The Davenport Christmas Chronicles
closer.Maybe I’d never forgiven Hatch for having a hand in my exile after I started dating his sister. And perhaps, he hated me for taking that same sister away from him and having her work for my club. Whatever the real reasons were, both Hatch and I were willing to use a meaningless after-dinner football game as an excuse to beat the shit out of each other in front of our clubs.
“I said apologize...boy.”
I fisted my hand, but before I could feel his face against my knuckles, my woman stormed out of the club and yelled, “Don’t even think about it.”
* * *
Hatch
“Connor Wallace, if you hit him, you and I will have a problem,” Maisie warned.
I raised an eyebrow in her general direction and noticed Cricket and Maisie standing side-by-side, the bond between my woman and my sister was as strong as ever.
“Same goes for you, Jase,” Cricket said.
Minus and I met each other’s eyes and I could tell he was contemplating how far he was willing to push my sister. I was having a similar war in my own head.
“I’m serious, Hatch,” Maisie reiterated, crossing her arms for effect.
Cricket mimicked her stance and leaned forward. “Minus.”
“Fuck me,” I hissed out and stepped away from Minus. It wasn’t worth it.
But it wasn’t done.
Minus also stepped back, but I could see he and I were on the same page.
Maisie walked over to me and frowned up at me. “You good?”
“I’m not happy my woman decided to get in the middle of somethin’ she has no business gettin’ in the middle of, so...no, I’m not good, Maisie.”
“You don’t get to be cross with me, Connor,” she said. “There was no way in hell I was going to let you and Minus go at each other like a couple of barbarians in front of kids.”
Before I could argue, the roar of pipes blared in the silence, and eight riders approached. Instinctively, I pushed Maisie behind me and noticed my brothers do the same with their women.
“It’s the Bikers for Kids crew, love,” Maisie reminded me, and stepped toward them.
“They’re early.”
Since I didn’t know them personally, I still took her hand and pulled her slightly behind me. Her hand landed on my ass...a kind of warning, you could say.
We’d had arguments in the past about me being overprotective, but I reminded her that would never change, so she had to figure out a way to wrap her mind around it, or it would drive her crazy.
Crow, Booker, Hawk, Mack, and I headed to the new arrivals, while Ace and Knight herded everyone else inside.
Well, they tried.
My woman had other plans.
“Go inside, Sunshine.”
“Their women are with them, love,” she countered. “They might appreciate seeing a friendly, female face.”
She had a point. But I didn’t like that she did. “Babe, will you let us suss this out, then invite everyone in?”
“Oh my word, Connor, they help children. What do you think they’re going to do to me?”
“Jesus.”
She grinned up at me. “Let’s go welcome our guests, darling.”
I reluctantly took her hand and led her to the bikers now getting off their bikes, their women following suit. Maisie smiled her million-dollar smile and welcomed the group, ushering everyone inside for drinks and food before I’d even had a chance to vet any of them.
“I’m Cowboy,” the club’s president said as he approached. “It’s nice to finally meet you face to face.”
I shook his hand. “Hatch.”
“This is Curly and Mongoose, my VP and Sergeant. The rest of the crew decided to take advantage of your woman’s hospitality apparently.”
I chuckled. “She’s certainly hospitable.”
“I know we’re early, but we had two bikes break down damn near back-to-back and had to trailer them. I knew we needed to get to a proper shop when Trouble couldn’t get ’em patched up, so I changed our route, and drove straight here. I figured we could make our repairs, and still have time to loop back around to the stops we bypassed. If that’s okay with you, of course.”
“Our shop, tools, and manpower are at your disposal, but first, come on in and get something to eat and drink. We’ll figure out what you need while you take a load off.”
“I appreciate that,” Cowboy said.
* * *
Maisie
“I’m Maisie,” I said to the pretty brunette grabbing a beer from the cooler.
“Oh, hey. I’m Trouble. Nice to meet ya.”
“Trouble, eh?”
She smiled shyly. “I was kind of a pain in the ass when Cowboy found me. I refused to give him my real name, so he started calling me Trouble. It stuck.”
“Admittedly, I’m not sure I can call such a beautiful young woman ‘Trouble,’” I said.
“Stephanie’s the name I was given as a baby,” she said. “But nobody calls me that. Ever.”
I smiled. “Got it. How about I introduce you to my daughter. You’re about the same age.”
She shrugged. “Sure.”
I took her over to the pool tables where Poppy and Devon appeared to be in a battle with two of the Burning Saints’ members, Sweet Pea and Doozer. Doozer was almost as tall as Sweet Pea, and far more demonstrative. Sweet Pea had a quiet cool about him, whereas Doozer was most definitely the class clown.
Doozer slid away from Sweet Pea and made his way to us, his mouth wide with a huge smile. “Well, hi there beautiful.”
“Hi,” I retorted, and he laughed. “This is Trouble. Trouble, this is Doozer, Sweet Pea, Sparky, and my daughter, Poppy.”
“Hey,” Trouble said, her face pink, but her head up and confident.
“Right, well, you guys get acquainted. I’m going to sort out the pie situation.”
“I love pie,” Sparky said, and Poppy elbowed him gently.
“Yeah, honey, we know.”
I chuckled and headed back to the kitchen. I couldn’t help but wonder what Trouble’s story was. She was young, maybe a little younger than Poppy, and she was stunningly beautiful, which made her look a bit older. I could tell she’d had a rough life, but she still cared about looking pretty, considering she wore heavy makeup that was perfectly applied.
I glanced back