Page 29 of Daddy Issues

The girls and I danced until I was sweaty, hot, and happy for the first time in months. Not because of the whiskey, but because I was home. Ghost, David, none of it even mattered anymore.

I should never have stayed away so long.

And if I was being honest, whatever was happening with Puck and I left little sparks of excitement arcing through me. Toss in Jester’s flirty glances, making me feel like the sexiest woman in the clubhouse, and I was having a great time.

No drugs. No bullshit. A great time. I was home.

The only damper was when Puck didn’t seek me out and disappeared. I’d gone looking for him once, I wouldn’t do it again. I tucked away the pang of disappointment and decided that Puck Kelly wasn’t going to ruin my night.

I passed David on my way from the bathroom. My stepdad’s eyes were red rimmed, and he swayed a little on his feet. “Dude.” I fortified myself to catch his weight when he tossed an arm over my shoulder and leaned on me. “I think it’s time for you to go home.”

“You just might be right, kiddo.” He tapped my nose with the knuckle of his index finger like he’d always done. It was only then I realized he hadn’t since his bitch of a girlfriend moved in. I wanted him to be happy, but was he?

To get him in his car meant dealing with Nadine. My buzz fizzled out at the mere thought of her. We staggered back toward the main room and I glanced around for help. My quick whistle got Jester’s attention. He crushed out a blunt and snorted a laugh as David swayed at my side.

“Old man can’t hang anymore.” He lifted David from me and steadied him with a grip on his arm. “Let’s get you home.” Then he looked around, zeroing in on Nadine. “Yo, time to load up.”

The face she made was caught somewhere between shock that Jester addressed her and anger that he was ordering her around. I could understand that sentiment. She grabbed her purse and scampered after us, jostling past me at the door so she could grip David’s other elbow. Like she was really helping.

“Oh, please don’t puke in my car,” she whined as she unlocked the door with the key fob.

“He won’t,” I assured her. Though half of me wished he would. “He’s not that drunk. Probably his pills interacting with the beer. When was the last time he ate?” David swayed on his feet as he shrugged out of his vest and handed it to me. I folded it, kept in draped over my arms patch out. I wasn’t new to how to handle the damn thing. And knew as soon as Jester got him in the car, he’d have to take it.

It wasn’t ideal for me to hold the leather, but I knew to care for it with the proper reverence.

“He picked at his dinner; said he wasn’t hungry.”

He hadn’t liked it and, of course, she couldn’t see that, didn’t care to. “Stop by a burger joint on the way home and get him some fries or something.”

Her leveled glare over the car told me how much she thought of my advice. Like I hadn’t lived with the man most of my life.

“Here, I’ll take it.” She ignored David, walking right by Jester, who gave her a what the fuck look as she grabbed for the cut.

“Nah…” I stepped back, just out of her reach, clinging to the worn leather. “There is a protocol for that.”

“Give it. He can have it at home.” Her pink nails were sharpened to points and scratched across the leather when I sidestepped her quick handed snatch.

“What the hell?”She’s lost her fucking mind. I wasn’t trying to keep his cut. This was just what they’d always done. Get fucked up at the clubhouse, hang your cut on the wall, and let the guys give you grief the next day. “There are fucking rules Nadine, you can’t just toss his vest into the back of your car.”

“Cut it out,” David grumbled from inside the silver sedan as Jester straightened from buckling him in.

“Why do you have to make everything about him a battle? The jealousy is over the top, McKenna.”

No one called me by my first name, except family. She was not that. I had enough whiskey in me to snarl at Nadine. “This isn’t about you or me, you dumb bitch. Rules are rules.”

The words toppled out before I could stop them.

She went for me, but Jester grabbed her by the back of the shirt. “You heard her, this is the way it’s done. Time to go home.”

“Of course you want us to go home, so she has free rein to do whatever she wants.”

Jester released her shirt, making her stumble back a few steps, and gave me a curious lift of one eyebrow. “The fuck is this crazy bitch going on about?”

Nadine’s eyes widened as she gaped at him. She’d mistaken her position within the club. Even if David married her, it wouldn’t mean shit to Jester.

“Apparently, I’m fucking the entire table.” I passed him David’s cut.

His mouth split in a wide, shit-eating grin. “Really? Now that’s exciting.” He tossed his arm over my shoulder, leaving Nadine to bump the passenger door to her car closed with her hip and make her way to the driver’s side.

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