Page 39 of Clint & Ivy
“How soon can we get that done? I’m afraid the asshole will sell all her shit to pay his debts now that he can’t sell her.”
“She comes from rotten people,” Pax told me while Bebe rolled her eyes. “That’s the bloodline you’re wanting to build a family with. Not smart.”
I ignored my uncle’s crap since he liked to talk, but we all knew the Reed bloodline was full of garbage people. My mom’s side of the family was overflowing with turds, too. I grew up viewing my dad’s Little Memphis motorcycle club brothers as family.
“Ignore Pax,” Ford told me. “Let’s go back to the topic of you being mentally unwell. Because having a stranger in your home is bizarre. Maybe you can put her up in a hotel.”
“If she needs a job,” Lula added, “I could use extra hands at the office.”
I studied my family and felt them maneuvering me. That tactic didn’t work when I was a kid, meaning it was bound to fail today.
“Ivy stays with me,” I stated, flashing anger to get them to back off.
“Whoa, boy,” Pax muttered and put up his hands. “If Rowdy brought home a stranger he’d met at a gas station, wouldn’t you be concerned?”
“No, because Rowdy is a solid thinker. I’d assume he had a good reason. Now, if it was a scattered thinker like Farley, I’d organize an intervention,” I replied, mentioning one of my Crimson Guard club brothers.
My father waited until I was finished to immediately reply, “Even rational men can be suckered by a pretty face.” Ford instantly looked at Shay. “That’s why I didn’t trust your mother until several years into our marriage. She was too hot, and I was practical enough to know she might be up to no good.”
Shay smiled brightly at him. “I tricked you good, too. I even got you to help me raise my little brothers. Once I gave birth to Clint, you were trapped like a bitch.”
As my parents enjoyed a kiss to celebrate their bullshit historical revisions, Pax and Bebe considered whether they needed to make out to prove they were equally in love after all these years.
Meanwhile, Lula studied me. “Ivy seems like a kid.”
“That’s just her height. She’s nearly twenty-four. You were in law school by her age.”
“I couldn’t find any employment history for her. Ivy lacks skills and direction. Do you want to be everything for her?”
“Of course not. That’s why I’m allowing Elle and Sabrina to do whatever they’re doing downstairs. I hope she’ll make friends with the foxes, so she has someone to complain about me to.”
“What if they advise her to move out of your place and live on her own?” Lula asked as her dark eyes judged me.
“Then, I’ll cry a lot and need people to baby my broken heart.”
“Hardy-har,” Lula mocked, throwing her head back with fake laughter. “Clint has feelings. Whoop-de-doo. Rowdy has double your feelings.”
“Yes, I’ve seen him cry.”
Horrified by my dig at her little brother, Lula muttered, “‘My Girl’ is a sad movie, Clint Reed. Those bees did Culkin wrong.”
Though we shared a smile, I knew Lula wouldn’t let up until she won the argument.
As a stylish, professional woman, Lula didn’t seem like a good fit to ride with the club. She was never the rough-and-rowdy type growing up. Instead, she tried living a safe life with a doctor husband in suburbia. I still remembered the day Lula nearly died of boredom. We had to throw an intervention to save her life.
Now, her boring husband was married to Rock’s older sister—and Crimson Guard member—Alani. They lived in Little Rock, where she was elected to the city council and ran a charity. Meanwhile, Jarred was the head of the ER department. Alani took her orders from the Crimson Guard while he wore the LM Jokers’ patch.
Lula never hesitated when she got the opportunity to join the Crimson Guard. She wanted to ride with her sisters and brother. My club felt like a family business.
With her law degree and pantsuits, Lula didn’t look the part. However, when a woman attacked her after court one day, Lula never hesitated before tearing out a chunk of the bitch’s hair. Once the fight switched gears and the troublemaker tried to run away, Lula kicked off her heels and gave chase.
Now, Lula unleashed her relentless nature on me.
“I want Ivy,” I told her before she could throw logic at me. “I want so few things in my life. How can you deprive me of this one thing?”
Without hesitation, she replied, “Because she could ruin you.”
“Or she might be my Shay.”
