The microwave beeped and I popped the door and grabbed my toasty little muffin that had puffed up. “I think I know what I’m in for.”
My cheeks heated as I snuck another look at Bishop. He smirked and shot me a wink. As if he could tell exactly what I was thinking.
“How far are we from Vegas?” I asked, slathering my muffin in butter and digging in while standing with my hip against the counter.
“You woke up just in time,” Cash said, rubbing his hands together. “We’re about half an hour out.”
I swallowed my bite and narrowed my eyes at him. “Why are we doing this Vegas show again? Didn’t we specifically say we weren’t playing Vegas anymore after last time?”
Cash made a hurt face. “I can control myself.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right. That’s what you said last time. And the time before.”
Cash just smiled the boyish smile he used when he was trying to get away with shit. “But I always get out of any tricky situations I stumble into. I’m lucky that way.”
“Not your infamous luck again.” I shook my head. “Someday your luck is gonna run out. Just when you need it, too. You shouldn’t rely on it like you do.”
But Cash just came over to me and started massaging my shoulders. “Why would I do that? It’s fucking fabulous being the luckiest man alive. Just look what I walked into last night.”
I laughed at that. “If you were really lucky, you would have walked in twenty minutes earlier when Bishop was ordering me to suck cocks.”
Cash’s hands froze on my shoulders and I heard him swallow before he continued his massage. “Well,” he said, coughing a little. “There’s always tonight after the fight.”
“I can’t believe you guys are risking going to Vegas just to see a freaking prize fight. What on earth is the point of watching two grown men beat the crap out of each other?”
“It’s more than that,” Bishop said. “It’s men giving into their most primal nature. And the crowd, screaming at the top of their lungs for blood. It’s primal.”
Men. I’d never understand them. “Don’t you get enough of crowds at our concerts?”
Bishop just smirked. A bad habit of his. As if he always knew more than he was letting on. And as if he was sure he knew more than anyone else in the room. “It’s different. Trust me. We’ll take you tonight and show you. We have front row seats.”
I shook my head and laughed. “Then it’s more about being seen than watching the fights, isn’t it?”
Bishop slid out of the bench seating around the kitchen table where we all often gathered and came up to me. “Not for me. I like to be close enough to smell the sweat and hear the sound of one man’s fist pounding another man’s flesh. It’s visceral. Brings out the animal in a man.”
“Yeah, well, maybe somebody should put you on a leash,” Mason said with a growl. “Where animals belong.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Cash said, stepping between them. He was brave. I knew better than to get in between Bishop and Mason’s pissing matches. “Let’s make love, not war.”
“Why don’t we just focus on the music and not put so much pressure on Luna,” Tank said, low and deep from where he was still sitting in the corner.
Bishop turned back around. “The statue speaks.”
I smacked him on the shoulder. “Don’t be an asshole.” I loved Tank and I wouldn’t let anyone pick on him, not even Bishop. He was a gentle, quiet giant. When he actually spoke, it meant he had something to say. And the fact that he’d spoken up for me… it meant something.
So I popped the last bite of butter-soaked muffin in my mouth, tossed the container, and went to go sit by Tank. I was so small, I curled up against his body like a kitten against a Rottweiler.
He put a heavy arm around my shoulders and I’d never felt so safe.
I couldn’t believe how much the dynamics had changed in the last twenty-four hours. For example, while I sometimes snuggled up against Tank before, I never would have dared to put my hand on his thigh like I did now. And the low inhale of his breath at the move… well, that was nice too.
Feeling wanted by all of them like this was amazing. Fulfilling in ways I could never have expected. I blinked away sudden emotion.
For a girl like me, abandoned time after time after time, never wanted…
Unbidden, the memory rose back up like a ghost.
I’m young. Not yet five. But already I’m a big girl. Mommy tells me so all the time.
I help Mommy out. She’s always calling me her helper.
But lately nothing I do helps. She just lays on the couch since the last man she told me to call daddy left.