“You two look like you’ve been doing this forever,” Jos commented as she took my empty plate and replaced it with one that held another sandwich and some pancakes. “Lexa wanted pancakes, so Raven made you a few too.”
Reid was already tearing apart the top pancake, sprinkling powdered sugar all over the bed. Jos didn’t seem to care, though. The sheets were going to need washing anyway after our crazy night, so I didn’t give a shit either. Let the kid play. He was having fun, and I was enjoying watching him.
The crazy thing was, I saw so much of myself in him. Not just in looks, but in personality. We hadn’t even met until that morning, but he acted so much like me, it made me grin.
When we were finished eating, the show was over, and Reid didn’t seem as interested in the next show. He climbed off the end of the bed and toddled over to the corner of the room where his toys were.
“He’s going to be busy for the next fifteen minutes or so,” Jos informed me, following my gaze. “You should take a shower. Everyone was asking how you are, and they want to see with their own eyes that you’re okay.”
I let my eyes trace over her, a new hunger starting to gnaw at my gut. “I guess you can’t join me, huh?”
A matchi
ng hunger began to burn in her gaze, but she shook her head reluctantly. “Sorry, babe. Reid will destroy this place if someone doesn’t watch him.”
“Damn,” I grumbled, but I leaned in for a kiss. “Later?”
“Definitely,” she promised, a dazed look on her beautiful face.
--
As soon as I walked into the main room of the clubhouse, it turned into pure mayhem. Ol’ ladies and sheep alike surrounded me, hugging me, patting me on the back, sobbing that they were so happy I was okay.
I let the majority of them hug me, but I made sure to keep it short, not wanting to give Jos a reason to feel jealous or insecure.
Eventually, though, I just had to tell them to give me some room to breathe, because they were all smothering me.
As soon as they went back to doing what they should have been doing, Reid toddled up to me with a toothy grin on his face, a book in his hands. “Da-Da, up!”
Heart contracting, I bent and lifted him up, looking down at the book in his hands. “Whatcha got, little dude?”
“Play?” he asked hopefully.
“Soon, son. Daddy’s got some work to do.” I kissed the top of his head, hugging him tight.
“Yo, T!” Spider called out as he came through the door. “Let’s go to church, man.”
“Right behind you,” I told him and reluctantly put Reid on his feet. “Go play, buddy. We will play later.”
He toddled back over to the group of kids playing, and I started up the steps to Bash’s office.
The room was already crowded with my fellow brothers, and I shut the door behind me as I stepped inside. There wasn’t an empty seat, but I was tired of sitting around, so when someone offered me their chair, I shook my head. “I’m good.”
Bash slapped his hand on the desk, calling church to order. “Let’s get this shit started. We got a lot to cover and not a lot of time to do it in.”
“Last night, someone tried to kill me and Jos,” Hawk announced, but only a few of the brothers seemed to find this news, most of them probably having already known about it. “Jos was most likely the target, and we all know why.”
“Why can’t we just put a bullet in Bates and be done with it?” Butch demanded, his face red with anger. “That sonofabitch is responsible for Tanner being handed over to fucking Fontana. And now he tries to kill my daughter? My grandson could be an orphan right now if the sheriff had his way. The bastard needs to meet the Angel of Death.”
I grunted an agreement.
“Brother, I would be happy to end that motherfucker, but we have to be smart about this,” Hawk told him. “With Tanner coming back from the dead, we suddenly have all eyes on us. The election is Tuesday. If we wait until then, the attention will be on Jenks and Campbell.”
“Bates isn’t the only issue at hand,” Bash announced. “Fontana is still out there somewhere. I want all eyes open for anything even remotely suspicious. That fucker could be anywhere, biding his time to take one or all of us out.”
“We got other problems right now too,” Matt said, bringing all eyes to him. “Who the fuck put something in the goddamn water and now all the females are getting pregnant?”
The room erupted in laughter, and I suddenly wondered what the women had been drinking. Because whatever it was, maybe I wanted to give Jos some of it too.