Chapter 7
Cameron
“Shit,” Trix moaned as I slid into her slowly from behind.
She was on her side, with one knee pulled to her chest, and even though I could barely get any fucking traction when I was on my side behind her, it was still my favorite way to wake her up in the mornings. Trix wasn’t a morning person. She didn’t get out of bed until her alarm had gone off at least three times, so she set them about twenty minutes apart. This meant that her goddamn alarm had been waking me up an hour before she actually needed to be awake since I’d started sleeping with her three weeks ago.
I used that to my advantage.
After the first few times I’d rolled out of bed, expecting her to follow and then not hearing the shower turn on for at least an hour, I started staying in bed.
Turns out, Trix was in a much better mood if she woke up to an orgasm, and it put me in a damn good frame of mind, too.
My hand slid up her stomach and between her breasts to hold her still and I dug my bare toes into the sheets as I thrust harder, making her whimper and groan like she always did before she came.
“Cam,” she murmured, making my entire body stiffen as she got so wet I had a hard time keeping the right angle. Her body bowed forward and she started throbbing around my cock as I came with her.
I slumped into the mattress as I tried to catch my breath.
“Did you turn off my alarm?” she asked groggily as she tried to curl deeper into the blankets.
“Oh, hell, no,” I warned, trying hard not to laugh as she scowled at me over her shoulder. “You’re gettin’ up.”
“I don’t have class for two more hours,” she whined as I climbed off the bed and took care of the condom. I fucking hated wearing them with her, but I had to. She wasn’t ready for kids yet, and I wasn’t going to take that decision away. We had time to figure all that shit out.
“Come shower with me,” I said, throwing back the covers and pulling her out of bed.
“I don’t want to shower with you.”
Okay, maybe orgasms didn’t necessarily improve Trix’s morning mood, but they did wake her ass up.
Even though she complained the entire walk to the bathroom, she still stripped and stepped into the shower with me. She liked it when I washed her hair.
By the time we climbed back out, I had a stiffy that I knew wasn’t going to get the attention it wanted and Trix was finally wide-awake.
“Remember, we have the kids tonight,” she mumbled around her toothbrush, glancing at me in the mirror as I put toothpaste on my own brush.
“What?”
“I told you yesterday—it’s movie night. Leo, the Hawthorne kids and your sisters are coming over around dinner time and staying the night.”
“Fuck,” I grumbled, drawing out the word before stuffing my toothbrush in my mouth. “How the hell do they all fit in the apartment?”
She watched me in amusement, spitting into the sink. Damn. Her breasts swayed at the movement and my mouth started to water, making white foam drip down my chin.
“They bring sleeping bags. CeeCee usually doesn’t come, but the rest of them fit fine. Boys in the living room, girls in the spare room.”
I cleaned my teeth quickly, then spit while I rinsed my brush. “Why doesn’t CeeCee come?”
“Too cool, I guess. Remember me at seventeen?” she laughed and I scowled.
Yes, I remembered her at seventeen. That didn’t make me feel real good about what my sister might be up to.
“Alright.” I sighed. “Want me to get some pizzas?”
“That’s okay.” She shook her head as she led our way out of the bathroom. “I’ll grab some you-bake ones when I stop at the store after class. We need goodies and soda, anyway.”
A little while later, I sat on the bed pulling my boots on as I watched her get ready for school.
“Why do you have all of ’em over?” I asked. “Lotta work.”
“I like it,” she replied, her voice muffled by the hoodie she was pulling over her head. “I didn’t really have anyone but you growing up. Everyone was younger, ya know?”
I nodded. Yeah, and by the time she’d been my littlest sister’s age, I’d pretty much abandoned her. I’d been sixteen—and as much as I’d loved little Trix, I’d had other things on my mind then—like the high school chicks that wanted to take a little walk on the wild side.
“They like coming over—no parents, they can eat whatever they want, talk about whatever they want, stay up as late as they want. Plus, I like knowing what’s going on with them, and if I didn’t make the time for movie nights, I’d barely see any of them.”
“You’re cute,” I told her with a smile, pushing to my feet.
“Think so?” She tilted her head to the side as I stepped toward her and I couldn’t help but lean down and kiss the exposed skin on her neck.
“Yeah, I think so.”
Her arms wrapped around my waist and slid up the back of my shirt, tracing the bottom of the tattoo that covered my back.
“What time you get out today?” I asked, reaching up to grip her jaw lightly with my hands.
“Same as always.”
