They end up with some of the rich icing on the side of their mouth, and instead of pointing it out, I lean forward and kiss them before licking it off.
“I love it. And I love you,” I say.
“I love you too.”
A knock at the door interrupts us, and I go to open it.
“Merry Christmas,” Grudge says. He’s wearing pressed jeans, smart boots, and a black-and-white plaid jacket. “Sorry to interrupt today, but I wanted to see Wren.”
“Of course. Merry Christmas.” We hug as he walks by me into the hallway.
“Grudge,” Wren says.
“I had a thought last night. An idea. Well, more of a question, and the answer couldn’t wait,” Grudge says. “I want you to work for the club. Fill the role Vex fills for the Jersey Outlaws. We’ll pay you. But we’ll also give you protection. We already have Greer helping with medical and Lucy with any legal shit.” He stops there and shoves his hands into his pockets.
It’s the perfect solution. I look to Wren, who is smiling.
“I’ll do it, on two conditions.”
“If one of them is you want me to promote your boyfriend, the answer is no,” Grudge says with a grin.
Wren shakes their head. “No. You need to turn the club into as profitable, tight, and well-run an organization as the New Jersey Outlaws is. Condition one is you letting me help you with that.”
“What’s condition two?” he asks.
“That Catfish and I will manage and grow the two million from the cartel like a fund. We’ll keep it clean and quiet and donate the annual proceeds to the club. And in return, the club will provide an additional layer of security here at the house against any cartel retaliations. Prospects, maybe. It’ll be somewhere between one to two hundred thousand per year.”
I open my mouth and look at Wren. They’d do that for my club.
Grudge offers Wren his hand, and the two of them shake. “Good doing business with you, Wren.” He slaps my back. “Merry Christmas, you lovebirds.”
When the front door slams, I turn to Wren, speechless. “You’re giving the money that you stole from the cartel for Chase to the club?”
“Only the profit. For our protection. It seems fair.”
I tug Wren to me and kiss them. It was my main lingering worry. That the cartel would still come looking, even though Wren had planted seeds on the dark web revealing Chase as the thief. I kiss them, and they taste like cake.
“Come with me.” I lead Wren into the living room where the large tree I chopped down sits. I grab two presents that I messily wrapped over at Willa’s, where I also left the final part of Wren’s gifts, two puppies, for them to meet later. “You say you can’t bake, I say I can’t wrap.”
Wren chuckles as they pull the hapless tape job open.
Inside is something I’m terrified of giving them. I’ll get over it if they refuse it. I love them too much not to. But it’s an important part of who I am.
Gently, Wren pulls it from the packaging. The sleek leather has been made to their size. And on the back, a symbol. One that saysProperty of Catfish.
“You don’t have to wear it, if it’s complicated for you,” I say quickly. “I mean, it can be symbolic. But when we go to bigmeets, it’ll give you a level of safety and security, because it says your someone’s, mine, and not free game. Or not…I mean?—”
“It means a lot to you, doesn’t it?” Wren asks.
I nod. “It does. Which is why you should open the second gift before you say anything else.”
Wren’s brow furrows with confusion as they put the leather cut down and open the next gift. It’s a box.
When it’s open, Wren looks at it, confused. “A tattoo gun.”
“I know feeling like we look after each other is important to you. So, I wanted you to tattoo me.”
Wren drops the tattoo gun like it just burned them. “What? I don’t know the first thing about tattooing someone.”
