The guy leans down, whispering in the rainbow-haired woman’s ear then turns, coming directly to me.
“I’m sure ya heard my ol’ lady tell me to apologize. Well, guess I am and then again guess I’m not. Don’t know you, so sorry if I came across like an asshole, but then again, I’m not sorry, so take it how you want to.”
“Enforcer, we all know you’re an asshole; glad to see you finally admitting it.”
Turning around, I see Avalanche looking amused as Enforcer flips him off. Yeah, this is laid-back so shouldn’t be a problem. That is until I hear Teddy screaming at the top of his lungs. “Auntie Dottie, you’re finally here.”
SIX
STORM
DOTTIE
Hearing Teddy, I lift my head and immediately my eyes can’t believe what they are looking at. My God, it’s Benji. Shit, in front of this huge crowd, not sure if I should call him Halo. And my God, all I can think is,shit, he’s looking hawt. That man cleans up good. Tonight, he left his hair down and pulled it back in a ponytail and I’m liking it. Feeling someone shoulder me, I look to my left to see Dani there with big eyes. Oh crap, since I can’t hide shit from her, I give her big eyes back. Then she goes right in with a shit-eating grin on her face. I’m fucked.
“Twin sister, is that the guy we were talking about earlier? I don’t say this ever, but dammmmn, twin sister, he’s F-I-N-E, Dottie. What are you waiting for? Go say hi, I’m good. Don’t be surprised if you see me gawking at you two throughout the evening. Now get.”
Slowly I start to make my way to my club sisters, who are all around two of the picnic tables. Trying not to notice what Benji is doing has me staring intently at my sisters, who are all turned, watching me approach.
“What? I got something on my face? Some snot or maybe food between my teeth. Why are all of you staring at me. Jesus, now what?”
They start to giggle, laugh, and snort but no one says a word. Well, until Squirt makes her way toward us, her eyes looking behind me every so often.
“Is that him… Halo?”
“Yeah, it is, why? Don’t let Presley hear you askin’ about another guy, he’ll lose his mind, little sister.”
She just grins then leans in closer.
“Dottie, shit, I mean Storm, he’s not taken his eyes from you since he saw you get out of your cage. Damn, just his glance has steam rising between the two of you. Whatcha doing here and not over there by him? I’m feeling the heat just standing next to you.”
Knowing she’s only trying to get me going, I totally ignore her while continuing to say hi to everyone. I feel him before I even see him. All around me gets quieter and quieter until you could probably hear a pin drop or in the case of this crowd, a knife or gun. Oh, for fuck’s sake, we ain’t kids. Leave it to kids though, as Teddy, Olivia, Angel, and Stefanos make their way to our table. They all say hi while the young girls give hugs. As usual, it’s Teddy who is the most observant.
“Auntie Dottie, I think your boyfriend wants you. Hopefully not for what my Mom and Dad are always doing. You know, the yucky kissing stuff. Olivia said her mom and Yoggie do that a lot too.”
I drop my head as I feel my cheeks getting hot.Out of the mouths of kiddos, I think to myself. Just as I go to lift my head, I hear this sexy as shit deep, heavy raspy chuckle. Not loud by any means, but enough I can still make it out. I look up to see Benji is fist bumping with the kids while kind of laughing. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him truly relaxed, and damn, it looks good on him, that’s for sure. Turning, I see all my club sisters watching his every move. Dani glances at me then goes to wipe her mouth like she’s drooling. Heartbreaker acts like she’s fanning herself,and of course, leave it to Raven, the club comedian, to take her napkin, waving it between her legs. Yeah, all of them are idiots, that’s for sure. When he looks up and sees me watching him, at first he shoots his eyes to the ground then cautiously lifts his eyes to see me smiling his way. The shock on his face has me giggling, which keeps his eyes on me. When he grins my way, I feel my heart skip a beat. When his eyes get huge, I feel her before she puts her arm around my shoulders, giving him a small little wave. His eyes are going from me to Dani and back again. Not sure what to do, I stand here until Dani takes over, which is shocking ’cause usually she’s the real shy one.
As Dani pulls me with her, she makes her way to where Benji is standing. Once we get in his space, no one says a word. Well, until Dani elbows me in the ribs, which has me squeaking and him smirking.
