Chapter 29
Nova
It’s easier than I expected to settle into a new normal. I don’t think about how long it’ll last or worry about what comes next. For the first time in my life, I’m safe enough to live in the moment.
Two days after the war with Meridian, I finally go back to work.
I’d called Dayna and explained that we’d found my sister and asked if a vacancy came up could she consider me for the position.
I was shocked when she offered me my old job back there and then.
I was a little nervous about telling Creed, but he was nothing but supportive.
He did, however, insist on coming with me on my first day back at work.
He said he had some things to do downtown, which may have been true, but I got the impression him following me on his bike while I drove was his way of letting the people of Pine Ridge know I belonged to him.
After spending most of the day listening to the hushed gossip about gunfire and dead bodies while customers and co-workers gave me sideways looks, I reported back to him that his message was received.
It took another two days for Gina, the youngest of my co-workers, to get up the courage to ask if it was true I lived with the Kings of Ruin.
Everyone at the vet clinic treated me well before, but now there’s a level of hesitation when they talk to me.
I’m okay with it. Uncle Marty’s betrayal has made me want to look more closely at my relationships outside of the Kings.
That’s fine with me. Layla’s gone back to her apartment, but since she and Patch alternate where they spend time together, I see her more now than I did the last couple months before she moved out, and definitely more than I did afterward.
Once Patch officially claims her as his old lady—and I’m sure it’s a ‘when’ not an ‘if’—they’ll decide where they want to live together, but I doubt they’ll go more than a day without coming to the clubhouse.
As for me, I’m enjoying living at the compound.
I could’ve gone back to my apartment and basically dated Creed, but I was already struggling to pay the rent.
People might think it’s weird that I moved from a little place of my own to what’s a lot like a frat house with less underage drinking, but it already feels more like home than the house where I grew up.
And everyone else must feel the same because none of them treat me like a guest anymore.
A fact that’s demonstrated the moment I come into the clubhouse after a long day of wrangling dogs, cats, and one very angry guinea pig.
I’m tired, but in a good mood because I’ve just finished my first full week back at work.
Everyone else seems to be celebrating, too, which I take to mean whatever project Ace has been working on has gone well.
The music is loud and the alcohol is flowing, both, I assume, contributing to the raunchy striptease happening on top of the pool table.
A striptease being performed, not by any of the cat-calling Bunnies, but by Fury and Striker.
Half of the MC is laughing and shouting, egging the guys on as they both run their hands down their bare chests.
Striker’s still wearing his pants, but the fly’s completely open.
Fury, on the other hand, is down to a pair of tight white briefs that don’t really leave a lot to the imagination.
When he hooks his thumbs in the waistband, I turn away.
“Hey, Doc!” Crusher calls out from next to the pool table. “You find me a girlfriend yet? You owe me for letting you practice your doctoring on my shoulder.”
I hear a squeal that tells me I probably don’t want to turn around, so I just flip Crusher off behind me and call over my shoulder, “Sorry to disappoint. All the bitches and pussy I saw today are too good for you.”
I grin at the burst of laughter that follows me up the stairs and I’m still smiling when I walk into my room.
I kick off my shoes and walk into the bathroom to clean up before I go to find Creed, but my plan gets interrupted when I realize I’m missing my body wash.
I don’t have to hunt for it since there’s really only one other place it can be.
After Creed and a few of the guys helped me move my stuff out of my apartment and over to the compound, most of my stuff went to the garage for storage, while the rest joined me in my room.
Over the last few days, however, more than a few of my things have made their way into the space where I spend most of my time.
As I make my way to Creed’s room, I take my hair out of its braid, massaging my aching scalp as I go.
In the past, I was tempted to cut my hair just to make it easier, but I love the way it feels when Creed runs his fingers through it.
And it’s a real turn-on when he wraps it around his fist when we’re having sex.
So, for the time being, it’s staying long.
His door is cracked and I push it open the rest of the way before pausing in the doorway. Creed’s sitting in bed, propped up against the headboard with a motorcycle magazine in hand, looking all sorts of sexy and fuckable wearing only a pair of well-worn jeans with the button popped.
Desire hits me hard, twisting low in my stomach, but it’s followed by something warmer and stronger when I see two of his four dresser drawers are open… and empty. The stuff on top of the dresser has been rearranged too, leaving half of it bare.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Creed says. “Something wrong?”
I swallow hard and shake my head. “No. Not at all. I just left my body wash in here.”
As I walk into the bathroom, I hear him add softly, “Why don’t we bring all the rest of it in here?”
***
If someone would’ve told me two months ago that Layla and I would be spending a cool autumn evening sitting around a fire pit in the Kings of Ruin compound while Layla’s boyfriend works on his motorcycle nearby, I would’ve called them crazy.
But now, as I watch my sister watching Patch, a happy little smile on her face, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
When she catches me looking at her, she grins, her eyes dancing. “You realize our life choices got really questionable, really fast, right? At least, according to everyone else.”
I laugh and shake my head. She’s right. It didn’t take the two of us very long at all to fall hard and fast into this life, and we’ve already survived a war.
“You heard about Tasha?” Layla asks. “Heading to San Francisco.”
I nod and say, “She actually talked to me before she left, and I told her I wished her the best.”
I don’t tell Layla the other thing Tasha said. The thing about how Creed never looked at anyone the way he looks at me. I’m sure Layla’s heard it before, but I know how much it hurt Tasha to say it.
My sister and I talk easily now and the silences between us are comfortable, even when they grow longer.
At some point, I become aware that I’m starting to drift off to sleep, but I don’t try to stop it.
I’m safe here. With my eyes closed, my mind at that place halfway between sleep and awake, I hear the crunch of gravel and then Creed’s familiar scent a moment before he brushes his hand over my hair.
“Prez,” Ace’s voice drifts through the air.
“Shh,” Creed cuts in, “My old lady’s sleeping.”
He’s called me that before, but now it’s not to convince anyone of anything. It’s just fact. And that makes me smile as I finally drift off.