IVY
M y peachy pork chops and wild rice dinner was a hit with the Reed family. Shay kept laughing at how someone in the family enjoyed cooking. Ford claimed I would save them a fortune in delivery. Elle told Sutter that she might attempt to make more than macaroni and cheese. The boy seemed to take her comment as a threat. Through it all, Clint watched me like I was amazing.
Over the next two days, Clint received regular updates from Lula. On Friday morning, she claimed Uncle Linus “saw the light.” I wasn’t sure what that meant. Was he threatened? Did they bribe him? Or was the judge swayed? Clint only gave me the Cliff's Notes version.
“Your belongings will be packed up this weekend and shipped to Little Rock,” Clint explained. “We want to make sure he doesn’t sneak a tracker into your stuff. Lula worried your uncle was only being agreeable to gain access to you.”
“What happens next?”
“That’s up to you. Your money is paying for the house. You could go through the legal effort to kick out your uncle and sell it. Or you can keep the house. I don’t think you should decide yet. Let’s get you settled in here. The house isn’t going anywhere.”
Despite Clint’s call for patience, I already knew I wanted to sell the mansion. I could never live there again. Even if I didn’t view the mansion as my prison, it held too many bad memories. Someone new could give the majestic home new life. Despite knowing the right choice, I didn’t push the subject. I was just relieved Lula and her escorts would return to Little Memphis.
Rowdy showed up late one night and reunited with Goblin. I would miss the little beauty, even if he did bite my fingers every single time I petted him.
The next day on our way to the Sorority House party, Rowdy walked with Clint and I to the elevator. The other Crimson Guard members—Rock, Farley, Ben, and Nine—joined us on the way down. I felt so tiny in the elevator surrounded by so many six-foot-tall men.
Once we arrived in the garage, Clint handed me a pink helmet and zipped up my jacket. His protective nature left me weak-kneed and smiling lovestruck.
Sharing my grin, Clint explained, “This helmet used to belong to Shay. She suggested you use it.”
I shoved the helmet over my head, feeling silly wearing it in front of the club guys. Rowdy tapped the top and smiled in where my face was nearly covered.
“You look like a giant ball of gum attached itself to your head,” he teased gently. “Real stylish.”
Clint casually shoved Rowdy aside. “Tease someone else.”
“Boss man, your ass looks especially tight in those jeans,” Rowdy replied and walked to his motorcycle. “Maybe don’t be a showoff now that you’re settling down with a woman.”
Clint smirked at his cousin before gesturing for me to join him at his motorcycle. “Just like we practiced today.”
“I’m getting the hang of it.”
“Yes, but you still hold on like you think you’re about to die.”
I climbed on behind Clint and let my hands slide across his belly before clasping each other and holding on tight.
More male members arrived to join us on the ride over to the Sorority House. Soon, the garage rumbled under the power of so many bikes coming alive together.
My heart raced with excitement as Clint led the other men out of the garage. The downtown area sparkled with activity. Tonight was warmer as the spring weather pushed back against the chill.
Our group rode away from the center of town and past subdivisions filled with boxy houses. Soon, we reached an area where the homes were farther apart. Long driveways led from the road to large houses in the distance. I assumed this was the wealthier side of town. I noticed horses in the front yards of several properties.
Soon, a golf course stretched over many acres. I spotted a few stray golfers still roaming the course under the dying light.
Even before the golf course came to an end, I could hear indie rock playing. Just past the course and a small open field, a black iron gate stretched around a property.
The Sorority House had white columns and wide lower and upper porches. The doors stood open, and people streamed in and out of the massive house.
Our group pulled through the front gates and parked among the dozens of other motorcycles and a handful of cars on a wide circular drive.
As I climbed off the bike, I remained transfixed by the party atmosphere before me. I couldn’t peel my gaze from the people on the porch.
Once I removed the pink helmet, I soaked in the melodic rock filling the air. For the first time, I witnessed the Crimson Guard in one place. If I wanted to understand Clint’s life, these people were the key.
Elle left the porch and walked toward us. Her blonde hair was tied in two braids hanging down her chest. She smiled widely at her brother before taking my hand.
“Let Ivy breathe without you,” she told Clint, who gradually released my hand. “People are dying to meet her.”
I looked back at Clint, who gave me a sexy smile. Though I hoped I grinned back, my nerves might have left me staring like a scared kid.
As Elle guided me to the front porch, I heard someone call out from the upper deck. “Is that her?” a blonde woman asked, hanging over the railing. “I’ll be right down.”
Elle smiled at me. “People are psyched to meet the girl who stole my brother’s heart,” she explained before gesturing at the women sitting in pastel wicker chairs on the lower porch. “Who’s first?”
“Let it be me,” announced a woman with pale green hair.
Not athletically built like Elle and Sabrina, this woman had a wiry body. Her super straight hair hung down to her waist. If a hippie and a punk rocker had a kid, it would look like the woman in front of me.
“I’m Cher,” she told me and wrapped my body in a welcoming hug.
Cher embraced me like we were at the funeral for my entire family. I felt held in a wonderful, welcoming way. When she let me go, she smiled back at a pink-haired woman with the same face and build.
