Chapter 16 #2
"Sure. Why not?" Lockout replied, with a grin. "But not like that, make sure they're straight."
Butcher sighed, then sat down on the floor and dragged the boxes over.
Toxic, Mel, and Dash joined him. Hush moved over and kissed his wife on top of her head before he took his now crying son from Jo.
The baby settled down in his father's arms and I watched as the stern man's features softened as he stared down at his son.
I wanted that. Not Hush, specifically. But a man who was strong and proud, but went completely soft for his child. For my child. Sighing, I focused back on Caitlyn and the ornaments once more.
"What's wrong, Duchess?"
I jumped, not realizing that Idaho had come to sit next to me while I stared over at Hush. "You move quietly," I told him.
"Force of habit." He shrugged. He reached out, dug around in the box, then held up an ornament of a horse for Caitlyn.
She gasped and took it from him, giving him a shy smile.
"She likes horses," he commented when he found me watching him.
"She's a girl," I replied with a smile. "We all like horses."
"Good to know. What was with the sigh?"
"Oh, nothing," I said, looking away from him.
"Homesick?"
I stared at him in disbelief. "Sometimes I think you're a mind reader."
He chuckled and shook his head. "Just good at reading body language and expressions. No magic here." He pointed to his brother. "That's the real magician. Building all this, keeping them safe. Taking all the broken bikers from misfit island and turning them into a family."
I studied Lockout as he spoke with Priest. His features were relaxed as he laughed with his friend.
There was still a lot I needed to learn about this group of men, but seeing the level of respect they all gave to Lockout impressed me.
It took a strong man to command all this.
I was an expert on the subject since I'd watched my father do the same since I was young.
Caitlyn stood up and walked away to go show her mom the ornament she'd found, so Idaho moved closer to me and lowered his voice. "Tell me what's going on," he insisted.
I stiffened, debating on whether I should move away.
The entire keeping my distance premise depended on there actually being space between us.
And not getting to know one another better.
But the low buzz of conversation around the room as everyone spoke with each other made me a little lonely, so I gave in.
"I just really like everyone," I admitted.
"The guys are really good with the kids. Especially those two."
We both looked over to where Toxic and Butcher were getting some of the kids involved with the lights. "Doesn't seem like they would be, huh?"
“Let go you mangy flea bag,” Toxic said, tugging on the mess of lights he was holding. Jecht had grabbed a hold of a dangling end and was pulling on it. “Seek! A little help here?”
“Jecht,” she said, laughing.
The dog dropped the lights. His tongue was lolling out as he gave Toxic a doggy grin, then he trotted back over and sat next to Seek. It was almost like he'd been intentionally antagonizing Toxic and was now laughing about it.
I shook my head with a smile. It slowly slipped off my face as I watched Gabby and Static walk back into the room. She was holding something in her hands and Static had an evil smile on his face. "You lost, Uncle Toxic. Time to pay up."
"What's she doing?" I asked, horror painting my tone.
Idaho chuckled. "They had a bet going on where if the kids could take them to the ground, they get to shave the guys' heads."
"They're not really going to let them, though... Are they?"
Toxic took the electric clippers from Gabby and grabbed the guard attachment and put it on. "At least you had her grab this," he told Static. "Appreciate it, we don't need to be buzzed down to our scalps." Static chuckled, and Toxic handed the clippers back to the girl. "Go for it. You earned it."
She let out a high-pitched giggle and flipped the switch. The machine buzzed to life.
"They're brave," I said with a laugh.
"Toxic keeps his hair shorter most of the time, and Butcher's due for a damn haircut. He's starting to look like Riptide."
Butcher's hair wasn't actually as long as Riptide's, but it was longer than most of the guys' hair.
"Looks like a fucking hippy," Ricochet added in. He was now sitting on the other side of Jordan, next to me.
Gabby handed the clippers to Taylor so her sister could work on Butcher's hair. I cringed when I saw Toxic's, which still had rows of longer hair sticking up where Gabby had missed. Taylor laughed a little manically while she cut Butcher's hair.
I couldn't help but laugh along with everyone else. This place was crazy, but I loved it.
Once the girls were done, the men dutifully posed for pictures with them, then took the clippers themselves and finished cutting the rest of their hair.
I studied the tattoo on Butcher's head that hadn't been visible before.
With his hair short, I could see that it was a bird flying through a ring of barbed wire.
It made him look even more dangerous than normal. A slow smile spread over my face.
"What?"
Looking over at Idaho, I shrugged. "If my father knew I was here right now, he'd shit a brick."
Idaho barked out a laugh. "Where the hell did you learn that expression?"
I didn't want to throw the girls under the bus, so I replied nonchalantly, "We watch a lot of your movies back home."
"Listen up," Lockout called out and everyone quieted down.
"I know this has been a hectic year, but I want you to know that we're all damn glad to have each of you with us.
" His gaze swept the room and he looked relaxed and happy.
His eyes settled on Idaho for a minute, and something flashed there that I couldn't place.
I turned my head to study Idaho, but his expression wasn't giving away anything about how he was feeling.
"I know a lot of you are missing your own homes, but I'm just asking for you to hang on a little longer. We'll get...everything taken care of and when it's safe you can go home."
"This is home," Seek called out with a smile. "You might just be stuck with us permanently after this."
Everyone chuckled at that.
Lockout grinned at her and raised the beer bottle he was holding, saluting her.
"I know it's going to be a little crazy over the next few days, but I'd like everyone to come out to the apartments tomorrow and spend the morning with the women and children there.
We'll be making breakfast for them and handing out some presents we got everyone. "
"That's so nice of you all," Sloane said, the threat of tears making her voice husky. "When are we going over?"
"Nine," Lockout answered. "Could you text them all and let them know?"
"They'll be so excited," she said, with a nod. She already had her phone in her hand.
"The following night, on Christmas Eve, we'll be having dinner together as a family," Lockout continued. "I know I already mentioned it to most of you, but some of you are new here," his eyes met mine and he smiled. "Dinner's on me, so you don't have to bring anything unless you want to."
"When did you learn how to cook?" Hush joked.
Lockout held up his hand, his middle finger on display as an answer to Hush's question. "Otherwise, Christmas day is for your individual families. A bunch of us will be hanging out down here if you want to join us. You won't hurt our feelings if you don't."
"Pretty sure most of us don't have feelings," Smokehouse added.
The ribbing continued on after Lockout's speech ended.
Eventually, the guys went outside while the rest of us began decorating the tree.
Seek came to stand next to me and she gave me an apologetic look.
"Sorry, but I sort of have to do this." I didn't get a chance to ask what she meant before she was hugging me.
I froze for a moment, then wrapped my arms around her. She was around my age, but she reminded me of my oldest sister. I squeezed her tight, grateful to be accepted into this family, even if it was temporarily.