Anchor - M. Mabie Page 0,50

bought it only because when we’d talked about it before, she’d said she wasn’t that good. I thought she was doing fine, but I especially liked knowing her pretty little melon was safer while we rode. Even if I didn’t wear one. I also didn’t wear the knee or elbow guards like I’d bought for her. She looked hilarious, but still gorgeous as hell. Despite the purple and yellow travesty I’d given her.

“Actually, I forgot it was on.” She unlatched it from the bottom and shook out her hair. “Whoa, that does feel cooler though.” I took it from her and fastened it to the bar under her seat. She didn’t have to wear it if she felt confident. I simply didn’t want her to get hurt.

“I guess I went a little overboard with the matching.”

“It’s okay. You just care, Lou.” She pulled her phone from the armband. “Come here. Let’s take a picture.”

We turned around so both our bikes and the bay were in the shot and I took the picture for us. After I took a good one, she kissed me on my cheek.

“I love you. Thanks for my new ride.”

“You’re welcome. Anytime.”

It was going to be so fucking fun spoiling her for the rest of our lives.

“Have fun and be careful,” I told her as I kissed her by the front door when the girls picked her up. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Oh, I’m sure you won’t be able to do anything about it. My brothers and your brother are going to get you wasted,” she insisted. “No hookers. No drugs. No jail time.” Those were pretty decent rules. Surely, I could keep my night within her boundaries. Especially since I’d never been with a hooker, never was much for drugs, and had a clean legal record. So far.

“You too. No swallowing. No tattoos without me. And no leaving the country.” She wasn’t a flight risk like she used to be, but for clarity’s sake, it needed to be mentioned.

And fuck did she look good. Hot-ass little black dress, a second night in a row wearing shoes that weren’t fit for drinking in, and her face was the picture of happiness.

“On second thought,” I added and opened the closet for what I needed, “you better just wear this tonight too.” When she saw it was the purple helmet, she gave me a look only a man could translate. It said, don’t even fucking think about it, Casey Moore.

“Ha, no way in hell.”

I kissed her one last time, not giving a shit about the lipstick I’d, no doubt, have to go scrub off. I had time and besides, it was totally worth it.

“Go have fun,” I said just as the girls in the car became impatient and honked.

“Okay, be careful. I’ll see you later.”

I watched her cute ass walk away as I waved at those responsible for showing my favorite girl a good time. The women in that car would take care of her. I didn’t have to worry. Morgan was there, after all. Ms. Sense and Sensibility.

I was looking forward to a guys’ night out. It was a very safe bet we weren’t going to a strip club, being that Blake's two older brothers were along for the ride. I didn’t expect either of them would want to go out to the clubs. Then again, Shane, Reggie, and Troy were all single.

Fuck, I didn’t know what I was getting into. Some things never changed.

“This is a really nice place, man,” Shane said, taking a look at our home. It was actually beginning to feel like ours too. Little by little we were making it less like my mother’s and more like Casey and Blake’s. Truthfully, Blake had done a lot.

“Thanks, we love it here.”

“You guys grew up in this house, right?” he asked, as he walked around looking at the fireplace and the view out back. “This would have been a fun place to grow up.”

“We did. It was.” I looked out the back with him. I could remember playing outside until it was dark. The treehouse my dad had built on the edge of the woods was still standing, even though it could use a little work. It hit me that I’d be able to fix it up one day for our kids. The garden would never die and the shed would probably never need to be painted again.

“So are you ready?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got some cold beers if you’d like one and then