... and Forever (Next Generation: Chaos Bleeds 1)

“You kept an eye on him?”

“On all of them, Tabby, but yeah, I made sure Simon stayed safe.”

“Tabitha,” she said. “That’s my name. Only Simon ever calls me Tabby.” She rubbed at her temple.

“Ah, right. Yes, of course. It’s his name for you. Sorry. Anyway, I brought a barbeque for us to have a bit of a cookout if you’re hungry. Don’t worry, Si gave me the heads up on you not eating meat, and so I got you some like mushrooms and peppers and stuff. That okay?”

“It’s fine.” She went to push her hands into her pants pocket, only to discover she didn’t have any pants. With nothing to do with her arms, she quickly folded them again, feeling like a complete ass. This was awkward. While this man knew a lot about her, apparently, she didn’t know squat about the guys.

“What’s taking you so long?” Simon asked, coming to the doorway.

He glanced between them.

“Ah, you’ve met Pa?”

“Yep, I have. Hi, Pa.” She gave a little wave and then wanted to kill herself for how silly that seemed. She was a grown woman. This was the last thing she needed right now.

“I’m going to set the grill up. The guys can’t wait to meet you. You’re a legend,” Pa said. “It’s been a pleasure.”

Pa left the cabin and Tabitha dropped her hands by her sides. “He seems nice.”

“He is. He’s a great guy.”

“How did you meet him?”

“At a fight. His family had been killed in a shootout a couple of years ago. The cops didn’t do anything about it. He believes they were on the guys’ payroll, so he packed up his shit, and decided to try and find the men, handle the problem himself.”

“Did he?”

“No, he’s still finding them. He’s a good guy, though. He has a big heart.”

“A big heart on a road to revenge is going to get himself killed.”

“I won’t let it.”

“Simon, you’re not God.”

“Can we not fight today? I know you and I have got a lot to get through and I know it’s going to be tough, but can we just hold it together for a couple of hours?”

She stared at him. “I hate fighting. I don’t ever want to do this. I hate that we’re at this place. It sucks.”

“Yeah, it does suck.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I love you and I know this is going to be tough. Other than Dean, everyone else I met on the road. Away from you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Simon, I get it. Believe me, I do. I mean, they’re your family.”

“And so are you.”

She wanted to argue, but for once, for now, she just didn’t want to have to think. “I’d like to meet them. I’d like to meet the men you call your friends and family.” She smiled, not holding back.

Simon moved toward her. His hands going to her cheeks, he cupped her face, pulling her close. “Do you have any fucking idea how much I love you?”

As she covered his hands with hers, it would be so easy to tell him exactly how much she loved him, but she held back. They still had all their worries and she wasn’t going to use today to put all of that crap on hold when they had a lot to go through.

“Take me to meet your friends.”

It would be so easy to hide everything.

Simon stroked her cheek, pressed a kiss to her lips, and then took her hand. She didn’t fight him as he walked across the room, heading toward the door.

Once they stepped outside, the cold hit her, and she gave a little shiver. Simon let go of her hand and was already removing his jacket, draping it over her shoulders.

“Guys,” he said, whistling for their attention.

Conversation stopped.

She looked over the group. The men all wore smiles as they looked toward her.

“You’ve heard me talk about her, but this is Tabby.”

“Tabitha,” she said.

“Only Simon calls you Tabby,” the group said together, making her chuckle.

“Pa just gave us all the update. Damn, it is finally good to meet you,” a brown-haired man with short hair came barreling toward her.

“That’s Felix,” Simon said. “He’s a talker.”

“Yeah, right. I’m the talker. I was lucky to get a word in edgeways with this one constantly singing your praises.”

She smiled, liking him. He seemed nice and sweet. Easy to talk to, which made him dangerous, but oddly a benefit to any club, especially when they were in trouble. Women would open up to him, spill their secrets.

Tilting her head to the side, she watched as one by one the men lined up.

“This here is Knight, with a K.”

She chuckled. “Hi, Knight.”

“It’s nice to put an actual face and voice to all the stories.”

“I’ve heard he’s talked a lot about me.”

“More than a lot. Some of us wanted to sew his mouth shut just to get some peace.”