Pushing her index finger into the middle of my forehead, Ayda smiled. It was the smile that I normally only got to see when I was balls deep inside her. “You’re not pussy whipped, baby. You’re just taken.”
“Dress it up all you want, Hanagan. I ain’t afraid to acknowledge my truths anymore.” Rising up, I leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead before I swung my leg over the chair and examined my arm. Stinger may have had bad hair, but he had immense talent. Now the honor of my life sat proudly on my bicep for the world to see for the rest of my life. No more running away to prison for five years. No more denying my brothers. No more doubting my path. No more making them feel like I didn’t fucking love them for being the loyal to the death family that they were.
I ran my thumb over the raised edges of it, feeling my half-smile breaking free before I glanced up at Stinger and gave him a nod.
“Anyone else want inking while I’m here?” Stinger cried out.
The men jumped on him at once. The laughter all around us was infectious. I struggled to remember a time when the whole club had felt so relaxed and carefree.
Just as I reached for my white T-shirt and began to pull it over my head, Sutton walked in through the door. No longer needing an invitation, he tended to stop by whenever the hell he wanted now, staying here some nights, too, and choosing to go home others.
I helped Ayda to her feet while keeping my eyes on the chief of police.
“Howard,” I acknowledged him.
“Is it safe to be around you yet, Tucker? Or am I going to find myself slammed up against a wall for crimes that were forced upon me by pretty young blondes?” Sutton’s accusing eyes found Ayda as he came to a stop, wearing his full uniform and standing in his usual Western pose.
Ayda looked sheepish, but her shoulders were back and her chin was up. Her posture said she was sorry, but she wasn’t going to take any shit about the situation. “I should have told Drew right off, just like you told me to. That’s on me, and I’m sorry, Chief, I really am. It’s never gonna happen again, and on the bright side, you’re off the hook now. Drew said he will teach me.”
“The right way,” I added smugly.
Ayda squeezed my arm and tried to hide her smile, but it broke free as Sutton scowled at us both.
“Right way, my ass,” he grumbled, resting his hand on the butt of his gun that was sitting on his hip.
I raised a hand and cocked my fingers, narrowing one eye and aiming my fake gun at the chief’s chest. “Pistols at dawn. That’s how you shoot, Chief.”
Howard didn’t bite like he once would have done. Instead, he copied my previously smug expression and raised a brow. “Saved your sorry life, didn’t it?”
“Ouch,” I hissed, turning the finger gun on myself and aiming it at my own chest. “Kill me now. Sutton is forever going to have a hold on my life. End it. Pull the trigger, Ayda. Pull it.”
Ayda rolled her eyes and shook her head playfully. “Never. I love you too much, asshole.”
I rested my hand over my heart and sighed with relief. “Thank God for that. I’m not ready to leave yet.”
“When you two have finished…” Sutton interrupted, glancing between us both. “I could do with a word in private.”
“With Ayda?” I stood straighter, losing the happy grin.
“Nope. You. If Ayda doesn’t mind me taking you away from her for a full minute.” Sutton eyed Ayda, and something about the tone of his voice had that strange swirling feeling hitting the very center of my stomach.
“I’ll make brunch of the none-liquid variety.” Ayda nodded and pushed up on her toes to kiss me on the cheek.
She bent to pick up her sweater, made a comment back to one of the guys and drifted toward the kitchen, smiling at Deeks as he sidled up next to her.
I walked Howard to the bar, pulling out a stool for him while I sat on another. Since becoming friends with the club, he had days where he seemed more unsure than others. I guessed that was down to old habits dying hard. We were once the enemy. Now he was seeking protection and, I assumed, a place isolated from the majority of Babylon. For someone as proud as him, that had to mess with the wiring in his head a little.
“Everything okay?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest as I gave him my full attention.
Howard stared at the bar and blew out all the air from his cheeks before he reached up to scratch his mustache.
“Howard…”
He looked up and gave me a slow, purposeful nod. “There are a thousand other people I could talk to about this, FYI,” he started, staring deep into my eyes with a worried look on his face.
“Okay.”
“It’s just you and I have, umm, you know… we’ve shared some things these last few weeks, months, and I’ve come to learn that you’re a straight shooter.”
