Gauge looked shocked, his face showing a split second of something other than hatred before morphing back. He let go of my collar, dropping me to the ground, and he stood up.
He pointed a finger at me. “I only just got her back, Jesse,” he said, his nostrils flaring. “You can’t hurt her and go chasing her off or I swear to God I will fucking gut you. You hear me?”
I stood up. “I hear you, and I ain’t ever planning on hurting her.”
Gauge was still glaring at me. “You love her?”
“Wouldn’t be making her my old lady if I didn’t, brother.”
We stared at one another, both of us beat to hell and back, and both panting and breathless as we weighed our options. I got to my knees and then pushed up to standing, my body aching and hurting all over. I glanced over to Laney, taking in the shock written across her face—shock at me and what I’d just put myself through to have her, and shock at Gauge, finally taking some responsibility for her and making it known that he actually gave a shit about his little girl after all.
I held out a hand to Gauge. “You can beat me however much you want, but it won’t change a damn thing, Gauge. She’s mine now.” I spat another mouthful of blood on the ground. “You hearin’ me, brother? She’s mine and I’m letting every brother know that she’s off limits. And if anyone touches what’s mine, I’ll put a bullet in their brain.”
Gauge turned and glared at Laney. “Couldn’t fucking find yourself a nice college boy with a rich family, could you?” For once Laney didn’t come back with a biting remark, and Gauge shook his head and sighed. Blood was trailing from his nose and he wiped it away with the back of his hand before finally taking my hand in his. “You do good by my girl, or I’ll kill you myself, president’s son or not. You hearing me?”
“Loud and clear.” I nodded. “I’ll fuckin’ kill myself if I hurt her. That I promise you, brother.”
“You better hurry up and get yourself patched, Jesse. My girl deserves that much.” He pulled me in for a hug, patting my back noisily before shoving me away and making me stumble. “She deserves the fucking world,” he said, taking one last sideways glance at her before walking back inside the clubhouse.
The other brothers cheered and patted me on the back as they passed me—all but Hardy. My old man just stared at me for a moment, looking like he wanted to say a thousand things but not saying any of them, and then he turned and walked back inside the clubhouse.
Rose smiled over at me like she’d set this whole fucking thing up and I hadn’t been pining after my woman since I was a fucking teenager. She walked Laney to me and then she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek before walking away, finally leaving me and Laney alone again. She looked at me, her lashes still damp from her tears, and I used my thumb to wipe them away before leaning in to kiss her on the mouth.
“I’m your old lady now?” she asked hesitantly as she pulled away, and I couldn’t decide if she looked frightened or excited by the prospect. Regardless, it was happening. Laney was my old lady, whether she fuckin’ liked it or not.
“Damn straight you are,” I replied, and she let out a little breathy sigh that went straight to my dick. I reached for her and she stepped away from me, and I couldn’t stop a growl from rumbling in my chest. “Need to go get your stuff because you’re moving in with me, today. Wanna have you in my bed and under me every night from now on, and that’s not up for debate.”
She swallowed and looked away from my face, stepping out of reach when I tried to touch her. Fuck, I needed a drink. Everything hurt. Everything. And now she was holding out on me too? No way. No. Fucking. Way.
“You got somethin’ on your mind, then you better say it,” I snapped.
“All right, well if I’m your old lady then we need to get one thing straight,” she said, placing her hands on her hips defiantly.
Goddamn, I wanted to fuck her again, feisty little thing that she was, but I’d be damned if she wasn’t pissing me off. Brothers had warned me what it was like to have a woman on your arm, trying to control everything you did. Thought it would take longer than thirty fucking seconds for that bullshit to kick in, though.
“What the fuck now, woman? I fucked you, I made you come—several times, I fought your dad, I’m beat up and bleeding and I just need a fucking drink and to sit down before you start bitching me out about some trivial bullshit like a boring old housewife!”
“You stupid fucker!” Laney reached back and slapped me hard, catching us both by surprise, and her eyes widened in horror right before her hand flew up to cover her mouth. “Oh shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that…” she mumbled beneath her fingers.
I leaned in and kissed her hard, even though my split fucking lip was burning with every move of my mouth and it felt like my lungs were on fire. I kissed my girl, because fuck me if she wasn’t a smart-mouthed little bitch that I loved.
“You’re not mad?” she asked, her cheeks flushed as we pulled apart.
“Of course I’m fuckin’ mad, but I love your smart mouth. Just try and rein it in a little. Especially now,” I said, reaching around to squeeze her ass and making her yelp. “Now what the fuck was you going to ask me?”
She looked confused for a moment while she struggled to recall what she had been about to ask me. “Oh, I um, I was going to tell you that you had to move out of the clubhouse, because I’m not living here,” she said almost coyly. “Not with all the shit that goes on here—”
“Done,” I replied. “What else?”
She looked surprised by my agreement, and I couldn’t help the smugness from showing on my face.
“That’s it,” she replied.
“That’s it?” I repeated, confused. I’d expected a long list of demands or something.
“That’s it. I just don’t want to live here.”
“All right then, now can we please go inside so I can get a drink and some ice, and maybe a blowjob from you at some point today? Because I’m fucking exhausted, woman. We’ll sort out getting somewhere together because there’s no way in hell I’m living with Gauge.” I winked and grabbed her by the waist and started to guide her inside, loving the sound of her shocked gasp and then her little laugh.
Yeah, I was completely pussy-whipped, but at least I’d gotten some pussy.