“This here is my sister, Stevie,” Cher explained before asking her sister, “Isn’t Ivy gorgeous?”
“Dreamlike,” Stevie said and offered me a similarly warm hug.
I was struck by a strange sensation. There was something almost familiar about these women. I felt as if I’d always known them, yet life had kept us apart.
“Don’t be overwhelmed,” Stevie said when tears filled my eyes. “We’re family.”
I looked at Elle, who smiled like she understood what I was thinking. “Come on inside and meet Goldie. Her brother’s misadventures brought you into our lives.”
Inside the large mansion, a woman with bleached blonde hair ran smiling at me. Her brown eyes lit up, and she introduced herself.
“This is her,” Goldie gushed. “Look at you thinking we’re all nuts.”
“That’s not what I’m thinking,” I said as she hugged me to her.
Elle explained, “I suspect she isn’t used to so much hugging.”
“Not even from Clint?” Goldie teased. “You'd best force him to cuddle more. A girl has needs.”
Nodding, I struggled to find the right words. Everyone around me was in their element. They were comfortable with their bodies and effortlessly shared their thoughts.
Yet, a part of me was still the loser back in the mansion imagining a fun adventure. I kept forgetting to speak up. I also became overly aware of how my scar was slightly visible in this army green T-shirt. I’d wanted to show Clint how I could be myself around his people.
But now, feeling overwhelmed to the point of nausea, I wished I had played everything safe.
“She isn’t chatty yet,” Elle explained to the others while tugging me into a colorful kitchen overlooking the massive family room. “But a little booze will help Ivy find her voice.”
I wasn’t sure about drinking alcohol. What if I got wasted and said stupid stuff that would embarrass Clint?
Standing next to Elle, I focused on the kitchen design choices. The lower cabinets were a pale blue while the upper ones were a light pink. The backsplash was a pastel glass mosaic. Bottles of various alcohol sat out on the counters along with serving dishes full of snack items.
“Drink this,” Elle said, handing me a shot glass with “Key West” printed on the side. “A little liquid courage. The flavor is mellow, and the booze doesn’t have a hard kick. It shouldn’t send you howling at the moon or drooling on the floor.”
“The one time I got drunk before, I puked all over the place,” I warned her.
Elle slid my hair from my shoulders and smiled. “That was when you got your tattoo, right? Well, I puked after my first tat, too. Let’s not blame the booze when it was probably your body’s reaction to pain.”
I sipped the drink. With so much fruity flavor, I barely tasted the alcohol. But within twenty minutes, I sure felt it.
“You’re so beautiful,” I told the green-haired woman later while crawling across the couch toward her. “Which one are you again?”
Laughing, she explained, “I’m the cool one. Stevie is the basic one. Which color is more basic?”
“Pink?” I said and looked at her sister.
“Exactly. When you see pink, think basic bitch.”
Stevie crawled over Elle to reach us. “I’m the good one. The reliable friend. The reasonable sister. She’s just a big bag of calamity.”
Cher insisted, “I’m the calm one.”
“No, it’s ridiculous how crazy you make people.”
I patted their faces and immediately forgot which one was which. “You look like twins.”
Pink-hair said, “We were born eight months apart.”
“Our mother couldn’t handle her birth control,” Green-hair added.
Pink-hair snickered. “Or she was super horny.”
“We looked so much alike as kids that people call us twins, but we’re not. Thank God, too. I don’t want Cher’s flat ass.”
“And I’m fine not having Stevie’s saggy tits.”
“You’re funny,” I mumbled and fell back on the couch.
“Un-fucking-believable,” Sabrina said from the family room entrance. “After less than an hour, you troublemakers have already gotten the Keebler elf liquored up.”
“Yeah, it’s terrible,” Goldie said, walking past them and joining me on the couch. “Why are you dressed like that, Farmer Sabrina?”
I looked at Sabrina, Moe, and Xandy dressed in matching overalls with no shirts, socks, or shoes. They looked like Uncle Dwight on our journey to nowhere. I remembered how I thought he looked so silly then. I felt the same way now with the three women.
Normally, I’d keep my feelings bottled up so as not to upset anyone. But something cracked inside me when I squealed at Clint the other day. Between my new confidence and the booze removing my filter, I pointed and laughed hysterically at the women’s farmer getup.
My laughter set off the not-twins and Goldie. Elle began playing a banjo song on her phone while Sabrina scowled hard at me.
I should have been scared. The skittish voice in my head warned I was making an enemy. I dismissed such talk. These women razzed each other all the time. My crazy laughing was nothing personal.
“Don’t pout, princess,” Goldie told Sabrina. “Your relaxed-lesbian look was bound to spawn giggles. Has your brother seen the three of you?”
Moe and Xandy glanced at each other and ran out of the room.
Sabrina grunted. “You’re teaching them to submit to a man’s will.”
“No, I’m teaching them to defy your will,” Goldie replied while I rested my head on the back of the couch and tried to stop laughing. “It’s different.”
As Elle and Sabrina barked insults at each other, I spread out on the couch and tried to stop spinning. Goldie crawled over me and stared down at my face.
