her and let out a loud groan.
She relaxed under me, wrapped her arms around my neck, and pressed kisses to my damp skin. A light giggle erupted from her lips. “Well, wow,” she whispered.
“Yeah?” I laughed. I collapsed on top of her and gathered her in my arms. I rolled over onto my back, and she laid her head on my shoulder. “Did I make the cut?”
She busted out laughing. “You more than made the cut.”
“Thank God,” I moaned. “Though I’m more than willing to do that again if you need to think about it.”
She trailed her fingers over my chest and sighed. “I mean, if you want to do that again we can, but I’ve already made up my mind. You’re my Six now.”
Thank fucking God.
I had given her time.
I had shown her I was willing to wait ‘til the end of time for her.
Everything I did, I did it in a way to make her feel safe. Right here in my arms was where Memphis belonged, and I thanked God she knew it.
Her breathing evened out, and she sighed softly. “Can I ask you something?” she whispered.
“Anything, doll. I’ll tell you anything you want to hear.” I was an open book to Memphis. I had nothing to hide from her.
“Well, in that case, I have two things to ask you,” she laughed.
“Well, start with the first one.” I grabbed a strand of her hair and twirled it around my finger.
“How did you get the name Six-Gun?”
“Honestly?” I laughed.
“I thought that’s what we were doing?” she chuckled. “Honesty.”
Well, this was going to be embarrassing. “Uh, well, when I was about three, my mother got me a couple of toy guns and a holster.”
“That is not what I thought you were going to say,” Memphis laughed. “I planned on hearing some badass story about you and the club.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Just wait, doll. You’ll know what a real badass is once you hear this story.” I cleared my throat and grabbed a pillow to shove under my head. “When I was about three, my mom bought me these six-guns and so I put them on. We lived with my grandparents, and my grandpa was constantly watching John Wayne westerns.”
Memphis giggled. “How cute.”
“So, my mom was trying to potty train me, and I would just run around naked most of the day since I was running to the potty fifteen times a day.” I cleared my throat. “And in my little three-year-old brain, just because I wasn’t wearing any clothes, didn’t mean I couldn’t wear my six-guns.”
“Oh, my God,” Memphis gushed. “You ran around naked with nothing on but a holster and guns?”
That was exactly what I did. Even after I was potty trained, I was known to do it from time to time. “Yup. I thought I was John Wayne and always needed to have my guns on me to protect Mom, Grandma, and Grandpa.”
“I bet you were the cutest little boy,” she sighed.
That wasn’t the end of the story. “So, every time John Wayne was in the middle of a showdown or needed to pull his gun, my grandpa would holler out ‘six-gun’ and then I whipped out my guns and shot the bad guys on the screen.”
“Oh,” Memphis sighed.
“So, it sort of morphed into everyone calling me Six-Gun and it’s stuck with me since.” Though none of the guys in the club knew the true origins of the name. If they did, I would never hear the end of it.
“I like it,” she sighed. “I totally thought you were going to say you got the name because you killed so many guys with your six-gun or something.”
“No, but if anyone says that’s how I got my name, don’t deny it. That sounds more badass than a naked three-year-old walking around and pretending to shoot bad guys on the TV.”
Memphis laughed lightly and sighed. “Your secret is safe with me, Six.”
“What was your other question?”
She held up two fingers. “I now have two more. What is your real name?”
“Ryder.”
She tipped her head back and smiled. “I like that.”
I shrugged. “I don’t mind it. Six-Gun is just what stuck with me.”
“Can I call you it?”
“If you want. I don’t promise that I’ll answer to it right away. Been Six-Gun since I was three except for when I was in school, and eventually, even the teachers called me Six instead of Ryder.”
“That’s pretty cool.”
It was what it was. “So what is your other question?”
She sighed and laid her