“Ah, Thomas,” Poet sighed. “Won’t always be so fresh, yeah? Time’ll dull it a bit.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“Your dreams have anythin’ to do with that girl with all the shit in her pretty face?”
“What?” I chuckled.
“Uh…” he snapped his fingers a couple times. “Hawk. That’s her name. The one that hit you in the cock.”
I choked on the sip of coffee I’d just put in my mouth and felt it burn the back of my nose. “Heather?”
“Right! Memory’s shit anymore.”
“Bullshit. You remember what you ate on February 1, 1982. She’s nothin’. Dream didn’t have anything to do with her,” I lied, wiping the coffee that had spilled down my chin. “She knew Micky.”
“His girl?” Poet asked, his tone making my head snap up. He knew something. It was in the way he’d said the words, the way his eyes didn’t leave mine, the way his fingers tapped idly against the side of his coffee mug.
“Nah,” I replied slowly. “They were just friends.”
He hummed in reply, nodding his head.
“She is pretty,” I said, thoughtlessly. It was true, but I would have never actually said it if I wasn’t trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.
“Eh. If she took that metal out of her face.”
I smiled. “She used to have a lot more of it,” I told him, watching as his lips firmed in disgust. “She’s only got the two now, but she used to have snake bites.” I pointed to the corners of my bottom lips. “And she had her eyebrow done and her bridge.”
“Her bridge?” Poet asked in confusion.
“Yeah.” I reached up and pinched the skin on the bridge of my nose right between my eyes and busted out laughing as he shuddered.
“Well, now,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m too old for that shit.”
“What? Women didn’t have piercings when you were a young fella?” I asked jokingly.
“Only the good ones,” his wife, Amy, called quietly as she walked toward us. She wiggled her eyebrows up and down.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked, winking at her.
“No,” Poet said shaking his head. “She’s fuckin’ with ya.”
I couldn’t keep the grin off my face as Amy moved around Poet and smoothed a hand down his beard, trying to tame it, before she reached for the coffee pot.
“It was all I could do not to pull out every one of the rings your Aunt Farrah put in her face when I saw her. That girl just kept addin’ and addin’ ’em.”
“I don’t remember her having that many,” I said in surprise.
“Before you were born, son.” Poet shook his head and then made a shooing motion so I’d scoot to the next barstool, giving Amy a place to sit down. “She’d mellowed quite a bit before you younger kids came around.”
“Having a family will do that to a person,” Amy said thoughtfully, lifting her coffee mug to her lips. “Well, most people anyhow. What are you doing up so early?”
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“I’m sorry, Tommy,” she said softly.
“It is what it is. What are you two doin’ up?” I glanced at Poet who was grinning from ear to ear. “Don’t answer that,” I muttered.
He started chuckling just as Heather came out of the back hallway carrying Molly’s daughter Rebel. I wasn’t sure how my big brother had landed the sweet Molly, but I was a little impressed by it. She was a nurse up at the hospital, and I remembered when she’d come up to me in the waiting room, the night our family barbecue had been attacked, and brought me down to my brother’s room. She’d seemed like an angel then, with her smooth blonde hair and soft voice.
I turned on my stool as Heather moved toward us, her eyes bleary.
“I need coffee,” she mumbled, rubbing Rebel’s back. “Stat.”
Amy laughed softly as she reached for another mug.
“What are you doin’ with this one?” I asked, reaching out to tickle the bottom of Rebel’s foot.
“She slept with me last night,” Heather huffed, planting her ass on a barstool with the little girl on her lap. “I didn’t realize she’d be up at five in the morning.”
“Shit. It’s already five?” I said in surprise, pulling my phone out of my pocket to verify. I’d slept almost an entire night.
“Already five? Jesus.” Heather shook her head. “It’s the middle of the damn night.”
“Not a morning person?” Amy asked as she handed Heather her coffee.
“Understatement,” she mumbled back, smiling. “I need my beauty sleep.”
“You look fine to me,” I said, making Heather glance at me in surprise.
