FLAME
We pull up to the clubhouse gate, and I feel Willow tense behind me; I know she’s uneasy about tonight, even if she is trying to act like she’s not.
My girl has a pretty good poker face, but I’ve been slowly picking up her tells.
She can keep her face indifferent and relaxed, but her body holds all the tension.
As we wait for the gate to open, headlights shine behind us.
Willow wanted to drive her car, but I fought her on it.
I can’t bring my girl to a club party and not have her on the back of my bike, but she didn’t get it.
We had a twenty minute “discussion” about it.
She didn’t understand why she couldn’t take her own bike or car.
I let her know that it’s because she’s my girl; she should be riding on the back of my bike when she’s with me.
She then pointed out that she had ridden on the back of a lot of bikes in Blitz’s chapter.
Grey had to step in before I lost my shit and went to Blitz’s chapter and made sure that every Brother there knew who she belonged to.
For being the smartest woman that I have ever met and being around MCs for as long as she has, it blows my mind that she doesn’t understand.
I don’t want to think of her on the back of another man’s bike, especially when they are a Brother in my club.
The thought of her tight, little body pressed up against someone with her arms wrapped around them has me seeing red.
When the gate opens, we make our way down the long driveway.
The parking lot is full as I pull into my spot, and Grey finds one a few spaces away.
I still want to know how he got permission to drive her car.
When I asked if I could, she said that I still needed to take the behind-the-wheel assessment.
I would think she was kidding if I didn’t know how much she loved that car.
I turn off my bike, and she swings her leg over, gracefully dismounting like a fuckin’ queen.
Grey walks up beside her, and his hand automatically goes to her hip, pulling her to him.
For a guy that tried so hard to be a dick to her, he can’t seem to not touch her.
Then again, I’m the same way, but I have been obsessed with touching my girl from the start.
I grab her hand, lace our fingers, and start walking to the front door of the clubhouse.
It’s still early, so it will be tamer and family-friendly. If we’re lucky, we can get the awkwardness out of the way before everyone starts really drinking and the club girls show up.
I hope Willow can keep her cool. It’s the Brother’s responsibility to handle his ‘Ol Lady, and I know Willow doesn’t like to be reined in. She knows how it works from being around Blitz and Jaz for so long. That, as her man, if any shit goes down, I’ll take care of it.
We walk through the doors, and you could almost hear a pen drop.
This is not the first time that a member has shown up with new people to a party.
I don’t know if they’re quiet because Grey is a big, scary looking motherfucker, or because I’m holding Willow’s hand, and some other guy is holding her hip.
I have never brought a woman around before, and they have damn well never seen me hold a woman’s hand, but that shouldn’t result in this response.
Then it hits me that they are staring at Willow: Griz’s daughter that they knew nothing about, the daughter of the woman who they all helped run off like an angry mob.
None of them except for the Brothers should know that she is the Fox; they were told that in Church and not to share.
If they did, they betrayed the club, even if it was just their ‘Ol Ladies who they told.
I feel Willow tense up even more than she already was.
I squeeze her hand to try to reassure her, and Grey steps in closer.
I’ve learned that my girl hates to be the center of attention, so this is just making the idea of coming to the club worse for her.
I shoot them a hard look, hoping they will get the point.
Most of them do turn away and go back to what they were doing, but I notice Smoke walking up to us from the bar.
He gives me a look of death, but his eyes look away from me, and his pointed look turns into a rare smile as he opens his arms.
I’m confused for a second before Willow breaks away from mine and Grey’s holds and rushes over to give him a hug.
This, in turn, starts the staring again from everyone in the room.
It’s been no secret in the club that Smoke hates his family.
No one has ever seen him willingly embrace someone; they all know that he is not a touchy-feely guy.
They’re all convinced that he is a cold asshole who would rather be alone since I’m the only person that he will hang around willingly.
Willow and Smoke pull apart after a minute and start talking.
Willow is speaking fast and animated, and Smoke lets out a laugh.
Everyone stares at him like he’s lost his mind.
I’ll let them have a few minutes to reconnect, but I’m not sure if Grey will.
He is already staring down everyone that is looking at our girl.
I decide to look around, and I see a few of my Brothers checking out my girl. I haven’t officially given her my patch, but if any of these fuckers try to touch her, they will be missing fingers by the next morning.
I would just have to try to get to them before Willow does.
She tends to not like to be touched, and I have seen her break one of the construction worker’s hands at her shop when we went the other day.
He slapped her ass as we walked by, and before I could even turn around and process what was happening, my baby had him on the fucking ground, pinning him down by his arm.
I couldn’t hear what she said to him, but he nodded in agreement.
But then the dumbass mumbled, “Crazy bitch.” He just finished the second word when Willow broke three of his fingers before she let him out of her hold.
I was so turned on when she was done, I ended up throwing her over my shoulder while practically running to her car that was parked in the back of the building.
