Inflamed: A Shadow Riders MC (29 page)

"It's only been a few goddamn days," he said.

"Just a few goddamn days, huh?" He glanced over at her again. "Looks like your mother really took a real likin' to her, just like I thought. Madi too."

"Yeah." He groaned.

"That's a good fuckin' thing, asshole. 'Specially considerin' the kinda, uh,
person
, your mother can be when it comes to bein' around these new club bitches. Though I'm guessin' your girl doesn't exactly qualify as one just yet. Unless..." He took another swig of his beer and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "You get a look-see at those pretty brown titties yet?"

"
Jesus
."

"I'm only askin' 'cause I know it's what you want, asshole." He dropped back against a table and chuckled as he folded his arms. "I saw Snake and Miranda inside, but when's everybody else showin' up? The boys and the Dragons and the rest?"

"Not for another goddamn hour or so. All the prospects are bringin' their women so they can help with the food. And I even invited some of the club pussy, excluding your bitch," he mentioned. "As long as they promised to fuckin' behave with the wives around. They're already gettin' into shit with each other as it is."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I had to pull Miranda off my mother two seconds after she walked through my goddamn front door.”

“What the fuck for?”

“Jolene made some crack about her goddamn potato salad tastin' like water, shit and piss."

"Shit." Blue held his stomach and nearly doubled over in laughter. "Jolene ain't never liked Snake's Old Lady."

"No. Anyway, the rest of 'em are bringin' their kids and I've got some folks around the area comin' too."

"Like that kid Avery's playin' with over there? She from around the area?"

River turned to look at them and nodded. "Yeah. Snake and Miranda's kids are inside takin' a nap or some shit in Madison’s room. She said the hours they need to sleep conflicted with the goddamn hours of when this shit started up.”

Blue eyed the yard and threw his hand inside his pocket. "That kid over there, she got a mother around here anywhere?"

"Jesus, asshole." River dropped his shoulders and rattled his head. "For a few fuckin' hours while they're here, just try keepin' your dick zipped up, alright? If Mia sees some shit goin' down here too, she's hightailin’ it the fuck outta here before we can even get to Ricky in the next few weeks. That's exactly why I didn't invite your bitch here."

"Okay. Shit, VP, alright," he said. "I guess if you can keep your cock snapped shut tight around this bitch you wanna sink it into, then I can do the same around these others." He drank back the rest of his beer and slammed the empty bottle down onto the table. "But I ain't makin' any goddamn promises about it." 

Just then, Mia hopped up to the deck and greeted him. "Hi."

"Hey, darlin'," he said. "Looks like you got alota shit piled up over in that corner back there."

"Yeah." She spun around to stare at it. "I didn't realize how much it was until Snake and River dragged it all out of that shed. It's mostly junk now, for me, anyway. Maybe somebody else can get some use out of a few things I won't need anymore."

"Yeah. Maybe I'll get that, uh, dresser thing over there for my daughter."

Her eyes grew wide and she made a face. "You have a child?"

"Don't looked so shocked about it, babe."

"I'm not -- Well,
I am
, I'm sorry. I just never actually pictured you with a kid, that's all. How old is she?"

"Damn near the same age as River's," he said. "She'll be fifteen next month. Lives with her mother out in Colorado. She sends post cards and shit every now and then, letters and whatnot. Maybe if I send this out to her or set it up inside my house, she'll actually come out for a visit. How much you sellin' it for?"

"Um..." She whirled around to stare at it again, then turned back to him and smiled. "Why don't you just take it?"

"Mia," River growled.

"It's fine," she said. "You can just take it."

"I can't do that to you, darlin’. Whole reason you're gettin' rid of this shit is 'cause you need the cash." He reached inside his back pocket for his wallet and pulled out at least five one hundred dollar bills. Mia gasped as he placed each one inside her hand. "You keep that shit for you and your little girl. And I'll take that dresser back there for me and mine."

Mia crumbled the money inside her hand and swallowed hard to hold herself back from crying all over his cut. "Thank you," she told him.

He pat her on the shoulder, then hopped down from the deck and made his way over to Verna, Madison and Jolene.

River stepped away from the grill and moved in beside her. He stared down at her for a few seconds, then looked out into the yard. "I've known Blue for a long motherfuckin' time," he told her. "Almost my entire goddamn life. And never in all those years have I seen him put that much money inside a woman's hand instead of on the edge of her goddamn nightstand."

Mia chuckled, though it was mostly due to nervous laughter, and shoved the money inside her pocket. "
Nice
,” she replied in a sarcastic tone.

"What do you plan on doin' with it?"

"I don't know. Maybe buy you dinner?" She looked up at him just as he turned back to her, and bit her tongue. "I mean, since you're cooking and I can't cook all that well... Just as sort of a thank you."

"You keep thankin' me, darlin', I'm gonna run outta shit to be givin' you for you to thank."

"There's always more," she told him.

"More that I could give?"

She nodded and grinned up at him. "Yeah." She sank her teeth into her lip and started making her way down the deck. "I'm going to go back and help your mother and Verna finish over there."

"How the hell are those two gettin' along?" he asked.

"They're okay, I guess. They don't really talk to each other all that much unless they have to. Do you know what the deal is between them?"

He shook his head. "Been that way ever since I was a goddamn kid. They care about each other, but, they just don't always fuckin' know how to show it. Listen, uh." He stepped closer to her. "The Dragons are gonna be here around the same time as the rest of my boys. I figure when the auction gets to goin' good, I'll bring 'em off to the side and we can hear what they've gotta say."

