I stare at her incredulously and throw my hands in the air. “I don’t even know how you know this shit.”
She turns around and gives me a soft smile and says, “If you’d been listening, you wouldn’t have to ask me that. The message, Joshua, is that even though Nic doesn’t know it right now, she needs you. I see so much of myself in that girl. She’s headstrong to a fault and prideful as all hell. Whatever’s going on between you two that’s got you sportin’ that sour puss will pass, and you’ll see to it because you need her, too. Same way Ryan needs Alex, and I need Jim.”
“No really, how high are you?” I ask. She smiles wide and shrugs.
“You’re the one who came to me looking for relationship advice,” she says. Damned if I can argue with her.
I’m trying like hell to make it work with Nic, but she’s not going easy on me. The night after we had our slow fuck, I got a call that Mancuso’s boys were on their way. That was when Ruby had been forced to tell Alex the truth, and shit’s been upside down ever since. I’ve barely had five minutes alone with Nic in the past week, and it’s pissing me off. The only time I see her is when I crawl into bed beside her and the few times we’ve fucked since last week. Otherwise, she’s fucking ignoring me, and just lying beside her isn’t enough. I tried to get her to come to the house so I’d know where she was, but she isn’t answering my calls or returning any of the text messages or voice mail messages I’ve left for her. Two days ago, her voice mail box filled up, and I’ve been reduced to calling and texting her, not that she’s responding, and yesterday I had to have one of the prospects hunt her brother down to get his number so I can at least find out what she’s doing through him. Ever since our little tiff a couple of weeks ago, he’s been a compliant soul. I haven’t been around, but according to Fish, who’s been keeping an eye on the shop and clubhouse, Jeremy’s been doing good at his assigned task. As much as I wanted to pound his face into the pavement, I decided the best way to teach him to be a man is to put him to work like a man. He’s spent every day taking orders from Fish and cleaning up the shop like I told him to. Once this shit with Princess settles, I’m going to have him help me fix Nic’s car up.
The sun isn’t really shining outside as much as it is just slightly overcast and streaming in a few spots from breaks in the clouds overhead. Fucking Mendocino summer. It’s never really all that hot here, but a day like today I wish it were. I’m sick of standing in cool winds and light rains in fucking July of all times. I pull my sun glasses on because I’m bound and fucking determined to find a sunny spot to stand in, and walk out the back to my post. It’s about time I relieve Bear anyway. By the back shed of the house, Bear stands with his semi-automatic assault rifle. He paces down the property line about a hundred yards then back toward the house. He catches sight of me before I get too close, and thank the fuck for it, too. He’s more of a shoot first and ask questions later kind of guy.
“Go blow a load, I got this,” I say to Bear. He nods, grabs his dick, and sticks his tongue out.
“No matter how many times you ask, I am not going to suck your dick. So save yourself the trouble and just stop asking. You’re embarrassing yourself!” I shout as he disappears around the shed. I lift the strap to my own semi-automatic rifle over my head and make sure it’s positioned correctly. With one hand under the long barrel and the other near the trigger, I survey the landscape. The neighbors on this side of the property live at the bottom of a sloping hill and are a good quarter of a mile away, so even if they look up they’re unlikely to see the firepower. Nothing much is going on over there. A few lights are on inside the house, and two cars are parked out front. Nobody’s outside from what I can tell, so I move on. Walking the same path that Bear just did, I focus on the task at hand and try to move past all that shit Ruby said. I’m pretty sure she was half drunk when she was talking about Trigger. That bastard was never cute.
“Grip it tighter. Act like it’s my dick,” Trigger says. I pause for a moment and abandon my post to see what’s going on. With any luck, he’ll be talking to Diesel or Chief and not Princess. Crossing the field, glancing back at the property line every few feet, I reach a line of redwood trees and stop, turn around, and check one more time before continuing on toward Trigger’s voice. Now, on the other side of the trees, I can see Trigger as he stands behind Princess. His arms are lifted in front of him, and he’s got Princess doing the same. She’s got a gun in her hands and his cover hers.