Page 6

6. INTRUDING

SAMMY

No way.

No freaking way was I sitting there having dirty fantasies about an incapacitated man only to have his woman and son show up. A woman and son no one bothered to tell me about.

Why hadn’t Baffle warned me that Bigfoot had a family or that they would be stopping by the hospital?

Probably because he didn’t think I was an idiot who sat by his friend’s bedside having vivid daydreams about what it would be like to be with the man who was currently laid up in a hospital bed. Granted, I don’t think too many people would blame me, and they’d probably do the same if they found themselves in my shoes. Still…

“Dad!” A little boy called as he ran over to Bigfoot’s bedside. I stood up as quietly as possible from the unforgiving chair I’d been seated in for far too long. Unfortunately, thanks to the involuntary groan I produced when my sore muscles protested the movement, the boy realized I was there.

“Who are you?” he asked as he snapped his head around to give me his full attention. The child was kindergarten-aged replica of his father, and the narrow-eyed gaze that he turned on me held just as much suspicion as his father’s might have if he were awake to wonder why in the hell I had camped out at his bedside.

“I’m nobody,” I mumbled as my feet continued to shuffle back toward the door while I kept Bigfoot’s family in my sight.

“Why were you with my dad? I don’t know you.” The boy sounded even more suspicious as his eyes tracked every tiny movement I made toward the door. I didn’t miss the fact that there was a tinge of fear in his eyes too.

Great, I could add ‘scares kids’ to my resume.

“Boooy!” Bigfoot’s voice drew the word out as he called his son’s attention back to him. The sound was a rougher, grittier version of the voice I remembered from the side of the road after his crash.

“Sorry,” I mumbled again as I turned to leave.

“No!” Bigfoot called out just a tad too late because I was already out the door and pretended not to hear him. I heard though. I also didn’t miss the woman when she said, “I’ll try to catch her.”

Catch me she did, though I had serious doubts she would tell him that.

“I know who you are,” the woman explained as she stepped into the hallway with me. “You’re just an opportunistic bitch who was in the right place at the right time and thought she would take advantage of the situation while the Kings of Anarchy’s President wasn’t able to keep his guard up.

“That’s why his family is here to protect him. Our son doesn’t need to see some next-level club whore leech trying to take advantage of his daddy. As Bigfoot’s ol’ lady, you better believe I won’t let it happen either.”

Right. What was I supposed to say to that?

I might not have had experience with motorcycle clubs before the incident, but I’d seen enough TV to know exactly what an ol’ lady was. There was nothing I could say to her, so I turned down the hallway that would lead me back to the emergency department and didn’t bother to look back. I’d been in Springerville too long anyway. It was time to get back to my life in Violence. As if to remind me of that life, my phone pinged with an incoming text.

Uncle Brady: You sure you’re okay? I’m worried and so is your dad.

Sammy: Be back to work tomorrow.

Uncle Brady: You know that’s not what I’m worried about.

Sammy: I know. I’ll explain when I get back. I’m good. Promise.

Uncle Brady: Love you, Sammy-girl. If you’re in trouble, you know you can come to me, right?

Sammy: I know. Love you, too.

My father and his brothers weren’t the overly emotional type of men who would bleed their hearts out at my feet. Uncle Brady, being the youngest of the three, was the only one who ever really told me he loved me. It wasn’t that Uncle Josh or my dad didn’t, they just assumed I knew and saved the words for important days - like my birthday or Christmas.

By the time I made it to the Emergency Department, I felt like the weight of the world had been dropped right on my shoulders. I knew in my heart that it was the guilt I felt. Why in the world I ever assumed a man as fine as Bigfoot was single was beyond even my own comprehension. That wasn’t entirely true, though. I knew I wasn’t crazy. Jester had said, “If he doesn’t claim you, I will.” Something to that effect anyway. Why wouldn’t I think the man was free under those circumstances? Still, I was an asshole for drooling over the guy who almost died. Maybe his woman was right, and I really was an opportunistic bitch. It took this for me to realize that about myself.

“Hey, Sam! Is he awake?” I turned to see Baffle and another guy jogging to catch up to me. They both glanced around nervously like they might be expecting trouble. They shouldn’t have worried. I was trouble, and I was about to take myself out of the equation.

“Sam?” Baffle questioned, and I realized I’d never answered him the first time.

“I think so.”

“Did you leave him there alone?” he asked in a tone that said he was pissed at me for some reason.

My head pivoted back and forth of its own accord as I finally found the words. “His son and ol’ lady showed up.”

“Ol’ lady?” A quick glance at the new man’s cut told me his road name was Knuckles.

“Yeah, that’s what she said. Look, I’ve got to go.” I pointed to the door that was only a few steps away as the men continued to stare at me like I might have the plague. Truthfully, I hadn’t been able to brush my teeth or comb my hair with anything more than my fingers for the past couple days, so I may have looked like a plague victim.

“Glitch, get up there and check to see who is with Prez,” Baffle ordered. One of the men who had caught up to Baffle and Knuckles took off immediately without even questioning the order. I guess being vice president had some perks. While he was busy tossing out orders, I made my way closer to the door. Two steps away and…

“Hey, Sam! Wait!”

Shit. I was so close. Fuck it. I didn’t owe any of those men anything, least of all any more of my time. I kept going. My pace increased, and I moved as quickly in the direction of where I thought my truck was without full-on running to get there. When I didn’t see my truck right away, I finally pulled my key fob out and clicked the lock. It beeped but from the opposite direction I’d been headed. Dammit!

Baffle caught up to me before I was even able to correct my course. “Sam?” he questioned. “Did you talk to Bigfoot?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“He wasn’t awake until his family showed up and his son yelled out for him. I wasn’t really welcome there after that.”

“Did someone kick you out?”

“Not really. The little boy seemed uncomfortable with a stranger there, and his old lady mistook me for a club whore, so I…”

“A club whore?” Baffle asked as his head shot back almost as if he had been struck by the words. His gaze slid down my body and took in the sweatshirt, beat-to-hell jeans, and probably the stench that had to be emanating from my body. The sweatshirt alone did a good job of hiding any semblance of my figure, and I wasn’t even going to think about what the rat’s nest on top of my head looked like.

“Bigfoot doesn’t-”

“Look,” I cut him off. “I have to go. I stayed too long as it is, and if I don’t get back to work, I won’t have a job anymore.” That wasn’t really true since my uncle was my boss, but Baffle didn’t know that. Besides, I had overstayed my welcome. Bigfoot was obviously going to make a full recovery, and his family was there to sit vigil at his bedside. He didn’t need me.

“I know Bigfoot would want to speak with you, to thank you…”

“No need,” I said before he could get anything else out. “Tell him I hope he heals up soon and to stay safe out there.”