VAL, AKA DOUBTING HIS DREAMS OF BALLOON ARCHES

Over the next few hours, the homestead gets crowded. My pa returns from the clubhouse where he learned the news. He shows up to ask if I’m nuts. I only shake my head and shrug. My mind’s not here with my people. It’s gone to Lola McGraw.

I was so sure about my feelings. She was my dream girl. But now I’m rethinking stuff. Not her as much as Basin Rock, the Blood-Red Suns, and Duke McGraw.

“I’ve got to go.”

“No,” Pa-Emmett says, using his enforcer voice rather than his normal papa bear tone.

He follows me outside as I head to my hog. Before I can leave, he grips my shoulder. My pa’s so adorable when he thinks he can take me down. I hope I’m as delusional when I’m his age.

“Get your ass back into the house and make your ma understand.”

“I might have made a mistake. I need to see Lola and figure out if I should walk this thing back.”

Pa-Emmett blinks rapidly as his brain shifts from wanting me to stay to encouraging me to go.

“Marriage isn’t a contract, Val,” he says and steps back. “I don’t want you wasting your youth with a woman as part of a job promotion. Get it, kid?”

“Sure, Pa. Tell Ma, I’ll be back soon.”

“Maybe I should come with you, just in case Duke McGraw or his dumbass Suns plan to hassle you.”

“No, it’s cool. McGraw thinks he’ll be dead soon, so he’s super psyched about me. Like, he might be my biggest fan.”

Okay, I lost control of my lie at the end and gave myself away.

“Don’t be fooled,” Pa says in a low, intimidating voice. “Duke McGraw might come off as a nice guy. He acts like a mama’s boy and is always around his daughters. Real softie. But he’s the club’s president for a reason. If he thinks you’re a threat, he’ll make you disappear and deal with the consequences. He’s got that town all tied up. We’d never find your body.”

Grinning at my pa’s concern, I pat his cheek. “You’re forgetting the part where he needs our club to save his club. The Duke McGraw who would put me in the ground now wants me to become his replacement. At the very least, he doesn’t want you and the uncles to ride up his ass and destroy it.”

“Stop talking about us destroying people’s asses.”

“You started it.”

Emmett rolls his eyes and mutters, “I said that shit one time, like, ten years ago.”

“And it was so traumatizing for me that I’ll have it stuck in my head until I’m senile. Nice move, Pa.”

Before he can complain, I start my hog and rev the engine. He glares at me while I grin at him. He used to pull the same engine-revving move when we kids would hound him for something as he was trying to leave. This tactic never worked, of course. West would keep talking, I’d pretend to cry, and Tuesday would fake a fainting spell.

My pa is more susceptible to the move and backs off. I ride out of the garage and off the homestead. During the journey from my beloved hometown to a place I barely know, I consider how right everything felt when I was standing in the Basin Rock Bar. I looked at McGraw and saw his daughter.

Maybe if I see Lola again, I’ll feel settled. Or I might know I’ve made a mistake. Am I presidential material? Probably, but I might not be ready to be a husband.

I know Lola is usually around her family’s two main businesses—Rock Basin Bar and Mama McGraw’s Diner, which are located next to each other. I park my hog across the road from the two places and consider my options.

The last time I saw Lola, the sheer power of my sexual prowess turned her into a banshee. I was a little startled by how she looked at me and started squealing like a defective sex kitten. I thought we were having a weird yet flirty moment, but she kept hollering until I gave up and backed away.

Are we truly right for each other? Am I willing to move to this town to make a life with her? Will she scream at the sight of me today? Would a boner be the wrong reaction to her squeals? So many questions.

Not long after I park across from the businesses, Lola appears from her dad’s bar. She’s wearing a simple blue tank top, cutoff denim shorts, and Converse sneakers. Her straight dark hair hangs down past her luscious tits. Her puffy, pink lips twist into an annoyed frown. Her tanned legs shine in the afternoon sun. Her eyes are like bright, rage-filled sapphires.

“What?” she grumbles.

As I walk toward her, I wait for the banshee squeal to begin. She cocks an eyebrow as I keep approaching.

“What do you want, Val Mercer?” she spits in my direction.

Just like when she wailed at the store, her eyes hold amusement and just the right amount of horniness. It’s why I didn’t run away immediately when she banshee-wailed in the cereal aisle. I figured she was playing.

But the squealing went on and on. Even my sister can’t scream for so long. Just more proof of how Lola McGraw is someone special.

“I worried I’d made a mistake by agreeing to marry you,” I admit before looking her up and down. “But no, I’m still cool with this. See you at the wedding.”

I spin around and start walking back to my hog. Grinning, I know Lola’s on my tail.

“You’re insufferable,” she grumbles, having chased my insufferable ass to the hog where I now stand over her. “Immature, too. I don’t know how you’ll run my father’s club.”

“Oh, I’m mature,” I say and slide my finger along her tank top strap. “You’ll need to stop wearing such revealing clothes once we’re married. No, wait, it’d be better if you wore more revealing clothes so everyone knows what they’re missing out on.”

“You twisted freak,” she hisses and crosses her arms over her tits before deciding that might encourage me. Her hands go to her hips as she glares up at me. “I’ll wear whatever the hell I want when I want. You won’t have a damn say in the matter.”

“How about we compromise?” I reply, nearly laughing at how riled up she’s gotten. “When you’re making my dinner and waiting on me hand and foot, you can wear whatever the hell you want. But when you’re out on the town, acting as my arm candy, you must dress like a skank. I want men to be jealous of me.”

Lola shoves me. When she realizes I haven’t budged, my dream girl frowns at her hands as if they’ve failed her.