“Don’t you have finals comin’ up? Cut out early.”
She giggled, shaking her head lightly at me. “Finals means I have to work harder right now.”
“Bullshit,” I argued, making her full-on laugh.
I loved it when she laughed, and she did it a lot. After that first day when we’d fought like cats and dogs, shit had been smooth between us. We’d had dinner with my parents and hers, taken a few rides when we didn’t have shit to do, fucked on every surface in the apartment, and spent time just hanging out.
I hadn’t taken her to the club for any parties, but that was because we hadn’t fucking had any, not because I thought it would be a problem for her.
We’d still been scratching our heads and walking around with our dicks in our hands when it came to figuring out who was fucking with us. One of our informants fucking disappeared, just poof and the guy was gone. The other said he didn’t know anything, hadn’t heard anything, and tried to convince us that the info he’d given us before must have been wrong.
“Will you be here when I get home?” she asked, the dimple in her cheek deepening as she grinned.
“Meet ya at the store. Text me when you’re headed that way.”
“Okay,” she mumbled as I pressed my mouth to hers, slipping my tongue between her lips for a small taste.
I walked her to her car when she was ready to go and gave her another quick kiss as soon as she’d climbed in. “Be good,” I ordered as I slammed her car door shut.
She was barely out of the parking lot before my mind was on the meeting I had to get to at the club.
* * *
“Hulk—in here with us, boyo,” Poet called as I grabbed a bottle of water from the stacks Vera was making the prospects pull out of her car.
“Costco run?” I asked, as she smiled at me. “Glad I’m done with that shit.”
“Get back here and help, you’re like a damn packhorse!” Vera called back, her hands on her hips.
“Can’t! Busy!” I laughed as she flipped me off and stepped inside the darkened main room. I made my way past the bar to the room beyond, pausing at the doorway.
“Gonna have to stand,” Grease called out. “No spot at the table for you yet.”
“Fuck off,” I shot back, stepping inside the room and letting the door close behind me.
“We all here? Good.” Slider said tiredly. “Spent the night with Mack’s old lady at the hospital. Someone ran him off the fuckin’ road last night on his way home.”
I clenched my jaw against the need to ask why no one had called me. That was bullshit. Everyone should have been up there with them. That’s what we did. We fucking rallied. I glanced around the room and noticed my dad was furious, too.
“Before you go pissin’ and moanin,’ I didn’t call ya because his woman’s fuckin’ skittish and she was a mess last night. Last thing she needed was a bunch of bikers crowdin’ up the waiting room.”
“Could’ve at least given us a head’s up,” Dragon said quietly, leaning forward in his chair to brace his elbows on the table.
“Decision was made and now it’s over,” Slider replied steadily.
“Don’t know who it was,” Poet said, running his hand down his beard. It was finally getting long like he’d had it when I was a little guy, before he’d gotten back together with his wife and shaved it all off. “Young, though. Preppy. Mack remembered that much.”
Young?
“How bad?” Casper finally asked.
“Broke both his legs, one hip. Had to do surgery this mornin’,” Slider answered.
“Fuck,” Grease sighed.
Slider’s eyes met mine. “You hear anything new about the Wunderlich twins?”
I frowned in confusion. “No.”
“Only clean cut boys I can think of,” Slider said, still watching me.
The Wunderlichs were smalltime. The father and sons lived down south and had a pretty good thing going, selling designer drugs to college kids. We’d had a couple run-ins with them a few years before, when they’d tried to get a foothold at the University of Oregon, but since then, they’d kept their distance.
“Nah, saw Dan a few months ago when me and Samson went to Ashland. Nothin’ had changed.”
“Fuck,” Poet said sharply. “You got any ideas?”
“Me?” I asked, like an idiot.
“No, the fuckin’ ghost behind ya.”
The men around the table chuckled.
“No,” I said, swallowing hard. “Haven’t heard or seen anything. Don’t know many younger guys that would have the balls.”
“So, we’re back where we started,” Grease said, tapping on the table.
“Maybe it was just some drunk college kids—” I tried to say.
“No coincidences in this world,” Poet cut me off, his face grave. “This is all connected.”
I nodded in agreement, wishing I hadn’t said anything.
“Has anyone talked to Woody?” I asked, trying to redeem myself a little bit.
“He called his mum,” Poet answered with a sigh. “Wouldn’t say where he’s stayin,’ though. Still not answerin’ my calls.”
“Shit. I’ll try again, too.”
