Honey Whiskey (A Bastards MC Novel) (6 page)

Hawk’s laughter filled the truck as the light
turned green. “Badass biker thug? Fuckin’ perfect.”

I was half-relieved when Rob
turned into Teagan’s driveway because I needed to get out of the
truck and away from the three of them. The other half was nervous
though, wondering if I could go inside and lock the Bastards out so
I wouldn’t have to go with them. I jumped out of the cab as soon as
Rob stopped, somehow managing to stay on my feet, and walked as
quickly as I could on the ice covered ground in heels. I was
halfway up the front steps when his words stopped me.

“You got ten minutes, Joey. If
you’re not out heah by then, I’m comin’ in to getcha.” His voice
was low and full of warning. “I may listen to country, but I will
fuck shit up if I don’t get my own way. Remember that.”

Chapter 5

Jo

Someone nudged me. I didn’t want
to wake up—my dreams were too good. Matty and I were sitting on a
couch, me leaning against his shoulders, his strong arms snug
around me, kissing my temple lightly every few minutes. He was
singing along to the music, laughing. He was happy, and when his
eyes turned to me, they were full of affection. I wanted to stay in
this moment forever, wrapped up in nothing but Matty, loving him
for eternity. Another nudge made me open my eyes.

“
Hey, you awake?”

I sat up a little, leaning
forward, trying to figure out where I was. I blinked my eyes
against the bright streetlights and wiped my mouth, ashamed when I
realized I had a line of spittle working its way towards my chin. I
couldn’t stifle the yawn that escaped. God, I was tired. Tipping my
head back, I fought the urge to close my eyes again.

“You snore, ya
know that, right?” I started, almost yelping, at the voice right
next to my ear. Rocker laughed and then cleared his throat.
“Sorry.” He moved underneath me, making me jump again. “Jesus, you
aah wicked jumpy!

I blinked again, realization
slowly dawning, my memories playing like a movie. The bar, a late
supper with Rob, then he took me to Teagan’s. I’d changed my
clothes and gotten back in the truck. After listening to the boys
banter for a while, I must have fallen asleep. I rubbed my eyes,
slowly becoming aware that I was leaning on him. I sat up quickly,
pulling away. “Sorry!” My voice was raw, and I had to swallow to
make the word come out. I wasn’t sure if I was apologizing for the
fact that I fell asleep or that I fell asleep on him.

I stretched my neck from side to
side, trying to get the crick out. When I tipped to the left, my
eyes glanced over the instrument panel, confused when a picture of
a little curly brown haired girl beamed back at me. I couldn’t keep
my curiosity to myself. “Who’s that little beauty?”

“
My dotah.” The love and pride was
evident in his voice.

“Daughter?” The
answer shocked me more than it should have. Rocker didn’t seem like
a dad, and I couldn’t remember Matty ever telling me that he had
kids. Unless, she didn’t get to see her dad, which would be awful,
and would explain Rob’s earlier attitude towards me moving to
Boston.

I saw him nod out of my peripheral. “Yeah,
Hannah Jean.” He smiled at the words.

Hannah Jean? Hmm. I expected a
Kathryn or a Mary Kathryn, something that sounded Irish. “She’s way
too cute to be your kid, just so you know. How old is she—three?” I
had similar pictures of Lily when she was that tiny and a sudden
pang of lost time hit my gut. I missed my kids.

Rob cleared his throat. “She’d be twenty now.
But, she’s two in that picture.”

My blood ran cold at his
words.
She’d be twenty
now
. Meaning she was gone. My heart
broke for him, for the loss no parent should ever have to face.
Without thinking, I reached over and grabbed his hand. “I’m sorry.”
His only answer was to give my hand a quick squeeze and then let
go. I sat where I was, even though I felt like me being in the
middle seat might be invading his personal space, lost in my
thoughts. Jesus, if she’d be twenty now then he’d just been a kid
when she was born, only fifteen or sixteen. I looked out the
window, wondering where we were, at a loss for
words.

Rocker seemed to read my mind.
“We’re in the city, L.K.”

