She clutches her hand to her chest. “I’m hurt. I’m sure this whole thing was a ploy just to see me. Well, if you’re not interested, then I’m just gonna go get a drink. Nice seeing you, Hurricane!” Savanah spins, walking off.
“Never said I wasn’t interested! Savanah! Sav! Lady balls,” he calls out, pulling Nessie from his lap, standing, then chases after her like a lost puppy.
I pat my lap for Jovie to sit. Razor gestures for Nessie to take her place on his lap instead. NOLA is a young club at heart with club girls still their scene. Me, I’m a one-woman man, always have been. Most of Houston Defiance is heading down the same path as me these days.
Torque, from Chicago, makes his way over, taking the seat Hurricane just vacated. I raise my chin at him. “Pres.”
“You’ve come a long way, Kevlar. I even noticed your cop brother is here. I can’t wait to hear that story.”
“That’s a long, fucking epic tale, which needs a hell of a lot of beer. Right now, I want to know about you and Foxy. How’re things?”
Utter contentment lights his face. “She’s fuckin’ everything, brother. You know what it’s like.”
He’s talking about Em, but I’m fortunate to understand what it’s like to find it twice in my life. He’s been there, too. His wife died, and he was able to move on with Foxy. I’d like to talk to him about that.
“Sunshine, would you go check on the kids, make sure they’re asleep for me?”
Jovie narrows her eyes. “Sure.” She leans in, pressing her lips to mine, and then she takes off with a spring in her step.
Torque taps Nessie on the leg. “Be a peach and grab me another beer, will you? Take your time, though.” She nods her head in understanding, gets up from Razor’s lap, then walks off leaving the guys to talk.
“Right. So… things with Jovie serious?” Torque asks.
I sit forward, letting out a heavy exhale. “I mean, yeah. I want them to be. It’s just…” I trail off.
“Hard to let go completely of your first love. Trust me, I know. But brother, if she is worth it, and if your kids get along with her, if you feel that connection enough even to think she’s worth takin’ the risk for, then fuckin’ take it. I was so fuckin’ scared when it came to Foxy that I nearly lost her. Don’t let it happen to you. You want her, fuckin’ take her! It could end up bein’ the best thing you ever do.”
“Plus, she’s hot as fuck, brother,” Bayou quips.
“And sassy as hell,” Razor adds.
“Bet she’s a firecracker in the sack.” Bayou purses his lips.
“Fucker!” I throw my empty bottle at him. “Right, I know what I need to do.”
Torque dips his chin at me. “Glad to help.”
“Thanks for coming all the way down here, man. Chicago’s so fucking far, having you guys coming in to help us out means so damn much.”
Torque waves his hand through the air dismissively. “Honestly, we hopped on a plane. The ride’s too much. You guys understand that from when you came to get Prinie and Koda. We might be across the other side of the country, but we’re all family. If you’re in trouble, we’re always gonna fight for you.”
A loud bang drums from across the way, I turn as Lift throws his arms up in celebration while Chains mopes about over an oil barrel. I’m pretty sure they just had an arm wrestle. It’s good to see Chains interacting with the brothers from his old chapter. Chills walks over with her son Kobe in her arms, and the rest of the Chicago guys go crazy over him. Warmth floods over me while they smother him in affection. It’s been ages since they’ve seen him, Kobe was so much younger when they left Chicago.
“It must be good seeing your guys again?” I ask Torque.
“The club has a hole with Chains and Luc gone. With Chills leavin’, I was worried about not having a club doctor, but with Foxy’s trainin’ and Medic takin’ over, we’ve managed. They’re both doin’ really well… Ruby left a gap, though. We do miss her organizin’ everythin’.”
I tilt my head over to Nickel and Siren. “You know Luc patched in, claimed Ruby. They’re Nickel and Siren now. Getting hitched and shit.”
“Yeah, Chains called through and told us. Nickel has come so fuckin’ far!”
Hurricane rushes back over, shaking his head. “Savanah told me I was up myself, and she was on a penis pause. What the fuck is a penis pause? Do you believe that shit? Bitch turned me down. Me?” He slumps on the seat next to me with a frown on his face.
“Probably because you’re a fucking manwhore, pres,” Bayou quips, still flicking the beer cap with his thumb.
“Bitch couldn’t handle me, anyway.”
Torque chuckles. “You seriously need to find a good woman. When you do, you’ll calm your ass, Hurricane.”
The NOLA president curls up his lip, it looks like in complete disgust. “I don’t reckon I’ll ever settle down. It’s just not on the cards for me.”
“Wasn’t for me either after Em,” I state.
“Or me after Zoey, but when that one woman strikes a chord with you enters your life…”
“There’s no going back,” Zero finishes Torque’s sentence as he steps up.
“Shit! Not you, too?” Hurricane grumbles.
Zero shrugs. “Gotta say, brother, having an Old Lady is pretty fucking epic, especially one who is one hundred percent on board with the club.”
“Fuck, yeah,” Torque adds.
All this conversation is doing is reinforcing what I already know—Jovie is it for me.
I don’t want anyone else but her.
“Guys, I gotta go.” I stand, all the brothers from multiple chapters stare at me. “I’m gonna go claim what’s mine.”
A round of cheering erupts, bottle caps are hurtled at me as I rush off inside. I take the stairs three at a time, my pulse rapid-firing. I’ve done this once before. It was different then. My entire relationship was different. But with Jovie, she’s the glue holding our family together. She is the only thing making my heart beat insatiably. Without her, I’d be walking through life on autopilot.
She brought me back.
She’s made me breathe again.
She is everything I could ever want.
I’m not sure what it was that was holding me back, but talking with Torque, even hearing Zero confirm it for me, was all I needed to let me know I’m absolutely doing the right thing.
Not only for me but for Sadie and Lucas.
We’re a family.
A family that doesn’t work without her now.
Opening the door to our bedroom, the lights are dim. Soft breathing echoes from the bed as I quietly enter. Jovie is under the covers cuddled into Lucas, who’s snuggled into Sadie. The three loves of my life right here, safe and sound.
I stand back, my heart is so fucking full.
I shrug out of my cut, placing it in the closet. My arm aches, the sutures pulling with each movement from where Chills worked her magic earlier in the evening. Pulling off my shirt, I run my hand over the long bandage covering my gash from the knife wound. That fucker cut a lengthy incision, not to mention the bandage on my arm from the bullet graze too. I’m lucky they weren’t too deep, just enough to be fucking annoying.