Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hornet

Isped down the interstate, feeling light and carefree as the tires of my bike ate up mile after endless mile of road. Nothing could beat a long ride on a chilly fall day. It was roughly forty miles between my place and my destination, and I planned to enjoy every second of it. I had Ride Free, Live Free painted across the gas tank of my motorcycle and tattooed across my chest. Those words summed up my attitude to life. Since being honorably discharged from the army after getting injured in Afghanistan, I’d been footloose and fancy free. No responsibilities and nothing to tie me down. I could go where I wanted to go, and be with whoever I wanted to be with—and that life suited me just fine.

Or it had, until around a month ago. I’d been working a job in Vegas for the past few months providing security at a high-end casino. I was surrounded by some of the prettiest damn showgirls around and believe me, I was partying every night and balls deep in prime pussy. If anyone had told me a year ago that I’d get tired of that lifestyle, I’d have told ‘em where to stick their opinions—but then I woke up one day six weeks ago with a crashing headache, a mouth feeling like I’d been chewing sand, and a body aching like I’d eaten asphalt at forty miles an hour. At thirty-seven I was getting too fucking old for this shit. I used to think my partnered-up club brothers were pussy whipped when they’d excused themselves from heavy drinking sessions at the Slayers clubhouse to go back home to their old ladies, but now I was starting to understand the appeal. Maybe it was time to settle down?

I pulled off the interstate and headed to the San Bernardino suburbs. When I saw the large two-story brick home come into view, all my peace was replaced by apprehension. My parents were both difficult in different ways, but they were still my parents and I loved them dearly. Truth be told, if I loved them just a smidge less, I might not accept their standing invitation to Sunday dinner every week and my mom’s endless attempts to sort out my love life.

I pulled up in their driveway, cut my engine, and removed my helmet. Before I even got to the front door my dad was standing on the stoop with a sour look on his face and a broom in his hand. “Take that damn biker cut off. If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times your mother and I don’t like being reminded that our son is an outlaw while we’re trying to eat our dinner.”

“Good to see you too, Pops.”

My father muttered something under his breath as he half-heartedly swept away some errant leaves from the porch.

“We’ve been over this about a hundred times, you know full well that the Dark Slayers MC isn’t a one percent club. I come as I am and if you want my company, you have to accept that. I can head back to where I came from if you want.”

“No. Your mother is looking forward to seeing you. It’s all she’s talked about all day, I think she’s found another potential girlfriend.”

Oh joy. I gestured towards the door. “Then lead the way and let the good times roll.”

“You don’t always have to be so goddamn chipper. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I do, because if I was a chronic stick in the mud, everyone would say I took after my old man.”

He grumbled, “Keep messing with the bull and you’re gonna get horns, you gigantic prick.”

My mother heard him call me a prick and turned disapproving eyes on her husband of forty-five years. “Why do you always have to be so rude?”

I walked over and pulled my mom into a rough hug and dropped a kiss on top of her head. “He was just kidding around. We were trading jibes. You don’t even want to know I said to earn being called a gigantic prick.”

Her expression smoothed out as she ran her hands down her apron. “I’m sure I don’t. Are you hungry? I made your favorite.”

I gave her a full-on grin. “I thought I smelled something amazing. Double meat lasagna with ground sirloin and sausage, right?”

“Yes,” she responded happily. “With baked potatoes, baby carrots, and fresh rolls.”

“Sounds fantastic. What have I done to deserve a medley of starches?”

She chuckled. “Don’t worry, I made a big healthy green salad as well.”

“That grumpy old man you’re married to doesn’t know how lucky he is. If I had a sweet wife who took such good care of me, I’d never want to be anyplace but home gazing at her loveliness.”

I looked at my dad and could tell by the shit eating grin on his face that I’d really stepped in the crap with that last comment.

My mom’s face lit up as she shoved a basket of rolls into my hands. “A wife? Well, you can’t be playing the field forever. Let’s get this food to the dining room and I’ll tell you my thoughts.

I groaned on the inside as my dad came over wearing two pink oven mitts and smirked at me. “Your mom’s been working hard to find the perfect woman for you. She even went to a fortune teller for advice.”

My mouth fell open as he lifted up the large tray of lasagna and headed towards the dining room with it. I hadn’t seen my mom this excited about hooking me up with one of her friends’ daughters in a long time. Fuck, this was going to be bad. I could feel it in my bones.

I shuffled to the dining room and set the rolls down before sliding into my seat at table.

When my mother ran back to get dressing out of the refrigerator, my father quipped, “If you hadn’t given up your military career, you wouldn’t being getting fixed up for the twenty-second time because you’d be stationed far, far away from Griffinsford.”

I opened my mouth to tell him to fuck all the way off, but my mother beat me to the punch.

“Oh, leave the poor man alone, Hunter. Not everyone wants to become a career soldier like you were.”

