Page 72 of Claim Me

Caveman mutters, “Chump.”

“Nice boxers,” Elvis taunts.

“Your wife gave them to me last Christmas.”

“I know. I was with her when she bought them,” Elvis replies and smirks. “We laughed about it.”

Caveman doesn’t take the bait, instead turning around to show off the festive boxers. He even shakes his ass for our benefit.

“Let’s hope he doesn’t fall out of them,” Bear mutters. “I want to go home to Natasha without that image in my head.”

I snicker at his words, gaining the attention of Caveman. He sizes me up and then juts his jaw at the door.

“You should head home to take care of my niece and the boy cooking in her oven.”

Elvis nods. “Everyone who lives in the Willow Brook neighborhood should ride together. Let’s stick to riding in pairs for the time being especially at night. I don’t know what the pigs thought would happen tonight, but they seem disappointed by the lack of violence. Let’s assume they’ll aim for easy targets.”

“You heard him,” Caveman says, walking to the bar and retrieving a bottle of whiskey. “Get home boys and snuggle with your ladies.”

“I don’t have a lady,” Sync says, frowning at Caveman who heads back to the bedrooms.

“Well, you can’t have the little lass I left in bed.”

Elvis notices how the other Hills Chapter members linger as if waiting for something. He gestures for them to return to the bedrooms before telling the rest of us to grab our weapons and IDs.

I slide my gun into my holster and check my phone. A picture of the twins is my wallpaper. Their little faces are pressed together. Their smiles remind me of the new family I’m building with Siobhan. That’s why I can’t help grinning whenever I turn on my phone.

“Look at my grandbabies,” Elvis says and leans in to take a selfie with me. “You best get home and check on Siobhan and the kids.”

When he texts the picture to his daughter, I wonder if she’s up. Siobhan’s been dragging more lately. Her bump is small and tight like she ate a kid-sized basketball. Though she dodged most pregnancy symptoms, fatigue started kicking her ass a few weeks ago.

After riding to Willow Brook, Sync and I split off from Tack and Bear. I expect him to keep going after we reach Siobhan’s house. Instead, he sits on his idling motorcycle at the curb, even after I park in the garage.

“What’s wrong?”

Sync looks around. “Those cops could make our lives risky.”

“Yeah, but then they’ll die. I think maybe they want to avoid that.”

Sync nods and looks at the house. “I feel uneasy.”

“Want to come inside and see your girls?” I offer when he stares at the quiet front door. “You can sleep over if you want, but the guest bedroom is taken. You’ll have to bunk on the couch.”

“Maybe I’ll stay over for a little bit,” he says and rides up the driveway. Climbing off his motorcycle, Sync studies me and sighs. “There are times when I get a bad feeling like I need to walk away from the dangerous shit and live a quiet life. I want to be able to watch my girls grow up. But I have no idea what I’d do if I wasn’t a Backcountry King, so I shove aside that bad feeling. Tonight, though, when those cops were itching for a fight, I saw myself dead and my babies forgetting me.”

After a moment, I admit, “I don’t know why I didn’t get nervous tonight about the cops flipping out and killing me.”

“Staying sharp is better than worrying. I don’t know why I got rattled. Maybe I drank more than I realized and the buzz kept me wired.”

“Well, I’ve got no issue with you sleeping over, but if you’re wired, keep it quiet.”

Sync gives me a “duh” look before we enter through the garage and shut the doors behind us. The house is quiet and smells of the garlic chicken Siobhan and I made for dinner. We’ve been taking a cooking class together on the weeks when the girls are with Sync. I smile at the memory of the kids helping us in the kitchen last night. We felt like a real family living a normal life.

Leaving my boots at the front door, I walk soundlessly through the house. I let the dogs outside while Sync peeks in on the twins. He’s still watching them when I get back. I check on Glen and Nora in the guest room.

After a quick shower in the dark, I climb into bed. Siobhan wakes enough to offer me a kiss and say those magic words. Just like I’ve been dying to do for hours, I curl around the back of her and rest my hand on her belly.

Though the house is peaceful, Sync’s earlier worries have infected me. My mind zeroes in on how the cops shoved me around more than the other guys.Why was I singled out?Do they know I’m with Siobhan? Yeah, probably. Were they trying to piss off Elvis?

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