Page 14 of Lore (Serpents of Chaos MC #3)

LORE

“Why are you both looking at me like that?” I ask Ora and Xanthe, who are sitting there with their arms crossed, staring daggers at me. Atiana went up with the kids to give them a shower after they jumped in the pool, and when I offered to help, she told me she’s fine.

“Do you want Atiana?” Ora asks.

“Of course, I fucking do.” I’m not sitting here with blue balls for nothing. I used my hand this week— my hand . I can’t remember the last time I did that. It must have been before I started dating Atiana.

“Then why did you flirt with Rose in front of her?” Xanthe asks, frowning.

“I didn’t. She brought me a drink, and I said thank you,” I reply, my brows furrowing. “Did Rose say something?”

“No, she didn’t have to say anything. We all saw her, so comfortable with you and kissing your cheeks. If she acted like that with War…” Ora narrows her blue eyes to evil slits.

I mean, I want to point out that she is War’s old lady, and they are engaged and about to have a baby, but I want all of that with Atiana, even if we aren’t there yet.

I settle on. “We aren’t even together yet.”

Xanthe shakes her head like she’s disappointed in me. “And with that attitude, you never will be.”

“You know what, Lore? Maybe you should let Atiana go. She deserves someone who will stop flirting with anything in a skirt and give her all their attention. Didn’t you say Suit was showing interest in her? Or what about Curse or Rune? They are all tattoo artists and would have a lot in common.”

“ What the fuck? No one else is getting her. This is a misunderstanding. You know how much I want her,” I defend, wondering what the hell they had spoken about.

Xanthe mutters something that sounds a lot like “Lore the whore,” then shakes her head again. “We were rooting for you, Lore.”

“Nothing has changed,” I reply, frowning as I look from Xanthe to Ora. “I don’t want Rose or any other woman.”

Ora stands up, hands on her round belly. “Prove it.”

She walks away, and Xanthe stands up to follow her.

What the hell just happened?

Bones comes and sits next to me, an amused expression on his face. “I’ve never seen women run away from you before. What did you do?”

I lay back on the lounge chair with a groan and cover my eyes with my forearm. “Who fucking knows? They think I flirted with Rose. I just said fucking “thank you” for the drink and let her kiss my cheek. It’s not like I fucked her against the wall or something.”

Which I might have done before.

I like to have sex everywhere. The riskier the better, usually, and I don’t give a fuck who sees. Most of us don’t, but the thought of the men seeing Atiana has me wanting to punch something.

I don’t have to look at Bones to feel his amusement.

“You flirt with everyone, Lore. I don’t think you even realize it.

It just comes naturally to you. You see Haze flirting anymore now that he’s got Lu?

No, you don’t. Why? Because he’s not a dumbass.

Atiana would know that you’ve fucked the club girls, and what do you think she’s thinking when she sees them touching you and licking their lips at you? ”

“Fuck,” I mutter, removing my arm from my eyes when I feel someone sit down next to me.

Brandy smiles at me, shuffling closer. “You look stressed. Do you want me to handle that for you? I could give you a massage.”

Bones laughs so loudly that it has everyone looking over here, including Ora and Xanthe, my once best friends, now sworn enemies. “No, thank you,” I tell her, jumping up off the lounge chair like it’s on fire. “I’m taken, Brandy. Spread the word.”

She laughs, slapping her hand against her thigh, like I’ve just told the joke of the century. She stops when she realizes I’m serious. “What? I knew you were behaving yourself for your baby mama, but I thought that once she leaves?—”

“She’s not leaving,” I reply through gritted teeth.

“Wait! So you’re not going to fuck any of us again?” she asks, pouting, looking over at Bones. “This is a joke, right? You’re not a one-woman man.”

Motherfucker.

Walking away before I say something I’m going to regret, I head upstairs in search of the woman who’s driving me insane.

Clearly, no one thinks I can be in a monogamous relationship, but no one else knows that Atiana is my exception .

The only woman I have ever loved.

She holds more power than she, or anyone else, knows.

The door is slightly open, but I gently knock anyway.

“Come in,” she calls out.

She’s sitting on the bed in clean clothes, brushing Dove’s hair, while Dove eats an apple. Atiana’s dark hair is still damp, tucked back behind her ear. Fresh-faced, she’s stunning. Then again, she never needed makeup, and right now she’s never looked more beautiful.

I can hear the shower on, so Rider must be in there. “Anything I can do?”

I’ve somehow transitioned from single to a family man overnight. No one, especially me, saw this coming. But now that I’ve laid my eyes on them, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.

“Nope, we’re good,” she says, looking at me over Dove’s head. “Rider is probably going to be starving. I told Ora I’ll cook tonight.”

My eyebrows slowly rise. “What are you going to make?” My question is drawn out, curious.

Back in the day, Atiana was many things, but a cook wasn’t one of them.

“Tuscan chicken on top of a bed of mashed potatoes,” she replies, smiling up at me. “They apparently call it marry-me chicken now.”

My lip twitches. “Is that why you’re cooking it for me?”

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “I’m making it for all the men, remember? Not just you.”

Okay, ouch.

“Butterfly…”

“Yes?” she asks, arching her brow. There’s a challenge in her honey-brown eyes.

Rider steps into the room, a white fluffy towel wrapped around him. “Oh, hey, Dad.”

My eyes flare.

It’s the first time he’s called me that to my face.

And he said it so casually.

“Hey, Rider,” I reply, clearing my throat. “You want to go and play some PlayStation before dinner?”

The truth is, I rarely play, but I know he likes it, and I’ll use anything that I can to bond with him. Plus, without having sex, I seem to have a lot more free time on my hands these days.

“Yes!” he cheers, doing a little fist pump in the air. “This time I’m going to beat you!”

Laughing, I look back at Atiana. “We need to talk later.”

There’s so much I want to say to her. I want to tell her that I couldn’t care less about Rose or Brandy. I mean, I care about them like I do anyone else in the clubhouse, but I don’t ache for them.

I don’t think about them all fucking day and night.

And I don’t regret how I’ve treated them in the past.

I wish I could start over and do things right this time.

If I could, I would have never broken up with Atiana and raised Rider with her from the very start.

“Okay.” She nods, placing a kiss on top of Dove’s head and standing up. “After dinner?”

I agree, and then pull out my phone and send a text to warn all of my brothers.