Page 8 of Maverick

“Shit, Mama, I got it. Sorry.” She stood on her tippy toes and smacked the back of my head.

“Language, Silas. Now, introduce me to your pretty little friend.” Mama turned to Willow and put a big smile on her face.

“Mama, this is Willow. Willow, this is my Mama.” I could see Goose out of the corner of my eye, stifling a laugh from this whole interaction.

“Oh dear, you can just call me Mama Crawford!” She pulled Willow into a big hug and then turned to Goose. “And you, don’t be laughing at your brother because you’re next. Go be nice and talk to that sweet Ellie Jo. I heard you’ve been quite rude to her.”

It was Goose’s turn to look sheepishly around the party. “Mama, it’s not like that! I was just joking. Lilah has told me enough to stay away from her. Trust me, I get it.”

Mama’s hand whipped out and slapped Goose in the back of the head. “Ouch! What was that for!”

“That was for lying to me. Now get to it. I’m coming with to make sure you’re on your best behavior!” Mama and Goose made their way to one of the picnic tables where Lilah’s friend, Ellie Jo, sat.

She was a sweet girl who owned the local bakery. Ellie Jo was the total opposite of my brother and I knew he never had a chance with her. She was a petite little redhead who loved to dress like she was back in the 1950’s. Delicate, sweet, proper, everything my brother was not. But he still tried to get her on a date every chance he got.

“Well, that was an...interesting way to meet somebody’s family.” Willow was standing right next to me, her arm brushing up against mine. As she turned to look around, a slight breeze blew her hair against me. Her intoxicating smell surrounded me; wildflowers, sandalwood, and vanilla. I could smell a hint of orange and slight undertones of an earthy scent. It was the perfect combination and it made my cock rock hard. I adjusted myself, hoping nobody saw as Willow turned back around to me.

“Yeah well, that’s my family for you. Mama is one tough lady and runs a tight ship around here. As you saw, no swearing around her.”

Willow laughed as we made our way towards the barn. I wanted to reach out and grab her hand, but I quickly pushed that feeling away. I barely knew the woman and needed to cool it.

“You stay here and then we’ll get going. I just want to say goodbye to the boys first and remind them who the best uncle is.”

I ran over to the boys and picked them both up. “Alright, boys. Uncle Mav has some business he has to do, but I’ll be back tomorrow okay?” They both nodded and gave me a big hug. “And don’t forget, I’m the cool Uncle and Uncle Goose is a butthead, right?” They laughed as I set them down and ran off to get into more trouble.

I turned around and caught sight of Willow up against the barn wall, her head thrown back laughing. Our Road Captain, Hawk, had his one hand pressed up against the wall next to Willow’s head and was clearly flirting with her. My blood started to boil before I checked my emotions. She wasn’t mine and that was a good thing. I didn’t need a woman in my life and was perfectly fine living the single life. But the other part of me wanted to put a stop to the scene in front of me.

I stalked over to Willow and Hawk and cleared my throat. “Hey, Hawk. Where’s the woman you brought home last night? Or did you already ghost her?”

Hawk’s face turned red and I could see him itching for a fight. “She was gone when I woke up this morning, actually. What crawled up your ass today?” He turned and plastered a big smile on his face, “Well, it was nice to meet you, Willow. I’ll see you around.” He winked at her as he walked off towards the party.

“Fucking prick. Stay away from him. Good guy but can’t keep it in his pants.” I ran my hand through my hair and let out a big sigh.

Willow just looked at me before bursting out in laughter. “Alright thanks,dad.”

She laughed even harder as my face turned bright red. I could see Goose in the corner of my eye talking to Ellie Jo so I grabbed Willow’s hand and dragged her over to them.

“Hey! Can we slow down there?” She was almost running trying to keep up with me. Willow pulled my hand and I crashed into her, both of us tumbling to the ground.

“Jesus Christ! Are you okay? Sorry, babe!” I got on my knees to check on Willow and saw she was hysterically laughing.

“Oh my God! You came tumbling down like a bowling pin!” Willow’s face was red and tears were rolling down her cheeks from laughing so hard.

Ellie Jo and Goose came running over to help us off the ground.

“Oh my goodness gracious! Are you two okay?” Ellie Jo grabbed Willow’s hand to help her up.

“Oh, I’m fine! Not my first tumble.” Willow brushed her hands on her jeans as Orion came over to kiss her face.

“I know you want some one-on-one time with her but damn, Brother. No need to knock the poor girl on her ass.” Goose was laughing as he punched my arm.

Bambi, Lilah and Ellie Jo’s friend and MC Club girl, came running over to the shitshow. She was wearing tight skinny jeans, a white tank top, and hot pink flats. Her blonde hair was up in two buns on top of her head. She looked semi-normal today, not wearing her normal attire; fishnets, thigh-high boots, and tiny little tops.

“Jesus Christ, Mav! This is why nobody wants to come to hang out. You knock them the fuck over.” She started to laugh as she reached her hand out toward Willow.

“Name is Bambi. Sorry about this big asshole. We don’t normally knock new friends around.”

Willow just laughed and shook Bambi’s hand. “I’m Willow and this is my dog, Orion. Really, it’s no big deal.”

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