I turn, catching his lips for a quick kiss. “What if I wanted to slide my tongue over your cock first? Take as much of you as I can in my mouth?”
“Jesus.” He squeezes his eyes shut for a second. “No. Can’t risk anyone catching you on your knees in the woods.”
Just the way he tells me no turns me into mush but I still love teasing him. “Doggy against a tree is better?”
His rough laughter heats me up even more. I lean in for a longer kiss.
Behind us a twig snaps.
We both turn.
Acorn steps off the trail.
Something about his posture raises a red flag. I pull away from Rooster. He must sense danger too. He stands and offers me his hand, pulling me off the ground and away from the ledge.
“What’s up, Acorn?” Rooster says in an even tone.
“Need to talk to you.” His dark gaze shifts to me and back to Rooster. “That wasn’t cool how you disrespected my wife back there.”
Hell’s bells, is he for real?
I open my mouth but Rooster squeezes my hand.
“Come again?” Rooster asks.
“That shit between you and my wife is way in the past.”
“Never said it wasn’t,” Rooster answers. “If you remember, I’m not the one who brought it up. Maybe you should have this talk with your father-in-law.”
“That bugs you, huh?” Acorn sneers. “He accepted me with Heather but not you.”
Rooster smirks. “Not at all.” He tugs on my hand as if to indicate he’s much happier with me. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m more than content.”
Acorn slides his gaze over me and smirks, as if he finds me lacking.
Fuck this guy. I tug on Rooster’s hand. “Let’s go.”
“You still disrespected her,” Acorn insists.
This guy can’t be for real. “Are you joking?” I blurt out.
Acorn lunges forward. Rooster pushes me to the side about two seconds before Acorn’s fist smashes into the side of Rooster’s face.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?” I shout.
Rooster rubs his jaw. An evil sort of laugh I’ve never heard from him slips out. He eyes Acorn with contempt.
“All right. You wanna go there? Let’s go.” Rooster shrugs off his cut and hands it to me. “Hold this.”
“Rooster, don’t—”
But he’s not listening to me. Nope. He’s solely focused on his opponent now.
“Remember,” Rooster warns, raising his fists, “you asked for this.”
“Bring it, asshole,” Acorn says with a lot less confidence. He turns, briefly scanning the area behind him, like he’s searching for an escape route or maybe backup.
The lapse in attention is all Rooster needs. He flies at Acorn, delivering a punishing but controlled barrage of punches to his face. The second or maybe the fourth punch knocks Acorn to the ground.
“We done with this now?” Rooster asks, standing over him.
A rustling of leaves and the snap of twigs sound from the path. Lord, I hope it’s not a park ranger coming to arrest us. Or worse, Acorn’s buddies here to back him up.
Jigsaw pops out and I breathe a sigh of relief. “The fuck’s going on?” he asks.
“He went after Rooster for no damn reason.” I take a breath to calm my shrill voice.
Acorn crab-crawls in the dirt, eying Rooster again.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Jigsaw snarls, stepping up to Rooster’s side.
“What the fuck?” Pony emerges from a different trail. His quick, intelligent eyes scan the scene. He walks up behind Acorn and bends down to pinch the back of Acorn’s neck and drag him to his feet. Blood drips from Acorn’s split lip and his right eye is already swelling.
Pony’s angry gaze shifts between Rooster and Acorn. “What happened?” he demands.
Rooster and Acorn continue glaring at each other. Jiggy remains stoic as well.
Pony’s face turns crimson. “Someone better start talking.”
“He sucker-punched Rooster for no dang reason!” I yell since it doesn’t seem Rooster intends to defend himself here.
Rooster slides his gaze my way and shakes his head.
No snitching his expression seems to say. Well, screw that. Telling the president that one of his boys is a jerk ain’t the same as snitching. But I shut my yap because this is a matter between brothers.
“Explain fast, Acorn.” Pony slaps his road captain on the back of the head. “Did you disrespect a visiting brother? A VP no less?”
“He insulted Heather,” Acorn mumbles.
“When?”
“Back there.”
Pony stares at Acorn and then into the woods. “That shit with Hopper and the girls? You came after Rooster for that? He didn’t even open his mouth.”
That’s what I’m sayin’.
“Get the fuck out of here.” Pony shoves him toward the woods. “This ends right the fuck now or I’m gonna end you. We clear?”
Acorn works his bruised jaw from side to side a few seconds too long for my taste. But he finally holds out his hand to Rooster. “Apologies, brother.”
Rooster accepts the handshake but his jaw’s tight as he answers with a simple, unconvincing, “Yeah.”
“You witness what went down?” Pony asks Jigsaw.
“No, Acorn was already on the ground when I got here.” Jigsaw nods at me. “But Shelby saw and she’s no liar.”
Pony nods but doesn’t question me. “I’m sorry, Rooster. That shouldn’t have happened. I’m not sure what’s gotten into him.” He gives me a sly smirk. “Obviously, you’ve moved on to greener pastures.”
Eww.
“Maybe he’s jealous,” Pony adds.
Rooster grunts in response, moving closer to take his cut from my hands. He slips it on, adjusts the collar and cracks his neck.
“We good?” Pony asks. A tremor of concern seems to tick at his jaw as he waits for Rooster’s answer. Like maybe he’s worried Rooster’s gonna report back to someone that Pony can’t control his crew.
“Yeah, as long as he doesn’t come after me again, we’re fine. I don’t need that bullshit. I’m just here to visit.” He curls his arm around me. “I wanted my girl to get to know my home club. Wasn’t expecting to get into a boxing match over ancient history.”
Dang, Rooster, rub it in.
Pony drops his head. “What can I do, brother?”
“Nothing, Prez. I’m good as long as he behaves.”
“I’m not,” Jigsaw says. “He disrespected my brother in front of his ol’ lady. That ain’t okay.”
Rooster glares at Jiggy.
“No, he’s right, Rooster,” Pony says.
“Let it go,” Rooster insists. “We have to get back on the road early tomorrow. I just want to relax and catch up with the club for the rest of our visit. This doesn’t need to go further.”
“All right,” Pony agrees.
Relax at the club? How exactly does Rooster think we’re going to do that when one of his brothers is spoiling for a fight?
Chapter Twenty-Four