“Maybe when we get back, we’ll really decide on a color, and we can have a baby room party. We’ll paint it and decorate it all in one.”
“We’ll be here. Now go pack!”
She gives me a salute and disappears into her closet, tossing multiple sweaters on the bed next to her suitcase. I begin folding them and place them neatly into her suitcase while waiting for the next set of items to come flying from the closet.
She tosses a handful of blue jeans next, then walks out with a handful of underwear. She pauses for a brief moment to smile at me as she notices what I’ve been doing before stuffing the underwear into a small pile between the sweaters and the jeans.
“Don’t forget socks. And your chaps if you’re planning on riding with Linc while we’re there,” I remind her and make a mental note to remember to get mine.
“Riding in the snow?” she scrunches her nose. “I don’t think I’m going to be down for that.”
“Snow may not be fun to ride in. I’m going to bring mine just in case, though. You should too!”
Reluctantly, she grabs her chaps from the closet and sets them beside the suitcase. After she’s packed everything and we do one last sweep of the house to make sure she isn’t forgetting anything, we head into town to get a rental. They stick me in a Nissan Sentra, but it’s brand new and rides a million times smoother than Betty. I may have to trade in that Toyota for one of these. I’ll decide once we drive it on a road trip; that’ll be the real test.
Once we get home from collecting the rental, I pack my bags along with Cass’s, then Mindy and I hangout until Cass arrives a few minutes before six o’clock. Six bikes rumble into my driveway and I’m curious to see who’s coming on this trip with us.
One by one, Cass, Clayton, Linc, Aaron, Digger, and Scott walk inside my house. They’re all wearing leather, rightfully so because it’s cold and it’s only going to get colder on this trip. Linc has a small duffel bag hanging over his shoulder and so does Aaron.
“Got room for two more bags?” Cass asks, pushing through the crowd of guys lingering near the backdoor.
“I think we can manage,” I say, smiling at him. His arms wrap around my waist, and he presses his lips to mine. Electricity sparks immediately and I’m wishing my house was not full of so many humans at this exact moment. My desires and urges will have to wait.
He eases away, rendering me breathless.
“Let’s get on the road, then!”
Everyone cheers while Cass and Linc grab the two bags sitting in the living room and load them into the car. I already know that the plan is to follow them without being told. The bikes rev up while Mindy and I put on our seatbelts. She plugs her phone into the car screen and puts her library on shuffle. It’s a good thing we have similar taste in music.
She looks at me and smiles big, kicking her feet. “We’re going on an adventure!” We take off down the highway, following the men that I love and respect most to the place where it all started. I can’t say that part of me isn’t fucking excited beyond reason to be in the town that Cass grew up in.
GPS says that we’re two hundred and some-odd miles into a six-hundred mile drive. We’ve already stopped twice for the guys to refuel, take a break, get a drink and a snack, piss, and take a solid thirty minutes before getting back on the road. The temperature outside is brisk and I’m grateful for being inside the car with the heater promptly blowing on my toes.
Mindy is leaned back taking a nap while I quietly jam to the low volume radio. I love a good drive and I haven’t drivenanywhere long distance since that first trip that started all of this. It’s surreal, honestly, to see everything coming full-circle. Here I am again, on a long road trip, with the man that I met then. Myfiancé.I guess sometimes life works in mysterious ways and there is no such thing as coincidence.
Chapter Five
Cass
It’s colder than a witch’s titty out here but the sight of the Oklahoma City clubhouse is the greatest damned thing I’ve seen all week. That means I can thaw out inside, preferably in a hot shower and then in a bed with that beautiful olive-skinned woman of mine. Speaking of, I hang my lid on my mirror and turn around, looking at the car that just parked behind Clayton’s old Chevy. I can’t believe that fucking thing is still standing. It needs a good paint job, but there she still sits in all of her glory.
Lilly is standing at the trunk with a bag on her shoulder and one in her hand. Linc rushes over and grabs his bag as well as Mindy’s while Aaron takes our bags from Lilly. She tries to protest but quickly gives in. Clayton’s already got the clubhouse open for us and he shows the guys around, pointing them in the direction of the showers and sleeping quarters.
The familiar smell of the clubhouse takes me back to being that seventeen-year-old kid who was looking for an escape. Who was looking to get away from this place. Lilly’s soft hand inside of mine gives me reassurance that I did what I was supposed to do. My heart aches, if only for a moment, as the reason I wantedto escape in the first place sucker punches me in the gut; the photo hanging on the wall of my mom and dad. The photo is of their wedding day, she’s big and pregnant with me and their smiles hold so much happiness that I can feel panging deep inside my chest.
“Wow. Is that Clayton?” Lilly asks, reminding me that I’m not alone. She steps closer, tracing her fingers over the old, dusty glass of the frame.
“You look more like him than I thought,” she says, studying the image still. “And your mom. She’s stunning. Andblonde?”
I laugh at the way she says the word ‘blonde’, as if that is the most surprising detail she’s ever heard.
“Yeah, she and my grandma on her side had blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. They were something. I never got to meet my grandma though, only heard stories.”
Lilly’s gaze lingers on the image for a beat longer before she turns her attention to me.
“That’s sad, baby. I’m sorry.”
I shrug. “It’s all I’ve ever known.”
