Wild Ride (Wind Dragons Motorcycle Club) (7 page)

CHAPTER TWELVE

Tia

I
T’S
a pretty scary thought that by the time you find out someone’s flaws, by the time you get to know them entirely, it’s almost always too late—you’ve already fallen in love with them. I guess all you can do is hope that their flaws aren’t deal breakers and accept them as they are.

It’s been a month since Talon and I had our first date, and the last few weeks have been nothing short of amazing. We’ve been spending as much time as we can together, getting to know each other, and just acting like any new couple does—being completely infatuated with each other. He hasn’t met Rhett yet, and we haven’t had any drama, until now.

I think that after a month of having no one question us, we kind of took it for granted. We decided to have a quick drink at Knox’s Tavern after seeing a movie together. What I didn’t expect, although I should have, was Rake, Sin, and Arrow walking in together, and the three of them joining us at our table. Out of all the Wind Dragons, these are the three I least wanted to see. I’d take Tracker, sure; Vinnie, yes—anyone other than these three. Rake hates Talon, Arrow hates him but will try to behave for Anna, and Sin is the president, scary as hell, and calls all the shots.

“So, you two are a thing now?” Rake asks, looking between us before landing on me. “This is who you’ve been dating? Fuck, Tia, I thought you’d have some fuckin’ taste at least.”

“Rake . . .” Talon says in warning.

“What? She can do so much better than you, Talon.” He looks at me. “I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty fuckin’ disappointed that this is who you’ve been seeing. Fuck. Anyone except him!”

I grit my teeth and glare at him. Sin studies the two of us, not saying anything, but I can see his mind working silently. Arrow, on the other hand, is staring at Talon like he can’t wait to punch him in the face again.

“Come on, Talon, let’s go,” I say, grabbing my bag. I didn’t want to sit here and listen to the three of them. What had started off as a good night was ending in shit, and there was no way to save it.

“Is this a serious thing?” Sin asks, focusing on me. “Tia?”

“Talk about putting me on the spot,” I mutter, sighing. “I really like him, and I’d appreciate it if you guys could please not be assholes about it, because I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not a member of your MC, so you can’t act like this is a betrayal.”

“You don’t have to explain anything to them, Tia,” Talon says, taking my hand in his. “And the three of you can stop making her feel bad. If you want to talk about it, you take it up with me.”

Sin’s gaze moves to Talon. “We are allies, are we not?”

Talon nods, but then his eyes go to Rake. “At least some of us are.”

Rake’s lips tighten. “I haven’t killed you yet, Talon. You’re still alive and breathing, so that says a lot, don’t you think?”

“You couldn’t kill me if you tried,” Talon fires back, his eyes going dark. “You need to let your daddy issues go, Rake. Grow up.”

Rake slams his hand down on the table. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Rake,” Sin says, looking back at me. “Let’s let them be. We can talk about this another time, okay? Have a nice evening, Tia.”

He stands up, and the other two follow. Arrow lifts his chin as a good-bye to me, but Rake storms off without a word. What if Bailey was right? What if this did cause a strain in our relationship? The thought makes me sad, almost sick to my stomach. Would Rake try to make her stop being friends with me?

“Hey,” Talon says, turning my face to look at him. “Everything is gonna be okay. Don’t worry about them; they’ll come around. Come on, I’ll get you home.”

We leave the bar with the Wind Dragons watching us.

I knew this was going to happen, so I can’t exactly be surprised, yet experiencing it was something else. On the ride home, I think about everything and realize just how naïve I’ve been. I can see that Talon respects the Wind Dragons, and that’s something to work with. What if they closed that gap between them? It wouldn’t happen overnight, but it could happen. There are no rules here, and no one says that they have to dislike each other just because they happen to wear different patches.

Sin said they’re allies, so they can’t get angry over this. They need to get over it. I need to be strong right now and fight for what I want. I can’t let Rake ruin my happiness. He found his, and he needs to let me have mine—by letting go of the hate he feels for Talon. And what did Talon mean by daddy issues? I make a mental note to ask him about that. When we come to a stop, Talon asks me to tell him what’s on my mind.

“I don’t know; all the shit Rake said sucked, but we knew it would happen. I think he’ll come around. This doesn’t really affect him, and he needs to get over it,” I say, wrapping my arms around Talon’s waist. “Bailey isn’t angry with me, and that’s all that matters to me.”

He kisses the top of my head. “I don’t like them talking to you like that, making you feel bad. It’s fucked-up. I’m going to talk to them tomorrow.”

“And say what?” I ask. I have a hunch that “talking” will end up being with their fists instead of their mouths.

“I’ll handle it” is all he says, a determined look passing across his features. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

Rhett was having a sleepover at Bailey’s tonight, and tomorrow Cara was sleeping here. I unlock my front door, and Talon lifts me in his arms and carries me to my bedroom like a new bride.

“What’s all this for?” I ask, smiling as he lays me down on my blue sheets.

“I want you to forget about all that shit at the bar,” he says, removing my strappy heels and placing them on the floor. He starts to rub my feet, so I can’t help but tease.

“President of the Wild Men giving me a foot massage. I should take a photo.”

He grins and kisses the arch of my foot. “Everyone will think it’s photoshopped.”

