“He let you tag along?” I ask. Clubs don’t just let bitches with kids tag along on runs. She and I both know that. She shakes her head and gives me a devious smile and leans in.
“Okay, I had to blow him a few times,” she says. “Tiniest fucking dick I’ve ever seen.” I throw my head back as laughter consumes me. She giggles and slaps my hand and takes a drag of her cigarette. “You tell Alex I said or did that and I’ll shoot you in your ass. Got it?”
“Sure thing, Ma,” I say and smile as she keeps talking.
“Anyway. We get up here, and back then Rage was president. You were probably too young, but he was a bastard even then. Jim wasn’t much better. But let me tell you something about the Stone men—they’re all alike. Rage was at least tolerable when Silvia was alive, but once she got cancer, that was it. The man took a one-way trip to Prickville and never came back. But anyway. Here I show up in town and get dropped off in the Forsaken Custom Cycle parking lot by the Arizona club, and I’m standing there. Ian, always the trooper, is holding my hand. The poor thing’s not even nine yet, and he already knows how this shit goes, ya know? God, I fucked that one up.” Wiping a stray tear from her eye, she finishes off her cigarette and rubs her hands together then reaches over and places her hand on top of mine.
“So out comes this kid from behind the gates of the clubhouse. He’s got this jet black hair and big gray eyes and damn if he isn’t one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. He runs up to me and Ian and looks me right in the eye like he’s some kind of man or something and says, ‘Lost Girls are supposed to be inside’. I figured out right away what that meant and was about to tell him I needed the president’s permission since I was from out of town, but then he just grabbed my hand and started dragging me past the gates. I thought for sure I was going to get in trouble, but then Jim came out and damn if he wasn’t sexy as hell.”
“Jim does have a sweet ass,” I say with a smile and wiggle my eyebrows. She smirks and winks at me.
“I’m telling you, the second he saw me he wouldn’t leave me alone. I worked at the clubhouse trying to keep everything clean—like that’s even possible—and the club paid me enough that I got me and Ian a small studio within walking distance of the clubhouse so I could get to work easily. Pretty soon I was watching Ryan and Ian as they’d play in the clubhouse while I worked. It was probably a bad environment for two little boys, but we do the best we can with what we have, ya know? So one night Jim gets me plastered and he gets me in bed. Now, at first I thought I was really becoming a Lost Girl. I wouldn’t have sex with him, but he wouldn’t let me have sex with anyone else, either. He was about to earn his VP patch, and he could throw a fit like nobody else I’d ever met—until Ryan—so nobody really argued with him. Besides, I was just some chick with a kid and a fucked up past. I had major baggage. From that night on, Jim was even more relentless. I made that man suffer for months before I finally caved and let him bring me home with him. And you know what? I ain’t ever left.”
“That’s awesome, Ma, but what does it have to do with Trigger and Princess?” I say, a bit annoyed. Once Ruby gets to talking about her boys she never shuts up.
“Do you think Jim wanted to be saddled with somebody’s else’s boy and a promise to always protect two more he’d likely never meet? Not if he had a choice, he wouldn’t have, I don’t think. But Forsaken men? You guys decide what you want and you’re all like fucking bulls in a china shop until you get it. But that’s because you’re a passionate group.”
“Maybe we’re just assholes,” I say.
“You’re definitely assholes, but you’ve also got really solid hearts. You guys are always fucking up, but you’re also always trying to make it right. So Ryan and Alex? They’re going to be just fine. That boy’s never cared this much about anyone else before. Even if he’s not good for her, she’s good for him, and he needs that.”
“He’s going to hurt her,” I say, choosing to omit the fact that he’s already hurt her. Ruby nods and stands from her place at the table. I stand up and look down at her.
“He’s going to break her heart and she’s going to break his. Nothing worth having ever comes without a price,” she says and walks back to the counter to prepare her chicken.
“Next time, why don’t you just say you think it’s gonna work out?” I ask. She looks over her shoulder, her lips twisting up at the corners.
“Because you needed to know that it’s going to work out for you, too. Nic’s running scared, but one day you’ll tire her out and she’ll stop running.”