“Well, I don’t feel fine,” she replied after a moment, rolling her eyes. “I feel like I got run over by a truck. Did you know that every fucking man in this clubhouse snores? It’s like a symphony of snorting and phlegmy breathing all night long.”
I laughed hard. I knew what she meant. My dad was the worst, but uncle Casper and Poet played their part, too. I didn’t know what it was with old men, but I’d never met one that didn’t snore like a bear.
“Sleep in my tent tonight,” I said, lifting my coffee to hide my smile when she began to scowl. “Nothin’ but quiet out there.”
Poet chuckled and Amy scoffed.
“Get the fuck outta here,” Heather said dismissively, making Poet laugh even harder. Then she looked down at Rebel. “You hungry, Sparrow? Tommy’s going to make us something to eat.”
Her eyes met mine, and for a second I was completely frozen. She was giving me shit. Challenging me. But at that moment I couldn’t think of a single reason to fight it.
It looked like I was going to be making breakfast.
Chapter 3
Heather
“Seriously?” I whispered to myself as I stared at my phone.
I’d been texting with the guy I was seeing, flirting as best I could while I was stuck on the Aces’ compound. Life was moving around us like everything was just fine, but tension was building behind the gates. I didn’t have any idea what was happening with the boogiemen that were out to get us… okay, that wasn’t fair.
I knew the people the Aces were fighting with were bad. They’d killed Molly’s dad and beaten the hell out of her. I knew there was something big going on. So maybe they weren’t fictional boogiemen. But even knowing that the Aces were facing a real threat didn’t make the threat seem any more real to me. I wasn’t even a part of the Aces and frankly, I was sick of sleeping on the floor and being stuck behind their stupid fence all day every day.
I stuffed my pillow farther under my neck and gritted my teeth when it still didn’t prop my head up far enough to be comfortable. I was so fucking annoyed. The men were snoring like fucking chainsaws again. It was the whole reason I’d even texted my guy, Brian. I’d hoped that a little conversation would make me sleepy enough to fall asleep again. Instead, I was even more keyed up. I’d texted like I always did, trying to be flirty and sexy, but I’d known by his first reply that something was off. I’d carried on like I didn’t notice his abrupt responses, but the last one he’d sent left nothing up for interpretation.
Apparently, we’d never been exclusive, so when I’d left suddenly for Seattle—that was the excuse I’d given him for dropping off the face of the earth—he’d started seeing someone else. And now he was exclusive with her.
Dammit. I’d liked him! He was cute. He had a good job. He was a good kisser. We liked the same movies. I mean, sure, it wasn’t like I was ever giddy to see him, or anything like that. But I was getting a little older. I was an adult. I had my own life and too many plans to get wrapped up in some guy.
Someone down the hall coughed loud enough to wake the dead, and I almost screamed in frustration. I had to get out of there.
I crawled out of my sleeping bag and tiptoed out the open door. The room I was sleeping in was filled with all the teenage girls at the club. Apparently the teenage sons could pitch a tent outsi
de to sleep in, but the daughters? Well, they needed their own private space. I hadn’t really made friends with any of the girls my age, but they seemed friendly enough. Tommy’s little sister Rose was a sweetheart, and so was his cousin Lily. They were quite a bit younger than me though, and caught up in their own little world. His cousin Cecilia was nice, but honestly? She seemed really unhappy. Like, a bone deep unhappiness that didn’t seem to go away no matter what she was doing or who she was with. She also seemed to have two guys locked in a cold war over her. It was interesting to watch but I didn’t want to get in the middle of that.
The club was mostly quiet, but it wasn’t dark as I walked through the main room and out the open front door. They never turned all of the lights off, even in the middle of the night. It made sense, considering the amount of people that walked in and out all fucking night.
I sat down at a picnic table out front and rested my head on my arms. Damn, I was tired. It was crazy how tired I’d been for the past few days. Ever since the night I’d invited Reb to sleep with me, I’d barely been sleeping at all. Not only was it nearly impossible to fall asleep on the concrete floor, but I also wasn’t actually doing anything all day so when I climbed into my makeshift bed I was never quite ready to sleep yet. By the time I finally felt my eyes growing heavy, one or more of the guys had already gone to bed and their snores echoed through our room.
