Cheryl had been… It sounded so callous and trivial now, but she’d been fuckinghot. She had the body of a siren, and she knew how to use it. Unfortunately, she’d crossed Bulldog on Abby’s first public outing. That was all she wrote. She’d been given a pink slip faster than if she’d been caught with her hand in the till.No onemessed with Abby.
What Pumpkin hadn’t known, what none of them had known, was that she was pregnant when she’d been escorted out.
When it had been discovered, the math could only mean one of the brothers. While there were rumors that she’d been sleeping around outside the club, which had also been against the rules, it hadn’t been substantiated. Steel had ordered all the single men to take a paternity test, and Pumpkin’s DNA had matched.
Unfortunately, though, the drama hadn’t ended there. Cheryl had betrayed the club. She’d actively participated in the attempted kidnapping of a club member, resulting in Cage being roofied.
It was an unforgivable offense, and four hours after she’d given birth to SJ, Steel had put a bullet in her head. Guilt weighed heavily on Pumpkin for that, though likely not for the reason his brothers assumed. Given how he was raised and the respect he had for women, he couldn’t fathom how SJ had come to be. Pumpkinalwaysused protection. Sometimes he even doubled up. It had been well known that a number of the Honeys had wanted to be ‘upgraded’ to an ol’ lady and were planning to trap a club member. After that, the brothers started carrying their own protection so they knew it hadn’t been tampered with. Which meant it had beenPumpkin’s protection that had failed.
When it had been discovered that another Honey, Evette, had been going through the club’s trash and collecting used condoms, that had been the nail in the Honeys’ coffin. Steel had disbanded the position after that.
Pumpkin doubted SJ had been conceived via turkey baster. It was more likely that the condom just broke and he’d been too distracted to notice.
At least SJ was still young enough where he wasn’t asking questions about who his mom was and where she was.
Frankie had left in search of more napkins and some wet wipes to help clean up SJ, Pumpkin’s lap, and the floor at his feet. Probably wasn’t the smartest decision to give SJ a slice of watermelon like that, but he couldn’t refuse his son. SJlovedfruit, and Pumpkin was trying to make up for his absence in his son’s life over the past five months.
Someone sat down next to Pumpkin. At the start of the party, everyone had been crowded around Pumpkin, but had since spread out. He was still plotting his jokes on the club, seeing what they would allow him to get away with. After losing the wheelchair race, his brothers should still be razzing him, and yet not a single one had mentioned it.
He wouldn’t waste this opportunity on something trivial either. It had to be epic. His house getting painted was just a test. And maybe he was a little bored.
Looking to his right, he saw Scar sitting beside him. There was a gap between them that was bigger than normal for sitting next to someone familiar, but not so big that someone else could squeeze between them.
Scar wasn’t looking at him, and he certainly wasn’t talking. But there was something comforting about the brother’s presence. Pumpkin wasn’t sure if Scar saw it, or if he even cared, but there was a big difference in him compared to a year ago. The man seemed relaxed. Not in a vacation-on-a-beach or spa-day sort of way, but in a contentment way. Like he’d finally found his place.
Or better yet, he’d found his person.
Tally was the opposite of Scar in so many ways, social and free spirited, but she had suffered her own trials too. Born blind, she’d overcome a lot in her life, including recently discovering that her father had been the leader of a rogue paramilitary group. As Tally liked to put it, she saw the world inherway, and that was good enough for her.
Scar only had eyes for his woman. As much as Pumpkin knew he cared for his club brothers and club nieces and nephews, there was no doubt that Tally would always be his choice. There was something fundamentally powerful about that knowledge. Pumpkin had never looked at a woman like that, but he knew the feeling. He felt it every time he looked at his son.
He’d destroy anyone and everyone for his son—or he would if he could walk correctly. It was another reason he needed to get himselfback into fighting shape. He needed to know that he could protect SJ, no matter the circumstances.
Suddenly Scar ducked down, landing on the floor between the couch and coffee table in front of it. Pumpkin glanced down, not entirely sure what had just happened. He was about to ask if the man was okay, but then he saw Tally approaching. She had a very unique way of ‘seeing’ by using echolocation like bats or sonar.
As she came forward, Scar slipped under the coffee table. It took Pumpkin a moment to realize he washidingfrom Tally.
“I know you’re there…” Tally didn’t have her cane with her, nor did she have her hands out as if she was trying to keep herself from walking into things. Her tongue made a continuousclick-clicksound as she swiveled her head.
SJ paused in his watermelon demolishing to watch his Aunt Tally search for his Uncle Scar. Didn’t stop the juice from dripping down onto Pumpkin’s arm though. They were both going to need a shower after this. Or maybe a hose.
As Tally circled the coffee table, Scar leapt up behind her. But he didn’t touch her. Instead, he mimicked her movements exactly, shifting and stepping when she did.
“I can smell you…” Her voice was low, like a warning. Pumpkin had to wonder if this was some sort of game between the couple. Like some weird form of foreplay.
Tally spun suddenly, like she knew Scar was behind her, but Scar anticipated the move and ducked, somehow keeping his place behind her. Tally’s nose twitched in a way that Pumpkin assumed meant she was annoyed. Being blind all her life, Tally’s expressions weren’t always what one would consider normal. At times, they were over- or under-exaggerated. Pumpkin hadn’t thought about how much kids pick up on from watching and learning about the world around them until he’d met Tally.
“Everyone, shut up!”
SJ startled in Pumpkin’s lap at Tally’s shout, but was so enraptured in watching his aunt and uncle that he wasn’t upset by it. He did, however, start nibbling on the watermelon chunk again.
Tally tipped her head back and forth, letting her ears guide her in the sudden silence of the room. No one spoke, no one dared to. A few of the kids made giggling sounds, mostly Lila and Scotty, as they all watched and waited for Tally to locate Scar.
In a quick turn, Tally swiped her hand behind herself. Scar spun, narrowly missing her fingertips. Despite that, though, Tally laughed, “Ha! Gotcha.”
She leapt forward, and would have landed on her belly on the floor if Scar hadn’t remained exactly where he was. Scar caught her and fell in a controlled fall, letting her momentum take them down to the floor. Despite that he was the one to hit the floorboards, though, Scar somehow flipped and rolled them in quick succession that landed them with Tally on the floor and Scar over her. Both were on their bellies as Scar took a handful of Tally’s hair to arc her spine, raising the upper half of her body towards him.
Scar licked up the curve of Tally’s neck before biting her ear. Tally let out a moan that was half frustration and half very-obvious arousal.
