There were seven of them in total, and they all had women with them. All except the last two. Those two were older. One reminded me of Dumbledore…or Santa. The other one reminded me of Sam Elliott with his bad ass beard, and salt and pepper hair.
They were all dressed nearly identical. Blue jeans, black motorcycle boots, and a t-shirt. They also had a leather vest over those t-shirts that I’d learned, from watching Sons of Anarchy, were called ‘cuts.’
Airport security was giving them wide berths, but they kept their eye on them nonetheless.
From what I’d heard about The Dixie Wardens, these men were heroes, every single one of them. Their wives were heroes, too, for supporting them.
I just hoped, one day, I’d be able to give Miller what their wives gave to them.
I’d heard nothing but good about them.
“They wanted to come and mom invited them,” Trance shrugged.
Miller sighed. “You know, I wanted this to be low key. You know this is going to get out of hand. Really quick.”
Trance wasn’t the one who nodded, though. It was the woman on his arm.
“Especially since there’s drinking allowed on the plane,” the woman smiled.
I blinked. “Why would that matter?” I asked curiously.
“My baby brother is scared to fly. So he drinks until he forgets he’s in the air,” Miller drawled, emptying his pockets in the box that the airport security provided him.
Then he removed his shoes, jacket and belt, dropping them down on the scanner table.
His stuff zipped through, and it was my turn to empty my pockets and put my carry-on bag through the scanner.
“Ma’am,” the man said. “You need to step to the side over there.”
I followed his finger to the woman who was standing at the screen waving me over.
“Why?” I asked the very jittery looking man.
“Random additional body and baggage search,” the man said, eyeing the men that were now crowding around the checkpoint waiting for me. “I swear it’s just random, but my boss is over there making sure we do it, so I can’t say no. I’m sorry.”
Trance, Miller, and Foster all looked formidable standing there with their arms crossed tightly across their chest. But the really scary thing was the men at their backs. Also with their arms crossed.
My eyes squinted in confusion, but nonetheless, I took my bag and body over for the ‘additional body search.’
I walked over to the woman with trepidation, giving Miller a ‘stay the fuck there’ glare as I went.
The woman watched the interaction, and smiled a killer smile at me, waving me in.
“Don’t worry, big boy. I’ll take care of her,” the security worker said to Miller before shutting the curtain behind us. “Alright honey, let’s do it.”
Five minutes later, I was slipping on my shoes and coming out of the curtained off area with a laughing woman behind me.
“Have fun out there, and thank you for being such a good sport,” the woman said, handing me a card.
I took it. “Thank you, LaShondra. It was good meeting you. I’ll definitely give your daughter a call!”
Miller caught me once I got past the gate, sending another glare at the woman who waved at him conspiringly.
“What was that about?” He asked me, pulling me into his side.
“I told her the smell here was making me nauseous, and she gave me her daughter’s card who sells essential oils. She said she used the peppermint during her pregnancy, and that if I was curious about it, to give her daughter a text,” I said, showing him the card.
“Where do you put this oil?” He asked curiously. “And you didn’t tell me you were nauseous.”
“I wasn’t nauseous until you started driving like a maniac to try to make your brother car sick,” I muttered.
He grinned unrepentantly at me. “It was worth it, I’m sorry.”
“What happened to y’all?” Trance asked when he noticed Foster and Miller walking stiffly at my side.
I giggled, turning my face into Miller’s arm as he replied.
“Your stupid little brother sat on Mercy’s swing, then swung his legs. The chains snapped, and you can guess what happened after that,” Miller growled, turning a glare on Foster.
I full out laughed at the innocent expression on his face.
“I didn’t think it’d break!” Foster said loudly.
I winked at him and took a seat next to the dark haired woman, holding my hand out as I did so. “Hi, you must be Viddy.”
She smiled at me, taking my hand. “I’d like to go ahead and apologize for my husband now.”
My brows furrowed. “Miller told me he didn’t like flying…but is it really that bad?”
She nodded sadly. “Yes. I tried to talk him into taking some antianxiety meds, but he refused. So, by the time we land in Vegas, he’ll be drunker than a skunk. He also gets chatty when he gets drunk.”
“I most certainly do not!” Trance argued from his seat on the opposite side of her.***“What did he just say?” I gasped, leaning over Miller’s lap to see Trance in the seat behind me.
Viddy’s face was flaming red, and she sank down even further into her seat.
We’d practically taken over the entire first class section, luckily they’d not overheard that particular comment.
Miller buried his face into my belly, smothering his peals of laughter with my shirt and stomach.
“It’s time to come clean, you fat motherfucker!” Trance yelled again.
“What kind of name is Dixie, anyway?” I asked, turning my face down to see Miller’s face.
His face was still buried in my belly, but I heard him say, “Ask him.”
Thinking ‘why the hell not,’ I leaned in and asked Dixie, who was seated across the aisle from Trance.
“What’s up with your name?” I asked curiously.
Dixie, a.k.a. Santa, turned to me and grinned. “My real name is Normus.”
“So how does Dixie fit in?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Dixie Normus,” he said as if talking to a slow child.
My brows furrowed, and Miller started roaring in laughter.
I could feel the laughing puffs of air against the skin of my belly, and my nipples tightened at the feel of him against me.