“Grizz,” Jovie scoffs, falling back on the couch and out of view. “Mom, he saidgirltime.”
“Jovie Stevenson,” Brynn states firmly, her brow dips but the corner of her mouth is smirked. “Grizz is still learning about all of the mysterious things us woman folk do. In fact, it might be a good time for you to go and wash your hair, changing your clothes wasn't enough to get rid of the smoke smell.”
“Yeah, Jon Bon. You stink.”
“Mom!”
“Grizz!”
“What!”
“Ughh, fine. But after, can we make up my bed in the loft?” Jovie says, rolling off the couch, rifling through the small bag of things we managed to take with us. Everything has now been washed and thanks to the heat of the constant fire, is mostly dry.
Brynn walks to where I'm standing, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head against me.
“You should know that no one under the age of eighty saysgirltime.” She laughs, trying to disguise her giggle by pressing her face into my chest. “How about you enjoy someboytimewhile you're out there.”
Straightening my back in horror. “What the fuck. Why does it sound like that when you say it?”
Laughing harder still, she says, “It sounds that creepy when anyone says it.”
“Noted. Never again.”
Leaning down, I kiss her forehead, squeezing her into me briefly before heading outside.
The snow is thigh high in some areas, but for the most part, the forest gives enough coverage that it won't take long to clear a rudimentary path to the clubhouse. The sun has barely moved as I finish up, making sure to grab a few salt bags to sprinkle on the path. Last thing I need is for one of my girls to get hurt because I skipped a step.
Stomping my boots, I get as much snow off them as possible before admitting defeat and taking them off in the small mud room to the side of the kitchen. Usually, I would just let it melt and mop up the mess later, but I don't want to spend any more time than needed away from my cabin.
Hades, Axel, and Mac are huddled over a coffee table in the living area. The clubhouse is an old converted warehouse. The living space is technically a three car garage, but after a lot of work on the place, we managed to move the sleepingquarters above the kitchen and utility spaces, creating a brand new purpose built workshop for our bikes and vehicles. We have a few rules for the place, the most important being no club girls. A few of the guys have had to deal with some horrible things happening to the woman in their lives, and it was agreed we never wanted to be in a position that someone felt they had to sell their body to survive here. Occasionally, we provide sanctuary for brothers, women, and children trying to start over. Other clubs know how we operate and the ones we keep in contact with respect us for it.
“Where’s Blaze?” I say, taking a seat next to Hades.
“He's finishing up with the CCTV footage. We were going to come and get you.” Hades is softly spoken. The low baritone dominates the small space we occupy. He's the type of man who talks when necessary, and you listen when he does.
The thud of Blaze's boots becomes louder as he enters the room, laptop open. “There's something off about it all that’s for sure,” he says, slamming the computer on the coffee table so it faces us, the muted image of Sarah talking to someone off camera playing for us. She looks angry and upset, her hands throwing up in the air before coming to rest on her hips, staring at the person before walking off screen. “That’s it. That's all we have. The other cameras either stop working at that time or they’re not at the right angle.”
“So they knew what cameras to disconnect? They knew how not to be seen,” Mac murmurs, thinking out loud.
“Inside job?” Hades growls.
“All we can definitively say is Sarah was talking to someone out back? All of our staff are vetted, and we’ve not had any issues until Brynn and Jovie turned up.”
“Watch your fucking mouth,” I snarl at Axel. He’s right, but he needs to have some fucking respect in how he says it.
“The fire chief also confirmed they found traces of some kind of gel spread around. He said it smelled unusual and they are going to get it tested. This wasn't an accident.” Blaze growls.
“What do you know about Brynn's past? Is she running from someone?” Hades asks.
“No, nothing like that. We've not talked about it much but I trust her when she said they were moving on from a shitty situation. I think her mom made her life harder than it needed to be, and it wasn't safe for Jovie anymore.”
They all look at each other, nodding in understanding. It's half the reason we're all together now. Family is the people you surround yourself with. Blood means nothing.
“Listen, I need to talk to you all. We've not really had this situation before, but I…” Rubbing my hand over my face, I try to control the smile desperate to erupt. “I’m making a claim on Brynn. I mean, I’ve made a claim on her. We’ve not had any old ladies before, and I know it's all uncharted territory because of the type of clubhouse we run, but I want to make her mine. And Jovie, of course. They’re mine now and if that doesn't align with who we are, then I’ll start making plans fo–”
“Jesus Christ, Grizz. Calm the fuck down, would you?” Hades stares at me, eyebrows raised.
“Aw, our big grizzly bear is in love.”
