But a few days after my crazy night, she popped her head into my room while I was getting dressed and saw the hickey that the man had left just above my left breast.
I smiled remembering her reaction. She flew into the room, slammed the door behind her, rushed over to me and whispered, “You’ve been holding out on me, girl, and now I need every salacious detail about that man’s naked body. Every. Single. One.”
“Is it because you feel guilty?” Neva asked me softly. “Because of Wyatt? Honey, yeah, he was my brother and I loved him, but you know how I feel about the situation. He should have taken a different duty call years ago or even gotten out all together, but he stuck you with his children for five years instead. I miss him and I know you do too, and it seems like it’s only been a short time since he died, but he was gone on deployment for almost a year before that.”
“I know,” I told her. “And I don’t feel guilty because of that. I feel guilty because I have never in my life had a one night stand before and I don’t know how to react. I guess somewhere deep down inside I knew I wouldn’t hear from him, but I kind of hoped I would. I knew he was kind of an ass going into it. The fact that he hasn’t walked across the street to even just say hello is what is giving me the guilt. It was wild and fun and completely out of character for me, but I feel bad I let it go that far.”
“I haven’t seen you walking over and knocking on his door for a hello either, sis.”
“You’re on my side, remember?”
“I am. But, I’m just saying if you want to play with the big dogs you need to keep an equal playing field. You deal with that in your profession daily. Who’s to say he hasn’t wondered why you didn’t stop by. Mr. Tall and Tattooed might be on his couch right now pining away for you.”
“I can’t believe I don’t even know his name,” I whispered. “There is so much wrong with this whole situation.”
“It was fun, you used protection, and now you have a great memory to look back on,” Neva pointed out. “Now, tell me what he looks like naked. Is it beautiful? Does it sway to the right or the left when it’s limp?”
“What the hell does that matter?” I snorted out with a laugh.
“Studies show that the direction a man’s penis hangs can reveal a lot about how he thinks,” Neva told me as we stepped out into the garage to grab more boxes to unpack. “Did you know that 75% of men have theirs hanging to the left?”
“I did not know that, but thank you so much for the information,” we heard from behind us and spun around to see my father standing in the open doorway that led from the house into the garage. “I think it’s a little creepy that you’re keeping up with those statistics, Geneva Monroe.”
“Dad!” I put my hand on my chest as I yelled at him. “You can’t just scare me like that!”
“Well, then don’t leave your fucking door unlocked, Jamie Lea.”
“Noah!” Geneva, not even ashamed of her penis statistics, jumped up and threw her arms around my dad. She loved him dearly now, although she hadn’t really interacted with him much when we were younger and he would come to visit me at my grandparents’ house. After Neva’s father died, my dad had stepped in and helped Neva’s mom with the funeral plans and expenses. Then, after Neva’s mom passed just a year or two later while Wyatt and Jason were both deployed and unable to come home, Dad had helped Neva like he had her mom.
“Hi, girl,” Dad grumbled, accepting her hug like he always did, even though he was not really a touchy feely kind of man. “I came to help unpack a few things and see if you needed me to hang stuff or something.”
“Actually,” I smiled brightly at my dad, “I’ve got a few things I could use your help on.”
So for the next two hours, Neva and I joked and laughed with my dad as he helped us hang shelves and pictures while we unpacked boxes.
◆◆◆
“What the hell?” I laughed when the waitress set my brother Eli’s burger down in front of him. “Is that a screwdriver?”
“Yeah,” Eli laughed. “This burger is based on a legendary love story that includes screwdrivers.”
“That is so odd,” Neva raised a brow. “Do tell.”
“Can’t do that,” Eli laughed.
“Is that some of that ‘club business’ you won’t talk about?” I asked him.
My brother was a prospect for the Texas Kings, a motorcycle club based here in Rojo. Our other brother Levi, who was still away in the service, was a member of the same club and had been since he turned eighteen. He had a patch and Eli didn’t yet, but I knew that Eli was hoping that he would get one soon.
“Yup,” Eli smiled before he took a huge bite of his burger. “Sure is.”
“Is your club like the mob?” Heath whispered. “They have secrets too, you know.”
“Yeah, Adam traded games with one of his friends and now he’s got this game where he does work for the mob. He steals cars, takes them to get new paint, and runs over hookers and then steals their money. It’s so cool,” Joshua told our table. Adam growled at him and then looked down at his plate when all heads turned to look at him.
“Oh, really?” I asked sarcastically as I stared at my 14-year-old. “You like to go around killing hookers now, huh? And how the hell does your brother know what a hooker even is, Adam?”
“It’s just a fucking game,” Adam snarled and added a glare for good measure. “Jesus, Jamie, you’re so stupid.”
“Boy,” my dad started, but Eli was already up and around the table. He yanked Adam out of his chair and dragged him to the front doors of the restaurant.
I jumped to follow them, ready to give Eli a piece of my mind, but Dad put his hand on my arm to hold me still.
“Let them go,” Dad told me. “That boy needs some education on manners and I can see that listening to you is not one of his best subjects.”
“He talks to her like that all the time now,” Joshua tattled to my dad. “It’s really bad.”
“Yeah,” Heath whispered. “Everyday almost.”
“What the hell, Jamie Lea?” Dad asked me with concern. “How long has this shit been going on?”
“Since Wyatt died.”
“No, it started before, but got worse after Wyatt died,” Neva told my father. “He’s turned into a disrespectful little shit and I’m ashamed of him. Wyatt would have kicked his ass for talking to Jamie like that, but he knows Wyatt’s not coming back, so it’s like a monster has been unleashed or something.”
“That’s bullshit,” Dad growled as he threw his napkin onto his plate. He reached for his wallet and threw a couple of large bills on the table to cover our food and then stood up. “We’ll bring Adam home later. You guys finish dinner.”
“Dad,” I started, but he turned and shook his head at me.
“No, Jamie Lea,” Dad reached out and put his hand on my shoulder in sympathy. “You mentioned that you wanted the boys around us to help keep them in line, but you didn’t mention that Adam has started acting like an asshole by cussing and disrespecting you at every turn. That’s unacceptable and I won’t have it. Neither will your brothers.”