Arrow of Time (33 page)

There was some laughing around the table.

“But he's okay with us retaliating?” Mace asked.

“
Yeah, and he wants in, which is good because they have muscle, and Mexicans know to fear cartels. He said they've got a few more things to check up. Mech sent him the info we had on the Phoenix Águilas?”

He said it like a question while pointing at Mech.

“Yeah, a few weeks ago, haven't heard anything so I have no idea what they did with it.”

“
I'm thinking we'll find out. He told me he wanted us to do an initial meet alone at first and that they weren't interested in that one, just wanted an update on it and they'll be here within a month. So we have a month to do any initial reconnaissance. Mech has a list with all the addresses and corporations we've found on them or anyone close to them. I want them all checked out. I want to know every entrance and exit, number of floors, everything! And I want that before the first meet.”

“
What kind of a meet will it be?” Sisco asked. “Just finding out more, or pissing them off?”

“
I'm not sure yet, but since they're most likely cocky fucking bastards, I'm leaning towards pissing them off. I want this over fast. We'll have the meet, cartel will be here within two days and we'll be in lockdown from the first meet 'till it's all settled.” He slammed his hand into the table. “Any questions at all?”

“
Sounds good, prez,” Mace said and the rest seemed to agree.

“
Meeting’s over.”

He told Bull and Sisco to get home and get some sleep, and caught Dawg and Bear on their way out, telling them he wanted a few words.

“Where do you think Ella will land on this?”

“
It's club business, she'll land where I tell her to land,” Bear said. “Anything but club business is another thing, but she'll follow my lead on this.”

He was probably right about that, but there had been a lot of fights between the two of them lately, and Brick wasn't sure what they were about. But if Bear told him it wasn't about club, it wasn't.

“And you?” He said to Dawg. He wanted to know where he was at. This stirred up a lot of shit for him. “You okay?”

“
Yeah. I'm good.” Dawg seemed to think about it for a few seconds and then he nodded again. “I'm good with it.”

Mel was in her office and looked up when he walked inside. She knew, he'd told her, like he told her almost everything. She was his vent, and he pulled her out of the chair and into his arms.

“Love you,” he mumbled. “We're gonna have a lockdown within a month. You and Ella need to make sure the clubhouse is ready for it.”

“
Okay. And until then?”

“
Until then it's like usual, just be careful and on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary.” He gave her a kiss. “I need to go home and get some sleep.”

He'd just fallen asleep when the phone rang. It was from the school, Mitch had acted up again, and with a sigh, he got into the car and went to see what the fuck the kid had done this time. He was smart, really fucking smart, just not smart enough to use the head he had on his shoulders and instead kept focusing on the hanging brain.

He walked into the principal’s office and noticed that Mitch looked as cocky as ever. He'd gotten head. In the library. Since the school couldn't
prove
that he'd 'been involved in a sexual act', and Brick didn't bother with the details on why that was the case, he got off with a warning. He wasn't sure if he should congratulate him or beat the shit outta him.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

He's Not Dad

-o0o-

Saturday, April 27
th

DAWG WALKED INTO EDIE'S
place and found her sitting on the floor sorting through some papers. Most of her stuff was already packed into boxes. She was supposed to be out three days later and hadn't found a place to live. So he'd cleaned up and prepared his place for her.

“
Hey,” she said with a smile when she saw him. “What’s with the paint?”

He had paint on his hands and some up over the arms, it was dark blue, red and something that, according to the clerk, was called eggshell white. He hoped she didn't recognize the colors.

“Just did some paint job. Is that the last?”

“
Yeah, don’t think it’s anything I need to keep.” She stood up. “Paint job?”

“
It’s nothing, Nibbles.”

He knew her, though; she wasn’t going to let it go that easy, so he picked her up and carried her over to the counter. He slipped his hand into her panties.

“You need a shave.”

“
I know. Just that I packed the stuff a few days ago, I haven’t been able to do it. I think you'll like it the way it is.”

“
I wasn't complaining, but you're right, I'll love it like this, too. I meant that you need a shave and I’ll do it.”

He’d been dying to do that, but she kept it so fucking neat that he'd never had the chance. She looked at him with big eyes, and then she smiled.

“I’ll find them.”

