Page 37 of Walker

“Damn right, baby. I’m going to have Quickshot check into the man who was posted up outside your house. Something isn’t sitting right about that. Have you heard from Tillie or the kids at all since you got here?”

“No.” I glanced down at my phone and there was still nothing.

“Let’s head back to my room, so you have some quiet, and you can check on them before we do anything else.”

“Thank you for thinking of them. I’ve been worried.”

“You don’t ever have to thank me for looking out for your family, baby. They’re a part of you, too.”

12 - House of Cards

Tillie assured her sister that all was good at the house with the kids. There were no strange cars, and she hadn’t seen any weird men around. Once Reesa received confirmation that all was well, she heaved out a huge sigh and then collapsed into my side.

We were sitting on the edge of my bed, since the room I had at the clubhouse wasn’t much. There was a queen size bed, a dresser, and one chair that held a stack of my laundry I hadn’t bothered to put away. This was the same room that had been my home, for the most part, since Poppy sold the home that had been left to her by her family when she decided we were done.

I’d been saving to get my own place away from the club but hadn’t pulled the trigger on doing it yet because doubts still hung in the air about whether I belonged here in Georgia or with the club at all. As we sat there together in my shabby ass room, it made me wish that I had taken the time to settle in somewhere despite my concerns about the club.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.” I leaned in and wrapped my arm around Reesa’s shoulders and tugged her closer into my side. “Anything.”

“Why didn’t you do more than kiss me the other night?”

“We were on your front porch and your kids were home, baby. Was I supposed to ravish you there and hope they didn’t wake up?” My words were meant to tease her and make light of her question, but I knew she was about to demand a real answer.

“Seriously, this might sound strange, but I felt like I owed it to you to take things at a slower pace. You have kids, and I know you’ll want to make sure we’re headed somewhere solid before we tell them that we’re together. I thought you might also need some adjustment time because your husband was your high school boyfriend. Figured you weren’t really that experienced with relationships and whatnot, considering.”

She snuggled deeper into my side and inhaled. “I love the way you smell. Not sure if it’s cologne, the soap you use, or maybe it’s just you underneath it all.” She breathed in deeply and then let it out slowly again. “It’s comforting.”

“Glad you think so.”

“My daughter told me that I should date you because it seems like you care. Plus, you really impressed her with the flower bit the other night.” Reesa looked up at me and rolled her eyes. “Heaven help any boy who tries to date her and doesn’t come baring gifts.”

We both chuckled at that. “Shit, I didn’t realize I was setting some teenage bastards up for failure.” I thought about it for a minute. “Actually, that’s probably a good thing. It’ll help weed the shitheads out before they ever get further than the front door.”

“Is this where you live?”

I nodded my head reluctantly. “Been saving for a place, but it’s been up in the air whether the club was going to remain in my life, so I didn’t buy local to avoid the regret if I got locked into this town while being out of the club. I wouldn’t leave on bad terms, but with the way the women of S.H.E. hate me, it would be a less than desirable place to settle without my club at my back. Sometimes, it still is with them there.”

She pulled away and stared into my eyes. “Are you going to leave?”

“No. Once I met you, I knew that wouldn’t be an option any longer, unless you blew me off. But things with the club are shifting right now and I think it will be for the better.”

“Poppy said something about how things were changing too. Is it something you can talk about?”

“Our President is stepping aside.” I chuckled darkly. “More like he’s being forced to do that. There’s some stuff going on that even I’m not in the know about, but if he’s gone, the club will be a better place for me.”

“He didn’t like you or something?”

“More like his woman didn’t like me. She blamed me for her own actions and between the two of them they decided I was going to be their whipping boy for all of their problems. The past two years has been a nightmare and made me seriously think on leaving the club. I’ve been a part of Aces High since I grew up a club kid in the Tallahassee Chapter. It would have killed me to leave the club, but the way it was going with those two, it was a close call.”

“What kept you here?”

“Originally, it was when Spike’s son showed up. Griffon needed someone he could confide in because his life was shit too, and I guess he saw that I would understand. He came to me and never left my side.”

“I think it’s great that you had one another. What does Spike think about it?”

“He’s a good man with his hands full right now and he appreciated me stepping in and being there for his boy.”

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