I looked at him. “L.K.?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, Little
Kangaroo is a mouthful, so we decided to shorten it aftah ya passed
out.” Realizing it was too quiet, I turned around and scanned the
backseat, laughing when I saw both men out cold. Dean was leaning
over the middle onto Hawk, his mouth wide open in slumber. I needed
a picture. I grabbed my cell and snapped one, ecstatic when the
flash didn’t wake them up. “Blackmail?”

I nodded, laughing again, and
moved away from Rob into the passenger seat. “You never know when
it might come in handy.” I shrugged. “So, L.K.? I like it.” It was
catchy, different than what I’d always been known as. This move was
all about new beginnings, and the new name fit
perfectly.

We drove the rest of the way in
silence. When Rob punched in his code and pulled into the garage
under his townhouse, the butterflies hit. I’d only been here with
Matty, and the house held some of the best memories of our
relationship. It was here that he’d let me in, let me see the
person he really was, told me some of his secrets. Here that he’d
told me he loved me for the first time, on a roof lit only by
candlelight. Here that he’d made love to me in a way that only
Matty could, his body telling mine that I was the only one for him.
If I had realized that a house, this perfect and beautiful
apartment, could make me miss Matty more than I already did, I
wouldn’t have come.

Rocker didn’t let me lose myself
in memories or wallow. He turned off the truck, yelled at the two
‘shitheads’ in the backseat to wake up, grabbed my bags from the
tool-body bed, and called the elevator with his key in a matter of
seconds. I practically ran behind him, not wanting to be caught
alone with Dean, especially a Dean that had just woken up and
looked pissed. When the elevator stopped, I followed Rob off,
surprised when the other two stayed on.

We were on the second floor of the
building, the bottom floor of the apartment—the bedroom floor.
Large muscles rippled under his shirt as he lifted my heaviest
suitcase, even though it had wheels, and walked straight towards
the familiar door, opening it.

“
No. I’ll take the spare room.”
Dark eyes turned to me as he hesitated in the doorway.

“The boys are
upstairs, and there’s no way I’m letting the three of you bunk
together.” At that point, being alone with Hawk and Dean actually
didn’t sound like a bad idea. “L.K. this is your room, you’ll sleep
heah.” Without another word, he carried my bags into Matty’s
bedroom, around the bed, and set them on a chest under the windows
that were just starting to show the break of dawn.

I didn’t follow him. “No. This is
Matty’s room.” I scanned the room quickly, looking for changes, but
it was the same as it had been months before, right down to the
picture of the two of us on his nightstand. I swallowed, meeting
Rob’s eyes. “What if…” I lapped my lips, not wanting to ask and
definitely not wanting the answer. “What if he’s had other guests
here?”

Rob moved quickly, joining me in
the hallway and staring down at me. “Joey, there hasn’t been anyone
heah but you.” His voice was low, serious. “He’s been goin’ out of
his fuckin’ mind.” He shook his head, and I thought he was going to
say something else. Instead, he offered me a half-smile. “It’s
late, get some sleep.” Then he walked across the long hallway
towards his room and shut his door before I even had a chance to
thank him for the ride.

Sighing, I walked into Matty’s
domain and shut the door slowly behind me. He was everywhere in
this room, from the pictures on the mantel, to the scent of his
cologne in the air, to the clothes he had left draped over the
chair near the bed. I pulled open his middle drawer and changed
into one of his tee shirts, still my favorite thing to sleep in,
and crawled into the giant bed. I took one last look around the
room, at his beautiful face smiling back at me from the pictures,
and then grabbed his pillow and hugged it tight, thankful it still
smelled just like him.

Chapter 6

Jo

I tossed and turned for what
seemed like hours. Visions of Matty were mixed with nightmarish
images of a beautiful little girl that looked just like her daddy,
leaving this world too soon. In the weird way that your mind sorts
through the day’s events, the toddler in my dreams was my Lily, and
I could hear Matty’s voice telling me that Lily and I needed to
stay away from his hometown, that he needed to keep us safe. Danger
found us anyway, and I watched helplessly as the dream Jo cried at
a tombstone housing her husband and daughter. The nightmares seemed
never-ending, and I wasn’t sure when I finally passed into a
dreamless slumber.

