Page 35 of Out for Blood

When I walked out into the clubhouse, I saw a lot of the club members cleaning up. Shauna was talking to Ryleigh onthe couch, and I made a move over to them, only to see the accusation in Ryleigh’s eyes.

“Ew!” Ryleigh squealed. “You guys are so gross.”

I rolled my eyes as I took a seat opposite them. “Come on, guys, you know what happens when a new relationship is…well new.”

“Yeah, but you’re like….old, and so is he? Doesn’t he need, like, pills to get it up?”

I glared over at Shauna who was trying to look at me, but she couldn’t. “For starters, no, he doesn’t, we have a very healthy sexual appetite.”

Both girls made gagging noises and I held up my hand to silence them.

“Secondly, I’m sorry you saw that, Shauna, I am, but you can’t expect me to be celibate for the rest of my life.”

“Fine,” Shauna finally looked at me. “But, it’s so hard to picture anything else now. I mean, he’s going to be my stepdad, right?”

The title took my breath away for a moment. Even though I’d been worried about him not wanting that and the fact we hadn’t discussed the future yet, I would fucking love it if he stepped up and did that. The girls would benefit so much from him being in their lives. His kindness, his protectiveness, his love. I didn’t want to cry in front of them. God knew they didn’t need that.

There was also a small part of me that hoped he wanted to be one himself. I thought I was done, but I would love to have his baby. The thought broke open my chest and instantly I knew he’d always been the one. Always.

“Why don’t we go and do something today?” I asked them. “Just us girls.”

“And me,” Orla piped up behind me. “I ain’t missing out on some girl chit chat.”

“There’s a way you could make it up to me,” Shauna said, the challenge already in her eyes. I wasn’t going to like what she had to ask but I’d give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Name it.”

The devilish little grin that landed on her lips had me regretting my decision immediately. She stood up, Ryleigh following as she always did.

“We want tattoos for our sixteenth birthday.”

“No.”

“You said name it.”

“Sher, I could do a small one for them, matching tatts. What’s the worst that could happen?” Orla piped up. She was lucky I didn’t turn around and clock her.

“I don’t want you girls to regret this. Sometimes we don’t make the best decisions when we are sixteen. I know I didn’t.”

Orla moved next to me. “You’re telling me. Staying with Paulie instead of hooking up with the only boy you actually ever wanted for one.”

“Would you shut it?” I said through gritted teeth.

“Wait…you mean Ace is the one you loved when you were a teenager…the one who got away?” Ryleigh asked me. I nodded, remembering the stories I would tell my girls of the fun I would have with my friends and the boy I loved but never told.

“And now you finally get time to be together,” Shauna said, as if her anger at seeing us last night was dissipating. “Okay, Ma, maybe it wasn’t so bad then. I guess you have a lot of catching up to do…but like…can you do it when we’re not around?”

“That’s a tall order, kid.”

“Orla, for fuck’s sake, shut your mouth.”

She held her hands up and sat down on the couch, watching eagerly to see what would happen next.

“Please, Ma,” Shauna continued. “Let us all three get a matching tattoo.”

I looked to Ryleigh who was nodding enthusiastically. How could I say no to those faces?

“Fine…a small one,” I said. “I mean it, Orla.”

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