He took two towels from the bathroom and threw them on the bed while she panic-searched through the boxes while cursing profusely. It was nice to see that she was as eager as him. With a laugh, he poured water into a bowl and took it into the bedroom. With a big smile, she came in with a razor and the shaving gel. He’d seen it, the gel, and used it once thinking it was just like regular shaving cream. It wasn’t. It really was just a gel especially for that area; according to her, it made it easer to see when it was just a thin gel rather than thick foam. It worked for the beard, too. Only problem was that he'd smelled all flowery, and it had been noticed by the others. And pointed out, more than once. He'd stayed away from her gel since then.

She handed it to him and then quickly got out of her clothes. He arranged one of the towels for her to lie down on and she did, spreading wide. Dawg stared down a few seconds and then looked up at her with a big smile.

“
Have I ever told you how fucking pretty your pussy is?”

“
Once or twice.”

He dipped his hand into the water and then carefully spread it over her and did the same with the gel, very thoroughly making sure it was all over her. Then he started to shave. And she liked it about as much as he did. She struggled to stay still, but was soon wet. He ran his fingers over her folds to find the stubble, and every time she pressed herself towards his hand, panting. When he was satisfied, he took the other towel, and with a ‘don’t move’ he went into the bathroom to soak it in water. When he came walking back, she was staring at him with a begging face. She was horny, as fuck. And seeing her like that, naked, spread out on the bed while he still had all his clothes, including the beanie, was a turn on, to say the least.

When he started to wipe her clean she closed her eyes and dug her fingers into the cover.

“
Babe,” she mumbled. “Tell me you're hard.”

He leaned over her and gave her a kiss, still rubbing the towel between her legs. “Like a fucking rock, baby, but I’m not gonna fuck you yet.”

“No?”

“
I’m gonna make sure I got rid of all the stubble first.”

“
How?” She asked with a big smile, obviously having some clue about what he was planning.

“
I’m gonna eat you out till you scream.”

Edie made a sound that was damn close to what she did when she came, and he went down between her legs and licked, sucked and finger-fucked her more thoroughly than he ever had before. When she was trying to catch her breath, he unzipped his jeans, pulled them down to his knees and with one, hard thrust he got into her balls deep.

“Edie,” he said and held her down, without moving himself. When she opened her eyes he smiled. “Think you’re okay with me shaving you again?”

She nodded, grabbed his cheeks and shoved her tongue inside his mouth, and with a groan he started to move. He didn’t last long at all, but he made it up to her with a second round where he actually took his clothes off.

-o0o-

Tuesday, April 30
th

THEY'D MOVED EDIE'S THINGS
while she was at work. She helped them at first, by carrying a box out to the car, but she’d been more than happy to get out of that task when he offered. He was also more than happy to not have her with them, because she dropped that first box and it was full of china.

He’d used her truck, so when her shift was over he took his bike and went to The Rover to wait for her while watching her dance and sing in that tight little skirt. When they walked out to his bike, he caught her and grabbed her ass with both his hands.

“You are very sexy, always, but you’re extremely fucking sexy when you dance around in that skirt.”

“
Take the truck next time and I’ll keep it on.”

“
Can I fuck you in the truck?”

“
Truck fuck sounds good.”

He regretted having taken the bike, but that was easily rectified some other night. He smiled when he took her inside his place, and she halted already in the hallway and looked around.

“You’ve painted.”

“
I did. Didn’t want my woman to live in a dump, so I fixed it up.”

Edie stood still, staring. “You do realize that I’m still looking for a place? That this is just temporary.”

“Why would it be?” When he wasn’t really getting the reaction he expected, he was starting to get both annoyed and worried at the same time. “What's the problem? I was at your place all the time anyway, we were pretty much already living together.”

“
No we weren’t. It was
my
place. You were staying at
my
place, but you had your own place and... it’s not fucking the same!” She wasn’t done, though. “You can’t just do stuff like this, move my stuff to your place and say ‘surprise, we just moved in together’.”

“
I repainted, fixed it up for you.”

“
Which you wouldn’t have had to do if you’d just
asked
me what I wanted. Not just
assume
I’d swoon, bat my eyelashes and say 'lovely, give me the Old Lady tattoo while you're at it'.”

He was stunned. He had no fucking idea what her fucking problem was, just that it was a full set of problems in her head. And that comment ruled out asking her to get his ink any time soon, which he had planned to suggest. Not today... but soon.