“Are you okay?”
“You’re so beautiful,” I told her and stroked her head. “I bet you aren’t scared of men.”
“No, baby, I’m super squeamish around men. Sex is gross. Men are pushy. Romance is a chore. You’re right to fear men and relationships,” she said and then kissed my forehead. “But you’re Clint’s girl, and he’s so handsome and gross-free.”
“He’s the best, but I have a big ugly scar,” I said and yanked down my shirt. “It looks like someone hacked me open in a horror movie.”
“Clint’s a tit man,” Goldie said and smiled. “If you take off your shirt in front of him, he won’t focus on your scar. He’ll immediately zero in on nipple territory.”
I smiled at her and wondered if I could flash Clint right now. Goldie studied me with her pretty eyes and then shook her head.
“You need to be supervised,” she said and sat back. “Elle, your future sister-in-law is about to go wild and not in a way she’s going to appreciate tomorrow.”
“Everyone should shadow her,” Sabrina suggested after making herself a drink and frowning at a returning Moe and Xandy in matching black tank tops and cutoff jeans. “So, you can match, but just not with me?”
“Don’t be angry,” the women said in unison.
“They didn’t want to look like farmers, Reed,” Goldie said and gestured for me to sit on the floor in front of her. While designing little braids in my hair, she continued, “Can you blame them? They’re biker foxes, not Elly May Clampett. Personally, I’d never make my lover dress like a dweeb to prove his devotion.”
“That’s not why,” Sabrina said and then flashed a frown at her girlfriends. “What did you tell her?”
“Nothing, babe,” Xandy said and jumped onto a bar stool at the elongated island. “We’ve barely seen Goldie lately.”
“Uh-huh, well, for everyone’s information, we were matching as a sex thing.”
“See what I mean?” Goldie asked me as I smiled up at her. “This is the kind of thing that keeps me squeamish about romance. Also, I don’t want anyone to ever tell me what to do in any capacity.”
“That seems doable,” Elle said from her spot on the floor with her feet up against the couch’s arm. I thought she was smoking a joint, but I didn’t know enough about drugs to be sure. “Men just love to boss women around, too. They are the worst.”
“The worst!” Sabrina hollered at Clint, entering with a half dozen men. “I don’t know how you tolerate yourself.”
“I’ve built up a resistance over the years,” Clint replied to his cousin, who grinned. He squatted in front of me. “Are you drunk?”
“Just a tiny bit,” I said and showed him on my fingers how tiny. Leaning forward, I whispered, “I’m going to flash my nipples at you later.”
The laughter around me didn’t register while Clint grinned wider.
“Did you think you said that quietly?”
“Yeah, I’m very good at sneaking.”
“Let her have this,” Goldie insisted to Clint over my shoulder. “This poor little thing had to endure seeing Xandy, Moe, and Sabrina dressed as slutty farmers. She might need therapy.”
“Or more booze,” I suggested.
Clint shook his head. “Let’s hold off on getting you too wasted.”
“She only had one shot of booze, Clint,” Elle insisted from nearby on the floor. “Of course, a shot glass is like half her size, so I can see how this might be my fault.”
Clint frowned at his sister, who was busy waving at the men lingering at the door.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” Elle told the guys. “Clint wants us to welcome his lady by acting like our usual selves.”
The men instantly entered the room and went to the bar. The large space got crowded fast, but I wasn’t overwhelmed. The booze made my heart beat soft and steady.
“You look happy,” Clint said as his fingers caressed my cheek.
“I like being here.”
“You should move in,” Green-hair announced. “We’ll turn Ivy into a fox. You can have her back in two to four years.”
“Look, I’m as big a fan of Ivy as anyone,” Rowdy announced before Clint could speak. “But there is no way that itty-bitty lady is controlling a hog.”
Grunting, I declared, “I can control it.”
Still sitting behind me on the couch, Goldie tapped my head until I looked up at her. “He means a motorcycle, not Clint’s package.”
Shrugging, I mumbled, “Oh, well, then, Rowdy’s right. I can’t control that hog, but I’m more than ready to control the other kind of hog.”
Clint cracked up. Others followed. Maybe I was already laughing. My head felt a little weird. Not in a bad way. More in a trippy, problems-be-damned way.
I sensed Clint would normally be more relaxed with his friends, so I assured him I was okay. In fact, I was more than okay! I was unburdened by my normal hangups. I forgot about my scars, or how I had never danced in front of anyone.
Once my hair was wild with braids, I bounced around with the foxes on the back deck. They swayed to the music, singing along with the lyrics. I didn’t know the words, but that didn’t stop me from joining in.
By the time Lula arrived in a T-shirt, black jeans, and her club vest, I was flying on a cloud. She laughed when I hugged her and mumbled an overly emotional “thank you” in her ear.
“That’s how the Reed family rolls,” Lula said and wrapped me in her arms. “And you’re one of us now.”
Her words broke me a little. I already felt a strong connection with Clint’s mom and sister. But tonight, with his friends welcoming me into their group, I became closer to the woman I always dreamed of being.
And that woman was a confident sexual beast with her eye on flashing a very sexy biker soon.