The one night I’d shut our door and was able to fall asleep, I’d been woken up rudely by Cecilia kicking me in the side and the sound of Lily sobbing. Apparently, they left the door open for a reason. When I’d closed it, poor Lily hadn’t been able to hear her dad when she woke up, and when she’d gone to find him, she’d slammed into the door that wasn’t supposed to be closed because she couldn’t see it. I knew she was blind, but hell, I’d never been around a blind person before. I hadn’t known that was why I had to keep my shit out of the way and my bed in the exact same spot every night. I’d just figured Cecilia was a control freak.
Tommy’s invitation to sleep in his tent was becoming more and more appealing as the days went on. We’d reached some sort of truce. We hadn’t exactly ignored each other before, but since the fire he’d been more likely to find me during the day and say hello. It was something, at least. It wasn’t as if I had many friends in this place. The person I hung out with most was Rebel.
I lifted my head and looked around at the various little camping spots set up. There was no way I’d even be able to find him. If I went from tent to tent, there was a good chance I’d open them to the sight of a pistol in my face, and while I didn’t think anyone would actually shoot me… I didn’t relish the idea.
I laid my head back down and sighed. This spot would work. I could already feel my limbs growing heavy. The cool night air felt good against my skin after being cooped up inside, and the lack of noise was like heaven.
Sometime later, I jerked awake as I felt myself sliding off the bench.
“Shh,” Tommy said softly as he lifted me up against his chest. “You’re freezing. Why didn’t you come into my tent?”
“I didn’t know which one was yours,” I answered scratchily.
“The blue and gray one,” he said as he walked away from the table.
“What are you doing awake?” I asked, pushing my face against his neck. He was so warm.
“Had to piss,” he mumbled, stopping in front of a small tent. He set me on my feet and unzipped the side. “Climb in.”
I practically dove into his tent, then recoiled when I landed on his sleeping bag. The place smelled like feet. Really stinky feet. With a little moldy cheese thrown in.
“This is disgusting,” I choked out, trying not to breath through my nose.
“Quit bitching,” he snapped, pushing in behind me.
“This is bad, Tommy. What the fuck?”
I heard him zipping up the tent behind me before he replied.
“Have you tried to do fuckin’ laundry inside? There’s a goddamn line. I haven’t had the chance to get in there.”
“You haven’t washed your clothes in almost three weeks?” I asked in horror, turning to look at him.
“Nah, it’s only been one,” he said dismissively, lying down on his side. “I threw some shit in with my mom’s laundry last week.”
“I can’t sleep in here,” I mumbled, shaking my head. “No fucking way.”
“Jesus,” he groaned, pushing himself back up. “You’re such a fuckin’ princess.”
“No, I’m not,” I argued, pulling my shirt up and over my nose. “No one would sleep in here.”
I fell back on my ass as he reached toward me, but he didn’t notice as he unzipped the tent again. Then, without another word, he was throwing handfuls of clothes out the opening. In less than a minute, the only things left in the tent were his sleeping bags, pillow, and a duffle bag stuffed into the back corner.
“Happy now?” he huffed, jerking the zipper to the tent closed again.
“It still stinks,” I said slowly as he turned to glare at me.
“It’ll air out. Now get the fuck in,” he said, gesturing to the pile of sleeping bags.
“But—”
“Heather,” he cut me off warningly.
I glanced at the front of the tent again, wondering if I should just go back inside and try to sleep there… then an arm wrapped around my waist and I was pulled flat on my back.
“Get under the top one,” Tommy ordered gruffly, pulling at the sleeping bag under my ass.
He helped me get situated, and by the time I had a thick sleeping bag pulled all the way up to my shoulder, I finally felt like I could breathe again without ingesting toxic fumes.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he started unbuttoning his pants.
