CLINT
H anzee watched the bedroom door, curious about where Ivy went. I understood how he felt. Missing Ivy, too, I was a little jealous when Elle kept her holed up in the bedroom.
Eventually, my sister returned with Ivy close behind. I knew instantly how Elle had a new fangirl. Ivy almost bounced as she followed my sister to the family room.
Though Ivy had clearly been crying, she smiled nonstop over the next hour. Elle and I sat on the couch with Ivy in the middle, making lists, buying clothes, and sending prospects out for errands.
A male prospect was picking up a new phone for Ivy. A female prospect was shopping for properly fitting clothes and women's supplies. Sisters and Crimson Guard members Cher and Stevie were helping the second prospect while texting Elle.
“They’re at the shoe store,” Elle explained. “What color of Converse do you want?”
Ivy waited for me answer for her. I only smiled since I was looking to be her man, not her dad.
“These aren’t the last shoes you’ll ever own,” Elle said when Ivy gave up on getting the answer from me and looked to my sister for help. “Look at the pictures,” Elle explained and tapped my laptop resting on Ivy’s legs. “Which color suits you right now? You can get something else later.”
“Orange, please,” Ivy told Elle who instantly smirked.
“I would have been super bummed if you picked something boring like black.”
Ivy instantly glanced down at Elle’s black shoes, which led to our search for Converse in the first place.
“I have these in, like, five different colors,” Elle said before Ivy could rethink her choices. “Sabrina has a green pair. Nessa has purple ones. Don’t overthink it.”
Ivy looked back to me, so I explained, “Sabrina and Vanessa are two of our cousins. You’ll meet them tomorrow.”
Despite her nods, Ivy was clearly overwhelmed. Replacing the laptop with Hanzee on Ivy’s lap, I suggested, “While we wait for our sandwiches to arrive, we should look at family pictures. That way, you’ll know who everyone is tomorrow.”
Ivy’s eyes lit up as she cuddled the dog. Elle stopped texting the twins and pulled up a picture of her son.
“Do you read Sutter Cane?” Elle asked in a deep voice while staring ominously at Ivy.
Ivy took a long time to respond with the obvious. “No.”
Elle sighed dramatically and frowned at me. “No one ever says yes.”
“We’ve had this conversation too many times, Elle. You can’t pick a name from an obscure movie and then get upset when no one knows what the hell you’re talking about.”
“A movie?” Ivy asked Elle.
“It’s a horror movie apparently only seen by weirdos, dorks, and me.”
“Oh, well, I never watch horror movies. I tried that ‘Halloween’ one. I figured it wouldn’t be too bad since it was old, but I got paranoid about every dark corner.”
“I don’t like horror movies, either,” Elle said. “But this one particular one was special to me, so I bequeathed a name from it to my only child.”
Ivy glanced at me. “Do you like horror movies?”
“Sure. I like movies with lots of shooting and hand-to-hand combat, too.”
“He fell asleep during ‘Avatar’ when we watched it years ago,” Elle snitched. “He can’t handle too much plot.”
Chuckling at my sister’s bullshit, I received a message about the sandwich delivery waiting in the lobby. I left the women to talk about Sutter while I went to downstairs. I was on my way back up when my VP confronted me.
“You’re getting married?” Rock asked, crossing his thick arms and trying to intimidate me despite our long history and the small dog at his feet.
“Probably. Though I feel like I ought to know Ivy for longer than twenty-four hours before I propose.”
Rock Savo was a wall of a man, built hard with thick muscles. His tawny skin made his pale green eyes shine. When he leveled his gaze on a man, they saw nothing more than emptiness. Rock showed no one his next move, making him terrifying to our enemies.
My VP was the son of Oz Savo, president of the Rawlins Heretics Motorcycle Club and Ginger Jones, the leader of the all-female Everything Nice Crew. His powerful parents taught him to lead others, yet he still agreed to be second in command for our club.
Rock talked from time to time about moving to Little Rock and creating another chapter of the club. As much as he wanted to run his own crew, he loved life in Little Memphis.
“Who is this woman?” Rock asked, blocking my path to my condo.
