Page 4 of Tempt Me

After I was done, I casually wiped the blood from my hands, feeling triumphant over my foe. My mind was clear. My heart was unbothered.

Meanwhile, Hunter looked at me like I was a threat. She didn’t come around for months. Siobhan promised her friend was just startled by the violence, but everything would be fine.

“How can anyone deny this face?” Siobhan teased and patted my cheek. “I’ve never seen Hunter go gaga over a guy like she did with you. Just be patient.”

Patience is something I can do. I didn’t push Hunter. When she came around, I was friendly, never demanding. I acted like we were friends, so she would view me as unthreatening.

I’m probably a moron because I’ve long assumed Hunter would show up one day and say the waiting was over. When that didn’t happen, I searched for a sign to make my move.

Hunter’s mugging offered an opportunity. I showed up at her condo and didn’t hide my real feelings behind my usual friendship armor. I was a raw nerve, upset over how I hadn’t been there to protect her.

Hunter clearly saw I needed soothing, and she was freaked out about the mugging. How easy would it have been to let me inside her condo? We could have comforted each other.

As I rode away that day, I asked myself when my patience would wear out. Could I last another year? Would I still be nursing this hope in a decade?

Since walking away from this obsession was out of the question, I found myself dropping deeper into this rut with no way out.

My foster brother’s recent good luck has offered me hope. Bear wanted a woman out of his league. When Natasha dropped in his lap, he fucked up massively. For two years, he was a man nursing an open wound he refused to let heal.

Fortunately for Bear, Natasha dropped back in his lap. This time, he didn’t fuck up despite his usual self-destructive nature. The stars aligned, and he won his dream woman’s heart.

Usually, people need to settle for less, like Bear’s former girlfriend, Aneta. Her heart belongs to a stupid man now locked up for the next twenty years. Aneta refuses to walk away and start over with someone else. Instead, she’s satisfied by scraps and plans to have the moron’s kid. That’s why I spend my morning riding up to the prison to pick up a few containers of jizz.

Since Aneta runs the Backcountry Kings’ premier strip club and is tight with important people, we’ve pulled a few strings to get her man’s seed out of prison. The idea came up when Aneta had an emotional breakdown after hearing Bear knocked up Natasha. She saw how her life was at a standstill while he’d gotten lucky enough to move forward.

Siobhan and Carys hatched a plan to pay off a guard to get the “baby-making magic” out of prison. Now, Aneta will have the opportunity to carry her man’s baby and experience motherhood.

Last month, my club brothers Golden and Scarecrow rode to the prison to pick up the package. This time around, I’ve agreed to do it because I’m restless and the open road feels good.

My other club brother Indigo comes along on the errand. We’ve long been tight, even though he rarely has much to say. Indigo is the most deeply unhappy person I’ve ever known.

When I’m feeling low about missing Hunter, there’s no one better to be around than Indigo. Bear used to be the third wheel on our misery tricycle, but he’s won his second chance.

After we drop the package off at Aneta’s little house, not so far from Bear’s big one, Indigo asks if I want to get a burger. With Hunter working at the casino, we take our time at the 1980s-themed diner. The two of us swallow up the booth with our size. No one pressures us to get the fuck out, even after we’ve finished eating.

While I watch people going about their lives, Indigo stares at his hands. His brown beard has gotten wilder over the last few months. He rarely pulls is shoulder-length hair back in a ponytail. His depression prevents him from giving a fuck about his appearance.

Women still drool over him. If he’d give up his celibacy thing, Indigo would no longer spend his nights alone and miserable.

Years ago, I asked him what he needed to be happy. If he was a chastity kind of guy, he ought to look for a wife so he could get his dick wet. Indigo’s resulting hateful glare made me think he might hit me.

“I was at Bear’s house,” Indigo says as the kids at the next table get loud, “and Natasha’s kids were talking to me.”

“Yeah, they’re a chatty duo.”

“I was thinking how everyone liked them. But then again, they’re cute. So, what happens if the baby in Natasha’s belly isn’t cute? The two chatty ones aren’t hers by blood, meaning she didn’t make them cute. What if she and Bear make a baby that’s not as good as the ones Natasha brought home with her?”

Knowing where this question is coming from, I explain the obvious, “Good parents don’t care if their kids are cute. Remember when Hudson went through that piggy phase?” I ask about Carys and our club brother Pork Chop’s younger son. “He looked so weird next to his brother. I mean one boy got his looks from beautiful Carys while the other is more like Pork Chop. I felt like the kid was screwed.”

Indigo nods as his gaze turns darker.

“But everyone loved Hudson just the same, and he doesn’t look like a pig anymore. His nose is normal. It was just a growing thing, but normal people don’t obsess over that stuff. So, if Bear’s kid ends up having his big head on its little body, Natasha will love it just as much as she does the kids she found when they were babies. That’s how good people roll.”

When Indigo doesn’t respond, I ask, “Isn’t that how you’d be? Imagine you met a woman with kids, would you care if they were goofy-looking? No, you’d still get to know them and care about them. That’s normal. Anyone who can’t do that is fucked up.”

Indigo considers my words, still nursing old wounds from a childhood he refuses to talk about. A smile suddenly warms his face.

“Bear’s big head would look fucking crazy on a tiny baby,” he says and chuckles.

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