He kisses up my ankles, and keeps going until he hits the top of my thigh. He peppers kisses up my inner thigh, then looks up at me. “I don’t want what happened tonight to fuck up what we have. I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy as I’ve been in the last month, and I’ll kill those bastards if they try to take that away from me.”

I reach down and cup his cheek with my hand. “I’m not going anywhere, Talon.”

“Promise?” he asks, showing a moment of vulnerability.

“I promise.”

The Wind Dragons are just going to have to deal with it.

When Bailey shows up at my door the next morning with the kids, I’m surprised to see Anna standing there too.

“I assume you heard the gossip,” I say after I greet her with a hug.

“I did, but I want to hear it from you,” she says, making herself at home on my couch. I hug my son, kiss his face, and tell him and Cara that there’s food on the kitchen table if they’re hungry. They run off to Rhett’s room to play while Bailey and I join Anna on the couch.

“Can I get you ladies something to drink?” I ask, looking between the two of them.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were dating Talon?” Anna blurts out, looking a little hurt. “You know I’d have been on your side. I think Talon is a great guy, even though he can be a pain in the ass sometimes.”

“I didn’t tell anyone except Bailey,” I say, wincing when I see Bailey do the same. “Sorry, but that’s the truth. We only just started seeing each other. You know what it’s like at the start. It’s new and amazing, but you have no idea where it’s heading, and with all the drama involved I didn’t want to go around broadcasting it, especially when I knew the men were going to give me shit about it.”

“It was up to Tia to tell, not me,” Bailey says, crossing her arms over her chest. “And we all knew Rake was the one going to be the most unhappy with it, so I was enjoying the calm before the storm.”

Anna rolls her eyes. “Rake needs to let it go. Talon is becoming closer with the Wind Dragons every day. We all know we can trust him—he’s not going to betray any of us, even if he is the president of another MC. He’s different.”

It feels nice to have someone on our side for once. I smile at Anna, then tell her the story—leaving out the sexual content, of course.

When I’m done, I wait for the two women to comment.

“Okay, who cares about what Rake thinks?” Bailey says, shaking her head. “I’ve never seen you like this, ever. I’ve never heard you talk about a man like this. Usually I only hear the sex stories, nothing about feelings. Your eyes went all dreamy just now. I don’t want to freak you out, but you’re either falling for him or you’re already there.”

I put my hand up to stop her. “Okay, let’s not go there just yet.”

Even though I’ve been thinking the exact same thing.

“I think Bailey and I will be able to talk to Rake so he’s not such an ass about it,” Anna says, smiling at me. “I’m happy for both you and Talon. He needs a good woman, and I have to say, I’ve never even seen him with a woman before, so this is definitely out of the norm for both of you.”

“Has he met Rhett yet?” Bailey asks, leaning back against the couch.

“Not yet, but I think it’s time,” I admit. “It’s such a hard thing, dating when you have a son. I want Talon and Rhett to like each other, like genuinely, not just because Rhett is my son, you know? But I don’t want Rhett to be confused if it doesn’t work out. I don’t know; there are no rules here. I’m just going with my gut.”

“Does he even like kids?” Anna asks, a thoughtful expression on her face. “I personally think he’d make a great dad. He protects those he loves with everything he has, and he’s pretty funny at times.”

“I can’t believe Rake was so rude to you last night,” Bailey says, looking apologetic on her man’s behalf.

“What did Talon mean when he said Rake needs to get over his daddy issues?” I ask Anna, remembering that I forgot to ask Talon about it.

“Talon was raised by our biological father,” Anna says, shrugging her shoulders. “Talon’s mother ended up with him, so he was Talon’s stepfather. Our dad pretty much abandoned us; we didn’t even know who he was when we were growing up. I guess Rake has to blame someone, and Talon is the only one around.”

My eyes widen as I try to process this information. It wasn’t Talon’s fault, it was their father’s, but I can also see how that would pain Rake. His own father abandoned him and ended up raising another son, one who wasn’t even his. That has to hurt every time he thinks about his fatherless childhood.

“That fucking sucks” is all I can think to say. “I’m sorry your dad was an asshole.”

Anna laughs. “I had Rake. We got by just fine, but thanks. I think Talon feels guilty in a way, like somehow he took what was ours, and that’s why he was so interested in me. He treats me like family, like I’m somehow his responsibility too. Who knows how that man’s mind works.”

“So when are you seeing him next?” Bailey asks, being nosy.

“I’m not sure,” I tell her. “Not tonight, because I’m spending it watching movies with Rhett and Cara. Maybe I’ll invite him over tomorrow and finally have him meet Rhett. That ought to be interesting.”

“To be a fly on the wall,” Anna says, grinning. “You’ll have to tell me how it goes.”

“Rhett’s never met a guy I’ve been dating before. I have no idea what to say,” I admit, my eyes going wide. “He saw me out front with Talon one night when he showed up at my house, and Rhett asked me a million questions about it. Primarily concerning whether he could get a motorcycle like that one day.”

“Future Wind Dragon,” Anna says, then cringes. “Or will he be a future Wild Man? Clover and Cara will be with the Wind Dragons, so you can’t let him join the Wild Men MC.” She pauses. “I see some Romeo-and-Juliet shit in their future.”

“He’s not joining any MC,” I say, my lips pursing. “And I’ll let future me worry about that.”

“Good plan,” Anna agrees, standing up. “Now, what did you say you made for lunch?”

I grin and lead them into the kitchen.