I shake my head, all shocked. “Holy shit, are you okay? Like, did the great King just admit he fucked up?”
“Watch your language, kid.” He chuckles before leaning his head against my hand. “I can’t lose you, Raney. I really couldn’t.”
“You know I’m not living with you until I die, don’t you?”
He chuckles, and it’s not nasty, it’s just my dad being my dad. “Please kid, one day at a time. Let me survive the next hour and we can talk about you walking across the road all by yourself next week, yeah?”
He reaches out for a hug, and I squeeze him tight, taking in a big breath of his scent. He smells like home and always has. Even if home smells like cigarette smoke, bourbon, and motor oil.
ChapterTwo
RANEY
“All right, settle down, dickheads. First up, I owe my girl an apology. She knows what for. Fuck, half the world knows why. I’m a better man because of this girl next to me so raise your glasses and the first shot is to her. Happy birthday, baby, you’ve made us all proud.”
Dad taps our glasses before the both of us take the shot, slamming the empty shooter on the top of Mom’s polished table. And then it’s like a chain reaction, with my uncles and my guys following suit. Someone stomps and yells happy birthday, and that’s all it takes until it sounds like a herd of wild beasts running straight at us. A final roar echoes through the neighbourhood, and all mom’s champagne swilling buddies look mortified.
Dad ignores them and does the expected, taking centre stage again. “Shut the fuck up!”
Four words and you’d be able to hear a bee fart. It’s so quiet you really would. But my whole being is distracted, my senses out of whack. Every part of me tingles because I can feel them as they come to stand right next to me.
“Today.” My dad looks at me, and from his position in front of everyone he looks a lot like Zeus ruling over all of us. And then I get jolted by a bolt of realisation rendering me speechless as he points at Reid, Talon, Hayes, and Colt.
“Today, I’m letting everyone know that these little upstarts are allowed to start dating my girl.” He winks at me before swinging to face the guys standing next to him. “Even though I won’t be here, you’ve got all the fucking eyes of our club on you. You make her cry and, trust me, you’ll be the ones weeping. You do her wrong and you’ll be answering to me before you answer to each of her uncles. And I do not need to tell you what will happen if she is hurt. I literally don’t give a flying fuck how, but if Raney ever shows up in front of me with one scratch on her, you fuckers will be given ten minutes to gather your shit before we hunt you down. And that’s even with all the scullions of dollars your family has, nothing will stop me from ripping your arms off your body.”
A slow smile spreads over Hayes’s face, a twinkle of promise in his brown eyes. But Dad’s still not finished laying down his rules. “Let’s be fucking real, fellas, you better not look at another female from here on out. And yeah that’s not me saying you’re allowed to touch my daughter like that, because she’ll be…”
The birds and the bees talk! I thought I was embarrassed before. Now I’m praying for the earth to swallow me up. “Dad! Please… in front of everyone?”
“Easy done,” Talon interrupts me and King. “Raney is ours. Always has been, always will be.”
There’s a whole lot of noise; Mom’s group of friends shuffle nervously while my uncles start razzing, but of course with a wave from Dad, the noise settles down again.
“And I don’t want no fucking trouble from the cops about him,” Dad jabs his finger in Colt’s face, “don’t touch my daughter until you’re legal.”
Colt shakes his head, and his gaze falls to his feet before he shrugs, dropping one of his smiles on the world. And yeah, for someone his age, he should not know how to bespell every woman in the place, but he does. Colt, irrespective of his age, has this depth and wisdom in him. When you look in his eyes, a very old soul is looking back at you. One that likes to push boundaries and have fun. But he’s also stubborn and obtuse as a mule, and making a point is something that drives him.
He takes a step, walking until he’s in front of me. And much like the others, over the past few months Colt has transformed into a different person. He’s nearly taller than his brother now, his shoulders starting to widen. His presence is the most different; his designation will be known very soon. “Happy Birthday, Raney. Since we’re now allowed to be official before much else… I need to get this sorted out now.”
“Get what sorted out?” I ask him softly.
But then he kisses any further question off my lips and pushes King to the breaking point.
“No fucking way, Colt! That’s the last…”
Colt smirks into my lips before leaning in again, like he’s got all the time in the world to kiss in front of the entire world. And then he grabs my hand and leads me closer to where Dad looks like he’s about to have a coronary.
“King, I respect you and…”
My dad decks him. Like, full uppercut from out of nowhere. And Colt staggers backwards, making me stumble. But somehow Colt sweeps me back to my feet, pushing me behind him. Protectively.
I’m not shocked when instead of retaliating Colt stands in front of dad, his arms loose by his side not one drop of threat in his presence. Just this crazy self-assurance that brings another level to his imminent change. “That’s your one shot, King. Right here with everyone watching. Right now, because you said we could date your daughter. You had to get that out of your system and I know that. It’s why I purposely pushed your buttons, but we’re done now, yeah?”
King is locked up tight, staring at Colt.
“I’ll keep on respecting you, but with Raney involved, everything is different. I’m young, but I won’t let any shit fall on her shoulders. Asides, you’d think I was the laughing stock if I didn’t do what I just did too, so let’s cut the cake, because we’re taking Raney out on a date for her birthday, like you said we could.”
It’s like a wave of shock goes from one side of Mom’s yard to the other. Most of Dad’s men take a step closer, like there’s danger lingering in the air. They’re getting overly protective of their president, ready to fight. Completely unnecessary, and I cut off every one of them with a glare that would stop traffic. Well, that’s what dad tells me all the time, and it works.
