Page 12 of Levee

“Competitions?” I asked.

“You know… races?”

“Oh, no, doll. Not that kind of bike,” I said, smiling. “Motorcycles,” I clarified.

“Interesting. What does a motorcycle club do?” she asked.

“Hang out mostly,” I admitted. “Throw parties.”

“Who doesn’t love a good party?” she asked. If I wasn’t mistaken, she was hinting at wanting an invitation.

“I can give you an address if you ever want to pop by for one.”

“But how would I know when one is going on?”

“Pick any night of the week and you’ll pick the right one,” I said. “But you also have my number. If you haven’t lost it.”

“I haven’t,” she said. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer. I’ve never been to a party at a motorcycle club. What does one wear to that sort of thing?”

In her case? As little as possible.

“This works,” I said, waving at her. “But you might want to wear a bathing suit under it.”

“What? I can’t swim nude?” she asked, tone serious, but her smile betrayed her.

“Baby, I doubt anyone would complain about you swimming nude,” I said, letting my gaze scan her.

“Oh, but I wouldn’t want to do it alone,” she said, laying the flirtatious tone on thick.

And I was eating it up.

“Doll, anytime you want me naked, I’m at your service,” I shot back, watching as her eyes warmed to golden honey.

Her lips parted to say… something.

When a mom with three enthusiastic kids rushed in, the older two gibbering about who was going to get to put the coins in the slots.

“Both of you. You can both put the coins in,” the mother placated them as she dragged two large trash bags behind her, and jiggled the baby in her carrier.

“Hey Lily,” Jade said, hopping off of the table and holding her hands out. “Come on. Give me my fix,” she demanded, making Lily pull the baby out of the carrier.

Jade pulled the baby to her chest and leaned down to press a kiss to her mostly bald head before she started to sway gently and hum.

Thanks to the older members of the club, I’d been around a shitton of babies in my life. And, yeah, they were cute and all.

But I’d never had quite the same kind of reaction to seeing any of the women with any of those babies as I did seeing Jade with this one.

It was a strange, I dunno, tightening sensation in my chest.

“How long have you lived here?” I found myself asking when she caught me staring at her with the baby.

“Just about a month,” she told me, grabbing the baby’s hand, and trying to remove the earring from her tiny fist before she pulled the earring free.

“Here,” I said, jumping up to held pull the earring free.

“Thanks. Why?” she asked.

“You seem to have acclimated really quickly,” I said, thinking about how I didn’t know any of my neighbors back before I moved into the clubhouse. The only reason I knew my neighbors at the clubhouse was because it was a club member and his wife.

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