“Hello?” Her brows furrowed as she listened and then her feet were moving, her fingers snapping in my direction for me to follow her. “It’s Vivi and I’m going to help so don’t be such a grumpy old asshole or I swear to God, I’ll fuckin’ leave you stranded.”
My shoulders relaxed, and a small smile touched my lips because there was only one person who could make someone that frustrated in under ten seconds.
Gunnar.
Vivi rolled her eyes and turned to me once we were both outside. “I’m going to the camper to help Mr. Grumpy Pants but if you want to gather your bros, they might want to know.”
“Bros?”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s what you are, right? Now go because I need to get this done before I accidentally put him on a watch list.”
She laughed at whatever Gunnar said in her ear and I took a step back and then another until I was damn near running back inside the clubhouse.
“Everything okay?” Jana mouthed when our eyes locked, but I only nodded, eager to get to Cross and the other Reckless Bastards.
“Whoa man, where’s the fire?” Savior stepped in front of me, Cross and Jag beside him instantly.
“It’s Gunnar. He’s on the phone with Vivi. In the camper.”
About a thousand questions were shouted at me all at once and I didn’t understand any of them. “What about Stitch?”
I shrugged. “I don’t fucking know! Vivi took the call and she just said to gather the bros.”
Jag snickered behind his hands and everyone else frowned at me like I’d lost my damn mind.
Cross smacked his hands together. “Jag and I will go to the camper and get the necessary intel. The rest of you, hang back and watch the families.” With those orders, they both strode off, leaving the rest of us to keep the party going.
Our brothers were alive, and that was reason enough to celebrate for me.
Chapter Eighteen - Cross
“You did a good thing, Cross. The kids had a blast and none of them even realized anything was wrong. Not even Maisie.” Moon’s strong slender fingers dug into my shoulders, slowly but surely removing every fucking knot in my neck and shoulders. “Relax.”
I let out a half-laugh and hal
f-grunt. Moon’s ability to see the good side of any shitty situation was just one of the reasons I loved her. Her magic hands were another. “Babe I don’t think even three straight days locked in a bedroom with you could get me to relax.”
Her melodic laughter sounded in my ears just as her tits pressed up against my back. “Well I’d accept that challenge, but you don’t have three days to give me.”
There was a smile in her voice but I could also hear the underlying tension and worry there. “I hope to give you all the days when this mess is over.” Dealing with the cartel was a bigger mess than my club had ever found ourselves in and I had no fucking clue how we’d get to the other side.
Moon sighed as she dug her knuckles deep into my right shoulder and I could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke. “All the days sound nice but until then, I’d settle for an hour. Or two.” She punctuated her words with a gentle, whisper soft kiss behind my ear. On my jawline. “Only if we can get these knots straightened out.” Too soon her lips were too far away and her strong hands were back to work, getting me straight for the fight ahead.
“What did I ever do to deserve you, Moon?” I didn’t think after Lauren that I deserved this kind of love again but Moon’s persistence, her straight talk and her ability to light my body on fire with a single glance, had proven me wrong.
“Maybe you’re just lucky.” She kissed my cheek again before turning her focus back to the hard knots in my muscles. “Or maybe, Cross, have you ever considered that I’m the lucky one?”
Hell no, I hadn’t. Moon was the bright shining star in my life and Beau was the second chance I never thought I’d get. And I wouldn’t get to fully explore it if we didn’t figure out this shit with the Salinas Cartel. “That’s crazy and you know it.”
She laughed and we both fell silent. I was lost in thought, thinking about the call from Gunnar that came in almost two days ago. The relief that I felt at hearing from Gunnar, even though he hadn’t stayed on the line long enough for me to talk to him, was so immense my knees nearly buckled. They were alive. Barely, according to Vivi who’d relayed their conversation word for word at my request. “Okay, Cross, am I going to have to peel these clothes off in order to get you to relax a little?”
I turned to look at her over my shoulder and smiled at the midnight blue dress she wore that showed off an impressive amount of cleavage even though her soft sweater covered up her incredible arms. Arms I enjoyed watching as they wrapped around me when we kissed, when we made love. Arms that created art as easily as they created meals for her boys or helped take away my stress. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
Her face lit up but the love shining in her light green eyes nearly brought me to my knees. “You’re pretty amazing too for a guy who’s trying to change the subject.” Tugging out of the arms of her sweater until her shoulders were bare, she tossed it on the dresser behind her. “Beau is playing with the kids and the door is locked,” she told me with a bright smile as one strap of her dress dropped off her slender shoulder. The other fell and seconds later the dress was on the floor, leaving Moon in nothing but a pair of blue lacy panties that did wonderful things for her ass. “Now remember, Cross. This is strictly therapeutic, not at all for your pleasure.”
I rose up from the stool I’d been sitting on and went to the bed, dropping down to kick off my boots and then my pants. The rest of my clothes vanished in an instant, firing up the green in her eyes until they were so light they damn near looked clear. “I’ll try my best not to enjoy it.”
She smiled and pushed at my chest until I was flat on my back, watching her long legs as she climbed on the bed. Straddled me. “Good because therapy is very, very important.” Her lips twitched and I swore, I fell even harder for her in that moment. Her ability to make me smile even when shit was as bad as it could possibly be was nothing short of miraculous, and I didn’t even believe in miracles.