Battle Hearts (Storm MC Reloaded 3)

“I’m hoping to get out of here in the next hour or two.”

“Tell me you’re planning on cooking your famous ribs.”

“Oh God no, they have too much sugar in them for me and Winter. I thought we could try this new restaurant I found yesterday. One of the girls at work is raving over it.”

“It’s not a vegan restaurant, is it?”

“Well,” she says, “kinda. Maybe. But don’t tell Winter, k?”

I chuckle. “Angel, I’m right here.”

“Shit,” she mutters. “Well—”

Max cuts her off. “It’s his birthday. We can’t force him to eat green shit on his birthday.”

“I would argue that,” she says. “He’ll be getting his dick sucked after dinner. Surely that’ll keep him happy.”

After a year of dealing with Birdie and her love of saying shit to him that she knows he may be uncomfortable with, my brother doesn’t even blink at her dirty language. “We’re supposed to have all the things we love on our birthday, Birdie. I would argue that only getting his dick sucked doesn’t cover everything he loves in that department. You need to up your game. And on top of that, we’re not taking him to a fucking vegan restaurant to celebrate his birthday. I’ll find a restaurant.”

“When did you get so good at this?” she says. “I remember the days when you practically choked if I uttered the D word.”

I grin at their banter and say, “Baby, you’re gonna have to come up with some new material I think.”

“I can see that,” she says. “Okay, I gotta go, but I just wanted to say I’m so happy you’re here, Max. And I can’t wait to see you and hug the shit out of you.”

“Right back at you,” Max says. They’ve come a long way from the days where he was awkward as fuck with Birdie’s displays of affection.

“And, baby?” she says to me. “I’m gonna do more than just suck your dick tonight.”

With that, she’s gone, and I’m left thinking about her lips around me. “Christ,” I mutter.

“You’re telling me,” Max says. “I’m waiting for the day she stops with the dick talk.”

“You have no idea what’s coming for you, do you?”

“You think I should go back to my old way of dealing with her filthy language?”

“It’s too late for that, brother.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figure too. Jesus.”

I grin at him. “The perks of being loved by Birdie.”

He hits me with a smile. “Yeah.”

We turn silent for a beat before he says, “How are you guys going with everything?”

“Good so far. Birdie’s had a couple of side effects from the first round of drugs, but she’s doing well with it.”

“She called me a couple of days ago and said she was in menopause. What’s that about?”

I laugh. “Yeah, she’s roaming around the house complaining of hot flushes and menopause. These drugs she’s on at the moment suppress the ovaries, which puts the body in a menopause-like state. They call it downregulation. She’s been having hot flushes and headaches.”

“And extreme moods from what I could gather during our call.”

I nod. “She’s been a little irritable and emotional at times, but that was to be expected.”

“You guys are describing it very differently.”