Lay It Down: Bastards MC Series Boxed Set (8 page)

“Bullshit. She talks to Billy, did you know that? I didn’t tell her anything about you or him. I told her I came home late last night because he was a fucking asshole and I couldn’t stand him. Which led to her defending him; we had a giant blowout.” He leaned back a little, sighing. “I didn’t propose to her, Jo. She went through my shit while I was with you, and she found the ring.”

I didn’t know that the two of them talked. I felt like Will had crossed another line. But Taylor’s search of Matty’s things was worse than that. “Seriously? What was she looking for?”

He shook his head. “I dunno. But she found the ring. I told her I wasn’t ready for her to have it yet but that I’d ask her soon. She wore it to work today, and when I got home, I asked her to not wear it in front of you. She isn’t like this all the time. You just bring out the worst in her.” He held up his hands at my hateful stare. “Okay, she’s a bitch. And fucking awful around you. I think she planned tonight.” He sighed.

“What do you mean?”

“After you left, I was going to grab my car and follow you. But both sets of keys were gone. My bike keys were there, but the garage door opener had miraculously disappeared.” He shrugged, smirking. “I guess she didn’t realize that the side door is wide enough for a wheelchair, so my bike can fit through. She knows now.” He gave a small laugh. “I almost, almost wish I could have seen her face when I drove the bike out the door and took off. She’s gonna be ripshit that her plan didn’t work.”

I laughed with him, wondering why he’d stay with someone like that.

He reached forward, grabbing my hand. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” I squeezed his hand back. “I’m sorry your celebration was ruined.”

The lopsided grin appeared. “It wasn’t, Jo. It’s been better than expected actually.”

I smiled back at him, the anger leaving me. The best thing about Matty was that he could be mad at me one second then laughing the next. “Okay. We’ve talked about it. Can you tell me more about Rocker now?”

He laughed, nodding.

*********

I didn’t know how long we sat there, but time flew. Matty kept me entertained with stories of Rocker, some of which I’d already heard, some that were new. It was easy to picture them now that I’d met the man behind the crazy ideas. I would have stayed there all night, listening and laughing, but when Matty yawned, I realized he still had to drive us home.

“Sorry, Jo. I didn’t get much sleep last night,” he told me when I suggested we go.

I smiled at him, feeling guilty because I’d kept him here so long and because I’d kept him out late last night too. “Will you be okay to drive?”

He nodded. “Yeah, once I’m outside, it’ll be better.” He stood, barely stifling another yawn, then grinned, holding out his hand. “Come on.”

I stood, grabbing for his hand when someone in the club caught my eye. I dropped my arm, moving slightly to assure myself that my mind was playing tricks because I was tired. I gasped.

Matty slid in behind me and followed my stare. Will was in the bar, and he wasn’t alone. Rachel, his cute co-worker, had her arms wrapped around his neck, grinding along to the music with him. He turned her so she was facing us and moved behind her, running his hands familiarly down the front sides of her barely clad body. Her arms went behind her, as if to hold him close, her head falling back on his shoulder. We were intruding on their very private moment, and I sat down abruptly.

Had they been there all along?
I miss you. I love you
. Will’s words from earlier echoed in my head. He’d asked me to go out to dinner with him. Why was he there with her? Why was he there anyway? We never came to Portland! I silently willed him to open his eyes, to see me. But he was so caught up in his moment with her I doubted he’d see me even if I was right next to him. His left hand moved up to grab her breast possessively; the movement stole my breath away. He’d taken off his wedding ring.

Matty moved suddenly, and I caught his arm right before it was out of reach. “Where are you going?”

He stopped, looking down at me. “I’m going to go kick his fucking ass.” He seemed to barely be holding his anger.

I shook my head. “Please, Matty. Please just take me home!”

He looked back at the dance floor and stiffened. I didn’t want to know what he’d seen. Then he kneeled in front of me, taking my cheeks between his hands. I met his eyes.

“Please?” I asked again.

“Can you ride?”

I nodded. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up. Then he put me on the inside, blocking my view of Will, and walked me out of the tavern. It had gotten chilly, and I was shaking by the time we got back to the bike.

“Here.” He pulled his hooded sweatshirt out of the saddlebag and slipped it over my head.

“You’ll need it.” He only had on a lightweight black T-shirt, but my lips chattered as I said the words.

“Nah. You’ll keep me warm.” He smiled as he lifted his leg over the bike and held out a hand for me. “It looks like we’re gonna get a storm. I’ll hurry.”

We made it halfway home before the rain started. I’d thought I was cold before I got on the bike, but after a few minutes of riding in the rain, I thought I was going to freeze to death before we made it back to the hotel. I didn’t know how Matty could see a thing. The driving rain felt like hail pounding into my flesh, and it dripped from my hair into my eyes, burning as it did.

Matty had told me to lean my head into his back and he covered my hands with his, but he didn’t even have a shirt to protect his arms. Not that clothes would have helped much. My sweatshirt and jeans soaked up the freezing water and, mixed with the cold air, gave me a chill right down to the bone. The trip down to Portland had gone quickly, but the trip home felt as if it took forever.

We were both off the bike as soon as Matty cut the engine at my hotel. He pushed the kickstand down, and we ran for the door. Our clothes made giant puddles in the elevator, but at least we were out of the rain. I struggled to make my numb fingers work the keycard, but I couldn’t get them to do what I wanted and instead handed the card to Matty. The door had barely closed when I pulled off the sweatshirt, my shirt coming with it, trying to get away from the freezing fabric.

“Get out of your clothes before you freeze!” I struggled with the button on my jeans, stopping to flex my fingers a few times. I looked over at Matty and forgot what I was doing.

He’d taken off his T-shirt, boots, socks, and jeans in record time. Standing in the bathroom doorway in nothing but his boxers, he was briskly rubbing his hair with a towel. He was breathtaking.

