How About No (Bear Bottom Guardians MC 3)

He’d, of course, been joking when he suggested getting a restraining order. But, the idea had merit at the time.

“Landry…are you okay?” my mother asked.

I looked down and over at the woman that was still in my arms and could see that she was white as a sheet.

“Uh, yeah.” She hesitated, then blushed as her eyes caught mine. Likely she was thinking about the comment she’d made before her silent treatment in the truck earlier.

I could just see her thoughts whirling.

If I got my way on this, I might get my way on the other, too.

She narrowed her eyes and looked away, seemingly uninterested.

Except, I could feel the tension in her body as I held her to me.

I also noticed that she didn’t once try to get up or do anything to change our positions. She stayed exactly where she was and didn’t once try to pull away.

The doorbell over the entryway rang as the door was pushed open, and all talking ceased between us.

My uncle stood and walked over to his next client while the rest of us stayed where we were and tried to process the words that we’d just received.

I wasn’t sure it was possible.

Goddamn, I was so excited that I just might burst.

“I guess we could go home,” Landry said. “But I’m tired of driving in the truck, to be honest. My hand hurts, and I know your leg has to hurt. Let’s get a mot—”

“Absolutely not,” my mother disagreed. “We have a pool house, and you’ll use it.”

I felt my lips quirk.

“Okay,” Landry replied, knowing better than to argue with the woman when she was in her current mood.

My mother stood up and clapped her hands excitedly. “Your dad and I will go pick up lunch at the new steakhouse in town. It’s amazing, and I think you’ll really like it. Medium rare?” she looked at me.

I rolled my eyes. “Is there any other way to eat a steak?”

My dad grunted in agreement.

“I want it…”

“Done,” my mother replied with a smile.

“Disgusting,” my father replied, a smile on his face, too. “I’m not even sure that restaurant will cook it like that, to be honest. I’ve heard people laughed out of there a time or two when they ordered something that they didn’t want to make.”

Landry shrugged. “If that’s the case, get me something else. You know what I like.”

Landry was a picky eater when it came to meat. Under no circumstances did sushi, fish, or shrimp get anywhere near her.

Though, shrimp didn’t get near her at any time because she was allergic to it, though I’d never seen the side effects, and hoped that I never had to.

After hearing that she breaks out in hives and starts swelling with a single bite, I hadn’t ever wanted to either.

Just as I was about to comment, the woman standing in the entryway with her lawyer started to wail, and Jimmy looked at us with a frantic “help me” in his eyes.

Instead of helping him, we chose to leave.

My bladder protested walking past the bathroom, but I’d rather piss myself than talk to a crying woman.

Once I got outside, I immediately took a left down the alley that ran in between my uncle’s building and the one next door. The only thing between them was a large dumpster at the end.

“Wade, where are you going?”

“To take a piss.”

My mother growled. “Wade Beauregard I will kick your…”

Her voice trailed off the farther I moved down the alley, and by the time I was finished and limping back, my mother was laughing with Landry.

“They have the best chocolate cake,” she was saying to my wife.

My wife.

God, it felt so goddamn good to call her that again.

Calling her my ex-wife always felt like I was taking a sharp knife to the heart.

“I’ll have that, too.” Landry sighed, then turned to me, her cheeks pink. “Are you ready?”

Her words were stiff, and she looked like she was ready to blow.

My lips twitched, and her eyes narrowed, causing me to bite my lip to keep the smile from overtaking my face.

She narrowed her eyes even farther. “Give me your keys, and I’ll go get the truck.”

Not even thinking about arguing with her after the look in her eyes, I handed over my keys, thankful that I didn’t have to make the walk.

First, the drive hadn’t been kind, and I was stiff all over. Then, sitting down for that short amount of time only seemed to give me the smallest of reprieves.

Everything hurt—and my leg felt like it was going to fall off any second.

Landry snatched the keys straight from my hand and left without another word, and we all watched her walk off.

Me staring at her ass and thighs in those goddamn shorts that were driving me wild.

My mom in happiness that she was seeing Landry.