I made her come one time for each finger that she broke.
I keep my eyes moving around the crowd to see if I can find any more assholes checking out my woman.
At the bar, I see the people that I know will try to start some shit tonight.
Griz stands, leaning against it, watching Smoke and Willow joke and laugh in the middle of the room like they have been brother and sister their entire lives.
He has a distant look in his eyes like he’s lost in thought.
His crazy, curly hair that is the same as Willow’s is controlled tonight, like he put effort into it, and I know from living with Willow that it can be a bitch.
When she finally told me why she grows it out and why it’s so important to her, I started looking up videos for curls like hers.
I keep finding new shit that is supposed to help make it easier to manage and buy it for her.
She asked me where the new hair shit that she keeps finding in her bathroom is coming from, and I just shrugged and walked away.
She knows it’s me, but she’s weird about gifts, so if I never admit to it, she can’t really tell me to stop.
Even if she did, I wouldn’t. No one is going to tell me to stop spoiling my woman, not even her.
Next to Griz, Andrea is sitting on a bar stool, glaring at Smoke and Willow.
I haven’t spent a lot of time in the same room as her after Smoke had my dad read Lilly’s letter to us.
I knew she was a bitch before, but what she did is worse than I thought.
I wonder if Griz knew what she was like the entire time.
I lost the little respect that I had for him, and I need to try to keep him away from Willow.
I’m not sure what he wants from her, but I will not let him fuck her around like he did her mom.
I see the door to the main room open, and watch as Maggie walks through it and stops next to her mother. She looks around, wondering why everyone is quiet, and when she follows her mother’s gaze, she sees the brother that hates her laughing and smiling down at Willow.
She glares at them just like her mother.
She looks at Griz’s face and sees the longing that is now clear in his eyes, and her frown deepens.
She has always wanted to be the center of attention in everything from her family, the Brothers, and even the women in the club.
She always wanted people to flock around her.
She wanted me so that she would be the head bitch around here, but I would never go there, especially now.
After a few minutes, Grey loses his patience and stomps over to Willow, probably sick of how the men and women are sizing her up.
I follow him, knowing that Smoke is going to have questions.
I already laid my intentions with his sister out for him before he left for the expo.
He was not happy that I was going to claim the sister that he just found.
He said that if I hurt her, even if he couldn’t kill me because I am a Brother, he would post it in the “Quad” groupchat, which he was just added to, and let whatever happens after, happen.
Not sure what he was talking about, but he acted like I should take the threat seriously.
Grey and I reach Willow at the same time.
He stands behind her, grabbing her around the hips and pulling her against his front, like he’s trying to shield her from the stares that are on her.
I just take her hand and know by doing so, I am laying enough claim on her in front of everyone.
Smoke’s eyes look at Grey’s arm holding her to him, and my hand that is intertwined with Willow’s, and quickly does a double-take.
He looks at me with confusion showing all over his face.
He’s been around poly relationships as much as I have when we have visited different clubs over the years. I make eye contact and give him a hard nod, and the confusion on his face turns to shock after answering his silent question.
He looks at Grey and gives him a death glare as he says, “Will, I feel like you have been leaving some stuff out of the groupchat. I’m guessing that the guys don’t know what is going on yet, either?”
“Not yet. I was going to do a test run and see how bad you freaked out before I brought the idiots in the loop,” she replies nervously.
“Why me?” Smoke says as he looks down at Willow, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, I already have a feeling that you wouldn’t try to kill at least one of them, and do you know how hard it is to try to calm three idiots down when they are riled up? This way, I only have to worry about one idiot,” Willow replies, giving Smoke a smile, which he returns.
“I’m an idiot now?” he asks in a surprised voice. Grey and I look at each other with the same questioning look.
“I feel like you have earned idiot status. You were kind of thrown into the shit storm, but you figured it out. You are now the proud owner of the title “Idiot Number Four,” but if you try to gang up on me with them, you will be subject to the same retribution, and I will not help to stitch you up,” Willow says in a serious voice.
“I think I can work with that. They seem like they haven’t been hurt too bad,” Smoke says with a chuckle.
“You haven’t been around long enough for them to go through the mental trauma of having to grow up with me; it usually all comes up during family meals at major holidays,” she says while nodding and using that voice that I can never really tell is being serious or a smart ass.
But I take it as the latter when Smoke starts laughing, pulls Willow out of Grey’s arms, and hugs her in his own.
I look back to Grey, who looks like he’s holding himself back from beating the shit out of the guy that took his woman out of his arms. He says nothing, though, knowing that he is her family, and we both know how protective our girl is over her family.
His eyes look away from them and look over Smoke’s shoulder, narrowing into a look of disgust.
I follow his gaze to see what it is that’s pissing him off. Griz and Andrea start walking straight to our little group in the middle of the room, with Maggie trailing behind them. All I can say before they reach us is, “Fuck.”