“Well, they should,” he shot back. “Protecting the red, white, and blue is the most honorable profession on God’s green earth.”

“Is it just me, or you are becoming obsessed with colors as you grow older?”

“How dare you insult the men and women serving our country, you yellow bellied sap sucker.”

I gleefully watched as my mom glanced thoughtfully at my dad. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay, Hunter? I could make an appointment for you to see Dr. Rhodes if you need me to.”

My father exhaled an exasperated breath and flipped his napkin out over his lap in an exaggerated motion of irritation. “Don’t waste your time, woman. I’m as hale and hearty as I ever was.”

I was formulating an argument about how it would be better to be checked out just to be safe when my mother turned her attention to me.

“Drue, tell me all about your latest relationship. I want to know everything.”

I froze for a brief second with a serving spoon in my hand, midway between the lasagna pan and my plate. “It’s been a few months since I had anything close to a relationship, Mom. And I wouldn’t be telling you everything because I don’t think your poor heart could take it.”

My old man snorted a laugh when my mother shot me a disapproving look. She didn’t appreciate my clowning around about what she considered a very serious issue.

Dumping a large spoonful of my favorite pasta onto my plate, I said, “The last woman I went on more two dates with was Rebecca Marner, and we all know how that ended.”

My father interjected primly, “I always thought Rebecca was a nice girl. Maybe you just don’t know how to treat women.”

“No one asked you, old man. She almost ripped my left testicle off because another woman’s face showed up on my cell phone. That falls in the apeshit crazy category.”

My mother sighed. “Okay, I’ll mark Rebecca off my list.”

“I guess we can’t afford to give the ones who try to damage the baby maker another chance if we want grandkids.”

“You know something, old man—”

Mom cut me off. “I have a new prospect for you to consider. She’s young, fertile, and beautiful. And the best part is she isn’t related to anyone we know.”

“And how did you manage to run across this gem and learn of her fertility status?” I asked. My family was sometimes too close. We talked about a lot of uncomfortable things around the dinner table, but tonight’s conversation was wildly out of control even by our standards.

“I met her at a fertility clinic,” my mother explained like it was the most normal thing in the world.

My father and I turned to look at her at the same time. My dad spoke before I could. “Why the hell were you at a fertility clinic?”

“My friend Mary has a daughter, Mia, who needed a ride to the clinic. We dropped her off, intending to have coffee while we waited.”

“I thought you said she wasn’t related to anyone we knew.”

My mom frowned at me. “I’m getting to that part. Naturally, she was nervous, so we walked her in. The room was filled with lots of women, so, naturally, I chatted a few of them up.”

I rolled my eyes and kept shoveling food into my mouth. She was truly getting into desperation territory, surely most of the women at a clinic like that were probably already married if they’re paying for fertility treatments, or were having problems conceiving—which if she wanted grandkids, was gonna make it difficult.

“Anyway, a pair of sisters had come in. One poor woman had exhausted every option before giving up and using a surrogate. Her sister was getting checked out to function as her surrogate. We talked and the sister was just the nicest girl I’ve spoken to in forever. When they came out, I asked how it went and they both gave me a thumbs-up.”

“Thank God. I thought you’d made some kind of arrangement for me to meet up with someone.”

My mother pulled out her cell phone and showed me a picture of a form with a woman’s name, address, and nine of the ten digits of a phone number showing. “I snapped a picture of her admission form with my cell phone. I think we have a good chance of figuring out that last number.”

I was dumbfounded by mom’s behavior. Granted, her boundaries were lacking on a good day, but taking pictures of someone’s personal information was beyond the pale. “Ma, you can’t just go around intruding into people’s lives this way. It’s not appropriate.”

“You know she’s just trying to help you, you’re almost forty, you can’t keep acting like a teenager forever.” my father said sharply.

“You know this isn’t right,” I shot back.

He reached over and placed his hand over hers. “I know your mother might have crossed the line, but her heart was in the right place. We need to respect that.”

Since this seemed like such a longshot, I capitulated. “Alright, on the off chance that you can figure out her number and she’s willing to go out on a date with complete stranger whose mom found out her personal information by snooping her private medical records, I’ll take her out to dinner.”

My parents both relaxed and my mom’s face lit up with happiness.

I was the biggest sucker in the world when I came to my mother. I kept my head down, eating like it was a fucking job as my parents chatted about how wonderful it would be to have grandkids.

The next thing I knew, my old man was lifting his wine glass in a toast. “Here’s to date number seventy-three. May she be the one.”

My mom and dad clinked glasses and drank enthusiastically. Me, I just sighed as I sat there thinking of this poor woman whose greatest attributes seemed to be working ovaries and not being related to any of our friends.

I spent the entire ride home convincing myself that despite my mom’s best efforts, there wouldn’t be a remote probability she could pull off a crazy stunt like this.