I’d seen the tattoos on his arms hundreds of times, probably enough to describe each picture in detail. I’d never seen him shirtless, though. He always wore a rash guard at the beach, telling me he didn’t want the majority of his tattoos getting ruined by the sun. Seeing his ink now, I was sure the sun wasn’t the only reason. He was covered in ink, which he’d told me, but the pictures he’d chosen to forever etch on his body surprised me.

They were beautiful, not the harsh, manly images I had expected. None of them touched the others, with the exception of the giant Claddagh over the front of his right shoulder. It curled and twined with tribal knots into the sleeve on his arm. A lonely cross with the words, “Only God can Judge Me” above it, sat in the middle of his chest. A single word, Trust, ran beneath his heart. A giant angel ran around his right side, stretching from hip to just below his armpit. Low on the right side was a picture that looked as though a child had drawn it, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Right below his belly button and stretching out onto his stomach, was an anchor. But it was the words low on his right pubic bone that held my attention. I couldn’t pull my eyes away.

“Are you any warmer yet?” he asked without looking up. When I didn’t answer, he stopped drying his hair and lifted his head. I could feel his eyes on me. “Jo?”

I couldn’t say anything, and I couldn’t stop staring.

He cleared his throat. “Enjoying the view?”

I knew I should look away, that I shouldn’t ask. But I had to know. “Does that really say what I think it does?”

He snatched the towel from his head and covered the lower part of his torso. I met his eyes, amused to see that he was embarrassed.

He shifted uncomfortably and took a deep breath. “Yeah.”

I laughed. His discomfort mixed with the absurd tattoo cracked me up. He narrowed his eyes at my reaction.

I tried to stop laughing. “That. Is. Awesome,” I said between gulps of air. I wanted to know more. “Let me see it again! Does it keep going or does it end there?” I stepped across the room, soaked jeans forgotten, and grabbed at the towel.

He shook his head.

“Oh, come on! Is it new?” I asked, scandalized.

He was getting red. “No! I just”—he pulled up his boxers while managing to keep me from grabbing the towel—“keep it covered.” He sighed, a mischievous glint entering his eyes. He grabbed me and pulled me close, the towel forgotten as it fell between us. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” His voice was low and dangerous.

I'd told Matty I had tattoos, but he'd never seen them—they were personal. His hand was on my bare back, running up and down the part of my spine where the words were written, then dipped dangerously close to the top of my jeans. It became painfully obvious that the only things between us were two soaking wet slips of material and a pair of sopping jeans that clung to every part of my lower body. The sudden warmth growing low in my body and inability to breathe made it quite clear that I wished there was nothing between us.

He leaned down, lips almost touching my ear. “What do yours say, Jo? Should I lean down and take a closer peek?”

I could feel my face getting red because there wasn’t anything else I’d rather have him do. Fighting the urge to wrap my arms around him and kiss every inch of his body until he begged me to do what his tattoo so crudely directed, I smiled up at him. I stepped back, turned around, and looked at him over my shoulder.

“It says, ‘I am enough.’ And this one…” I turned, facing him again, and unbuttoned my jeans. I pulled them open slightly so he could see all of the black ink on my hip. “Says, ‘Of all the names I have been called throughout my life, my favorite will always be Mommy!’ It's so I can remember that every one of those scars brought me the best gifts ever."

He smiled as I reached down, grabbing for the towel.

“Are you going in for a closer look, Jo?” His voice was husky and strained, but I could hear the humor.

I picked the towel up and turned toward the bed. I needed dry, warm clothes. And to get away from him.

He sighed. “It says ‘Suck My.’ That's it. ”

I laughed as I grabbed one of my T-shirts out of the drawer and put it on. I pulled off the rest of my clothes and slipped on a pair of pajama bottoms.

“I love it! How old were you when you got it?” All dressed, I looked up at him. He was standing in the same spot, shivering. I forgot the tattoo. “Get over here, and get under the covers.”

He raised an eyebrow and didn’t move.

“For God’s sake, I’m not going to molest you.”
Not unless you beg me to
. “But unless you plan on putting on wet clothes and riding home in the storm, you’re going to have to stay here.” I motioned to the bed. “I’ll sleep on top if you want. I at least have warm clothes.”

He looked at the door and back at me. “Isn’t there a laundry room here?”

“Yep. It closed at nine. And then you’d still have to ride home in the rain. Call Taylor and tell her you got stuck in the storm.”

He looked at me once more, walked to the bed, pulled back the covers, and got in. I smiled and crawled in behind him. He didn’t fight me as I snuggled up next to him, laying my head on his shoulder and putting my arm over his stomach. He stopped shaking after only a few minutes, but I was too tired to move. I felt him shift, moving my head to the pillow and my arm from his belly to his side, but I didn’t open my eyes.

“Jo?”

“Hmmm?”

His hand touched my cheek, then he pulled me against him, running his hand in circles on my back. I fought to open my eyes, but they wouldn’t budge. I felt his lips against my forehead and smiled.

“I thought you were going to be on top?”

I heard his chuckle but fell asleep before he could tell me what was so funny.

8

I slept great, better than I had in months. I could feel the sun coming through the window and dancing on my skin. I always slept in late on Saturday morning, but usually my alarm woke me. Trying to remember if I’d plugged in my phone, I put my hands above my head and stretched, arching my back. The move pushed my body into someone else, and I jumped. I opened my eyes to see Matty staring back at me, entirely too close.

“Well, this is awkward,” I said as I put my hand over my mouth so he couldn’t smell my breath.

“You snore.” He grinned. “Not like a sweet, sexy snore either. I’m talking Hoover vacuum snore. I woke up and thought the maid was in here cleaning before I realized it was just you.”