FLAME
Smoke’s phone dings for what feels like the thousandth time today. He still hasn’t told me anything new, and I am fuckin’ spiraling.
We’re pulling another long day at the shop.
The officers are freaking out about all the shit going on since Willow came into the picture.
They haven’t brought it up in Church yet, but I think they are blaming her sudden appearance for everything.
They won’t admit they have too many problems that are coming to light that have been shoved to the side for too long.
Now, they don’t know where to start putting out the fires.
Griz has a kid that he never knew about, and the club knows that he is a piece of shit, even though the club has too much blind loyalty to say it to his face.
The older members had an idea of what went down, but it looks like they kept the details to the officers.
That, along with his mid-life crisis, is slowly making him unravel more than he already was.
Then, they have the small problem of coasting by, not staying diligent about possible threats to the club, and the National President’s kid was taken while on our territory when they chose to come visit—not only starting a war with a rival MC that has been known about for years, but also getting National’s attention.
Now, they expect updates on the information that we gather and any funds that will be spent or members that are injured, along with information on the leak that Willow found out about while “questioning” an officer while getting back Blitz’s kid.
The leak is apparently a woman associated with the club.
No Brother is okay with us interrogating their ‘Ol Lady, so that is going to be just another fucked-up situation when we have to go through with it.
I have never been so glad that I don’t have to take the gavel yet.
My dad thinks that Smoke and I should be doing more to help resolve the issues that are happening with the club, but in my book, they are the ones that broke it, and they better clean it the fuck up before Smoke and I are forced to take over.
I love my club; it is the only family that I have ever known, but I’m not meant to be President. I live and breathe the Brotherhood, but I would rather be in my shop, building bikes and painting.
I’m pulled out of my thoughts when Smoke turns down the music that we had on in the background and says, “Will is coming back tonight. Wanna go with me to her house for dinner?” He is looking down at his phone so he can’t see the shock on my face.
I wasn’t expecting that. After we dropped Willow off, he started giving me shit about how I was acting around her.
He gave me more shit when he noticed I stopped letting the club girls hang on me and started just going to the shop or hanging out in my room when parties were going on.
After the first week, he stopped, and I thought it was because I would brush off all of his comments.
I’m not sure if he knows that I am serious about pursuing Willow.
I think he is trying to see how I act around her the next time we see each other, but I’m not holding back.
Even if he is my best friend and a Brother, I have never been one to hold back.
“Sure. When do you want to head over?” I ask, trying to keep the excitement out of my voice. I haven’t seen my future woman in two weeks; I need to see for myself that she is okay after her job and having to deal with that asshole that went with her.
“She said dinner would be ready at 7, so we have time to finish this today,” he says, jerking his head towards the bike. I look down at my phone, and it is only 3:30. Looks like I am going to have to wait this one out, even if it may kill me. I’ve never been known for my patience.
“Sounds good. Anyone else going to be there?” I ask him to try, once again, to pry more information from him. This “being subtle” thing is bullshit.
“Her dad and brothers will be there. But that’s it, from what I got,” he replies while he puts down his phone and focuses back on the bike in front of us.
“Family dinner. Nice. How are you feeling about all that?” I ask after a minute of silence. He hasn’t turned the music back on yet, so I am taking that as a sign that he is ready to talk.
“Better than I thought I would. It’s easier since we have been texting while she was gone.
I don’t mind her dad or brothers, but I think it is easier to get to know them one at a time.
But that’s impossible. It looks like they’re all close as fuck.
I don’t know how to handle a real family,” he rambles on.
It’s one of his nervous habits that I never minded; sometimes, it’s the only way for me to know what he is thinking, since he normally keeps his thoughts to himself until he’s ready.
“They seemed okay when we crashed the meeting,” I say, trying to encourage him to keep going.
“They are okay, from what I’ve seen. They all loved my mom, and they adore Willow.
It’s just hard to not feel like I missed out around them.
The loyalty that I saw when I had dinner with them is more than what’s in our club.
Part of me wonders what my life would have been like if I was raised with that, and the other part of me is glad that I didn’t, because then I would never have had the club…
” He trails off at the end and goes quiet.
“Nothin’ you can change about it, brother. You’re where you are meant to be, but you can have both,” I say before turning back on the music. I can tell that he’s about to be lost in thought for a while, so I let him.
I get back to work on the piece I am doing for the bike that we’re working on, and next thing I know, Smoke turns off the music.
“It’s time to head over. You done for the day?” he asks while cleaning up his tools.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I reply as I start to put up my paints for the day. I could go for a few more hours, just getting lost in my art, but I’m ready to go see my little Fox. After locking up the shop, we head out to our bikes and start the ride to Willow’s house.
Excitement builds as I follow Smoke, even though I know exactly where it is.
I have been driving by the turn off for her street while she was on her job.
I didn’t even notice that I was going that way the first time.
I was on my bike, trying to get away from the tension in the clubhouse and clear my head, and it’s like my body was on auto pilot.
Next thing I knew, I looked up and passed her street on the other side of town from the shop.
It slowly became part of my routine. I never went up to the house or even turned down the street, but it made me feel a little closer to her while I waited for her to get back.
As we pull up to her gate and wait for it to open, I see more vehicles than I thought I would for just a family dinner. There is an Escalade, a Jeep, and a truck, all parked next to the most badass Mustang that I have ever seen. The gate opens after a second, and we start to pull up to the house.
In the doorway stands a nervous-looking Willow.
She steps out onto the porch and closes the door behind her, wringing her hands.
As we get closer, she takes a big inhale and squares her shoulders, like she is ready to face a threat.
But in those beautiful, ice-blue eyes, I can see the worry that she is trying to hide.
The hair on the back of my neck stands as my nerves go on high alert from seeing that expression. I think Smoke feels the same, since he immediately kills the engine of his bike, flips down the stand, and jumps off the second that we are close enough to see her. I follow his lead.
When we make our way up the porch steps, Willow gives an awkward “hey,” and looks at Smoke. “So, I think I should give you a warning about what you guys are about to walk into.” The statement alone makes me even more nervous.
She bites her lip, and she looks like she is trying to work out how to say what she needs to. I wish she would stop, because now, all I can picture is her laid out on her bed as I thrust into her hard, over and over, as she bites on her bottom lip to keep from screaming my name while she comes.
I try to push those thoughts aside as I look her over to see if anything has changed in two weeks.
Today, she’s wearing shorts again, but those fucking workout ones that leave nothing to the imagination.
They are tight, and fit her like a second skin, making me want to grab her ass as she wraps her legs around my waist.
She has a tiny tank top on today. Before she left, she had on a baggy shirt, probably trying to be comfortable on her flight.
Now I can see her little waist and her tits that aren’t huge, but plenty of a handful for me.
I can also see her toned arms that I’m sure she works hard for to do all of the shit that being the Fox entails.
Her beautiful, curly, blonde hair is up today, and she has no makeup on, but I don’t think she was wearing it the first time that I met her either.
My beautiful girl doesn’t need any of that shit, anyway.
She even has crazy fuckin’ socks like the last time I saw her, that have coffee cups all over them.
She is so different from the women I usually have hanging on me. I don’t know where to start.
“Everything okay?” I ask just as Smoke opens his mouth to ask the same thing.
“Everything is fine, it’s more of an annoyance than anything.
I came home today and found a package in front of my door, so my dad and brothers are freaking out a little bit.
John and them are in there fuming right now and overreacting a bit,” she says, and I am even more confused.
I don’t think getting a package in the mail is something to get so worked up about.