Page 9 of Gator (Bourbon Kings MC #1)

Irish Rose Tavern...

“Hey, boss, you think there will be good vittles at this shindig?” Donut asked, leaning against the door as I combed back my hair.

“Don’ see why not.” I smiled, looking at myself in the mirror. “Why?”

Damn, I clean up fine!

“I mean, this is a real fancy place we’re goin’ to. I ain’t eatin’ no bland rubber chicken.”

“Donut’s got a point, boss,” Thore said, stepping up behind him. “We like our food seasoned, and these fancy folks ain’t never used anything but salt and pepper.”

Turning to look at the hulking man, I closed my eyes and counted to ten before I said another damn word.

Thore was eccentric on a good day. Hell, all my boys were, but I was pretty damn sure wearing no shirt to a classy wedding was against some rule or something. If that wasn’t bad enough, the brother had on a bear’s hide kilt with his family’s sword at his hip and calfskin boots up to his knees.

Now, I wasn’t up to date on wedding etiquette, but I was pretty damn sure what Thore and Donut were wearing wasn’t entirely appropriate. But then again, Thore did braid his hair and comb his beard, so that was a plus.

However, Donut totally missed the fucking memo because the brother was wearing a semi-white tank top, board shorts, flip-flops and a polka-dotted bow tie around his neck.

Storming out of the bathroom, I walked into the main bar area of the Irish Rose Tavern and glared at Worm, who wore all black as if he were getting ready for a funeral.

Braveheart looked like something out of an Irish romance novel, kilt and all, but it was Juju, my so-called vice president, who put us all to shame.

Dressed in a vibrant purple zoot suit, with top hat and cane, the man looked ready to herald Mardi Gras!

Fuck it.

We never put on airs, wasn’t gonna start now.

Besides, Uncle Jack had to have known what he was fucking doing when he invited us.

Looking at my watch, I smiled. “Well, we’ve got about an hour before we need to head out. Juju, line ’em up!”

Walking behind the bar, Juju smiled, placing a fresh bottle of Hell’s Inferno on the bar. “Lookee what I found in Scribe’s office. Brother was holding out on us.”

Grinning, I ordered, “Pop the cap and pour.”

With shot glasses filled, every brother grabbed one as I raised mine in salute. “To Uncle Jack and my new auntie LeeAnn!”

“You drink that, Wade Montague Crawley, and I will take a switch to your hide!” a very familiar, firm voice said from behind me.

Gulping, I looked at Juju as he slowly backed away.

“Tell me that ain’t my m?man .”

“Can’t do that, boss,” Juju whispered, his eyes wide.

Slowly lowering the shot glass, I turned and there she was.

My m?man .

The very woman who spent three excruciating, painful days trying to birth my big ass head, according to her.

The woman who spent the next eighteen years ensuring I walked the straight and narrow, instilling the fear of God in me any way she could.

To make matters worse, next to her were my aunties, Auntie Glorianna and Auntie Gail.

Standing together, the La Croix sisters were something to see. Even though they were getting on in age, they were still strikingly beautiful.

Putting on my best smile, I stepped forward, extending my arms wide, and greeting, “ M?man !” before quickly kissing her cheek and the aunties too. “When did you get into town?”

I should have known my smile wouldn’t work.

It never did with the La Croix sisters. That and I wasn’t a cute five-year-old rascal anymore.

Nope, I was a debonaire hound dog that was about to have my ass handed to me because in the next instant, my m?man and aunties started poking me in the chest. “What’s this I hear you got a girl in the family way? ”

Auntie Glorianna snapped, “I know your daddy showed you how to wrap up that dangly bit!”

“Seriously, Wade.” Auntie Gail pinned me with a glare as Uncle John stood off to the side, slowly shaking his head. “What were you thinking?”

“He wasn’t thinking, Gail.” Uncle John smirked. “Well, not with the right head!”

Just then, my cousin Romeo rushed in from the back room, shouting, “WADE! RUN! The moms are—” Stopping on a dime, Romeo paled, then gulped as Auntie Glorianna turned to look at her errant son and, just like me moments before, Rome plastered on one of his award-winning smiles and happily greeted his mother. “Momma!”

I cringed as Auntie Glorianna stormed over to her son and proceeded to wallop her bouncing baby boy into submission with her purse. “Just where in the hell have you been, Jasper Fontenot DuBois!”

Whack!

“Boy, you haven’t been home in five years. You think a once-a-week phone call is enough?”

Whack!

“I had to hear from Steele that you’d skedaddled to Nebraska! NEbrASKA! What the hell is in Nebraska, boy?”

Whack!

“If you stop hitting me, I will tell you!” Rome shouted, then quickly said, “King started another chapter and asked me to go with him. I couldn’t tell him no, Momma. He needed me.”

Auntie Glorianna frowned. “That handsome devil with a sheriff for a brother?”

“Yeah.” Rome nodded. “King gathered a bunch of us, and we have a new chapter in Diamond Creek, Nebraska.”

Narrowing her eyes, she smiled wickedly, and Romeo cringed. “Good! You can tell King I’m coming for a visit. Now, give your momma a kiss.”

The wedding reception was in full swing, and Devlyn was nowhere in sight. I should have known she would chicken out. Thought my woman had more spirit, but I guessed wrong.

“She wasn’t feeling well,” a soft voice said from over my shoulder that had me turning around to see Henley, Devlyn’s baby sister, standing behind me. “But I think you already know why.”

I nodded.

“Gator, I don’t know what the protocol is for when a president of a biker club gets my sister pregnant, so I’m just going to speak freely. Okay?”

I nodded again.

“I love my sister. She’s the strongest person I know, and there is nothing I wouldn’t do for her. But what she’s going through now... well, I know I’m not who she really needs. Oh, she will fight you tooth and nail. She’s stubborn that way, but I believe she cares more than she’s willing to admit.”

“She hates me, Henley.”

“No, she doesn’t. She’s scared. It’s the one thing Devlyn hates the most, not being in control. And let’s face it, this is something she can’t control, but I have a feeling you might be able to help her.”

“That’s if she doesn’t kill me first.”

Henley chuckled. “Yeah, that’s true, but you’ve managed to stay alive thus far.

I’m willing to bet you’re also stronger than her.

Strong enough to withstand what she throws at you and break down her walls because trust me, Gator, beneath her rough exterior is a woman who just wants to be loved. The question is, are you that man?”

“I claimed her, Henley. That night, I claimed her.”

The sweet woman smiled up at me and nodded. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a set of keys and handed them to me. “A bit of advice. Don’t give her time to think. Just take her and hold on tight because she’s about to take you on the ride of your life.”

Smiling, I bent down and kissed Henley’s cheek. “Thank you, sis,” I whispered, before running for the exit.

I had a woman to claim!