Page 24

Flash

T hat definitely did not end up going down as I expected it to. I thought I’d end up beating Raymond to a pulp for everything he’d done to not only wrong my Mom but Micah too and that my Mom would end up in hysterics learning the truth about what had been happening behind her back. I can certainly say I never expected her to get angry the way she did and take a baseball bat to his cock and balls.

I know he deserved it, don’t get me wrong, but I couldn’t help but internally wince when that bat connected. I know how much an accidental hit can hurt between the legs, so having a bat hit there with that much force had to be excruciating. I’m pretty sure after the way that bat connected with him, he won’t be going around fathering any more children he shouldn’t. Hell, I doubt there are any children in his future at all after that. I don’t feel bad for him, though; he deserves everything that he has had thrown his way today.

I’m definitely curious about whatever connection my Mom seems to have with Blaze, Shock, Gunner, and June. She’s never mentioned knowing them before, which is more than a little weird when she knows they’re all connected to the MC I’m a part of. Actually, now that I’m really thinking about it, my Dad didn’t seem to be happy when he found out about me prospecting, but he held whatever his opinion was in. While my Mom seemed more than happy for me.

Clearly, there are things I don’t know about my parents’ pasts, which is normal. They had lives before they had me, but I can’t work out why it was never mentioned about my Mom’s connection to so many people I know. It doesn’t make sense to me. Especially when I consider the words spoken by both Blaze and Shock towards Raymond. There’s definitely a conversation coming in the future with my Mom, and I’m hoping she’ll feel comfortable enough to tell me whatever it is I obviously have been kept in the dark about.

As I enter the front door of my new home, which really, if I think about it, isn’t all that new anymore—I’ve been living here for a while now, even if it was meant to be temporary to start with; that’s definitely not the case anymore. The sound that greets me is not what I was expecting at all; normally it’s pretty quiet in this house with the size and everyone’s living space being so spread out. There isn’t silence this time, though; instead, we’re greeted by the sound of young giggles mixed with older laughter.

I have no idea what Jake’s brothers are doing with Micah, but whatever it is, it’s obviously making him happy. I follow the happy sounds towards the kitchen, where I can’t help but burst out laughing when I see what’s going on inside. I’m guessing they were attempting to bake something from the ingredients on the counter; however, from the looks of them, that clearly didn’t go to plan.

Not only is Micah covered head to toe in what I’m guessing is flour, but so are both Austin and Seth. I have no idea where Rex is, but clearly he was the smart one to avoid whatever happened to cause this attempt at baking to go so wrong.

“Oh god.” Jake wheezes out through laughter as he takes in the sight in the kitchen.

“Micah has never had homemade cookies before, so we thought we’d make some.” Austin says as he attempts to wipe some of the flour off his face. It makes zero difference, though, as his hands are just as covered as the rest of him. All he’s really doing is smearing it around.

“When has you two attempting to bake ever gone right?” Jake asks, trying to regain some control over himself but clearly failing when his laughter gets louder again.

“Ermm…” Seth starts to say, and it’s clear he’s trying to think of a time it’s actually gone to plan, but I’m guessing from Jake’s words there has never been an attempt that went right.

“Don’t hurt yourself; that question was more rhetorical than anything. I know there’s never been an attempt that went to plan. I’m more wondering where the hell Rex is and why he didn’t intervene before you two ended up loose in the kitchen attempting to bake.”

“He was working on Dre’s case last time we saw him. We left him to it to hang out with Micah.”

“Okay, well Micah, why don’t you head upstairs and shower away all that flour while dumb and dumber here clean up the kitchen? When they’re done, I’ll see if we have more ingredients, and I’ll bake you some cookies.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind helping clean up the mess I helped make.”

“Nope, you’re good, Mic. We knew better than to attempt to bake.” Seth says, flashing Micah a reassuring smile.

Micah takes himself off upstairs, leaving a trail of flour footprints behind, which I’m sure Jake is going to force Seth and Austin to clean up too.

“What the hell happened?” Rex exclaims from the other doorway opposite the one Jake and I entered.

“They attempted to bake with Micah.” I say with a chuckle.

“Oh fucking hell. You two should know better than to attempt to bake; somehow you always end up covered in the ingredients instead of mixing them as you’re supposed to.”

“We know. We thought it might go differently this time; after all, we had Micah to help.”

“It doesn’t matter who you had with you; the moment the two of you are around baking ingredients at the same time, disaster occurs.”

“Maybe.” Austin says sheepishly.

Rex just shakes his head at Seth and Austin before turning his attention to us.

“Did you get everything sorted?” He asks.

“Yeah. Trish has twenty-four hours to get out of Devil’s Point, and we left Raymond a bit of a mess on the floor courtesy of a couple of well-deserved hits and a baseball bat to his prized jewels.”

“Who the hell used a baseball bat on him?” Rex asks curiously.

“My Mom. She was a little bit angry to learn about his indiscretions.”

“Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving man. I’m glad you’ve got everything sorted, though; it means I can leave without having to worry about leaving you two in the lurch when you need support.”

“Where are you heading?” Jake asks.

“I think I have a promising lead on Dre, so I’m heading out to follow it.”

“Seriously? That’s awesome. I know Shadow and Wreck will be more than glad to hear you might have it all figured out.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to say anything about what I’ve found until I’ve followed up on it all. I don’t want to get their hopes up only for it to be another false lead like all the ones Wreck followed.”

“I get that. Just let us know what you find and make sure you remember to call in backup if you need it. You know we’ll all drop everything if you need us.”

“I know Jake. Make sure you keep yourselves safe and in one piece while I’m gone. I won’t be happy if I get back and don’t find the both of you in the same condition I left you in.” He says, making sure to look at not only Jake but also me.

It’s nice to be included in his warnings and worries; it makes me feel like I’m part of the family, not just Jake’s friend turned partner. I know things are still fairly new between me and Jake, but we’ve been laying the groundwork for our relationship for months, even if we didn’t quite realize that’s what we were doing at the time. I’m hoping this is it for both myself and Jake. That our futures will forever be intertwined.

Rex leaves us to go and get himself ready to leave, and Jake grabs my hand and drags me towards the gym that’s inside the house. I know what his plan is; he wants me to work out the anger that’s left inside after everything I’ve been through today, and I know it’s the smart thing to do. I need a way to release what I’m feeling right now. I’ve learned the hard way that keeping things bottled up isn’t good for me.

“Take as long as you need to work through everything. I’ll be here when you’re done.” He says as he releases my hand and pecks my lips before he backs away.

“Thank you, J. This is just what I needed.”

“I know, babe. I’m going to go supervise those fools in the kitchen, but I’ll keep coming back to check on you. If I’m not here when you’re done, come and find me.”

“Always.”

I turn away from him and head towards the punching bags that are set up on the far side of the room. It’s time to work out everything I’m feeling and then put it all behind me and move forward. I have an amazing life ahead of me, with some of the most fantastic people I’ve ever met. I refuse to let all this crap with Raymond poison that.