“Are you shitting me?” he finally asked.

“
No! I am not
shitting
you. Give me my car keys.”

“
What?”

And now she was yelling, almost in panic, “Give me my fucking car keys!!!”

“No. You’re not running away from another fight. We're having it and you're staying. What’s the point of paying two rents?”

“
Why would we discuss the point of
anything
since you’re so completely missing it?”

“
What?” Jesus motherfucker he was about to explode, which would only make it worse, but why couldn't she listen to him? “That’s a valid fucking question.”

“
Well on the point of
questions
, did it ever occur to you that maybe you should
ask
me if I wanted to move in with you?”

“
It was a fucking surprise, I was gonna surprise you!”

“
This is not a nice surprise, Dawg!”

“
No, I can see that, and I don’t get what you’re so fucking upset about.”

“
You didn’t
ask!
You need to ask me things. You can’t just order me around and tell me what to do.” She extended her hand. “Give me my keys.”

“
No. You’re not running. For
once
we are going to argue, at the same spot, for the entire argument until we're done.”

“
No we're not!” She yelled and then she turned around and walked out.

He, of course, ran after her. “Shit. Just fucking tell me where you wanna go and I’ll take you there.”

“No. I'm not going to argue with you in the car. Unless you give me the keys to
my
car, I’m fully capable of walking. I’ve walked miles all over the world.”

He couldn't believe her! Why was she making every little thing so hard? Like now! Why couldn't they, for once, argue and be done with it. Her running away just meant the arguments lasted much longer. And why the hell couldn't she appreciate, at least a little, what he'd done for her?

“You’re not in the fucking desert now, and you’re not gonna walk around alone, in the middle of the night, here.”

“
Then just give me my keys and I’ll drive, I’m safe to drive alone aren’t I?” She yelled while she was still walking, almost running, with him running after her like some pathetic dog.

Finally he grabbed her wrist. “Fuck, Edie! How the fuck am I the bad guy in this?”

“I told you, you didn’t even ask me, just decided what I was gonna do.”

That’s when he got it and he cursed again but this time that he’d been so stupid. Edie wasn’t big on having other people tell her what to do; her opinion was important to her, since no one gave a shit about it until she was eighteen.

“Fuck. I’m sorry, Edie.” He held on to her shoulders. “Will you move in with me?”

“
No.”

Stubborn fucking women and their fixed fucking ideas and incapability to be practical about shit. Probably not what he should say now. But that sure was what he was thinking.

“Why?”

“
Because I liked having a place of my own. I’ve never had that,” she pouted. Pouted!

“
But I was there all the time anyway,” he tried.

“
But it was
my
apartment.”

“
Fine. I’ll sign over this place to you if that makes you happier.”

“
No. It doesn’t. I’m not moving in there. Can you give me my keys now?”

“
You’re still gonna go?”

“
Yes. Give me the keys, please.”

“
Why?”

“
Cause I’m about to panic when I see that place. I need some time.”

Dawg bit down, dug the keys out of his pocket, slammed them into her outstretched hand and then turned around and walked inside without even looking back. He'd been on stakeouts, gone through blueprints and worked eighteen to twenty hour days on the Phoenix Águilas detail the last two weeks. This while cleaning and repainting his entire fucking apartment just to give her a nice surprise. That turned out awesome! He needed some time as well, so it suited him just fucking fine that she took off.

-o0o-

I sat in my truck and tried to figure out what the hell I was supposed to do now. He’d really caught me off guard, and the fact that he’d just
decided
that I was gonna move in was driving me insane. I didn’t need that. I needed to be allowed to decide things for myself. Especially things like if we were going to move in together. I wasn't a child.

The next thing I did totally contradicted that last thought. I called Lanie.

“Yes.”

It was the middle of the night so of course she was sleeping, but I needed her.

“Lanie, can I stay at your place tonight?”

“
Sure. I’ll wait up for you.”

I drove there, and when I parked the car and walked up to their house she opened the front door. She'd been waiting for me, just like she'd said she would. She pulled me into a hug, and I started to cry.

“Oh, honey, what’s wrong?”

“
He just decided, he didn’t even
ask!”

“
Ask what?”

“
If I wanted to move in, just fucking painted the place and surprise! This is where you live now!”