It was hilarious really,watching him drag out this whole thing, when the answer wasn’t really all that salacious. It was something I already knew, because we’d bonded a bit while Rocket was off hiding from his woman, and I’d asked, out of pure curiosity, since he definitely didn’t ride one.
“Come on, man, everyone knows mine,” Rocket demanded, as V smirked at him.
“Yes, baby, I enjoy your ‘rocket’ very much, but can we focus?”
“That’s not… woman, I swear… you know it’s-”
“Let’s not get off topic,” I interrupted, because those two would go all damn night if we didn’t nip it in the bud.
Harley ran a hand over his tidy beard and rolled his eyes.
“It’s not that interesting, really.”
“I agree,” I added, grinning when the others all darted their eyes at me.
“You know?!”
I shrugged, offering them a shit-eating grin. “Of course.”
All eyes hit Harley again.
“You told him before me?” Rocket gasped, resting a hand against his chest like he’d just been mortally wounded.
“Jesus, you’re like a fucking… whatever… it’s simple. My grandfather loved motorcycles so much he changed his name to Harley, and I figured, why not? It’s a good name. It’s important to me, because he was a fucking amazing man, and you know what? You want your ride fixed, you go see Harley. It’s a name that suggests I know motorcycles, right?”
Everyone groaned, and his grin finally reappeared. “Told you.”
“No sex on bikes?” V asked wearily, dropping her head on Rocket’s shoulder dramatically. “That’s so boring!”
Caroline leaned over to kiss Harley’s cheek. “I think it’s a beautiful story.”
“Gag,” V followed her response up with actual gagging sounds, and the best part of all this? Glory was laughing along with me at their antics, her face lit up and full of life. Nixie was wriggling in her arms, chewing her hair, which I wanted to point out, but I just didn’t want to wipe the smile off her face. It was everything to me. It was a reminder of her before all this, the woman she’d always been. The woman I loved with every fibre of my fucking being. My Glory. Glorious and spectacular.
“You’re staring,” Rocket murmured to me, and that’s when I realised the whole fucking table was watching me watch her.
“Fuck. Just uh… watching Nixie chew her hair, that’s all.”
“Oh god!” Glory tried to wrestle the soggy clump of hair from the suddenly feral little dachshund, while the rest of us chuckled at their struggle.
“Rocket, she shouldn’t be eating hair, dammit! Help her!” V snapped, and I was out of my chair in an instant. Nobody was getting that close to her, nobody but me. That was an asshole thought, like I was staking my claim on a woman I hadn’t earned, but it was also fact. She didn’t need someone getting up in her face right now.
“I’ve got it.” I reached over to lift Nixie from her arms, so she could focus on retrieving the chewed hair from the pup.
“Uh… why’s she growling at me now?”
Rocket appeared at my side and plucked Nixie from my arms.
“You know she’s not fond of men, man, sorry.”
“Huh. She’s never growled at me before.”
“You’ve never been taking away something she wants before. She’ll get over it, won’t you, baby?”
“Don’t fucking call her that!”
“Woman, I’m just calling her it like an endearment. Will you get your head out of your ass for like, a minute?”
I dropped into the seat beside Glory, and leaned close while she gingerly wiped her hair against her shirt. Fuck me, right near her… nope, don’t look at her boobs, man. Don’t look.
