Black Sheep (Rawkfist MC Book 1) (12 page)

Jared sighs
long and loud “There’s no talking to people when they’ve got stars in their
eyes at the start of a relationship. I still needed to have my say.”

“And I respect
that, but you need to get over being weird about Justice and me. She senses it,
and that makes her distrust you. The thing I noticed about Justice, her
sisters, and mom is how they fight and rag on each other, but they also accept
each other completely warts and all. If you don’t trust her judgment, it makes
her not trust your judgment. So you need to get past this, or you’ll make
things tense between you and your kids. I suspect Justice and Journey are a
package deal. If one of them gets upset, the other follows.”

“You're not
wrong, but I’m not afraid of pissing off Justice. If I think you’re fucking
with her, I’ll tell her.”

“Do your dad
thing. I’m leaving now so I can pick up Felix. We’re visiting Justice at work
so he can meet her.”

Jared shakes
his head, but I don’t know why he’s surprised his words didn’t affect me. He
couldn’t have really thought I’d dump Justice, and he knows she won’t dump me
on his say so. Whatever he wants won’t happen, and I see him working out a way
to adjust to this new reality. Unlike the old men inside, Jared isn’t the type
to wallow in self-pity about a world he can’t control.

Justice

W
eeks into my new job, I still love coming to
work. I want everything in the store to run perfectly. I even double check
other managers’ paperwork. Nothing bothers me at work, not rude customers or
lazy employees. While Rite-Rock Mart is no Burger King, this place feels like
home now.

Like many
afternoons, I reorganize the potato chip bags a couple of dumbass teenagers
rearranged during their stoned munchies quest. Even with my mind focused on
this important task, I notice Court walking toward the front door.

He’s so much
more beautiful than anyone else in the entire world. My whole body reacts to
the sight of him. I remember caressing his hot skin and licking his plump lips.
Edgy with need, I’m startled to notice Court open the door for a kid.

A foot shorter
than his dad, Felix has a mop of dark hair similar to Court’s. While not the
spitting image of his father, the similarities are eerie. They walk in stride,
and I would guess they were brothers if I didn’t know the truth. Suddenly, I’m
very aware Court isn’t just my boyfriend. He’s an honest to goodness grown-up
responsible for a kid.

“Hey,” he says,
leaning down to kiss me quickly. “This is Felix.”

Court hides his
anxiety about this forced meet-up. I look into Felix’s dark eyes and see too
much resemblance to the guy I want to hump. Freaked out, I only mumble, “Hey.”

“Hi,” Felix
awkwardly replies.

I know Court
wants us to get along, so I shake out my arms and calm my anxiety. “Look,
Felix, I don’t know anything about kids. The only kid I know is my
fifteen-year-old sister, and she’s more of a raging nut-job teenager than a
kid. So I’m going to go ahead and talk to you like you’re an adult since I
doubt you want me to talk to you like a baby. I only have those two modes.”

Felix gives me
a lopsided smile that is so frigging adorable I can instantly picture Court as
a boy. I want to both hug him for being so cute and hump Court for growing up
to be so sexy. Doubting Felix wants a hug, and certain Court would prefer I
didn’t feel him up in front of his kid, I keep my hands to myself.

“Um,” I say,
afraid to make an offer I might regret, “this weekend, my family has backyard
grilling party thing. If you want, you could come. Though I should warn you
that we don’t know how to cook raw meats, and my mom always puts way too much
mustard in her potato salad. You’ll probably want to eat before coming over.”

Felix looks at
his dad to see if they can go. I can’t imagine being so docile to my parent.
When I was ten, I told Christine I wanted to buzz off my hair and whined until
she took me to the salon. Once I was bald, I whined until she bought me a wig
to cover my peanut shaped skull. Felix, though, passively waits for his dad for
approval.

“Want us to
bring anything?” Court asks.

“No. Well, you
could bring food, but that’s probably asking too much.”

“Dad knows how
to grill,” Felix says, shoving his hands in his pockets and perfectly mimicking
Court.

“That I do. I
could make sure the meat is edible.”

“My hero,” I
coo, forgetting for a second how his kid probably doesn’t want to see me
swooning. “I mean, I would really appreciate any assistance in this matter.”

Court rolls his
eyes and leans down to give me another kiss. I wish I could wrap my legs around
one of his and then hump the hell out of it until I find relief from the heat he
creates by simply existing.

“Felix, go grab
us a few sodas while I talk to Justice.”

Grinning at his
dad
, the kid looks like he’s
dying to laugh. I felt the same way when Christine brought her boyfriends home
to meet us. She only did it twice and ended up marrying the second weenie. Both
times, I barely kept a straight face. Having sexually active parents is one of
the most disgusting concepts ever.

Felix walks to
the refrigerators to get them a drink. The second he’s out of sight, I grab
Court and kiss him hard. He responds with the same gusto, but we quickly pry
ourselves apart.

“He’s so
gorgeous, Court,” I whisper.
“You
did good. In fact, I want you to make one of them with me right now.”

“In front of
the security cameras and Ali Smith?”