“Not sleepin’ in my jeans,” he muttered as he arched his back until only his shoulders were against the ground. “I got boxers on.”
I was mesmerized as he slid the jeans off his hips and then dropped his ass to the ground so he could pull them off his legs. He wasn’t wearing a shirt—which hadn’t really fazed me because it was summer and he was shirtless all the time—but that was before he’d taken off his pants, too. Now, I couldn’t seem to look away from the muscles flexing in his chest and stomach as he scooted into the sleeping bags with me.
“Come ’ere,” he ordered gruffly, straightening his arm so I could slide in against him.
I didn’t protest as I curled up against his side. He curved his arm down my back until I was wedged beneath his armpit. For how smelly his tent had been, I was surprised that suddenly all I could smell was clean skin and the hint of some sort of manly deodorant.
“I’m not tired now,” I whispered, my eyes wide. I couldn’t see much in the shadowy tent, but I couldn’t miss his white smile in the darkness.
“Want me to wear you out?” he asked teasingly, his fingers sliding a little farther down my back as he pulled me tighter against him.
“Nope,” I replied quickly. I was pretty sure he could feel my heart pounding where it was pressed against the side of his chest.
I closed my eyes as he chuckled softly, the sound almost soothing. Within a couple minutes, I was out.
* * *
I woke up to people talking right outside the tent, and laid there for a few minutes, smiling at their comments.
“What the hell?”
“Got tired of smellin’ his own stink, I’m guessin’.”
“Charlie, don’t touch those, baby girl. God only knows what’s on ’em.”
“Jesus Christ. I really hope my nephew didn’t buy those boxers himself.”
“Get outta here. Boy hasn’t slept in this late for years, let the kid get some sleep.”
“It’s ten in the goddamn mornin’!”
“And he needs to clean this shit up.”
“I’m awake,” Tommy growled from behind me, his arm tightening around my waist. “Get the fuck away from my tent!”
Someone started laughing, and after a minute we could he
ar them moving away from us.
“I told you this tent was rank,” I said smugly, relaxing back against the arm I was using as a pillow. Sometime in the night, we’d switched positions, and I could feel the front of Tommy pressed tightly against my back. It took everything I had not to roll my hips against his. I probably should have been embarrassed or something, but I wasn’t. It was what it was. I slept in his bed, and we’d ended up wrapped around each other.
Even though most of the time he was a complete asshole, I couldn’t really complain. I was warm and cozy; I could hear birds chirping and kids playing. A cool breeze was filtering in through the tent’s mesh ceiling, and I had a large palm pressed against my ribs right below my breasts. There were worse ways to wake up.
“Wanna make it even dirtier?” he mumbled, biting down on the back of my neck and making me squeak in surprise.
He rolled his hips against mine and I inhaled sharply. Oh, damn. I hadn’t been willing to start that particular game, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to turn it down.
“This isn’t a good idea,” I replied, arching my back just a little so my ass pressed against his hips.
“It’s a fuckin’ great idea,” he argued, his hand sliding up to capture a breast as he ground his hips against me. “All I’d have to do…” His words trailed off as his hand left my breast, sliding down my side until he’d reached my shorts.
His fingers trailed along the waistband for only a second before his hand flattened against my hip. Slowly he smoothed it down the side of my shorts until he reached bare skin. When he gripped my thigh, I let out a small groan and let him pull my leg up and over his.
“Shh,” he whispered into my ear as his fingers slipped into my shorts. “You want it, you gotta be quiet.”
Someone laughed outside the tent and I froze, but Tommy’s fingers didn’t stop moving. He smoothed them over the crease between my hip and thigh and then pushed beneath my underwear.
We both groaned a little then.
“Quiet,” he said again, chuckling softly against the back of my neck.
“You’re making more noise than me,” I gasped.
“Lie,” he argued. The tips of his fingers ghosted over my skin, barely touching my clit before one was gently working it’s way inside me. I was wet enough that it moved in easily, but it only took one slide out and then back in before I was soaked.