Lexi

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They hadn’t been kidding about Knife turning the hog-cutting into a show. His cuts were precise and exaggerated, like a butcher turned stage performer. Different parts of the pig went into different bins, and he put these bear claw things on to shred the meat in one of the larger bins. He worked fast, and before long people had their choice of the part of the pig they wanted, with labels on the bins.

I thought I’d be grossed out and not able to eat it after seeing the whole pig all stretched out, but I took the first bite and it practically melted in my mouth. I’d never had pork this good before.

Later, I learned they’d killed the pig, drained it, and immediately cooked it. It’d been alive just before the sun had gone down the night before, and it’d cooked most of the night and all day. I was kind of glad I didn’t know that while I ate it.

Lots of people complimented me on my tater-tot casserole, and I asked Matty who made the dishes I liked best, so I could tell them how much I liked their food, too.

Bubbles had me in his lap after we ate, and I was relaxed against him. I’d had a whole plate of food — I rarely eat so much at once, and I was a little miserable, but the food had been so good. Despite the activity around us, it would’ve been easy to fall asleep. It was mid-October and still warm, but the MC had these huge fans on all over the place, and lots of umbrellas over tables and seating areas, so there was shade.

I opened my eyes when Bubbles went a little stiff, and sat up when he patted my leg. Gen was walking towards me with Bethany on one side and Duke on the other. I started to stand, but changed my mind. I was pretty happy curled into Bubbles.

“I’m sorry.” She wasn’t wearing her bitch face, but I wasn’t buying it yet. “I meant to just ask you if what the person on the phone said was true, but my temper kicked in and that wasn’t fair to you. You get as embarrassed as me when people start talking about sex like it’s nothing. I can’t hold what your sister is against you, and it doesn’t matter anyway. Duke tells me your sister basically raised you even though she’s only four years older, and that means she’s a good person.”

I looked at Bubbles. It was a good apology, but I was still pissed. I had no idea what to say.

“Matty pointed out how much it hurts when one of us turns on you, when you’re brand new.” Bubbles told Gen. “Lexi wanted to leave and not come back. I convinced her to stay, but I’ve been with her since Duke and I finished our meeting. It was a good apology, but she isn’t used to your rather famous temper. I think it’s going to take her some time to feel comfortable.”

Gen turned, grabbed a chair, settled it in front of us, and sat, her eyes on Bubbles. “Dozer was such an ass to Matty, and he nearly got some of us hurt because he couldn’t get over it. I’m over it. I like Lexi.” She looked at me. “I was a bitch. I’m sorry.”

I sat up and readjusted in Bubbles’ lap. “Okay. It seems to me you should be old enough to have learned how to control your temper, but whatever. I accept your apology.”

She started to get ticked, but then smiled. “Yeah, but it hasn’t happened yet so it doesn’t seem likely. Bubbles is going to have his hands full with you, isn’t he?” She smiled at him and looked back to me. “You’re good for him. He’s been so quiet since he came. He rarely smiled, and he looks happy now, with you in his lap — even though I caused a little shitstorm.”

“We need to let you listen to some voices, so you can verify who called.” Bubbles didn’t mind talking about his feelings with just me, but apparently wasn’t going to around others. That was okay — so long as he talked to me, we were good.

“Already handled,” said Duke from behind Gen. “Female voice. Unknown.”

“Fuck. Okay. A discussion for another time.” Bubbles brushed his hand over my hair. “Someone just came into the lot I need to talk to. Want me to take you back to Matty?”

“I can just come with you.”

“Club business, Half-pint. I need a few minutes alone with him.”

I looked at Gen. “I’m good. Go do what you need to.”

He stood with me in his arms, sat me in the chair we’d been in, kissed my forehead, and left.

Bethany grabbed a chair and sat it beside Gen’s, plopped into it, and said, “Is he, you know, proportioned? Because if he is, I think I might be a little jealous.”

I looked to my left to see if Gabby would help me, and she gave me a big smile. “Horse got his name because he’s hung like one.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not tellin’ ya’ll how big he is.” I looked at Bethany. “And who are you here with? I saw a hot redhead pull you into his arms like he owned you, but then an hour later I saw an army-looking military type kiss you like you were his oxygen.”

Gen rolled her eyes and Gabby laughed. Bethany shrugged and gave me a big smile. “I live with three men. It’s kind of complicated.”

“Not complicated at all,” said Gen. “My brother has two boyfriends and a girlfriend, and they all live together. When Bethany got to know them, she decided she needed her own harem. A year later, she had one. I have no idea how she managed it, but she did, and I do not need to hear details.”

“I kind of want to hear details. I mean, do you do them one at a time, or all at once?”

Bethany laughed. “How big is Bubbles’ cock?”

I laughed with her. “Yeah. Okay. None of my business.”

By the time Bubbles made it back, it was well after dark, and Matty had come to sit with us, pulling along another man he introduced as Spence.

An FBI guy sat with us for a while, and he seemed to have a rapport with Angelica, but I couldn’t help but think he was hoping to pick up information to help him nail our men. Everyone was nice to him though, so I was polite, but I didn’t talk much while he was around. I wanted to be like my foster family and be relaxed around him, but I felt more like my mama — hoping the cop would go away without arresting me. Never mind I hadn’t done anything wrong.

Bubbles brought me a beer, and I looked around at the cops still present. He put his mouth to my ear and said, “We own everyone still here except the FBI dude, and he won’t say anything about underage drinking so long as you don’t head towards a car with keys in your hand. He’s interested in busting us for something big, not in harassing us for the small shit.”

I saw four men in uniform, and recognized a couple of detectives. Wow. How much had they had to pay them to own them? Or had they blackmailed them? I took a long drink of my beer and decided I didn’t need to know.