Page 129 of The Souls We Claim

I didn’t agree with him at first. But in hindsight, he was right. It was better to focus on recovery. Of grounding me and Ari while we made peace with what happened.

Now, I can make giving this to her all about our future.

“Can we vote and get out of here?” I say, still touching my name on the leather.

“Yes, let’s vote, because I’m getting a boner from the way he’s feeling that leather up,” Niro says.

“Tell me you haven’t fucked Cat in her cut,” Vex says.

“No need. She has my name inked on her back. By me. And now my boner’s getting even bigger.”

Bates punches him in the arm. “Stop talking about your cock.”

“Says the man who constantly tells us he’s got a magic cock because he got Vi pregnant twice without even trying,” Saint says.

“Hey, I’m proud of my magic cock,” Bates says. “The first time we were using birth control. The second time, I got her pregnant the first time we fucked without it.”

“We know,” Clutch groans.

“Jesus Christ,” Vex says. “Is this a motorcycle clubhouse, or did I accidentally walk into a Lamaze class?”

King slams his gavel. “Let’s vote.”

Hands shoot up. It’s the easiest yes. A month to unwind. Reap what we sow.

Within ten minutes, I’ve hugged Niro and Bates farewell and am on my bike, Ari’s cut back in the packaging it came in.

When I get home, I toss my keys in the dish on the table. The frame Ari bought still sits there, only now it has photographs of the three of us after I added two of Ari last week. She cried when she noticed them, then gave me a blowjob once Lola had gone to bed.

I kick my boots off and put them on the shoe stand Ari put by the door. A shelf for each of us, although three pairs of Lola’s little sandals take up less space than one of my boots.

The house smells like oranges and cranberries. Every day, Ari makes this thing she calls a simmer pot where she boils fruityshit in water to make the house smell nice without chemicals. Fuck knows how much it costs me in citrus and gas a week, but I’ve started to miss the scent of it when I’m not home.

I grab the package with Ari’s cut in it and walk through to the back of the house. On the table is a handful of property sheets we picked up at open houses last weekend. Ari intends to rent out the house I’m going to buy her, preferably to a woman who needs to escape the same situation Ari was in.

There is still a battle ahead over Dad’s estate as the insurance company doesn’t want to pay out for the fire damage to the house.

But that’s a problem for another day because my girls are sitting on a blanket in the garden beneath the sheets that are flapping on the line. I see them long before they see me, and I just stand and watch them for a minute. Lola is laughing and trying to reach them as they flutter overhead. Ari is lying next to her, reaching up too.

For centuries, poets have been inspired to write about love, and I never quite understood that shit. But looking at my girls, my thoughts wax lyrical about how fucking beautiful the sight and sound of them is.

I step out into the yard and peel off my socks. Lola squeals when she finally notices me, and Ari props herself up on her elbows, looking me up and down like she wants to eat me.

Later, I’m gonna let her.

Then I’ve got plans for that ass of hers.

“Hey, girls,” I say as I reach them. I crawl over Ari and lie down on top of her. She laughs as I settle between her legs, and then I kiss her soundly. Eventually, I’m going to have to watch this shit around Lola, but today isn’t that day.

“Hey, honey,” she says when I pause to look at her.

“Did I tell you how fucking pretty you are today?”

She blushes and shakes her head. “I think what you said was I needed to take a day off from helping everyone else and sleep on the lawn with Lola because if I get sick from tiring myself out, you’ll get mad.”

I laugh at that. “I did say that.” Because she’d been doing too much. She took Avery overnight so Bates and Vi could have a night away after his gunshot injury. Then she helped Iris by doing some cooking for her and Spark, given Iris still hasn’t gotten past morning sickness. The list was endless. Plus, she finally started therapy. Not with Rae, because she didn’t feel comfortable crossing that line with her new friend, but with someone Rae had recommended. It’s to address the trauma of her past and what happened in the cabin.

“I perhaps should have led with how your kind heart is one of the things I love most about you.”