“We callin’ everyone in?” Dragon interrupted, looking around the table.
“Over a fuckin’ wreck? No,” Slider said.
“Jesus,” Casper murmured, running a hand down his face.
“You got something to say?” Slider asked darkly, staring at my dad.
“Nope. Nothing to say,” he replied flatly.
Slider used the table to push to his feet and walked out without another word, leaving the now completely silent room.
“Fuckin’ bullshit,” Grease mumbled as he got up and left.
The rest of us followed, stuck in our thoughts.
I hated knowing Trix was at school unprotected for the next few hours. It felt wrong, but we had to keep living our lives. There were still classes to attend and cars to fix, even though whoever had been fucking with our informants seemed to be stepping up their game.
I walked out the front door and over to the bay I was working in that day, seeing Will inside. He’d been back a few days after our scuffle in the forecourt, but I hadn’t brought that shit up and he hadn’t, either. His dad could straighten him out—wasn’t my business. It couldn’t be my business—I had bigger shit to deal with. I didn’t have time for whatever was going on with him.
I had a woman who spent her days right out in the open and there wasn’t shit I could do about it without something concrete to give to her.
Meanwhile, someone had essentially declared war, and we were the stupid fucks who had no idea who was targeting us.
* * *
“Cam!” a little voice squealed as I rolled out from underneath the Honda I was working on a couple hours later.
“Hey, baby girl,” I replied to my eleven-year-old sister, Lily, as she came to an abrupt stop less than a foot from my legs. “Why aren’t you in school?”
“Teacher in-service day.”
“Lucky.”
“I know. I’m ready for summer,” she said, looking around the garage. “Hi, Will!”
“Hey, sweetheart,” he called back quietly, messing with something in his toolbox.
“Where’s Ma?” I asked, getting to my feet as I tried to wipe the grease off my hands. If I didn’t love working on shit so much, I’d hate my job. I was too big to comfortably slide under cars, my fingernails were constantly black, and in the summer, the garage got hot as fuck because the doors stayed open and there was no air conditioning.
“She’s in talking to Dad and CeeCee. She’s dropping us off with you so she can go do some stuff with Great Gram.”
“Gram’s here?”
“Yeah, she’s in the car.”
Lily raced out in front of me as I walked toward the large door. “Wait, you’re comin’ home with me? I’m on the bike.”
“CeeCee drove!”
Shit. I checked my phone again as I made my way to Farrah’s car, where I could see Gram’s head through the front windshield. Trix still hadn’t called, but it was only a little after eleven. I’d been hoping to get her home and fucked before we had company, but it looked like that wasn’t happening.
“Hey, gorgeous,” I called through the open passenger window, making Gram turn toward me and smile.
“Cameron,” she called cheerfully. “You’ve been too busy for your old Gram.”
“Never,” I promised, helping her open the door so she could get out and hug me. “I just saw you at dinner.”
“That was two weeks ago,” she scoffed, pinching my side.
“Looks like I’ve got the girls tonight, but I’ll see what Trix and I are doin’ tomorrow. Maybe come and take you to breakfast.”
She made a noise of disgust in her throat. “I’ll make you breakfast. What do you want?”
“I want you to not make breakfast so you can relax.”
She didn’t say anything, but gave me a look over her glasses.
“Fine, I’ll come for breakfast,” I said in defeat.
“Good boy.”
“Help! There’s a giant trying to abscond with my grandmother,” Farrah called out behind me as I set Gram back in her seat. “Oh, wait. I think I know him.”
“Ha, ha,” I replied, grabbing her as soon as she came close enough so I could spin her around in a circle. “Hey, Ma.”
“Feels like we haven’t seen you forever,” she said, giving me a squeeze before pushing away so I’d drop her to the ground.
I opened my mouth to defend myself, but she cut me off with a shake of her head.
“I get it, kiddo. How are things with Trix?”
“Good.” I felt a goofy smile take over my face. I could keep any and all expression off my face when I wanted and I kept my emotions to myself around the brothers, but I’d never been able to hide from Farrah.
“Rad,” she said softly, reaching up to rub my bicep for a moment. “Seems like just yesterday, I was wiping your ass…”
I choked on my own spit. “You never wiped my ass.”
“Oh, right. That was Cecilia. Should’ve remembered—different parts and all.”
“Speaking of…”
“Yeah, can you take them? Gram and I want to hit some garage sales this afternoon. She wants a recliner for her room.”
