More Than Miles (A Lost Kings MC Novel) (24 page)

“Morning.” Her cheeks turn red and she scurries down the hall to her own room.

Teller glares at me.

“Bro, did you hear nothing Rock said?”

He shakes his head and steps into the hall with me. “It’s not…she can’t…it’s not like that. Just let it go.” He hesitates. “You can keep your mouth shut, right?”

Realizing how serious he is, I drop all the jokes I’d been gathering. “Yeah. Of course, brother.”

“Thanks. So, what’s wrong with Serena?”

“Nothing. I just pissed her off and I don’t feel like seeing her again.”

Teller stares at me as if he knows what I did last night and why. “Pussy,” he finally says.

“You have no idea.”

He snorts and punches my shoulder.

I have to ask about the only thing on my mind. “So, you let Axel leave in one piece last night? Or you got a body you need help burying?”

“If only.”

“You’re not really gonna let her go through with that shit, are you?” I’m counting on Marcel to throw his big brother status around and put an end to this wedding bullshit.

“What the fuck do you suggest? Pissing her off so she doesn’t talk to me for another month?”

I open my mouth but none of my suggestions are helpful so I shut it.

He opens and closes his fists a few times before speaking. “She’s eighteen. Short of chaining her to the wall in the basement—which believe me, crossed my mind—I don’t know what else to fucking do.”

“Maybe Hope can talk her out of it.”

“Would you stop treating her like our unofficial fairy godmother.”

“Fuck off. She listens to Hope, you tool.”

Neither of us say anything as we pound down the stairs. Never know who you’ll find in the living room.

This morning, it’s Hope and Trinity sitting on one of the couches, flipping through magazines together.

Wedding magazines.

Fuck me. Really?

Trinity sets them aside when she notices us. “Morning.”

“Yes, it is,” Teller quips.

Hope shakes her head. “Cute. How are you this morning, big brother?”

He opens his mouth—probably to snark at her—but then shakes his head. “I don’t fuckin’ know.”

Trinity gathers her things and stands. “I’ll be right back, Hope. Will you be here for a minute?”

“Sure.”

As soon as Trinity clears the room, Hope focuses on us. “Okay. You two look ready to burst. What’s up?”

Teller lets out a humorless laugh. “Not me. Him.”

I flip him off and he returns the gesture.

“I gotta run.” He slaps my shoulder. “We’ll talk later.”

Hope watches him leave before turning to me. “You okay? I didn’t see you again last night, after the
announcement
.”

“The announcement. That’s one way to put it,” I say as I drop down next to her.

She lowers her gaze. “Serena tore out of here a little while ago. She seemed upset.”

“That’s my fault. I told you, every time I try to do the right thing, I just fuck it up.”

Her mouth turns down. “I’m sorry. I know it was probably a shock.”

“You weren’t shocked, though, were you?”

She reels back and blinks a few times before shaking her head. “Heidi tries so hard to be the opposite of her mother, I worry it’ll push her into making even bigger mistakes.”

It’s an interesting theory and I wonder if there’s more to Hope’s words. “Heidi’s always been stubborn. When she was little, you could tell her ‘don’t touch that or you’ll get hurt’ and she’d have to test it out anyway. Got burned a bunch of times that way.” I shrug. “You can only give her so much advice.”

Her mouth lifts in a tired smile. “Tell me about it. You know I care about her, but I also worry about overstepping. I’m not her mother.”

“You think her marrying Axel is a mistake, don’t you?”

She takes a deep breath before finally nodding. Her big, green eyes bore into me. “Yes. I do.”

“Did you tell her that?”

“I tried. Gently.”

Something else is bothering Hope, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t get her to spill it.

L
ife moves quickly after our announcement. We really did apply for married student housing. That wasn’t a lie. But the school’s pretty flexible about the
married
part these days.

Our best friends, Lucas and Penny, for example, are also
engaged
and live right across the hall from us.

Even though no one in our foursome is twenty-one yet, Penny brings a bottle of wine over to our apartment the first night we’re there.

“I can’t.” My cheeks must be bright red. We haven’t officially told anyone yet.

Lucas, predictably, but good naturedly high-fives Axel. “Congrats, guys.”

“Holy shit. What did your brother say?” Penny asks. She’s been interested in my brother for years, so it always creeps me out when she asks about him.

“We haven’t told anyone yet. Well, except for you guys.”

Lucas shoots a dirty grin at Axel. “You lucky fucker. Do you have any idea how horny pregnant chicks are?” Lucas waggles his eyebrows, while Axel fake-shivers with disgust.

Gee, thanks.

“Gross. Dude, that’s my kid in there.” He runs his hand over my barely-there baby bump. “And my wife-to-be you’re talking about.” He flashes a sweet smile that almost makes me forget the yuck face he just made at the very idea of pregnancy sex.

Penny slaps her boyfriend’s arm. “How would you know, perv?”

“I read it somewhere.” He glances at me and winks so fast, I almost think I imagined it. “Don’t be a dick, man. You knocked her up, it’s your duty to satisfy all her needs.”

Aw, thanks, Lucas.

“Can you all worry about your own sex lives? I’m not even past the wanting-to-puke-every-five-minutes stage.”

