Page 21 of Ugly Duckling (Content Advisory #6)

Fifteen

Where can I find those families that say, “Take this two million and stay away from our son?”

—Sutton to Gunner

SUTTON

It’d gone from a gathering of four to a gathering of fifteen.

I was officially introduced to the bulk of The Truth Tellers MC.

I met Copper’s wife, Baker.

I met Jasper “Hush” Madden—a sexy, but very scarred man who said “hi” and didn’t say much more. But the way his eyes lit up when he brought Lottie into his lap and fed her pancakes…I didn’t care how quiet and silently scary he was. If Lottie liked him, I liked him.

I met Doc and his wife, Searcy. Searcy was very loud, very opinionated, and I loved everything about her. I wished I had a Searcy as a friend when I was growing up. The high school class I graduated with wouldn’t have stood a chance with her attitude.

There was Chevy, one of Copper’s brothers. Chevy was an anesthesiologist and married to Aella, a sweet woman who was quiet and welcoming.

But her sister, Silver, who was Webber’s wife, was her complete opposite in every way. Though she was nice and boisterous, she didn’t immediately welcome me into the fold.

Then there was Cutter and his wife, Milena.

Though I’d met them briefly at the marathon last month.

Milena and I spoke the most, but Creole was close the whole time, getting a look of curiosity on her face the longer we talked about running.

“I think I could run a marathon.”

“No, you can’t,” Audric immediately disagreed.

There was a long stretch of silence while Milena and I waited to see what Creole would have to say to that. And she did not disappoint.

“Well, Mr. Can’t-Be-Done. I will bet you a year’s worth of cooked dinners that I can run a marathon!”

“I’ll help you,” Milena offered.

Creole smirked at her husband. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Oh, boy,” Webber said. “You should probably apologize for whatever you just did, Audi.”

“Don’t call me Audi.”

“Why not?” Webber asked. “You have to have a road name, brother. And since you don’t like Detroit anymore…”

“Just anything but Audi,” he mumbled under his breath. “That’s her name for me.”

I smiled. “That’s sweet.”

“Sweet, but still not getting him out of this.” She narrowed her eyes. “I’ll bet I can run it faster than you can.”

Audric blinked. “I don’t think…”

“That’s right, brother. You didn’t think.” Gunner chuckled darkly. “Looks like you’re about to be signed up for the next race.”

“There’s one this month, actually.” Milena already had her phone out. “It’s a Monster Mash one. The city of Plano puts it on.”

“I think that might be a little too early for me,” Creole admitted. “But if it were in December…”

“There’s a Christmas one. Literally on the twenty-fourth put on by the same people,” Milena said. “Or a New Year’s one.”

“What about something in February?” Audric sounded nervous now. “I think I might need more than eight weeks to get on board with this.”

Creole looked at her husband, an almost evilly excited look on her face. “You’ll do it?”

“How about everyone just runs one,” I teased. “Unless y’all are just too chicken.”

The oldest of the bunch, but definitely one of the sexiest with his silvery-gray hair—my god, the man was fine as hell in a debonair biker kind of way—looked at the crowd. “I’ve made it through fifty-five years of life. I think I’ll live.”

“Oh, come on, Dad. You have to set an example for the young ones,” Aella, Cakes’s daughter, teased.

Cakes’s eyes sliced to his daughter and he said, “You gonna run one?”

Her face flushed. “I just went off birth control. I’ll probably be pregnant by then.”

“Jesus Christ.” Cakes’s gaze swung to his son-in-law. “There are things that we discussed that should never come up between us.”

Chevy held up his hands. “I didn’t say a word!”

“Sure you didn’t,” he grumbled darkly. “I’ll run one if my kid runs one. I think if you started now while you aren’t pregnant, you should still be able to run one. Just my opinion, though.”

Aella curled her lip. “That’s a cop-out if I ever heard one, Dad.”

Cakes’s grin was unrepentant. “There’s always the half marathon, Aella. We could all make a trip of it and go somewhere fun on vacation. I think that there’s one in Hawaii in February if I’m not mistaken.”

“Hawaii?” I squeaked. “That’s a little bit too expensive for my tastes. I went there once with my mom and dad when I was a teen. I swear I saw a little bit of my dad’s heart break every time he had to swipe his card for lunch or dinner.”

Audric chuckled. “It’s definitely expensive.

But we got the house thing covered, at least. I have a buddy who lives in Maui.

His place is rather large. I’d offer up my place, but it’s not quite big enough to house more than ten.

Plus, we can rent the place next door to my friend’s place, they’re both usually empty that time of year. ”

“Hmm,” I said, “but what if it’s on the Big Island?”

“It’s not,” Milena squeaked. “There’s one in Maui in February. Mid-February. Perfect. Both half and full options.”

I scratched my head. “I don’t know…”

“You help with Lottie, and I’ll one hundred percent cover your entire trip,” Gunner offered. “She’s a handful at the best of times. She’s really a handful at the beach.”

“Oh, we’re bringing kids?” Milena whined.

Cutter squeezed her neck. “You wanted the kids, remember, darling?”

“Yeah.” She nodded with resignation. “I guess I did.”

I snickered. “Are kids that bad?”

“They’re not bad,” Chevy offered up. “They just have a really good knack for draining the battery out of your soul.”

“Oh.” I snickered. “Well, that sounds like a glowing review for going.”

Gunner caught my chair and scooted it closer to him. When I was where he wanted me, he threw his arms around my shoulders and pulled me into him. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

The rest of dinner went fantastically, but I managed to never agree to go to Hawaii with them and run.

But the plans were in full force as we made our way out of the restaurant we’d been hanging out in for hours.

Gunner went to his truck, I went to my car, and funny enough, Lottie chose to go home with Audric.

When we got to the house, it was quiet and freezing.

“You just let her go wherever she wants?” I wondered.

Not that I was judging him or anything.

“Audric and Creole are one of the only ones that take her with any consistency. Laney was their best friend, and Lottie’s their best friend’s daughter.

Audric pretty much raised her with the help of the club for the first few years of her life.

I usually don’t put my foot down when it comes to them.

But yeah, sometimes it still burns that she chooses them over me. ”

I patted his shoulder as I passed him to slip my shoes off near the shoe rack by the door.

“If it makes you feel better, she might’ve gone to everyone at that table, but she always came back to you. The love she feels for you is clear as day on her face, and though Audric, Creole, and Lottie share an obviously special bond, Lottie’s devotion belongs only to you.”

His shoulders slumped. “It’s nice to hear you say that. Sometimes I feel like I still have no idea what I’m doing.”

I smiled as I ripped my socks off next. “You’re nuts if you don’t think you’re doing a great job, Gunner.

Even at seventeen, I was amazed by how well you took to fatherhood.

Now, I’m even more impressed watching you juggle a huge business, a young kid that you just found out about, and maintaining relationships with everyone in your club. Don’t doubt yourself.”

With that final comment, I scooted around him to the bedroom that he’d given me.

It was either that, or I throw myself at him, and Lord knew that wasn’t the best idea ever.

I needed to stay away.

Far, far away.

Right?