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Stevie immediately said, “I’ll go with you.”
Cher smiled at her pink-haired younger sister. They had grown up at the Pasadena townhome complex with Boone and me. Like Rock and the Tooker kids, Stevie and Cher felt like my cousins. Their pain was my pain. Right now, I could tell Cher was struggling.
Tricky had been the only guy she ever loved, but they were too different. He wanted parts of Cher and wished she would silence everything else about herself. Mostly, he didn’t want her to be wild. He was the biker, not her. He was the badass, not her. He put himself in danger, not her.
Their relationship couldn’t survive once she joined the Crimson Guard, but I knew she remained fond of him.
“Are you okay?” I asked Cher.
“No. I feel bad in my heart. Tricky might die. I thought you were gone forever. I felt like the world was ending,” Cher said, panicking before taking a deep breath. “I still kinda feel that way.”
“I’m hoping I’ll wake up tomorrow and feel different,” I said and stroked her face. “I know my body will still hurt, but I’m hoping I can shake that bad feeling.”
“I’m proud of you for saving yourself.”
Stevie added, “We heard York didn’t help at all.”
Grinning, I glanced toward the front porch where Sabrina stood. I assumed she was the one spreading the information.
“It was a team effort.”
“I like him,” Stevie whispered, and I again scanned the room to locate York. “He doesn’t need to be rude to remind people that he’s strong, you know? He’s my favorite Black Rainbow member. Though Ojai is prettier.”
Nodding, I pointed out, “Ojai has the hair of a beach bunny. I can’t date someone with such spectacular hair.”
Stevie said, “York has nice hair.”
“He has normal nice hair.”
“Ojai makes me think of those shampoo commercials,” Stevie said. “He’s too pretty, but fun to look at.”
“Do you love York?” Cher asked me.
“Yes.”
Cher smiled, seeming calmer now. Her dad, Hazard, stepped over the many little dogs running around the house and settled on the nearby table.
Studying us, his gaze landed on me. “How are you feeling, kiddo?”
“Like I got my ass beat but survived.”
“Sounds about right,” Hazard said and stroked Stevie’s head. “The house will be filled to the brim for a while. We’re staying for a few days. I know your parents won’t leave for a while. Don’t let the adults keep you from having fun.”
The sisters smiled at their dad. Hazard was a lot like Blackjack. Before hooking up with Anise, he had apparently been cold and rather jaded. Anise, meanwhile, was like Yarrow, a woman forever walking on the edge and daring herself to jump off.
My parents found a way to soften his edges and tug her farther from the edge. They also managed to raise two happy children. The combination was clearly a winning one.
I spotted Anise and Yarrow standing together in the kitchen. Anise’s hair was currently pink. I’d never seen her natural blonde color. When I was a preteen, Yarrow tried imitating Anise by dyeing her hair blue. She was so upset by the new look that she threatened to shave her head. Fortunately, her gal pals from the Everything Nice Crew showed up with a box of brown hair color and kept her from embracing the bald look.
When I thought about the people around me, the edgy gloom faded from my mind. I stopped flashing back to waking up in the SUV or dragging my injured ass through the mud. I felt like me again.
“Where’s York?” I asked when I realized he wasn’t in the large room.
“That’s the Black Rainbow boyfriend, right?” Hazard asked, flashing me a grin. “When’s the wedding?”
“It’ll be this October to celebrate the first time I rode his dick. But first, where is he?”
Hazard heard the pissy panic in my voice and went looking for York. As I waited, Yarrow appeared next to the couch. Her pretty blue eyes stared down at me.
