Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26738 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26738 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
“Dude, you look like you’re going to be shitting your pants. Don’t you think this is all a little extreme if you’re stressing out?”
“I want this to be perfect.”
“And my guess is it will be. You’ve just got to give it time. Have you thought about asking Ava what she wants?”
Smokey glared at his VP.
Hunter held his hands up. “I’m just thinking, you’ve made mistakes before. What if the only thing she wants is to spend time with you and her son? She might not want to be around the whole club.”
He ran a hand down his face, a little exasperated. “This isn’t about spending time with the whole club. It’s about changing the memories she has at the clubhouse.”
“And being around the whole club. How do you expect to do that when you won’t even allow Brick or Kinky to be anywhere near her?”
“Why did I bring you along?” Smokey asked.
“My charming personality, but in truth, I was the only one not busy.” Hunter rested his hands on his waist. “Fuck me, I don’t give a flying fuck about trees or Christmas.”
Smokey started to look at the trees that were available while also thinking about his woman and trying to imagine which one she’d love.
“So, er, what is Harlow doing around the club all the time?” Hunter asked.
“She’s spending Christmas with us.”
“Seriously, you want the mouthy vegan at Ava’s bakery?”
Smokey looked at Hunter. “Let me guess, you’re not a fan of Harlow.”
“I don’t think about the woman at all.”
“Then it won’t bother you that she’s going to be at the dinner. From what Big Dick tells me, she has a rough time of it at home through Christmas, and seeing as she works for my woman, having her at the clubhouse will be good for Ava.” And this was about making Ava feel welcome. Wiping out those fucked up memories once and for all.
It’s going to take more than a Christmas to do that.
He had New Year’s, Valentine’s Day. Pretty much every single time she came to the clubhouse. He was determined to make this work.
“What do you think of this one?” Smokey asked.
Hunter came to stand beside him. It was slightly taller than him and was full.
“It’s fucking big.”
“You’re being a pain in the ass, Hunter.”
“Fine, if you ask me, she’ll love it. Not that I know Ava, but seeing as I hate this time of year, it’ll be my luck that she does.”
Smokey made a note to never hang out with Hunter while attempting to plan an awesome Christmas. “Next time, I’m bringing Raven,” he said, making his way over to the owner.
Within twenty minutes, the tree was loaded up onto the truck, and Smokey climbed inside with Hunter by his side.
“So Big Dick’s not going home for the holidays?”
Smokey frowned and looked toward Hunter. “Is something going on with you and Harlow?”
“Hell no, man, nothing. I’m just making conversation.”
Something was off, and he wasn’t quite sure what. “Harlow is young, and she’s also Big Dick’s little sister. Don’t make me remind you what kind of shit that will cause.”
“Dude, there are enough chicks for me to get my dick sucked. Trust me. I don’t need no bratty bitch. I was just trying to make conversation is all. Damn, you’re touchy.”
Smokey still wasn’t convinced, but right now, he didn’t have time to follow up with Hunter to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. He was a grown man and Harlow was certainly a woman who knew what she wanted, and he wasn’t going to get in the way of either of them. Every single part of him said he needed to keep an eye on what was going on, but for now, he had to focus on his own woman.
After they arrived back at the clubhouse, Elijah, Ortiz, and Brick helped him to unload the tree. They carried it into the main clubhouse.
Now that he had the tree, there was no way he was going to be able to allow Ava to come here until after everything was set up.
Raven arrived a few minutes later, Carlos following with a couple of boxes of decorations.
“Holy shit, Smokey. That’s amazing.”
“I got you a big tree,” Carlos said.
Smokey shook his head and smirked as Raven moved in close to her husband. “I know and I love it.”
“Do you think Ava’s going to like this one?”
“She’s going to love it. You’ve got no problems there.”
He stared at the tree, and in the back of his mind, he saw Ava tied to that fucking chair. The look of pain and betrayal on her face as she stared at him. He’d fucked up big time.
Gripping the back of his neck, he walked to the boxes. He reached out for something to do with his hands and then started to pull out decorations.
Decorating for Christmas wasn’t his strong suit, but for Ava, he would do anything.