“Yeah, haven’t called church yet, though. I was gonna go over it all when we were altogether, but I’ll tell you we traced some shit back to Canada. We don’t have many allies up there, so I called Boss and she’s speaking to Cowboy to see if he ever heard the name around.” Cowboy is Boss’ ol’ man, and he used to be the Prez of Calgary, but they’re in the process of moving their second clubhouse to Boston.
“Hopefully, she calls you back with some sort of answer.”
“Yeah, I’m hopeful she will, but I don’t have a good feelin’. Whoever this is . . . I think they wanted people to think the General was in charge. You know what I mean?”
I nod, understanding exactly what he’s sayin’. “It’s smart to do what they did.”
“I was thinkin’ the same thing,” Zane admits, lookin’ at me for a second before Inc walks in the front door of the clubhouse. He looks right at Zane and his eyes don’t waver. “I gotta go get my dick sucked, but I’ll keep you in the loop. Just don’t say shit to anyone yet.”
“Alright,” I reply back as I rise, heading toward the kitchen.
Shiloh’s in there and Sydney’s helping her clean, and as they’re laughing, smiling with one another, I come to realize these two must have a pretty special bond. Sydney’s mom was really close with Shiloh, so I bet she’s got some good stories for this young lady. A young lady who’ll be graduating from high school in no time.
Fuck, it feels so weird. Dex and Sydney have grown up in the blink of an eye. It’s what it feels like, at least, and everyone else is havin’ kids. I remember when Noelle was a newborn, and while I might not have been in the club, I saw her cartin’ that baby around town. Now she’s what, nine or ten years old?
Time flies by. As a kid, I remember bein’ in school it felt like a million years, but it goes so quick. “I need to go. I told Jordyn and Nova I’d help them with their statistics homework tonight. I’ll see you around, though, and it was nice chatting with you.” Sydney tells Shiloh as she turns around and sees me. “Oh, hey Hammer. How’s your dad?”
“He’s hangin’ in there. Thanks for askin’, sweetheart.”
Sydney shoots me a sweet smile before she passes me and I clear my throat. My conversation with Zane brought up a good point and it’s not like I can just not bring it up. I’ll be leaving soon, and I need to talk to her about it. I need to see where we’re headed and somehow convince her to come with me if she doesn’t want to go.
I go to the fridge and pull out a beer for me and a Smirnoff screwdriver for Shiloh. She glances down at what I have in my hand and her tight-lipped expression turns into a full-on grin. “I’m shocked you know what I like.”
“I know exactly what you like,” I tease her, motioning with my head for her to follow me. She comes up beside me and I open the bottles for us, handing her fruity concoction over to her.
We head out onto the back porch just as the sun starts to set. This view, shit, it’s what I’m gonna miss.
“What’re you thinking?” Shiloh asks me in a soft voice.
I glance at her for a second before looking out onto the property. “Just how much I’m gonna miss this once I get to Los Angeles.” I leave it at that, wonderin’ if she’s gonna say anything to me about it. If she’ll ask me when I’m leaving if she’ll ask when we’re going, anythin’.
“It’ll be a lot different. The Satan’s Raiders club is in the heart of the city, right?”
“Yeah, they are,” I reply, keepin’ my eyes focused on the mixture of purple, red, orange, and pink on the horizon.
“I think . . . I think our lives are going to be a lot different when we leave,” Shiloh stutters at first and it takes me a few moments to process what she’s said. I simply look at her and realize I didn’t imagine what she said.
She fully intends on coming to Los Angeles with me, and right about now, I don’t think I could be happier.
Chapter Seventeen
Doubts kill more dreams than failure ever will
~ Suzy Kassem
Shiloh
Hammer’s staring at me like he’s trying to figure out if I was serious or not as if he can’t believe I’d actually go with him.
He nods his head once and smiles brightly, “Yeah, our lives are gonna change quite a bit.” The way he’s looking at me right now is so beautiful. It’s like his eyes are an extension of his smile, the happiness of what I said brought him.
I take a sip of my screwdriver, allowing the tangy and tart mixture to float over my tongue. God, these are so good. They’re the reason I can down an entire six-pack and get drunk off my ass.
Hammer takes my free hand and squeezes it. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me for anything. I wasn’t going to let you go alone. Haven’t we established we’re in this for the long haul?” Hammer’s eyes widen at my admission because I know I haven’t actually vocalized my feelings this strongly.
His smile grows even more and he takes a step closer to me, “Shiloh, you’re a one-of-a-kind type of woman.”
“Thank you?” I think he’s complimenting me, but I’ve never had anything like this said to me before.
He cackles and grabs me by the back of the neck, pulling me to him. It’s so sudden I drop my bottle and it crashes on the wood below us. He smirks like the devil as his lips crash down onto mine, kissing me like it’s the last time we’ll ever touch. I meet his intensity with my own and breathe him in, ready for wherever this is going.
Our kiss is wet and sloppy. His lips run over mine, saliva coating my lips. His tongue pushes into my mouth and collides with mine. I moan into his touch and from the corner of my eye, I see him placing his drink down on the railing. He brings his hand up to my throat and grabs it, which only eggs me on.
My breath gets caught in my throat and my hands grow sweaty, though this is a different type of nervousness than when I met his parents. I’m excited but nervous as to what he’s going to do. While Hammer and I have known each other for years, this physical relationship is so new between us.
We stand here with hands wrapped up in each other for minutes, kissing like two love-struck teenagers unable to stop. I don’t know what comes over me, but I tear my lips away from his and catch my breath. He licks his lips and smirks in a sinister manner, making me realize he’s thinking about the things he’ll do to my body. I gnaw on my bottom lip and he loses all control, takes me by the neck and backs me up into the railing. His eyes search mine, almost like he thinks I’m going to say no, but I won’t. I trust him more than I have with anyone else.
“Why aren’t you afraid of me, Shiloh?” His question catches me off guard. Given what he’s learned about me recently, I’m sure he’s worried he’ll scare me off.
Staring deep into his eyes, I’m as honest as I can be. “Because I don’t have anything to fear,” I wrap my arms around his neck and stand up, trying to get to his lips.
He places his forehead against mine and breathes heavily. “You’re too perfect, too fuckin’ perfect.”