Page 22 of Defended by Bama (Royal Bastards MC: Mobile, Alabama #1)
Bama
Sam wouldn’t tell me what he found, but I wanted to respect Brooklyn. Had it been anyone else, I would have pressed for info since most of the clinic is funded by us. He did lead me to believe that I was right to give her some space.
The days following, I made sure to be available, but Hammer had talked to Jameson and didn’t want us back in Pensacola until they knew if anyone had suspicions about what happened at the stockyard.
It had been a week since Brooklyn was seen and they’d been cooped up in my house the last couple of weeks now, with the exception of the clinic.
I knew it could be a little rowdy at the clubhouse on Friday, so instead, we got up early, ran to the store and grabbed a bunch of drinks, sunblock, bathing suits for them, and bug spray plus some snacks and sandwiches and headed to the beach down in Gulf Shores for the day.
The drive was about an hour, but I didn’t like swimming in the bay.
It was hot but the weather was perfect, and the water was warm.
Sadie had a blast in the ocean, and I took some strange pride in having been the first one to show her the ocean.
Brooklyn mentioned they’d been to the lake a lot.
I loved camping and fishing and there were plenty of good lakes around, too, but camping was better in the spring or fall. Summer was for the beach.
Even though our dad wasn’t the best, we’d been to the Georgia coast a few times over the years and he even took us to Panama City Beach a couple of times, too.
I loved the gulf and didn’t plan on moving away.
Seeing my girls playing and relaxing put me at ease, and I hadn’t realized how tense I’d been.
Helping grow the club, dealing with Hammer’s mood swings, shifty customers, the Bloody Scorpions, then suddenly taking care of Brooklyn and Sadie had me a bit more wound up than I realized.
But spending time with them both made me realize this was a piece I’d been missing.
They both felt like home. And at least at that moment, the only thing I had to worry about was keeping them from getting sun burnt.
After a long day and the sun finally starting to hit the horizon, we packed up and headed back, stopping for fast food on the way.
Being in the sun all day wore me out, and so did Sadie.
Once she ate, though, she was out like a light.
And instead of passing out on Brooklyn, her weight fell against me.
“I’ll grab her,” Brooklyn said, reaching her arms toward her.
“She’s fine. Let her sleep. She played hard today.”
“She really likes you.” Brooklyn smiled over at me.
“I like her, too. She’s a good kid. You did good. So, you think about what you want your names to be yet?”
Brooklyn blew out a heavy sigh. “It’s so hard. Especially for her. I asked her what she wanted to be called and she said Squidward.”
Chuckling, I said, “Well, sounds like a road name to me. What about you?”
“I don’t know. I’ve thought about some random names but none seem to fit. How do you guys pick your club names?”
“Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes it’s not. I went with my nickname and some of the others do, too. Like Rogers.”
“I don’t get it, is that short for something?” she asked.
“No, he thinks he looks like Captain America.”
“Oh, you know, I kinda see it now,” she said with a grin.
“What the hell?” I laughed. “You think he’s hot?”
“No.” She looked out the window.
“Hey, I’m just kidding. He’s a handsome motherfucker.” I looked down to make sure Sadie was still sleeping. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
She looked back over. “Sorry. I got accused of looking a lot before. I didn’t know how else to respond.”
“Hey, I don’t think you’re looking at him. I’m sorry I said that. I’m not an insecure prick.”
“I’m sorry. I just–”
“Don’t be sorry. But Rogers is a handsome motherfucker,” I whispered.
“Not as handsome as you,” she said.
Moving my arm carefully, I reached over for her hand and she threaded her fingers into mine. I loved the feel of her hand in mine.
Rubbing my thumb over her hand, I said, “So, names.”
“Oh yeah. Well, if nicknames are a thing, I had a friend in middle school that moved away. But while she was still in Georgia, she called me Linny. I liked it, but I never got it to stick with anyone else. It was usually Brooke or Brookie.”
“Linny. I like that.” It suited her. Cute and simple.
“Maybe. I still don’t know what to do about Sadie.”
“Maybe tomorrow we can figure it out together. But Crowne wanted to chat soon to get that finalized.” Rogers let me know she had checked in again and wanted to get that taken care of so she could be done.
“I’m sure they have a lot on their plate. I appreciate everything they’re doing for us. And you.” She squeezed my hand, so I pulled hers up and pressed my lips to the back of hers.
“Once that’s done, you can really start fresh. And I need you to know that means anywhere, but I really hope it’s with me.” The last couple of weeks, especially after that first kiss, were the best I could think of in recent memory.
“Is it crazy that I can’t remember before I met you? I mean, I remember things that happened, but I can’t remember not knowing you. Is that strange?” she asked, her gaze fixed on me.
“No, because I know what you mean. You two just fit with me. And that’s why I don’t want you to leave. But I’ll do whatever is best for you both.”
“I think you’re what’s best for us, Bama.”
My chest swelled and my foot laid on the gas. I was ready to get home. Sadie was cute and I loved that she was so comfortable with me, but I was ready to be snuggling with her mommy.