When I finally opened my eyes, the sun was
shining bright, giving the room a warm, cozy, lazy afternoon feel.
My entire body ached, and I wasn’t sure if I should blame it on the
dancing, shoes, or the night I’d just had. I laid back against the
pillows, smelling the cologne I loved so much, and sighed, trying
to sort through the dreams. Remembering that Lily Belle was safe at
home with her daddy, my mind settled on Rocker and his horrific
loss. I hadn’t handled it very well last night, and that made me
feel bad. I wondered if Cris would tell me what had happened to
Hannah.

Cris! I sat upright, searching for
my phone. I groaned, remembering I hadn’t charged it last night, as
I crawled out of bed and searched through my pockets. Teagan had
called me a few times and sent me a text checking to make sure I
was ok. I smiled, typing a quick response and promising I’d call
her later. The fact that I didn’t have any missed calls and no
texts from Cris surprised me. It was almost noon. I expected no
less than ten angry messages from her.

As if on que, the cell vibrated in
my hand. Glancing down, I realized that it was from the last person
I expected.

Will: Hey! Just checking to make
sure you made it ok. I know you’re busy & I’m on my way out so
I can’t chat. Remember my parents have the kids tonight so you’ll
have to call them to say nite. Good luck apartment
hunting

I smiled and typed a quick reply
to let him know I was safe and sound, and that I did remember his
parents had the kids. He and his girlfriend were going away for the
weekend, and even though I volunteered to stay an extra few days at
the house, his parents were back in town and wanted the time with
them. Things with Will and me were good—not great, but definitely
good. We talked more now than when we were married and seemed to
understand each other better than we had in years. For the first
time, we were actually co-parenting our children. Plus, he
genuinely supported my move and wanted to help any way he could. I
knew most of his behavior was being driven by guilt, but at least
he was trying.

If only everyone else were on
board.

Pushing myself up off the floor, I
dialed Cris, annoyed when it went right to voicemail. Maybe she was
pissed I hadn’t called. I needed caffeine and then I’d try again.
Worst case scenario, I’d take a cab around town to try and find a
job, and maybe Rocker would let me stay one more night. I climbed
the stairs groggily.

“What in the hell didchya do to
your hair?” Cris shrieked at me as I rounded the corner on the top
floor. Crissia, pronounced Ca-riss-ah, Murphy was almost the twin
image of her big brother, with Greek God looks that I’d come to
envy—long, curly dark brown hair, defined cheekbones, and bright
blues that seemed like they could see into your soul. Those eyes
were now glaring at me as she sat across the table from Rocker,
coffee cup in hand, completely appalled. “You ruined
it!”

I laughed as I took a seat between
them. “You don’t like it? Teagan’s girls have decided that they
want to be hairstylists, so I let them practice on me. You’re the
one that’s always telling me to try something
different.”

“
No, I don’t like it! It looks
like your hair has gone manic and can’t make up its mind which
color it wants to be.” I only laughed more at the way she waved her
hands through the air obnoxiously.

Rocker reached over, gave me a wink, and
tugged on a chunky blonde piece. “I like it. It fits
her.”

“
Yeah, only ‘cause its crazy hair
and she’s fuckin’ nuts.” Rocker shook his head, chuckling, and
stood. Cris gave me a killer smile that reminded me so much of her
bother. “It’s about time you dragged your lazy ass outta
bed.”

I stifled a yawn. “I was exhausted.
Sorry.”

She smirked. “I knew where to find
ya.”

“
When do we meet your friend? I
just need to take a quick shower and then I’m good to
go.”

Cris shook her head at me. “We don’t. I
already found you a place.”

“
What? Really? But, I didn’t look
at any apartments yet.”

“This place is
perfect, trust me. Cheap rent, nice neighbahhood, secure building,
furnished, and no bugs.” She held up her hand, lifting a finger as
she checked off every one of the requirements I had. “All the stuff
you listed. I figured you’d rather spend your time trying to find a
job.”