“Ew, don’t say it like that. You’ve ruined it now, asshole.” Pops says, swinging his legs off the tattoo chair before standing and heading for the door. He turns to look at me, hand on the door handle, a scowl on his face. “I hope he spells Lovely’s name wrong.” He cackles on his way out, slamming the door behind him.
I stare at Mad Dog. “You really couldn't find someone better to hang out with?”
“Well, aside from the fact he’s a pain in the ass, he means well. Like every other fucker in your MC.” He snorts. “So, what else have you got planned? This is romantic and all, but you need more. I overheard Tank say that he’s organized a hot air balloon.”
“What the fuck?” I flinch when I turn too quickly and the needle goes a little deep.
“Stay still before I fuck this up,” Mad Dog growls.
“Sorry. A hot air balloon?”
“Yeah, apparently Mira’s been talking about it. Judge spoke to an old army buddy that now trains dogs and has organized for Kaia to maybe go look at some for the kids.”
I lean my head back, groaning. Shit. I thought I was onto something with this chest piece representing Lovely and Bee and what they mean to me. But shit, I need more. I need to go big.
“Fuck, this is Lovely’s first proper Valentine’s, I need it to be special.”
Mad Dog looks at me patiently, over the spectacles he wears when he’s tattooing. “Son, do you not think it’ll be special because she has you? She’s a simple woman, she’d be over the moon with flowers or chocolates or just a date night.”
“Fuck that, I need to go big. I need Rider. Where has that fucker been anyway? He’s been real elusive lately.” My gaze darts to my dad. “Do you think he has a woman?”
Mad Dog’s eyes widen before darting away, acting real interested in the line he’s working on. “Who’s to say?”
“What do you know?” I growl.
“Nothing.”
“I call bullshit.”
“You can call it whatever you want. I don’t know a thing other than he’s been visiting someone over at one of the retirement homes.”
“What the fuck?”
Mad Dog shrugs as he twists to fill up his ink pot. “You’ll have to ask him, son.”
I grumble as I lie back, getting comfortable again. Our brother is hiding something, and I want to know what it is. I also want to know what the fuck else my men have planned for their women. And why the hell I’m struggling to come up with anything good.
Rolling my head to the side to watch Mad Dog work, I clear my throat. “What other Valentine’s plans have you heard around the compound?”
Mad Dog’s mouth twists. “The Tombs’, all independently came up with the same idea so they were looking for Rider to help organize something else. Tank has the hot air balloon, Judge has been talking about puppies. Wire was compiling all the messages he and Remy have sent over the years, since they were like eight or something, into a book about their journey, complete with pictures of them both.”
“What the fuck? That’s so romantic!” I groan, feeling even shittier.
“Fucking romantic,” Mad Dog agrees. “Ah, Fox had some shitty idea about life sized dolls of him and Nitro-”
“What the hell?”
“Exactly. So they were at a loss and looking for Rider. You’ve got this going on, Pops has a fireworks show planned for Mama Debs and Rhodie is in a panic about what to get Chewy. He’s still maintaining that she doesn’t want anything.”
“So pretty much, those with no idea all want Rider to help them?”
Mad Dog snorts, “Pretty much.”
I lie there, quietly as I watch my dad’s hands in his black silicone gloves move over my skin. “What about you, Dad?”
“No one on my dance card, kid. Maybe you only get one great love and I’ve already had that with my Molly.” He gives me a sad smile, the one I catch on his face every now and again when he watches our MC brothers settling down. We thought that he had found love again, but he was mistaken. I think that was more friendship.
“Do me a favor? Don’t close yourself off. You deserve to be happy, Dad. And I’m sure one day you’ll be minding your business and it’ll hit you. Your second love. Because I don’t think Molly would have left you without having a backup plan.”
