I’m about to chew Trink out but Poe butts in, always reading the room with ease. “Trink has nothing better to do. Besides, we weren’t gonna let the boys have all the fun. Just promise me you won’t let them choose colors, Angel, because Rue’s colorblind and couldn’t pick paint to fucking save himself. Did he tell you about the Indian he fucking ruined last year? Disgraceful.”
Rue huffs at her and stalks into the living room, ignoring Trink’s cackling. “Where’s the paint? Are we doing all of the rooms? Flower, quit bitching and call for pizzas. I didn’t get breakfast and I’m fucking starving.”
She grins at him and starts calling.
We get to work on the ceilings and the girls head into the tiny bedroom. It’s the only room in the house with carpet still on the floor and Angel’s already made a call about getting it replaced.
Poe helps her with the carpet while Trink plays with the bluetooth speakers and dances around like a crazy woman. At first I think she’s not really doing anything but when we make it to the ceilings in the kitchen we find her scrubbing out the cupboards there. I haven’t seen that kid ever do real manual labor before because she’s fucking spoiled so I’m impressed.
I pay for the pizza when it gets here, shooting Angel down hard when she attempts to argue with me, and we eat it on the tiny front porch to get away from the paint fumes. We all talk about nothing, just cars and gossip about people around town and it feels so fucking normal.
After lunch. Rue drives Trink and Poe back to the compound, leaving Angel and I to go shopping for shit to fill her house up with.
I drive the Chevy even though she fusses at me like I don’t fucking know how just because I’d rather have her on the back of my hog, wrapped around me with her honey scent all over the leather of my cut. That just means I’m a man who knows what the fuck he wants and my woman is the hottest fucking thing on Earth.
We pick out a fridge and a whole pile of shit for her house.
I tell her about Sunday family dinners and she stares up at me like a deer caught in headlights. It’s cute but it’s also non-negotiable, Keely is a force of nature and Hawk made it clear that he’s expecting us to go along with anything she wants.
She wants to meet Angel properly and she wants grandbabies.
I’m only bringing one of those things up with my girl today because I’m not a dumbass and I know Angel has a list of shit she wants to get done before I tie her down like that but fuck if it isn’t tempting.
I buy anything Angel so much as looks at, every little appliance and piece of cutlery, and when she gets flustered at me I swat her on the ass and ignore her fumbling words.
When we get back to her place Angel is distracted as she puts away her new shit. I give her some space to work her own shit out while I get her fridge installed and the other kitchen appliances plugged in.
She’s still not right when I go for a shower.
I try not to let it eat at me but when I walk back out she’s stripped down to my shirt again and something eases off in my chest a little. She’s all over the place tonight, none of the calm she had this morning and it sets my teeth on edge. I don’t fucking want anything upsetting her.
She ducks into the bathroom to brush her teeth and it only takes me half a minute to get the fold-out set up and the pillows and blankets sorted out. I strip down to my boxers and lie down to wait for her, my mood getting fucking worse as the minutes drag on.
She’s freaking out about something.
I hate it.
She finally comes out and turns all of the lights off on her way in. One of the perks of this place being so tiny, there’s not very far to go in the dark once she’s got everything turned off.
She climbs in and even though she tucks straight into my body there’s this tenseness to her, like she can’t fully relax and I’m not fucking standing for it. There’s no way I’m sleeping like this.
“What’s happened, sweetness? Didn’t we agree that I fix your shit?” I murmur, aiming for hushed and gentle for her nerves.
“I’m trying to figure something out with the floor in the bedroom. I could polish the floorboards but there’s a few spots that need to be patched. I’ve just got a lot of classwork going on and Rue mentioned you’ll be at The Boulevard more often so I need to figure it out.”
I shift her around a little so she’s lying over my chest more securely. “What happened to Kyle and his boys laying the carpet? You change your mind?”
She fidgets like she’s being interrogated and I have to force myself to stay calm and relaxed underneath her even though I feel anything but fucking relaxed. “They cancelled the job and gave me the money back. Apparently they don’t like money from my type. It’s—I mean, it’s not a big deal. I’ve got other options. I just need to figure out what I can get done around school.”
My arms turn to stone around her.
There’s no fucking way that I’m letting that shit fly. This goes beyond her being my fucking girl. Nah, this is about a girl who has worked her ass off and sacrificed fucking everything to support herself and take care of her own shit and I’ll be fucked if I let people think they can treat her like that.
There’s no fucking way I’m letting it go without setting them straight on how my girl will be treated around here.
I have to grit the words out through my teeth. “I’ll sort it out.”
She cringes a little like she’d like to get away from me but my arms stop her from going far. “It’s fine. Honestly, what can I expect from people? We’re in the south and I—”
I’m too harsh but I’m also fucking livid. “Don’t finish that fucking sentence. I said I’d sort it out so you’ll trust me to get it sorted out, Angel. Forget about it, sweetness, and go to sleep.”
Chapter Thirty Three
Angel
I completely forget about the family dinner until there’s a knock at my door on Sunday while I’m scrubbing out the bathroom. I haven’t decided on tiles yet so it’s staying just a little gross until I do.
Every time I ask Tomi for opinions on shit he tells me as long as I’m happy he’s happy which is sweet but not at all helpful.
So I open the door to find Trink and Keely standing there with big casserole dishes full of food. I stare at them both like an idiot.
“Did Tomi not call? Course he fucking didn’t. We’re here for family dinner,” Trink says, pushing me gently out of the way and bouncing her way into the kitchen.
Keely smiles a little softer at me, tilting her head and shrugging like there’s nothing she can do about her unruly children. Fully grown adult children who she raised better than this, I’m sure.
“It’s fine! It’s totally okay, I was just—oh.”
The words die in my throat as I look past her to see Tomi out on the front lawn with the rest of his family lifting a giant wooden table from a trailer. King, Hawk, and Hellion are already drinking while their sons do all the heavy lifting, the sounds of their joking and laughter ringing through the quiet streets.
No one would dare come out to complain when it’s the bikers.
“They’re going to take the table around back, Tomi said you have a porch out there big enough for us all,” Keely says, stepping in and kissing my cheek like this is all very normal and not completely fucking insane.