“It has a great kitchen and bathroom,” she said. “I’m so happy to see a dishwasher or you’d be in charge of washing dishes by hand.” She giggled and her dark brown eyes sparkled like marbles.
I could tell she was just teasing me. Reading people wasn’t easy for me, so I appreciated how Trixie made sure to laugh instead of being serious. I sucked with dry humor.
“Yup. A dishwasher. But I’m fine helping with the cleanup if you do all the cooking,” I replied, and meant it.
Washing dishes had been my job as a kid and I got pretty good at it.
Cooking was another story. I couldn’t even heat up a can of soup without burning it.
I’d forget I was cooking stuff on the stove if I left the kitchen.
It was just safer to buy my food and not risk a fire.
Or eat cold cereal, but that got old quickly.
“Oh, I like that. Deal!” She clapped excitedly. “I bet you like the heated garage for your Harley.”
I nodded. “It’s awesome.”
“And it’s close to the compound and the deli.”
“It’s in the middle of both.” I had picked winner, and I was damn proud.
She peered at the backyard from the window above the kitchen sink. I wondered if she noticed the baby swing hanging off the tree.
The property manager had told me the family living in the house were having another baby and needed something larger.
“Aww, there’s swing.”
“Yup. What do you think of the place?”
She turned around to face me. “It’s perfect. Let’s sign the lease.”
“Hell yeah!” I wrapped her up in my arms and kissed her for a long time, just breaking in our new place.
For years, my Tuesday nights had been spent at The Bullet having a meal with Lynx and listening to country music. He would always eat with me, so I wasn’t alone. He was like the older brother I never had.
Lynx probably had no clue how much he’d helped me back when I first moved to town and after he sponsored me to prospect for the Knight’s Legion MC. He’d gotten me through some rough times just by sitting with me like now.
“I sense we’re coming to the end of an era, buddy.” Lynx took a drink of his whiskey. “No more dinners together and stimulating conversation led by yours truly. Makes me sad.”
“I’ll still come in, but Trixie will probably be with me.” I finished the last of my western bacon cheeseburger and beer.
“As she should, but it’s like you’re breaking up with me. Found yourself someone better.” Lynx snorted, swirling the amber liquid in his glass.
“Well, she does give me more than you, if you know what I mean?” I wiggled my eyebrows.
“But you didn’t even give me a chance to satisfy you.” He set his glass down and stared at me. “I could’ve struck a deal with Jaynee to let me be with you too. Hell, Grizzly had two lovers.”
Okay, I wasn’t sure I was following Lynx. Was he serious?
“Dude, you’re freaking me out.”
“I’m just fucking with you.” He chuckled, then took a bite of his potato skin. “I was adventurous before my Jaynee. Not anymore.”
“That’s a relief. I wasn’t sure what to think.”
“Yeah, I can tell. You have that deer-in-the-headlights expression going on.” He laughed some more. “But in all seriousness. I’m going to miss this, y’know? You’ve been like my mistress all these years, that Jaynee knew about, of course.”
I stared at him, trying to make sense of what he was saying. Mistress? Surely, Lynx was still fucking with me.
“I mean, look at you? You’re sexy and the best listener.”
“Dude.” I reared my head back and screwed up my face.
“Come on. You know what I’m talking about. I love to hear myself talk, and you never interrupt me like now.” He winked.
Fucking Lynx was being fucking Lynx.
“Maybe we can still do this, just not every weeknight. Or we could double date. I bet the ladies would love that.” Lynx just kept talking as always.
“Sure. I’ll ask Trixie.”
“She’ll say yes. Are you ready to become domesticated?”
“What does, domesticated, mean?” I wasn’t sure if he was fucking with me again. Did he mean like an animal?
“I just mean becoming a one-woman man. A family man. Most of our brothers lived in the clubhouse for a while before they got their own place with their old lady. It gave the woman time to get used to the MC life.”
“Is that what you did with Jaynee?”
“No way. She had a place of her own before we got together. If I wanted to sleep with her every night, I had to be in her bed. But we had my little Peanut to think about, too. Sadie girl needed a stable home to live in.”
I nodded, understanding what he meant. “I don’t want Trixie to be around the chaos, even though the chaos is my life. She’s not a wild girl, and I really don’t want her to turn into one.”
“That’s fair brother. You know her better than the rest of us. Just stay true to yourself and it’ll all be good.”
“When I’m with Trixie, I feel like my true self. She calms my mind.” Her presence also helped me sleep through the night. She had a magic touch.
“That’s great. I’m happy for you. And this weekend is moving day, aye?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“And then hunting day will be upon us. You are coming right?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good.” Lynx stood and collected our plates. “There are some traditions that should never stop, and the club’s Thanksgiving hunt is one of them.” He clucked his tongue and took our dishes to the kitchen.
He was right. Traditions were important.
I didn’t take my club brothers for granted.
Just because I was with Trixie and she meant the world to me, it didn’t mean I no longer needed my MC or that I didn’t want to be a member anymore.
I would be a Knight forever. But then I thought I’d never stop being an Adams.
I looked at my cell phone on the table. I’d promised Trixie that I’d reach out to my parents and invite them to our new place for Thanksgiving.
The times I’d attempted to call my mom; it didn’t end well. Like when they heard I was in a motorcycle club. Or other times, I’d get her voicemail, and I wouldn’t leave a message.
Well, a promise was a promise. I knew Trixie would ask if I’d called them, and I wouldn’t lie to her.
I dialed the number and listened to it ring, hoping it went to voicemail. Then I could tell Trixie, honestly, that I tried.
“Brandon is that you?” my mom asked, sounding hopeful.
“Yeah, it’s me.” My stomach churned. I wouldn’t be surprised if my western bacon cheeseburger found its way onto my lap. Gross.
“How are you? Where are you?”
“I’m fine. Still in Minnesota.”
She sighed. “With the biker club?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“After not hearing from you, we thought you were dead.” She sobbed into the phone, making me feel like the shitty son she’d called me many years ago. “I’m so sorry for making you leave.”
“Yeah, getting kicked out of my home was a low point in my life.” I’d gotten wasted to numb my emotions and had contemplated suicide.
“We just couldn’t take your—”
“Stop right there.” I cut her off before she pissed me off and I hung up on her. “I don’t want to talk about the past. My girlfriend wanted me to invite you and dad to Thanksgiving dinner.”
“Really? You have a girlfriend?”
I groaned. “Yes, and she’s wonderful and normal. I’m sure you’ll love her.”
“Oh, Brandon. I didn’t mean anything.”
“Listen. I’ll text our address. Discuss it with Dad, then let me know if you’re coming.” I really couldn’t be nice to her because of the way she’d treated me before.
I had scars, deep wounds that only a mother could give their child. She was supposed to have been my protector and biggest supporter. Instead, she gave up on me and tossed me out because I was too much trouble. I would never be like my parents.
“We’re coming. We’d love to see you.”
I doubted that, but whatever. “Okay. I’ll text you the place and time.”
“I’m looking forward to it, Brandon.”
I ended the call, relieved to have it over with. Trixie will be happy that I reached out and invited my parents. Her happiness was the only thing that mattered to me.