The long drive to the city was exhausting and the sight of Derek's bike in my driveway only made me that much more tired. I can't believe my brother called him and told him we were close.
Red carries a sleeping Shane in the house. I follow behind them, holding Mr. Jingles in my arms. Even the rabbit who hates my guts is tired. Derek is on my couch, chillin like nothing's wrong. Like my brother didn't call and tell him that I'm moving back to raise my kid with his biker dad. Oh, and that I refuse his offer to be his old lady.
I put the rabbit in his corner cage. Yes, this rabbit has fucking cages everywhere. Hes as spoiled as my son.
I grab the 2 empty beer cans off the coffee table and toss then out before collapsing on the couch next to Derek. My brother waves as he leaves out. Asshole.
"Are you gonna continue to sit in silence?" I growl after 10 minutes of just sitting here. He burps loudly then grunts. You would think hes a fat middle aged man with a beard. But he's fucking 28 with abs that melt your panties with just a sight of them and he's close to a beard but not those straggling ones.
He puts out his cigarette in his latest beer can. "The fuck am I supposed to say, Mis? What the fuck have we been doing here? Basically living together, sleeping together, been taking care of you and the kid? And to you its just a casual hookup?" He spits the term I used for us earlier back at me. I rub my temples, sighing. Red and his big fucking mouth.
"I have told you many times I don't want to be your old lady. And the hell do you mean "taking care" of us? I pay my own bills and I pay for everything he needs. You don't take care of us!" I snap back. He snaps his head in my direction.
"Oh, because I don't support you financially, I don't support you at all? Who teaches Shane what it is to be a man? Does things with him that you find gross or what the fuck ever? Taught him to ride a bike? Tie his shoes when he wouldn't listen to you?
Do you fuck yourself? Emotionally support yourself? Talk to yourself when you've have a bad day at work or with Shane?" He starts yelling.
I bow my head. "He needs his father." I mutter.
"For all intents and purposes, I am his father, Missy!" Getting to his feet, he jerks me up with him and shoves me against the wall.
"His real father, Derek! He deserves that. They both do!" I try to shove him away but he doesn't move.
"Deserves? Where has he been the last 6 years?" He spits. "He didn't know about Shane! If he had, he would have been here!" I answer. I hope that's true. I'm pretty sure that's true.
"And whys that? He must have done something wrong for you to keep his kid away from him!" Ouch. That hurts.
My door suddenly opens and in walks Shank him fucking self. What the fuck is He doing here? Isn't He supposed to be in Florida right now? Did He follow us? He stalks over to Derek immediately towering over him. I think he towers over everyone.
"Get the fuck away from her." His words are slow and dangerous. Derek gets in his face, not intimidated by his height in the slightest. Male pride. Biker thing.
"Who the fuck are you?" Derek stupidly asks.
"I'm the father." The grin on Shank's face is lethal. Derek scoffs and thats the wrong thing to do. I have seen the damage Shank can cause to those who cross him while working in the infirmary.
I grab Shank's arm before he can swing, wrapping myself around it. "Shane, please!" I plead with him. He settles his glare in me and it fades just a little and lasts just for a second before he rips his tattooed arm from me and goes for Derek.
"Shank?" Shanes little voice sounds through the thick tension in my livingroom. Shank lowers his fist slowly and looks over at his little twin.
"Hey, little man." His voice is still hard but I see him visibly trying to calm down as He crouches infront of our son.
"Are you fighting with Derek?" He asks Shank.
"I didn't like the way he was talking to mom." Shank replies. Great, thats gonna bias him against Derek. Derek may not be his father or the best person in the world but he is a decent guy who was there for us and Shane loves him.
"Me neither." Shane hugs Shank. What? Shane was up listening. Shank gently cradles the tiny body in his huge arms without hurting him. He lifts shane up in his arms and turns to face us.
Derek glares at the sight. "Dad of the fucking year." He spits at Shank.
I stand here. Not knowing what to say. Or what to do. This situation is so fucking awkward and surreal.
"Get out." Shank orders Derek. Derek glances at me then shank then me again.
"Fucking great." He shakes his head then leaves, slamming the door. I collapse on the couch.
Shank takes Shane back to bed and then comes out and sits next to me. He slings one heavy arm over the back of my tan couch, the other fisted in his denim lap.
"What are you doing here?" I ask lamely picking at the hem of my blue tank top. A heavy breath is released from his chest.
"Didn't sit right with me, you coming here alone." He says honestly. I sigh and lay across the couch, placing my feet in his lap. Maybe innapropriate, because we actually don't know each other. Most definitely not friends.
He runs his rough hand down my bare leg then up again. A wild fire breaks out in my lower stomach. I can't rember if I shaved my legs. If I didn't, he doesn't seem to mind at all.
"How long were you out there listening?" Throwing my arm over my eyes only contributes to the dirty images I have of Shane and I naked.
"Long enough. You never told him why you kept our son away from me?" His voice is cautious. I remove my arm from my eyes only to wrap it around myself. The whether is definitely different here.
Shank is watching me when I glance at him. "No." I reply after a moment silence.
"Did you tell anyone about me?" I hear hint of ...anger?
I shake my head. "Lacie before I left. I was embarrassed and disgusted with myself. I didn't want to share my shame. I especially didn't want it to get to the wrong person and have it spread all over town. Throw more shame on my mom than my father and brother already have. I didn't want to see the disappointment in my mom's face when she looks at me." I ramble and at the end I'm crying. All of that happened anyways.
