The corners of his mouth curl up and he nods slowly.
“And Pants.” I turn my gaze on his expectant face. “The happy face with a bullet hole in the forehead is most fitting for the man who can make people shit their pants with just a look.”
“Hell, yeah, Shelby!”
“Wait a minute,” Ice says. “I thought you got that name because you’re lactose intolerant?”
That’s it. The room explodes with laughter. The brothers unleash their verbal abuse on Pants.
Rooster stands, his body brushing against mine. “Let me put this on you,” he says in his low, raspy voice.
He holds it out and I turn around, slipping my arms through the holes.
“After Shelby’s analysis, I feel like I should upgrade my patch,” Z says.
“Nah,” I shake my head, “Z is perfect for the last man anyone should ever cross. I’m sure that fits you well.”
“And here I always thought you just weren’t that creative,” Rock says to Z.
“Here you go.” Rooster adjusts the buckles at the side of the vest, then turns me to adjust the other side. “Step back.”
I take a few steps away and rest my hands on my hips. “Well?”
“Shelby’s about to have her world rocked!” Trinity shouts.
“A word of caution.” Charlotte sits up, all prim and proper, shoulders back, clasped hands resting in her lap, demure smile curving her dark red lips. “Nothing gets them…more, ahem… aroused than seeing their woman wearing their property patch.”
Hope choke-sputters her drink, slapping at her chest. Rock rubs and pats her back while whispering in her ear.
“You all right, mama bear?” Trinity asks.
“I’m fine,” Hope gasps.
“Sorry,” Charlotte says. “We all know it’s true, though.”
Teller places a possessive hand on her knee and leans in to whisper something against her ear that turns her cheeks bright pink.
“Haven’t you two mentally scarred me enough?” Heidi elbows Charlotte.
“Oh, please.” Charlotte laughs.
“Sorry, Heidi. I have to call bullshit,” Lilly says, leaning forward to catch Teller’s eye. “We all know how much Murphy thoroughly enjoys torturing your brother.”
“True story,” Teller agrees giving Lilly a fist bump.
Charlotte groans. “He almost blacked out over the pussy patch.”
Now it’s my turn to snicker, especially when Teller turns his head to the side and pretends to retch. “Rooster may or may not have encouraged Murphy to earn the patch just for that reason.”
“Hey,” Rooster objects.
“Trust me,” Heidi says, resting her hand over Murphy’s. “He didn’t need any encouragement.”
“Making it worse, little sister,” Teller groans.
Murphy sits there grinning and laughing, not saying a word to defend himself.
Trinity glances at Ice. “They sent Wrath a lion patch. I don’t even want to ask why.”
Hope giggles uncontrollably. “Of course they had to make up a special patch for Wrath.”
“Why’s that, Cinderella?”
“No reason!” she chirps.
Swan pops out of the hallway that leads to the dining room. “Dinner’s ready, what’s everyone doing down here?”
“Sorry, sorry!” Trinity jumps up. “We’re coming.”
“They were intruding on a private moment,” Rooster says.
Z slaps Rooster’s back. “There are no private moments here. You know that.”
“Sounds right,” I mutter.
Hope gives me a quick hug as she passes us. “Congratulations, Shelby.”
“Welcome to the sisterhood,” Lilly says, squeezing my arm.
“Welcome to our happy little cult, is more like it,” Charlotte adds, which earns her an ass-groping from Teller.
Heidi squeezes her hands together. “I’m so happy for you guys!” She stops in front of me. “Murphy said I could give you this too.” She hands me a tiny, embroidered patch of a hammer.
“Ah! This is so cute!” I pluck it from her fingers and hold it up.
“Where’s mine?” Trinity teases, bumping Heidi with her hip.
“Oh, I have one for everybody.” She links arms with Trinity and they head down the hallway with everyone else.
Rooster tucks the patch in one of my pockets. “I’ll add it for you later.” He pats one of his own pockets. “I need to sew my cat patch on too.”
We follow everyone to the dining room. When we enter, Trinity runs over and grabs my hand, lifting it high in the air. “Everyone, welcome our newest patched ol’ lady!”
The guys cheer loud enough to rival the largest concert audiences I’ve ever performed in front of. I duck my head and laugh.
“Thank you, guys.”
The way Rooster accepts handshakes and congratulations from his brothers, it almost feels like a wedding reception.
Now I fully understand why this was so important.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Shelby
As we’re choosing our seats in the dining room, Sparky runs up to us. “Shelby, you’re back!”
His bleary-eyed smile is so sweet, I don’t have the heart to remind him he literally just saw me fifteen minutes ago in the other room.
He wraps his inked arms around Rooster. “So glad you’re home, brother. And you brought such sweet, sweet sunshine into our space.”
“Uh, yeah.” Rooster returns the hug, patting Sparky’s back. “You know we saw you like ten minutes ago, right?”
Sparky pulls away, frowning. “Was that you guys?”
“You wanted to take credit for Shelby and me getting together?” Rooster explains patiently. He rests his hand on my shoulder. “Any of that ringing a bell for ya?”
He scratches his head. “Aw, shit. I thought that was a premonition.” He frowns. “Was that today?”
“Yup.” Rooster gestures toward my new vest. “I patched my girl too.”
“Aww, so much congrats, bro.”
“Thanks.” Rooster’s gaze lands on Rock. “You sure he should ride tomorrow?”
“Or ever?” Jigsaw adds.
“No, no, no. I’m staying home,” Sparky announces with a frantic wave of his arms. “The plants are in a delicate place and cannot be left unattended. They need love and guidance at this tender moment.”
“Okay, simmer down,” Rock says, which seems to calm Sparky.
“Rooster!” Ravage shouts, gesturing wildly. “Come settle something for us.”
Rooster eyes him carefully. “Settle what?”
Sparky bounces over to Stash and Ravage. “We were having ourselves a little debate.”
“This should be good,” Rooster mutters.
Stash points the smoldering end of a blunt at me. “You can answer too, Shelby.”
“Uh, okay. What’s the topic?”
Sparky squeezes his eyes shut and burbles, “What color does a Smurf turn if you choke it?”
It takes me a second to realize they’re serious. “I’ll have to ponder that one.” I cock my head. “Hey, do you think if a cannibal eats a clown, it tastes funny?”