Lucas shows more sympathy than Penny, which is not unusual. “Sorry, Heidi. If Axel won’t man up, let me know so I can kick his ass.”

Axel doesn’t laugh. But I do. So hard I can’t catch my breath. “That’s okay. I’m sure my brother will kick his ass as soon as he finds out.”

“Christ. Not to mention the rest of the club,” Axel moans. He glances at me. “Rock already figured it out, you know.”

Now that disappointed face Rock gave me makes more sense, and I’m hot with shame. Talk about someone I hate letting down.

“He’s going to set up an interview for me at a friend’s garage.”

“Oh. That’s good news.”

Lucas leans over and slaps Axel’s leg. “You should come to Alaska with us after graduation. I can totally hook you up with a job on my uncle’s oil rig.”

I snort, because obviously that’s a joke, right? Lucas shifts his gaze to me. “I’m serious. Even the entry-level jobs pay really well.” He turns and thumps Axel’s arm “But, you’ve got a special skill set with the welding and mechanics—my uncle would kill to get you on his crew.”

“You’re seriously moving to Alaska?” I raise an eyebrow at Penny and she nods.

“Yeah, it’ll be fun.”

“Well, all our family is here. I don’t think taking a newborn to Alaska makes a lot of sense.”

Axel’s still quiet, so I elbow him in the ribs.

“What? Oh, yeah.”

“Sorry, Heidi. I wasn’t thinking about the baby,” Lucas says.

“It’s going to be a big adjustment.” What an understatement.

Penny cocks her head. “Are you going to finish school?”

“Duh. Of course.”

Axel turns and raises an eyebrow. That’s right, we haven’t talked about our plans for after the baby comes.

“We’ll have to find daycare or a sitter or something,” I mumble.

“You guys have plenty of time to figure it all out.”

Somehow, it doesn’t seem like it.

By the next time we sit down for church, no one’s worried about Heidi’s wedding. Except me. And maybe Teller. I don’t know, because he hasn’t mentioned it again.

I can’t dwell on it, though, or it’ll drive me nuts.

The need to be on the road consumes me. Rock knows it and promised me he was working on something. I appreciate it, because at least then I’ll be doing something for my club instead of just going off on a pity joyride.

We go through the agenda the same way we do every time. Rock grills each of the officers. Everyone does their part for the club and does it well.

“Need more bodies at Furious?” Rock asks Wrath once we’ve gone over everything else.

“Nah. Murphy’s been a big help while Jake’s been out. I’m gettin’ busier, so if you don’t need him anywhere else, I’d like to keep him on permanently.”

Rock glances at me with a raised eyebrow.

Fuck. Originally, I wanted to get out of working at Crystal Ball because I realized how much it bothered Heidi. Since
that
doesn’t matter anymore, I could go back. Truth is I’d rather keep working at the gym with Wrath. I like helping him out. The work is more challenging. And I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in.

At the moment, though, I need some time away from everything. Distance. Wrath should understand that better than anyone.

Rock seems to read the dilemma I’m working through in my head. “Long-term, yeah. We’ll find someone else for CB.”

Ravage raises his hand, waving it in the air to get Rock’s attention. “Right here, prez.”

Rock chuckles. “Yeah, yeah. Simmer the fuck down.” He turns back to Wrath. “Can you spare Murphy for the next couple weeks? The club needs him for something.”

Wrath raises an eyebrow. “Okay.” Rock may have phrased it as a request, but we all know it wasn’t.

Sparky practically bounces in his seat trying to get Rock’s attention. “You sending Murphy to Arizona for me?”

Our president doesn’t hesitate. “Yes.” He points to Dex. “You up for a trip?”

While I’d been hoping for some solitude, I get why Rock doesn’t want me riding solo.

“Fuck, yeah.”

Sparky narrows his eyes at Dex. “You’re there on business. Not to fuck around.”

A shocked hush falls over the table. All eyes are on Dex while we wait to see his comeback. Finally, his mouth slides into a sneer. “Yes, sir.”

Sparky settles back in his chair. “Sorry. It’s just that this is important.”

Rock sighs and sits back. “Sparky, why don’t you explain.”

Our mad-scientist, weed-growing brother sits up, hands flailing in the air. “Okay. Okay. So, you know our friends in Arizona started up a grow-op, right? The dude who’s overseeing it is an old buddy of mine. He’s got this crazy amazing strain from Nigeria. Real rare stuff. Seven times the THC for a quick high…”

I try not to let my eyes glaze over. When Sparky gets talking about plants, he can get pretty in-depth.

“Sparky,” Rock warns, redirecting our favorite stoner.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. So he’s got this mega-awesome strain. I’ve got our Deepest Gray that I’ve bred. We’re going to swap clones.”

“You’re gonna let someone have one of your masterpieces?” Z asks with only a hint of sarcasm.

Sparky’s face screws up into a scowl. “This shit is worth it. They’re far enough away that it’s not going to impact our business.”

Rock tosses his hands up in a
what-the-fuck-ever
gesture. “You wanna vote on the swap?” he asks Z. “It’s club property.”

Z’s shaking his head before Rock even finishes the question. “No. I trust Sparky’s judgment
on this
. I’m surprised, that’s all.”