“I need to get my food to Ivy and Elle. You and I can meet downstairs in the courtyard at ten and talk while the dogs do their final shit for the day.”
Rock glanced back at my condo, located across the hall from his. Right after high school, we lived in a small house together. Our personalities have always meshed well.
He was currently worried I’d gone soft. That had always been his biggest concern about me.
“You’re smart, but your mama raised you soft,” was how he explained his fear.
Every time Rock said that shit, I would laugh my ass off. Ginger Jones might be a scary woman to outsiders, but she was absolutely weak in the knees for her boy.
Understanding his current concern, I asked, “If Ivy was a troublemaker, don’t you think Elle would be texting everyone for an intervention for me?”
Rock smirked. “Your sister has a good sense for people,” he said before adding, “When she’s sober.”
I walked around Rock and headed toward my condo. I knew he wanted to come inside. I considered ignoring his obvious signals. However, I learned long ago how it was better to appease Rock than attempt to tame him.
Opening my door, I gestured for him to follow me inside. I had nothing to hide. Ivy wasn’t a dirty little secret. She was part of my life now.
This reality settled into my mind earlier when we were online shopping. Every time Ivy turned to me for reassurance or approval, I imagined our future together. Soon, she would be upstairs in my bed. Later in the year, we’d spend our first holidays as a family. Down the road, we’d make a kid together. Our future was set in stone, even if the details remained murky.
Boa took off running as soon as he followed Rock into the condo. He barked for Hanzee who barked back. Ivy seemed startled by the little guy’s sudden wild streak. She set Hanzee on the ground, so he could sniff and bump Boa.
“Ivy, this is Rock,” I said as I rested the food on the kitchen island. “He’s my VP. The blond beauty sniffing Hanzee’s ass is Boa.”
Ivy turned around on the couch, sitting on her knees and looking like a kid. Her gaze focused on Rock. A little part of me worried over her falling victim to his pretty green eyes and exotic good looks. Women loved the idea of breaking through his cold exterior to the warm gooey center they were certain hid inside the six-foot-five man.
My worries about Ivy and Rock were ridiculous. I’d known she belonged with me as soon as I spotted her in the store.
Right now, she stared at Rock, seeing only his unflinching gaze and none of his attractive qualities. Elle turned on the couch so she was sitting like Ivy.
“Wow, you are scary from this angle,” my sister said, staring in horror at Rock. A smirk warmed her face. “I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you this before, but you’d be prettier if you smiled more.”
Rock grinned at her taunting. They were both likely recalling when a guy told Sabrina to smile more. We were so young back then, drunk off our asses, and ready to brawl at a local dive. Sabrina’s rebel yell was the hilarious, and I couldn’t stop laughing, even when I started throwing punches.
My club was downright docile these days. Yet, Ivy watched Rock like he might be ready to tear her apart. Rock stopped grinning at Elle and focused his rough energy on my tiny girlfriend. Ivy shrunk in fear just like he hoped. Flipping a switch, Ivy focused on the dogs and smiled at how they danced around each other like goofy windup toys.
“Ha!” Elle cried, mocking Rock’s inability to make an itty-bitty blonde cry. “You’re slipping, bro. Really sad to witness, but I will share my sorrow with our many friends. Hey, Clint, how do I send a mass text?”
Rock ignored Elle’s mockery or how she furiously texted something into her phone. He studied Ivy and then glanced at me.
“We’ll talk later.”
“Okay, but leave your dog for a while.”
Rock’s scowl was capable of intimidating even hardened men. But I only smiled when he pulled that move on me. I’d never forget the first time he showed me his new “scary tough guy face.” We were barely teenagers and both wanted to be badasses like our dads.
Our past together meant I could never fear Rock. I knew his hopes and fears. He was an open book to me.
He viewed me in the same way, yet my choice to bring home a strange woman didn’t fit the man he knew.
Despite his unease, Rock left Boa behind so the dogs could play. Ivy said earlier how she always wanted a dog. Her words held such longing. Now, she was transfixed by the little beasts bouncing around her on the ground.
With so little effort, I’d already made Ivy’s life better.