Page 61 of Ruckus

“Fine, but if I survive all that, will you move in here with me?” I can see by her reaction that the suggestion surprises her, and it makes me wonder if I’m moving too fast. I have no idea how these relationship things work. I've never tried one before.

“You want us to live together?” The smile that breaks through her shock looks a lot like she’s contemplating it.

“Ya see any point in you livin’ anywhere else?” I shrug.

“How dreamy.” She rolls her eyes sarcastically as she spins around, dragging the trail of covers with her and gets back into bed.

“You know what I meant.” I’m torn between rushing off to find Corey and fixing my bad choice of words. I dash over to the bed and climb back on top of her, wrapping my arms around her and the covers she’s rolled up in.

“Yes, I want us to live together. I wanna come home and walk through the door to see ya wearin’ my clothes. I wanna hold you while you sleep, and wake up every mornin’ to you smilin’,” I confess.

“Just what kind of fairytale do you think you're living in? There is no chance in hell you're gonna catch me smiling in the morning. Not until I’ve had at least two coffees.”

“Darlin’, you don’t know how I’m plannin’ on wakin’ you up, yet.” I tease her lips with mine and when she takes the bait and leans into them I pull away. “So, is that a yes or a no?” I ask.

“It’s a yes. Now, go stop Corey from blabbing his big mouth to everyone about what he saw.” She looks to the door and I kiss her before I head out.

“Except the Burlusconi girl!” she calls after me. “He can tellherall about it.”

Two Weeks Later

“This shit’s startin’ to get tough.” Ruckus squeezes my ass as we step under the arch and head toward the clubhouse. “Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to keep my hands off you while we’re here?” He speaks tightly into my ear.

“We’re only here for a few hou— Hey.” I smile enthusiastically when Alicia steps out the door and almost catches us. She looks like she’s had no sleep since her brother died. She’s lost weight and I’m really starting to worry about her.

“He’s here.” She rests her head on my shoulders and bursts into tears. Ruckus looks sad as he leaves us together and heads straight inside.

“Come on, let's sit you down.” I lead Alicia over to one of the chairs on the other side of the pool pit.

“Saul’s home now, where he’d want to be.” I try to offer her some comfort at the same time, trying not to think about where Willow’s body might be.

“This isn’t what he’d want at all,” She shakes her head. “He was putting his family together, he’d found someone he loved, and now his little boy will never know his dad. Just like my kid will never know theirs.” Her tears keep coming and I have noidea how to make her feel better. “I’ve tried getting hold of Lettie to let her know about the funeral.”

“Do you think that's a good idea?” I try not to sound negative. I get that Alicia is grieving, but Lettie coming here would bring a lot of risk.

“Of course, it’s a good idea, she is the mother of his child. She was his old lady. She should be here to say goodbye.” Alicia stares at me as if I’m crazy.

“I guess you're right.” There's no point me arguing with her while she feels like this, and it doesn’t sound as if Lettie is going to come anyway. So, I do the only thing I can do and hold her in my arms.

The ground below us starts to shake and when I look up and see the gate opening, the parking lot slowly fills with bikes. Ruckus said that some brothers from the other charters will be riding here to pay their respects. But I never expected this many.

“Are you ready to face this? If you're not, we can go hide in my room.” I look up to the motel room that I haven't slept in for weeks. It’s much easier for me and Ruckus to be together at his place, especially now that Corey knows to knock on the door.

“I’m not hiding from anything.” Alicia puts on a brave smile and stands up. “In fact, if you see me crying any more tears today I want you to slap me.”

“I’m not slapping a pregnant woman,” I laugh. “And you have every right to cry. Cry as much as you need to.”

“No, tonight’s his last night here, it should be what he’d want it to be. Let’s go have a fucking party for him.” She snuffles and wipes her tears away.

I stare across the room at Ruckus, watching as he talks to a few guys who came here from Colorado. I’m curious about how Chop met his end, a sick part of me wants the details, but I decide to leave the past in the past. My future is looking far too bright to darken it with that cloud. Alicia seems to be doing a great job of putting on a brave face, but every now and then her eyes move to the center of the room where her brother's casket lies on the pool table. The Souls’ flag is draped over it and there’s a bottle of his favorite scotch open for anyone who wants to share a final drink with him.

“Little Freya Adams.” I hear a whisper in my ear and when I quickly spin around and see Cam, I squeal with excitement and throw my arms around his neck.

“President of Arizona.” I dust off his prez badge proudly after he places me back on my feet. Cam started off as a prospect here, and although he was a few years older than me, we always got along so well. He spent most of his prospecting days giving me rides to school and sitting outside parties I was at, but he never complained.

“I heard you ran away to join the circus?” He sniggers as he orders us a beer.

“Would you expect anything less?” It’s good to see him again, even better to see him looking happy. He was so unhappy here toward the end. Moving to Arizona was good for him, I always figured he’d worked out what my dad was doing and got himself clear of it all.

---