I glanced back at Gram, who was searching quietly for something in her purse. She was getting so fucking old. So slow. I hated it.
“Yeah, but why can’t CeeCee and Lily come over later?”
“Your sister is being a pain in the ass and I can’t trust her to do what she says she’s gonna do. So, no staying home alone at the moment.”
“Christ.”
“Pretty much.”
“Whoop her ass.”
“She’s seventeen. Too old to spank, too young to punch in the throat,” Mom said ruefully as CeeCee and Casper came walking out of the clubhouse, Lily trailing behind them.
Then my eyes registered the look on Casper’s face and the tiny shorts Cecilia had on.
“What the fuck is she wearin’?” I hissed, my eyes shooting to Farrah’s.
“Have fun!” she sang, laughing as she dodged my hand and ran around the hood of her car.
“You wait for me to come kiss ya, Ladybug!” Casper yelled before Farrah could climb into the car.
“I’m not waiting all day!” she yelled back as Casper stopped to hug the girls goodbye.
“You’ll wait.” He pointed at her, but kept his eyes on Lily as she hugged his waist.
How I’d ended up in that family, I had no idea. I was just thankful for it.
“I’m gonna head out,” I called to Casper as he made his way over to Farrah. “CeeCee and Lily! Let’s go.”
* * *
A few hours later, I was sitting on the couch enjoying a beer before the apartment was overrun. The girls were in Trix’s bedroom doing makeup or face masks or some other mysterious girl shit, and for a few minutes, I had a little quiet time to myself.
I deserved it after the hour I’d spent following them around the grocery store. How a quick trip for groceries turned into twenty-minutes on the makeup aisle, I would never understand. None of them needed the shit, anyway.
“Hey, baby,” Trix said quietly, waddling over to me and dropping into my lap.
“Nice toes.”
“Thanks.” She held up her feet and wiggled her green and yellow painted toes. “Lily thought the green and yellow would give me some good luck for my finals next week.”
“You excited to be done?” I asked, rubbing my palm up and down her smooth legs. She’d changed and was wearing a pair of cut off sweatpants that she must have stolen from Leo, because they were tight as hell around her ass and loose at the waist. Easy access—not that I’d be getting any.
“Yeah.” She sighed and dropped her feet, leaning her head against my chest. “Worried too, though. I need to find a job.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“I can take care of you.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew they were the wrong thing to say, even if I’d meant them. I didn’t want her to worry about finding a job—I had plenty of money I’d socked away for a rainy day—but Trix’s body stiffened in offense.
“I can take care of myself,” she snapped.
As she tried to push off my chest, I gripped her tighter.
“You don’t have to—” My words were cut off by a knock at the front door.
I shifted her to the couch next to me and went to answer the door, checking the peephole and barely catching myself before cursing.
“You’re early,” I said flatly as Leo pushed past me into the apartment.
“Tommy, Mick and Rose are right behind me,” he mumbled, carrying a paper grocery bag into the kitchen.
I didn’t even get the door closed before I saw Grease and Callie’s youngest, Rose, running down the breezeway.
“Is Lily here?” she asked excitedly.
“Yup. Doin’ her nails, I think,” I answered with a smile. I couldn’t help it. Rose was born only six months after Lily, but she seemed so much younger—probably because she didn’t have an older sister like Cecilia corrupting her.
Her little arms wrapped around my waist, squeezing tightly for only a second before she was tearing off through the entryway.
“Boys,” I greeted as Tommy and Mick followed slowly behind their sister.
Tommy was only a couple months younger than CeeCee, which made Mick, eh, fourteen? Yeah, I think there was three years between them—not that you’d notice by looking at them. Tommy was leaner, built like Casper, but Mick was built like Grease, so even with the age difference, he was bigger than his older brother.
“Your brother comin’?” I asked as they met me at the door.
“Nah, Will’s at the club.”
“Figured,” I replied with a nod. All the kids were here, but at twenty and with a prison record, Will was an adult. Leo was only two years younger, but he hadn’t graduated high school yet. He was still stuck in that in-between stage where he acted like hot shit around the younger kids, but still wanted to have a movie night at his big sister’s house.
Where Leo still watched the club members with a sense of awe, Will was trying his damnedest to fit in with them.
“Well, come on in,” I said, taking a step out of the doorway so they could push past me.
“Hey, Trix,” Mick called out shyly.
Oh, hell. With two words, I knew the kid had one hell of a crush on my girl.
I closed and locked the front door with a grimace. It was going to be a long fucking night.