Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 126840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
I pulled up the picture.
Straight up, she had this down.
I showed Mom.
She disapproved.
“Honey, he really needs a dining room table.”
“He has a kitchen table.”
She gave me a, think of your future look.
I was.
And I liked my thoughts.
I got up and strolled to where the men were working.
Core was the only one who stopped what he was doing to watch me.
I didn’t mind the sweat one bit and communicated this by leaning in to give him a kiss.
“You guys need water?” I asked.
“That’d be good,” he answered.
I showed him my phone. “Kyra’s suggestion for the dining room.”
His lips curled up. “Get it.”
I knew he’d love it.
That was when my lips curled up.
I walked back to the house, hearing Mom sigh as I set my margarita down before I went in to get the men some water.
She knew.
Okay, so the way it was going, one day, Core and I might discuss hosting a Thanksgiving or something, and for that, we’d need a dining room table.
But that day was not today.
I delayed hydrating the guys to tell Kyra to order the gray pool table with black felt for Core’s dining room.
Then I took care of my dad, my man and his friends.
That evening, Beck, Eight and Muzzle were gone, Liane had come over after work and she was playing Frisbee with Nanook in the yard, and Mom was with Core at his bar, fussing with some food preparation while he made us dinner.
Andy and I were hanging on the couch.
I had eyes to Mom and Core.
We’d been together every night since he got home from LA.
It wasn’t a decision thing, as in, “Hey, wanna come over?”
It was simply our thing, as in, before I left in the mornings, Core asked if I had any preferences for dinner because he knew we’d be sharing it. And if I had an answer, I’d give him that answer because I knew the same.
He cooked. It was his thing. We’d go out on occasion. I’d rustle something up on occasion.
But for the most part, he fed me. He liked doing it, I liked eating it because he was good at it, but there was something more there for him. Part of his protection mode, definitely his provider instinct.
And, I sensed, his mom taught him more than just how to make cornbread.
So it was his way to be with her memory.
At first, I thought Mom butting in would mess with his mojo.
I shouldn’t have worried.
He was gentle, respectful, gave over space to her as a mom who needed to do these kinds of things like she needed to breathe.
They worked great together.
And there was something beautiful, watching Core with Mom. He wasn’t young enough for her to be a mother figure to him, but there was a version of the care and respect he gave to me that was gorgeous to see.
“I like him,” Andy said low.
I turned my attention to him, my heart tripping.
“He’s solid,” Andy continued. “Knows how to work with his hands. Isn’t afraid of hard work. And he thinks the world of you.”
Andy’s approval meant everything.
He pulled me into him with an arm around my shoulders.
“Who woulda thunk, two of my girls with bikers. I like it.”
I did too.
Oh yes.
I liked it too.
My car rang, and it was Core.
I took the call by saying, “I’ll be there in a jiffy. I’m just going to give her a shot to look over the stuff and get out of there.”
“I don’t like this,” he replied.
This wasn’t the first time he’d said that.
Quick catch up:
It was now late September. We’d been together a month and a half.
Everything with Core was awesome.
Actually, everything was just awesome.
My family loved Core. My friends loved Core.
Nanook loved me.
I was constantly sexed up in a happy way.
Work was good.
Life was good.
Now, although I’d met Beck, Muzzle and Eight (obviously), also Web (Beck and Web were who hired me to do the social media for the dispensaries), I hadn’t been introduced to the rest of the club.
It was a thing to get everyone together for a full Resurrection shindig. It took time.
The time was now.
It was happening this afternoon, with Marcy and Kyra coming to a party they were having at the clubhouse (Li couldn’t make it, she was working again).
This was a big thing, not only Core bringing me to meet his brothers, the men inviting my girls too.
“It’s a closed clubhouse, babe,” he told me. “We don’t let everybody in.”
I could tell, even though the words were simple, the meaning was not.
I was a bit nervous, but mostly excited.
I was excited because it was happening. I knew it, though I’d never done it.
Still, I recognized it.
I was falling in love.
Our big blowout about Core’s club’s activities was behind us. I got why he thought he wasn’t good for me (with that and his issues about his dad).