I glance at Ali
standing behind the front counter and realize she’s struggling not to gawk at
her horny manager.

“You’re right.
Time and place. Appropriate work behavior. All that stuff. Still, Felix is so
handsome.”

Court gives me
a look somewhere between proud papa and relieved boy-toy.

“Did I do
okay?” I ask. “Was I too likable? Should I hold back next time?”

Court gives my
cheek a quick kiss right before Felix returns with the drinks.

“What are you
two boys doing this afternoon?”

“Shooting hoops
at the park,” Court says.

“Sounds boring.
I’m glad I’m not coming along.”

Felix smiles at
me. “Dad told me you have no filter.”

“Wait, what? I
have a filter. Trust that I don’t say a lot of inappropriate crap floating
around in my big head.”

Court’s smile
fades when he spots someone entering the store. Felix follows his father’s gaze
and loses his smile too. I’m assuming the person at the counter isn’t a friend
of theirs.

“She’s tight
with Becca,” Court says in a quiet voice.

“Do you like
dogs?” I ask Felix as a way to distract from the redhead at the counter.

“Yeah.”

“We have a
stubborn dog who loves little kids. You’re not so little, but I think he’ll
still want to follow you around at the barbecue. You should prepare for that.”

Felix smiles
again, and I realize I have a natural knack with kids. Or he’s just easy to
please. Probably the latter.

Court waits
until the redhead leaves before paying for their drinks. I wish I could run off
with them to the park even if shooting hoops really does sound horrible. Court
makes me feel even needier when he mentions Felix is sleeping over at his place
tonight. I try to hide my disappointment when hearing this announcement. I really
do, but Felix still worries I’ll cry.

Shrugging off
my weepy self, I walk them outside to the Harley. I watch them ride away, and
my fingers wipe away a hint of moisture from around my eyes.

Court
is my guy, and I want to have him with me
twenty-four seven. Unfortunately, the real world of grown-ups doesn’t allow for
much possessive stalkerish behavior.

Justice

W
aking up early on a weekend makes Journey a
bitchy bitch. She growls everything she says while we work on food before our
guests arrive. Even playing the Fratellis on blast in the kitchen doesn’t
improve her mood.

Meanwhile,
Christine is a ball of nerves, but her frazzled demeanor is the complete
opposite of her first born. Where Journey growls, Christine sings everything.

Either way,
they’re obnoxious.

Poppy and I
work silently next to our insane sister and mother. I’m thinking of Court and
how I haven’t seen him naked in two days. He needed to stay overnight at
Felix’s grandmother’s house while the woman dealt with a medical issue. I
thought to ask why couldn’t Becca stick around and watch her children but
remembered what Court said about his ex partying on the weekends.

“This is good
practice,” I say to no one since I make this announcement before realizing I’m
suddenly alone in the kitchen. Focusing on Louise nearby, I pretend as if I
always intended to talk to our least friendly cat. “If Court and I were always
naked and having fun, I wouldn’t be able to see what we’d be like in real life.
It’d all be lust and party times. No, this is much better. It’s a grown-up
relationship. Yeah, much better.”

“You’re an
idiot,” I hear from the hallway.

“You better not
be talking to me!” I yell at Journey, though she remains busy elsewhere in the
house.

“I’m not,” she
yells back. “Thelma tried to climb my leg, and I wasn’t wearing pants. She’s
lucky I didn’t punch her in the whiskers.”

“Violence is
never the answer,” I tell Louise, who gets fed up with me bugging her and walks
away.

I finish
peeling potatoes and put them on to boil. Once the food is under Christine’s
overly-happy care, I take a shower and pick out a blue and white sleeveless flannel
style shirt to go with my jean shorts. Slathering sunscreen followed by bug
repellent on my skin, I am officially ready to meet and greet people in the
hot, insect-infested outdoors.

Journey showers
off her bad mood and ends up smiling a lot as we finish up the food. Christine
is positively radiant as she dumps an obscene amount of mustard into her potato
salad. Poppy claims she googled how to grill meat properly, so no one needs to
die today. Everyone is ready for our first West Virginia house party.

I don’t particularly
care about most of the guests. Grandma Coretta bitches about the potato salad
until I admit I was the one who made it. Then she decides I’m trying to kill
her. This accusation means I don’t have to talk to her for the rest of the day.
My sisters are livid with envy.

Christine’s new
bestie, Wanda, arrives with her fat, hairy biker husband. He pats me on the
head like I’m a cute dog and then nearly loses a finger when he tries to do the
same with Journey.

Walking around
the backyard where everyone talks and eats, I carry a squirt bottle at the
ready in case Hal wants to nip at annoying people. He’s a testy geriatric
bastard and especially hates other old timers. I see him eyeballing Grandma a
few times and end up squirting him just to be safe.

I stroll
through the house, squirting the cats because I’m annoyed by their indifference
to my anxiety. They respond with their death stares, and I suspect at least one
of them will attempt to murder me in my sleep tonight.

On the front
porch, Poppy is on the lookout for her dweeb friends.

“Court and
Felix should be here soon,” I say, joining her.

“Don’t care,”
she growls, swatting at a fly. “Don’t embarrass me with my friends.”

