To be truthful, it was the latter that should have Wolfe rethinking his vocabulary.
Having Flame on your bad side?
Well, it was like asking the Grim Reaper, aka my least favorite person in the world, to come knocking on your door.
Wolfe shook his head. “We can’t do this. I’m the Prez of the Rebels. I can’t share a woman.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Watch your mouth,” I bit off. “I’m not just a woman. I’m your woman. And you’re my man. I claim you as much as you claim me. I’m not those pissant bitches out there who are happy to take any crumb their men will give them.
“I’m your equal, Wolfe, and that’s what has you pissing your pants because you know that. You know we’d reign over this MC like it was meant to be. With Axe, Flame, and Dagger at our sides.”
“And what? We take over our Kingdom? I ain’t Prince Charmi—”
“Ha, you think I need to be told that? You’re anything but charming, but lucky for you, I can deal with your shitty attitude because for some stupid fucking reason, I love you. I love the SOB who taught me how to knee a guy in the balls the perfect way to make them wish they’d never set eyes on me. I love the dick who taught me how to repair a carburetor, and don’t get me started on the shit who taught me that Mac and Cheese goes best with beer.” I pointed my finger at him. “You made me yours when I was a kid. By being there more than my dad was. All of you reared me to be yours. To fit you perfectly. Now I’m that, you can’t bitch at me because I’m exactly what you need.”
Eyes dilating, Wolfe swallowed. “You talk shit.”
Axe snorted. “Because Ryan taught her how to.”
I beamed at him, twisting around to bathe him in my smile, so fucking proud by that comment, by that compliment, I wanted to kiss him more than I wanted my next breath.
Wolfe shook his head. “Kid always could talk BS. Could sell shit to a stable.” He ran a hand over his hair.
Hearing Ryan’s road name made my throat feel thick, but in a good way. For so long, I’d been thinking of him as gone, but here? He was alive. He was a part of this little unit we had going on. He’d made me as much as the others had.
I’d tagged along as soon as I was old enough to toddle, and for some reason, they’d let me. At first, it was Axe. Softhearted Axe, who’d taken a motherless toddler under his wing when she’d cried over losing her ice cream. He’d let me tag along with him, and because he was friends with the others, they’d sighed and grunted at having a little girl hanging around, but they’d soon shut up when they’d realized they could corrupt me.
I’d known more curse words at five years old than Amaryllis would know at eighteen. They’d taught me how to ride a bike, had even pimped out my girly bike with flowers and shit on my seventh birthday. At eight, I’d wailed because I couldn’t piss standing up like they could, and at nine, they’d sneaked me onto their motorbikes even though my daddy would have killed them, and I’d had my first taste of the wind in my hair, the throb of the engine beneath my butt. I’d caught the bug that day and it was still there. As much a part of me as these men were.
“What did you do to your arm?”
The question came out of nowhere, but though I stared down at the cast, I didn’t reply. “It doesn’t matter,” I told Dagger, wondering why he’d brought that up now.
Flame sucked in a breath. “She’s still got it.”
“I’ve still got what?”
“The tell.” He reached up and dragged his finger along my upper lip. “You raise your upper lip when you’re lying. It’s like a half sneer.”
I scowled. “I’m not lying.”
Dagger snorted. “Another lie. Why, darlin’, they’re adding up already.”
Wolfe laughed, and it was the first time I’d heard that sound in so long, I felt tears prick my eyes. To hide them, to hide my outburst of emotion, I rasped, “I got into a little fight at a gas station outside of Lubbock.”
“What kind of fight?”
I gaped at Axe. “Are we seriously going to have this conversation while my