Making the Cut (Saving Dallas 2)

After the house was locked, the car was loaded, and we were seated inside, Luke’s mood brightened.

“You seem happy,” I said, turning to smile at him and placing my small, smooth hand in his large, calloused one.

“I haven’t seen these guys in quite some time. They are from our chapter out of Lake Charles, LA. You’ll love them,” he said smiling and bringing our hands up to his mouth so he could kiss my fingers. Why was that so heart melting? “I can’t wait for you to meet Brooklyn. She is like a mother to us all, and she has no problem speaking her mind.”

“Kind of like Red?” I asked, feeling my own self getting excited now.

“Red was her, twenty years ago. Brooklyn once told her that if she didn’t know any better, she would think she came from her own pussy.”

I laughed out loud at the harsh comment, and the fact that a woman who was considered a motherly figure would say it. Luke laughed with me and shook his head.

“She is definitely one of a kind. Her husband Ronnie is the president of that chapter. Other than Regg, he is one of my greatest brothers.”

“So, you have favorites?” I asked, my simple mind thinking that he shared the same love for each brother.

“I wouldn’t call it favorites. I love all of my brothers. I would give my life for any of them, but just like in a blood family, I prefer some over others.”

“How can you have more love for one that you hardly see, than you have for some that you see almost every day?” I asked, wondering what was so different about the other guys, or what they had done to make Luke not like them as much.

“Me and Ronnie go way back. He was a friend of my Pops. I don’t love him any more than I do any of the other guys; him and I just get along better and have a lot of history. Maybe it’s because I don’t see him as much and he doesn’t look to me for guidance like the other guys do. He’s my equal.” Luke explained, seeming to not understand the answer either. “I don’t know, I just miss him I guess. I miss all the guys. I have been so busy with the timber company and trying to straighten out shit with my own chapter, that I don’t have time to really enjoy the perks of being in this lifestyle, ya know?” Oh, how I did know. People would kill to be where I was on the ladder of success at my young age, but I was so busy trying to stay on top that I never got the opportunity to stop and enjoy it.

“I got ya, babe,” I said, smiling and bring our hands to my lips so I could kiss his fingers as he had mine.

“Stop stealing my lines and my moves. Babe is my word and the hand kissing is my thing. Not yours.” He was trying to be serious, but his smiling eyes gave him away.

I shook my head and looked out the window. The cars we passed seemed to be sitting still. I looked over at the speedometer and my eyes bugged out of my head. Luke drove my Mercedes like he drove a Harley.

“You in a hurry or something?” I almost shouted at him.

“I like this car. I might get one,” he said, raising his left arm that he had thrown over the top of the steering wheel to glance at the needle on the speedometer-the speedometer that was hitting the one hundred mile per hour mark. I rolled my eyes at his unconcerned expression.

“You’re gonna get a ticket,” I chastised.

“I know people, babe,” he said with a wink and of course, I melted. He could speed. I didn’t mind.

When we turned off the highway and onto the long gravel road that would lead us to the clubhouse, Luke entered into full blown LLC mode.

“Remember what I said, Dallas, and remember your promise.”

“What promise?” I asked, my heart beginning to beat heavy in my chest and my bitch meter slowly climbing. Luke gave me that don’t-be-a-bitch look. Maybe it was the tone of his voice or the “don’t embarrass me comment” but I immediately punched the bitch in me in the face and sent her back to her dark cell.

“To be cordial.” Oh yeah, that.

“I promise to be good and I’ll try to not be a bitch,” I said, holding up the scouts honor symbol in hopes of lightening the mood. Surprisingly, it worked.

“That’s all I ask, beautiful.”

Ahh, the “beautiful” word. It got me every time-along with the wink and the smirk and the “babe” and the white t-shirts and the lips. My thoughts of Luke were interrupted when I saw all of the motorcycles lined up in front of the club house.