I hide my face in my hands so Shank can't see my weakness. The pain he caused.
"I'm sorry I hurt you. What we did... It was selfish of me." The words sound hard for him to get out.
Not wanting to hear what he's saying, I wipe my face and shake my head. He's saying that now but thats not what he was saying as he had that dark haired beauty in his arms, around his waist. His face said I was the last person he wanted to see and He wished I'd go the fuck away.
I climb to my feet off the couch and take a deep breath to calm down. "You can sleep here, I'll grab you a blanket and my pillows. Gonna need every second of sleep. Shanes gonna wake your ass up early. He's so excited to be moving with you, Shank." I tell him without looking at him.
"Missy..." He starts to say something but I wave him off. I do not want to talk about this right now.
"Its fine, Shank. I should have known you had someone on the outside. And I should have known I was a prison clause." I spit out the last two words. I knew he was in a club and should have known better. He was only doing what they all do.
In my room, I grab one of Shanes comforters and some of my pillows off my bed to throw at Shank in the living room. He's already down to his abs and boxers when I come back out. I should have lied about that being a rule earlier just to save myself tourtorous dirty thoughts. So unfair.
On the side table on the end of the couch is a gun. "Put that shit somewhere our son won't find and try to play with it." I glare at him.
Instead of glaring back like he usually does, he places it under a couch cushion. "Better?" He asks me. He almost sounds sarcastic but he's trying really hard to follow my rules in my house out of respect. I nod and turn back towards my room.
True to my words, the echo of Shane's little feet against the wooden floors wakes me up out of my sleep. I roll out of bed in one of Derek's long t shirts and go out to the rest of the house. In the kitchen I find Shane and Shank making breakfast in the kitchen.
Shane is on the counter by the stove listening to every word that comes out his father's mouth about how to cook eggs. My doorbell sounds, making both boys turn their heads to find me just leaning against the counter, watching.
"I got it." I go to my door and peep out the hole in my door. On the other side stands a few of the brothers from Reds club and some of their wives. I open the door with a warm smile.
"Come in." I wave them through. I search for Derek but I don't see him in the crowd. Neither is my brother.
"Not here, babe." Copper reads my thoughts. Hes a pot bellied older man in Reds club.
"Did he come home last night?" I ask. I know I shouldnt be worried but I am. Derek and I were at least friends. Copper shrugs. That means no. I exhale.
"Can you at least put some clothes on?" Shank snaps in my ear. I jump. When did he get behind me?
I glance down at Derek's shirt. Its almost to my knees. "This is like a nightgown, Shank." I pull it down a little more.
"Maybe on a skinny bitch, but you got a fat ass and big tits, babe. Looks like a fucking mini dress. Go change." He orders. Not wanting to fight in front of Shane, I just do what he says.
I swap the shirt for yoga pants and my own black t shirt with my brothers club logo on it. Jeans wouldnt allow me to bend with ease to pack and lift boxes.
A plate is handed to me when I return to the kitchen by my son with a proud ass smile. They're a little burned for my taste but I eat them anyways. "Was it good, mom?" He asks.
I grin down at him. "Of course." I pick him up in one arm. He takes my plate so I can hold him with both arms and I walk him to the sink so he can put the dishes in there.
"We move today right? And go stay with Shank?" He asks me excitedly.
"Shank wont be living with us, honey, but hell be around a lot." I explain lightly. He frowns a little. Seeing this, Shank comes over to us.
"Once I get my own place, you can spend nights with me. Sound good?" He asks Shane. And just like that, Shanes smile radiates again.
Barely even knows Shank and is attached already.
"Now, come on. Were gonna pack your room and Mr. Jingles shit." He takes Shane down the hall to his room.
"Your baby daddy is hot." Candy comes to stand beside me. I laugh at her.
"He knows, trust me." I mutter back to her.
What I expected to take a couple of days at least ended up taking just a day with the help of the club. I expected my brother to be pissy and not lend me any help. The prodigys and Rebels hate each other. But Red put family first.
Shank puts the last box in the back of the uhaul that the guys rented for 4 days. Somewhere in the mix of things, Shank took his shirt off. Some of the girls from the club are watching and I want to stab each in the eye with a fork.
"That's everything." He tells me. I nod. Its summer so I'm off work from the school. I'm the nurse there. At least if I call now they'll have time to find a replacement.
Shank loads his bike into a spot they left clear in the back of the uhaul before he slams shut the door.
"I'll drive this back and you can follow." He tells me. I nod.
Just as I'm about to start my car I see Derek's bike pull up into my drive. The light from the street lamp posts luminate his face enough for me to see in the dark. He comes straight to my window and knocks on it.
"Get out." He motions with his fingers once I roll down the window. So I do.
He grabs me by the waist in one hand and cups my face with the other before pulling me into a long and hard kiss. Laughing, I kiss him back. This is the Derek I like. The sappy, friendly romantic. He will make some girl happy one day, just not me. A few of his lingering brothers whistle and hoot.
He pulls back to kiss my head and I just catch my breath. "Bye, babe." He says low in my ears. I kiss his cheek. He releases me and knocks on shanes window. "Bye, Shane." He waves.
"Bye uncle Derek." Shane waves back. I get back into my car and shut the door. Derek leans in.
"You call if you need anything." He kisses me one last time before I pull out my driveway, following Shank, and leaving Derek standing there with his club behind him.
Now we are on to a new chapter in our life. A chapter that involves Shank; the man who impregnated me then broke My heart.