"Okay." She tucked her hair behind her ears and squint. "Are you sure my being there with you is such a good idea?"

"We'll find out soon enough, won't we, babe? By the way, you're uh... you're lookin' pretty damn good today."

She looked down at herself, at her bright white tank top and fitted jeans. "It's just about how I look every day."

"Yeah, well, uh..." He cleared his throat. "Shit looks especially better today for some reason. I don't know."

"Oh, well... Thanks." She drew her eyes up and down his body and Jesus, did he feel that shit. "You look especially better today too."

They stared at each other for a long goddamn time, fighting that urge that had reached up inside and grabbed them both in a fucking chokehold.

"I'm going to go back over there, and I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, doll," he told her. "I'll come after you when the shit starts goin' good."

"Okay."

He watched with a close eye as she bounced across the yard, but suddenly got distracted by his daughter staring back at him with those big mud colored eyes and smiling. He turned back to his grill and groaned when he realized she was making her way toward him.

"Hey, daddy," she said, swinging her long blond locks over her shoulder and bumping her arm into his.

"Baby girl--"

"Are you using your old recipes for the steaks?"

"Yeah."

"Does Mia like beef?" she asked him.

Slowly, he rolled his eyes to her and lowered his brows. "What?"

"The food," she asked him. "You started cooking before even asking her what she likes to eat."

"Oh." He breathed a sigh of relief. "She mentioned somethin’ about a steak the other day, so I just assumed--"

"You can't just assume with women like that, daddy."

"Women like what?"

"Women who aren't your usual club whores. When it comes to women like Mia, you need to ask them what
they
really want. Not just assume that whatever you want is the same thing that they want too. Or that they’re even willing to give it.”

He opened his hand and pointed toward the grill. "Is this still about the goddamn food?"

She rolled her eyes up at him and shrugged before making her way back over to the other side of the yard.

It was then and there that he realized just how goddamn long this day was bound to become.

Chapter Twenty

By around two o'clock, River's entire backyard was filled with nearly every member and potential member of the club (
with the exception of Tiny, who River went of his way not to invite; though he said it was more likely a given that Tiny wouldn't have shown up either way
), their old ladies, ‘other’ women of the club and all the kids. He also managed to get some people around his neighborhood to actually show up, one of which included a single mother named Meghan (
whose daughter spent more time with Avery than the others
), and who had been dodging one man after the other as they tried desperately to get after her, despite their women being within less than a mile distance from them; though she couldn't seem to get away from Blue
or
his hands and after a while, didn't seem to want to all that much either.

After the first few hours of the auction, I had sold nearly everything Styx, Trucker and the rest managed to get out of my house that wasn't nailed down to the floor (
with the exception of my computer
) and was well on my way to having enough money that would've afforded me and Avery a chance to get the hell out of Florida, build my own damn 'safe house' and never come back. But I knew that the actual possibility of that happening was slim to absolutely none. Not only would River possibly throw the biggest fit of any man I had ever seen, but even if I managed to build myself a hole underground, there was a higher chance that Ricky and his men would sniff me out like a pack of wild dogs before I even managed to cover myself.

While River continued to man the grill, fixing more and more food for the hungry members and children of the club, I stepped back into the kitchen from the patio to grab the second bowl of Miranda's potato salad. Even though Jolene had nearly convinced everyone that it was poisoned, which was why it was so watery and tasted more like juice than salad, most still enjoyed eating it; though they went out of their way to hide the evidence from her when she thought about coming back around to ask them about it.

As I gathered up the bowl and was on my way back outside, I was unpleasantly stopped by a vibrantly intoxicated Eightball, who seemed to pop up like a freaking Jack-In-The-Box, given that I hadn't seen him most of the day; though I too was going out of my way to avoid certain people while here, and he was definitely one of them.

Once he made his way inside the house and slid the patio door shut, I stepped back into the kitchen and placed the bowl back down on the counter. I could see him staring at me from the corner of my eye, more like leering as he dropped a hand inside his pocket and reached for a cigarette, and more than anything, all I wanted was to be as far away from him,
and out of that tiny as hell kitchen space
, as I could possibly get.

"You need a hand with that, darlin'?" he asked.

I turned to him just as he lit up and shook my head. "You can't smoke in here."

He produced a haphazard grin and leaned against the frame. "Darlin', I been knowin' River a fuck of a lot longer than you have, alright? I think I know when and where I can smoke when it comes to bein' inside his goddamn house."

"He doesn't want people smoking in here anymore now that Avery's here. I asked him about it before moving in, and he agreed. Even his mother doesn't smoke inside the house anymore, and he told me that she refrained from it when Madison was little, as did he.”

His lids hovered over his eyes as he continued to stare at me, then he ripped the cigarette from between his lips and dipped it into a bowl of ice cream on the corner edge of the counter. "There. It's out." He grinned, though in no way did it make me feel any less uncomfortable. He slid his hands inside his back pockets and moved closer to me. And for the first time, I noticed a handful of tiny scars surrounding his nose and eyes, old scars that stood out and across his pale white skin, which looked as if they had been there for at least over a decade. But they didn't look like natural scars or scars that one gets from being reckless or stupid with some kind of machinery; they looked like marks from actual fingernails, and I was pretty sure not from his own. "So uh." He looked behind him for a second, then turned back to me. "What's the deal with you and VP anyway?" he asked.

"The deal?"