“Too late. I
already have my entire day planned out and embarrassing you is on my bullet
list.”

Poppy gives me
her twitchy-eyed frown. “I hope Felix thinks you’re an evil stepmother.”

“Stepmother,” I
say, feeling out the word. “I like that.”

“You won’t really
embarrass me, will you?”

“These guys you
hang out with are dweebs. I don’t get why you’re so queefing nervous.”

“I want them to
think I’m perfect.”

“They call you
Hot Girl. Isn’t that enough?”

“No. Don’t
embarrass me.”

“We’ll see. If
you don’t embarrass me with Court and Felix, I might show you mercy.”

“Deal.”

My fellas
arrive before hers, and I walk down to where they climb off of the Harley.

Court
looks so damn sexy in a simple gray
Bluefield Blue Jays jersey. His dark hair looks damp, and I imagine him
recently showering.
Yeah, that’s a nice thought right there.

“Felix, this is
my younger sister, Poppy,” I say after getting a quick kiss from Court. “She
bites so you’ll want to remain cautious in her vicinity.”

Felix frowns at
Poppy, who stares at him with her dead-eyed expression. I squirt her with the
water bottle, and she responds by whipping a lemon slice at my head.

“See what I
mean?” I say to Felix.

Like his
father, the kid isn’t sure what to make of the sisterly bickering. He takes
things way too literally.

“My friends are
here,” Poppy says, dabbing away the water squirt. “I will be ignoring you for
the rest of the day.”

“Take Felix
with you.”

“Why?” she
asks, and Felix scowls at my suggestion.

“You’re taking
the dweebs into the house to play video games. He can join in the fun.”

“He’s little.”

“He’s probably
as mature as your dweeb friends.”

“Stop calling
them dweebs.”

“You called
them that this morning at breakfast.”

“Yeah but
they’re my friends so I can say what I want. You don’t know them.”

“I met Cowlick,
and he stared at my boobs the entire time. I feel confident that dweeb is the
least offensive name I can think for him.”

Poppy frowns at
Felix and sizes him up. Though he’s nearly as tall as she is, he still has a
baby face while hers is all teen bitch.

“Fine but he
can’t speak the entire time.”

Rolling my
eyes, I pat Felix on the shoulder. “You talk as much as you want. If they give
you a hard time, I’ll sic Hal on them.”

Court watches
the entire scene, and I know he’s dying to say something. He doesn’t trust
Poppy. Ordinary people often find her scary, but I know she’s harmless, and she
likes underdogs. As the youngest person at a barbecue filled with lame adults,
Felix is as big an underdog as they come.

Poppy gestures
for Felix to follow her, and he grudgingly does. I see him glance back once to
beg his father for an out. Court mouths, “Sorry.” Felix’s glare is classic
preteen pissed.

“Ooh, he’s mad
at you,” I tease, poking his gut. “Bet he talks shit about you to Poppy.”

“Are you sure
he’ll be okay?”

“Poppy doesn’t
drink, do drugs, or have sex. She’s the safest teenager you’ll find. Her dweeb
friends are all, you know, dweeby. They’ll talk about comic books and video
games. Hell, Felix might be the coolest of the five of them.”

Grinning, Court
wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Don’t think I didn’t notice how you got rid
of the cock blocker.”

“Look, I think
your kid is super, cool awesome, but I want you to pay attention to me. Is that
so wrong? Childish? Sure, but not wrong.”

“Do you like
him or are you saying that to make me happy?”

“He’s sweet,
but it’s not like I know him.”

“Do you want to
know him?”

Gripping his
shirt, I stare into his dark eyes I’ve missed so much.

“I want you,
Court. All of the time. To have you, I need to know your kid. Fortunately, he
doesn’t suck. I worry he won’t like me, though. I don’t know how to hang out
with boys. I’m not like Poppy, and I didn’t have guy friends growing up.”

“You don’t need
to hang out with him. Just be you and treat him like you treat your family.
Once he figures out you’re not serious half of the time you speak, he’ll learn
to love you.”

We let that
“love” word linger in the air. Neither of us wants to get weird about it.

“Is Jared
coming?” Court asks, changing the subject.

“No. Mom still
can’t be around him.”

“You know
that’s weird, right?”

“No,” I say and
then poke him in the gut. “Seems reasonable to me actually. He makes her stupid
with lust, and she’s looking to keep her brain in check. Avoiding him makes a
helluva lot of sense.”

“They live in
the same town.”

I frown at how
he’s pointing out crap I already know. Court shrugs at my irritation.

“I wonder if
your father had a healthy relationship with your mother, if he might be cooler
with any relationships his children have.”

“Did he give
you grief about us banging pelvises?”

“Yeah, and he
worded it exactly like that too.”

Leaning closer,
I whisper, “I want to bang my pelvis against yours right now.”

“Sounds great,
but I’m hungry, so my desire is focused on other activities.”

Eyes widening,
I desperately wish we could sneak off for a private naked time. Court smirks
knowingly at my reaction. Having me wrapped around his pinkie finger clearly
pleases the hunk.