“Hey, Benji. Nice to see you again. This weirdo is my sister, Dani. Sis, this is Halo.”
As they start talking I feel like I’m being watched again, so I slowly turn in a circle but only see family and friends. My eyes even look out in the fields and tree line and I don’t see anything. Not sure what’s weirding me out but something is. When I turn back to the sudden stop in conversation, both of them are staring at me. My sister must feel it too because her eyes immediately start searching the property.
“Dottie, do you feel that? I’ve been feeling that on and off for a couple of weeks. I’m not sure who would want to watch either of us. Been racking my brain and since we left South Dakota, don’t have any real enemies. Well, except every circuit we’ve broken up, but that’s all of us in the club, not just the two of us. I think we need to speak to Tink, Glory, and Shadow. Especially since we are both experiencing the same feeling. I don’t like it, that’s why I wanted you to really come with me because it’s freaking me out.”
Neither Benji nor I say a word, though I’m watching Dani start to freak out. I pull her close to me and without a word he walks away, which pisses me off. Oh well, the national percentage of men who are assholes is definitely pretty high, I’m sure. Not even a minute or two later he’s back with Tink and Noodles, Glory with Yoggie holding hands, while Shadow and Panther have arms around each other, with Avalanche bringing up the rear. Really feeling like a total bitch, I glance around to see Benji’s right beside Dani and me. When my sister lifts her head and sees everyone right here, she turns to face him and very softly says, “Thank you, Halo.” With that he just gives her a slight nod. Tink asks what’s going on as she explains all that Halo told her was that both of us were feeling weird and watched. She then suggests that we find somewhere we can sit down and figure out what the heck is going on.
Walking toward the pole barn, I see Enforcer watching all of us approaching. When close enough, Noodles leans into him, talking low. I get it, not wanting to ruin the party vibe. Enforcer nods then motions for us to follow him through his man cave toward the back, as he punches something in a pad beside the door then slides it open for us. I’m totally shocked to see what looks to be a large room with some long tables and chairs. There’s a kitchenette to one side and a sitting area beside what looks like a family area with a sectional and television. I hear Shadow growl, “What the fuck, Enforcer, are you becoming a doomsday prepper?” Not paying attention to his answer, I see this place is built really well. Looks to have concrete walls so this was added to the pole barn and isn’t part of it per se. There are a few windows way up high, almost to the roof line, but not quite. They’re just far enough down so if someone was on the roof they wouldn’t be able to reach the windows, which have metal grates on them anyway. They do let in a lot of natural light while continuing to keep this place safe. As I continue to move intothe space, I can see a bathroom off to the corner of the family room. I walk toward the hallway and make my way down it to see it has four bedrooms, two more bathrooms, and a locked room, but I’m not sure what’s behind said secure room. Across from one of the bedrooms is a storage pantry that is packed with foods—canned, boxed, and military grade MRE’s, or meals ready to eat. There’s a ton of those. Also, on one of the bottom shelves is a huge emergency first aid bag. Next to that are containers of different over the counter and, holy shit, prescription drugs. The more I look around, I start to realize this is for more than Taz and her family. This hall is very long so I haven’t gone to the other side, but if it is a duplicate of this side that’s four more bedrooms, a spare secret room, and two more bathrooms. What the fuck am I looking at exactly? When I hear someone clear their throat, I jump and screech. Turning, I see Enforcer leaning against a doorway watching me intently.
“What the hell is this, Enforcer? My God, how did you do this?”
“Storm, it’s me being proactive for once in my life. Both of our clubs have enemies and if, by chance, something happens, I want a place Taz, our kids, and whoever the hell else needs somewhere they can come and be safe. There is nothing I won’t do to protect what’s mine, don’t ever forget that. When you go looking for your man, you make sure you find one who deserves you. He better be worth it ’cause, Storm, you definitely are. Now come on, let’s sit down and figure out what the fuck is freaking you and your sister out.”
He reaches behind me and shuts the door, then pushes a button on the wall, and I watch as the lights turn off as we walk out of the area. Motion detection lights, pretty cool. I almost plow into Enforcer when he suddenly comes up short. Looking around him is Benji, watching us approach him. When we get close, he looks to me then Enforcer and back to me.
“Dottie, you okay?”
I almost laugh because if he thinks Enforcer would try anything, he needs to open his eyes.
