Page 19 of Sac-rifice (RBMC: Cleveland, Ohio Chapter #7)

SHE SPEAKS HER MIND

SAC

I compromised by driving Cor’s car with her riding passenger to her place.

She wasn’t the least bit thrilled when I stole the keys right out of her palm, but I didn’t give a shit.

Best case scenario, I was overreacting, and some dumbass had gotten a hold of her number.

I would be fucking ecstatic if that ends up being the case, but the texts were too specific to ever be considered friendly fire or whatever.

Cor crossed her arms and glared at me. “Pull in here,” she instructed, pointing her finger to the right. “Ack. How am I going to explain you to Auntie Rach?” She shook her head. “Just shoot me.” She closed her eyes and pressed her head against the headrest.

“Who the fuck is Auntie Rach?” I questioned her, putting the car into park and killing the engine. We hadn’t seen each other for a while, but we grew up together. I was certain neither she nor Isaac had any relatives by that name. I bit my lip and stared at her, waiting for her to answer.

“What is it with you leather cult members constantly using cuss words for emphasis? There are countless words that could replace them, and some of them are stronger.” She huffed, opened her eyes to glance at me, and then looked out the windshield.

I sighed, my nostrils flaring slightly. “I don’t know.”

She lifted her hand into the air and waved me off, rolling her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I was just curious.”

“Personal preference, I guess.” I thought back, trying to remember the reason I’d began cussing. That was a long ass time ago, though. The best answer that I came up with was I liked cussing.

I opened my mouth to explain, but she spoke first, “You’ve cussed our whole lives and that,” she pointed, “is who the f Auntie Rach is.”

A short older woman dressed head-to-toe in neon tie dye sat happy as a lark, singing and rocking away in a rocking chair on the porch as if she didn’t have a bother in the world .

Glad to see a complete stranger had enough of her fucking ducks in a row to live life so fucking carefree.

That made a whole whopping one of us. I, on the other hand, had so much shit on my mind I didn’t know what to worry about first. Tin and Sleeper were heading out tomorrow to oversee our shipment into the back of Cat Call.

Ghoul, Spider, and Captain Pink were already there to make sure Monty had kept his word by closing the club.

Who knew if he actually had. I wouldn’t put anything past that slimy little shit.

Wiley and I were supposed to ride to Gran’s to give the place a couple of warm bodies who were locked and loaded just in case anyone was stupid enough to tail any of the brothers.

Now, Wiley and Sledge would be heading up there. Ghoul was going to have my ass when he caught wind of my side mission, but my Prez would have to kiss my ass. I pledged my life to my club, but my heart belonged to her, even if she didn’t want it anymore. It would always be hers.

“What do you mean?” I finally answered when I heard her huff in frustration and noticed her staring at me.

“First, Tiny said it and now you. What a way to be original, Shane,” she scoffed.

“I’m not going to lie. It tickles the shit out of me that you call him Tiny,” I admitted with a chuckle. “He hates it.”

Her hand covered her mouth to hide the smile on her face. “I don’t care,” she barely managed to get out before a small laugh escaped.

“Oh, you don’t, do you?”

“Not even a little bit.”

“Mmhmm. You’ve always been such a damned liar, Little Dove.” The nickname slipped out, and I braced myself for a volcanic eruption like before.

She shrugged. “Agree to disagree, Poe.” She smirked, pulling on the door handle and pushing the passenger door open, but she hesitated, “Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not happy that you are here…uninvited. I was forced. Don’t forget that.”

“You won’t let me,” I reassured her, placing my shades on top of my head as a huge cloud floated in front of the sun, shading the yard.

I immediately regretted it. The sun blasted back through the sky and directly on my face.

Green spots flickered in front of me, and I rubbed my eyes, squinting several times until my vision returned to normal.

I tapped my sunglasses enough to make them fall from the top of my head and onto my face.

I adjusted them a little and followed her lead, getting out of the car.

“Aren’t you hotter than two rats screwing in a wool sock?” Auntie Rach greeted us, or more specifically, me.

“Say what now?” I blurted out, tilting my head to the side, certain I couldn’t have possibly heard her correctly.

“You heard what I said. Don’t make me repeat it.

I don’t think the kid’s skin can turn any redder without combusting,” she cackled, turning to Cor.

My eyes darted around the porch while I listened for any sounds that would be coming from said kid.

The porch wasn’t littered with toys and there weren’t any tiny muddy footprints in sight.

I looked to Cor for answers, though I doubted she’d tell me whether she had them or not.

Cor’s entire face, neck, and shoulders were the most glorious shade of red.

“You’re the kid?” I questioned, blinking rapidly.

“Mmhmm.” Cor frowned, shooting me a hateful look.

“Do tell,” I prompted. This was a story I wanted to hear.

“Let me guess,” Auntie Rach whistled as her eyes zeroed onto me, “you smacked him with your boob and he followed you home?”

I coughed, choking on my own spit. My fist pounded on my chest, and I cleared my throat. My eyes shifted between the two of them, unsure who was going to speak next.

“Something like that I guess,” Cor groaned, clenching her hands into fists and then releasing her fingers.

Auntie Rach winked at her. “Ah, tale as old as time. I warned you that it might backfire. The old tit smack will either hook ‘em or piss them off. Guess this one took the bait, huh?”

“More like catch and release,” Cor quickly said.

It took me a minute to rebound from that, but who the hell was I kidding? I was born for this conversation. “Don’t let that dirty little dove lie to you. I not only took the bait, I swallowed the damned hook and have been on her line our entire lives.”

“Really?” Auntie Rach’s eyes widened, refocusing her attention on Cor. “At least one of us is getting a good wienering.”

Cor’s face turned an even darker shade of red, and her mouth opened wide in shock, “Oh no! He…I…We…We aren’t…”

“What she’s trying to say is we aren’t together anymore.” She was struggling, so I threw her a bone. She might not ever forgive me, but I was determined. I lost her once, and I didn’t plan on doing it a second time.

Auntie Rach smacked her hand off the arm of the rocking chair.

“And why the hell not? I’ve watched you for only a couple of minutes, and I can already see it.

The way you two look at each other…no, the way you watch each other when the other isn’t looking, like you’d die without one another; that’s the kind of passion people read about in bestselling smut.

” Her finger waved between Cor and me. “You’d be stupid to let that fire burn out. ”

I didn’t know this woman at all, but there was no way she got all of that from us being on the porch with her.

Either she was crazier than one of those rats she was referring to, or maybe Cor had talked to her about us.

Cor wasn’t keen on sharing what was on her mind with a lot of people—at least she hadn’t been in the past—but she did seem less hostile to be here with Auntie Rach.

Cor shook her head. “He snubbed us out a long time ago,” she admitted in an irritated voice, waving at Auntie Rach before she opened her front door and went inside.

I took a step in the same direction to follow her and noticed Auntie Rach smiling at me. “Don’t give up on her, biker. She still has eyes for you. Trust me.”

“I hope.”