Page 129 of Patching Over

“I’ll be there with you the whole time,” Jingles adds. “I won’t leave your side.”

“I was thinking about something. I know with us being taken up in Cleveland, it’s possible that Moira might not want to go home. Would she be okay staying here if I went back with Sleeper to wrap up school?”

“Don’t see why not,” Jingles replies. “Hopefully, Dragon and Wrecker will make a difference for her as well.”

“Okay, then that’s what I’ll do.” I nod my head, determined to try and find my new normal so that I can move forward with my life.

I still haven’t decided if I’ll want to stay in Cleveland permanently or return to Roanoke, but as long as Jingles is by my side, I’ll be fine no matter where we end up living.

“And you’re sure my nightmares should stop?” I ask Wrecker a few hours later after he went into my memories and did a little bit of work. I clearly saw where it wasnotmy fault that we were taken that day; no, the fault lies with Alvin and Bert. We were scammed, lured into a trap, plain and simple.

“They should, yes,” Wrecker replies, standing by my door.

True to his word, Jingles hasn’t left my side. When Tony found out what Dragon and Wrecker planned to do, he wanted to be with me as well, but I figured if Jingles and I were starting a relationship, it should be him holding my hand through this andnot my brother. Surprisingly, Tony understood, something I’m happy about.

“Good, because even though I didn’t remember them at all, waking up this morning covered in sweat and tangled up in the sheets, I knew something happened while I slept.”

“We’re going to see your friend now,” Wrecker says.

Once they leave, Jingles kisses me, causing tingles to course through my body. I know it’s not the time or the place, but I’m happy knowing that the shit Alvin did hasn’t killed off my desire. “How about I take you for a ride?” he asks.

“Can my brother come with us?” I reply.

“Absolutely. Let’s go find him.”

Hours later, my face windblown from the cooler autumn air, we pull over to a barbecue place and he shuts the bike off. Once Tony parks, he helps me off the back of Jingles’ bike, and the three of us walk into the restaurant.

I don’t miss the envious looks from the other women even as they sneer at me. Whatever. I’m secure enough in who I am as a person and a woman that I don’t have to be decked out to the nines, or have a shit ton of makeup glopped on my face. Deciding to ignore them, I slide into a booth and Tony slides in next to me while Jingles sits across from me. I kind of like that, actually, because I can see his expression as he talks.

“Do… Do you think I can say something to Alvin at least?” I quietly ask once the waitress has come and taken our drink order.

“It’s club business, sis, you know how that works,” Tony replies.

“Maybe so, but it happened tome, Tony. Not you or any of your brothers,” I retort. “Seems to me I should get a little bit of a say-so.”

“How about I talk to Brick and see what he thinks?” Jingles asks, stopping our argument before it reaches full steam.

“Thank you. Can you find out if Dragon and Wrecker were able to help Moira?”

Jingles nods and pulls out his phone, then quickly sends a text. While we wait for our drinks, all three of us look at the menu, which is somewhat limited but looks filling.

“I want banana pudding,” I say.

“What about actualfood, Belle?” Tony questions, teasing me.

“Life’s short, eat dessert first!” I exclaim, giggling, which earns me a smirk from both men. “Seriously, I’ll take a pulled pork plate with fries and coleslaw, plus a banana pudding.”

“Jingles, you sure about this?” Tony asks. “She eats like a teenage boy.”

“I like it that she doesn’t shy away from eating because she’s with us,” Jingles says. “And that actually sounds pretty damn good, although I’ll get two sandwiches.”

Once our food arrives, Tony and Jingles talk about people they both know from the Cleveland chapter, while I merely listen, and people watch. Our booth gets a wide berth from others coming in when they see my brother’s and Jingles’ cuts, which I don’t understand. I mean, I’m sure they don’t necessarily stay on the legal side of things based on the things I’ve witnessed over the years, but I’d rather know someone had a bit of gray inside them than to think they’re upstanding citizens, only to be stabbed in the back, like Alvin and Bert did.

Because they came across as holier-than-thou, when they were worse than the worst vipers in any snake pit as far as I’m concerned. Like I said, others may fear my brother’s club, butthey’d do better to be afraid of people who tout their high moral compass as far as I’m concerned.

“Did you have fun today?” Jingles asks me later that night. We came back to find an impromptu cookout going on, complete with firepits blazing and music roaring.

Raising shining eyes to him, I nod as I swallow the last bite of my s’more. Even as tired as I am, I couldn’t go to bed without having at least one of the tasty morsels. “I really did. Thank you for taking me on a ride.”

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