“I hate you,” she snarls, first at her hands and then at me. “I’m only marrying you to help my family. I puked when Duke told me it would be you. I wanted anyone else.”

“Might not be too late for my club brother, Leftie, to step up. He’s missing an eye and a few teeth, but he makes up for all that with a long, snakelike dick. It’s deadly against frigid pussies.”

Lola shoves me, again finding her attempt a flop. She uses her entire body to push against mine in the futile hope of knocking me down.

“Not until the wedding night,” I tease when she struggles to take me down. “Besides, your grandma’s watching and I can’t perform well with an elderly audience.”

Lola clenches her fists and screams in frustration. I watch her go wild and assume this is her mating call. I can’t deny it’s sexy.

The bar’s front door swings open and the rest of the McGraw family pours out. Her dad looks ready to tear off my five massive limbs. Her meemaw is frozen between amused and horrified. Her sister looks like someone farted, and she suspects I’m the culprit.

Once Lola realizes we have an audience, her scream gets cut short. Yet, her glare remains white hot.

“You don’t have a club brother named Leftie,” she snarls and blows hair from her face. “You dumb monkey liar.”

“Mean,” I accuse and wag my finger in her face. “You’re saying hurtful things. I hope you don’t plan to be mean like this to our perfect kids.”

Lola freezes as the reality of this situation hits her. “Why did you come here today?”

“I got scared about the responsibility I’d agreed to,” I say and mess with the strap on her tank top again. “I’m spoiled and lazy. When people at the homestead claimed I’d made a mistake or wasn’t thinking straight, I started wondering if they were right. But here you are in all your glory, so I plan to stop stalking you and nail this down.”

“You’re nuts,” she says and wags her finger in my face, mimicking my move.

“Only about you.”

“Lame.”

“Hurtful. You need to work on your manners, so you’ll be nicer when you meet my ma.”

Lola blinks rapidly and glances back at her family before frowning at me. “That’s right. I have to know your people.”

“They’ll be your people, too, soon.”

Her once-angry gaze goes soft and scared. Lola looks back at her family again. Regaining her focus, she steels her spine, tips back her shoulders, and lifts her chin.

“Should we have a get-together before the wedding? Or maybe we ought to have everyone meet at the reception.”

“Let’s do that get-together thing, so my ma and sister are less likely to fly into dramatic displays at the wedding.”

“You’re really doing this, right?” Lola asks, inching closer. “You get how this is happening so we can protect our club and this town.”

“And your family.”

“Your family gets something out of it, too. No one wants the Charleston club to swoop in and claim this county.”

“No. Two small clubs will morph into a bigger one, making the Charleston club choose another target.”

Lola settles down for just a second. She seems genuinely hopeful about the future. Then, something clicks in her head—probably memories of my teasing—and she gets frazzled again.

“We’ll organize a get-together here in the next week. The wedding isn’t a big deal. Just something legal to bind your family and mine.”

“No to all that. My family is bigger, so we’ll throw the get-together at the homestead. Your only job will be to show up and treat my ma nice.”

“Well, she better be nice to me, too. I’m not taking guff from some crazy Tumbling Rock lady.”

“My ma isn’t crazy,” I patiently explain. “Poppy just acts that way for fun.”

Lola rolls her eyes and then smacks my hand away when I poke her nose.

“As for the wedding, I want something beautiful,” I say and wave my hand dramatically in the air. “I envision all the classy stuff like balloon arches and bounce houses. Ooh, and I want real fancy chicken wings at the reception. And I know some people will complain, but I think you should wear white.”

Lola slugs my right arm while I grin at her rage. “I’m going to tear your dick off on our wedding night.”

“No, baby, I need that to impregnate you with our perfect kids. Plus, there’s no way will the Blood-Red Suns respect a dick-less dude. I mean if a cock wasn’t necessary, your dad could have just made you the future president.”

“I’d do a better job than you.”

“Prove it by being a wise old lady. Tell me how to beat my men better and be sure to rub my shoulders when the job wears at me.”

Looking like a pissed angel, Lola seethes before me. The last time I saw this level of lady hostility was from Edith after West asked if she was riding bitch on Aunt Flo’s hog. My cousin churned with such rage that West’s dick nearly shriveled up and fell off. He dodged a bullet there, and Alexis should thank Edith every day for letting his dick survive.

Right now, Lola’s seething is having the opposite reaction on my dick. Even if death is the end result, my dick is absolutely thrilled about our upcoming wedding night.

Lola snarls, “Go away.”

“No, I should meet your people first,” I say, stepping around her and walking toward her irritated family. “Hello, Duke. I never got to ask when I’d start shadowing you. Is tomorrow too soon?”

“Yes.”

“How about the day after?”

“Marry Lola first, so I’ll know you’re serious.”

“You’d let your daughter deal with me before you’d lower yourself to do it? Not cool,” I mock and then move on to Erin before Duke can give me shit. “Hello, Lola’s grandmother. Can I call you in-law Queen Meemaw?”

“No.”

“How about Basin Rock Queen Meemaw?”

“Just call me Erin.”

“Okay, but you’re missing out on being called ‘Queen.’”

Clover realizes I’ll bug her next and eases herself back inside the bar.

“She’s great,” I announce and then look at Lola. “This is a good family. Not as spectacular as mine, but you’ll see that soon enough.”

“He wants us to come to a get-together at his family’s property,” Lola grumbles to Duke and Erin.

“Give my ma a few days to do her magic,” I tell Erin since her son is trying to murder me with his gaze. “Then, you can meet everyone, and we’ll pick a wedding date and choose the balloon arch colors.”

Duke studies me like I’m something weird he’s found on his boot. Finally, he exhales hard. “You’re like a boy version of Tuesday.”

“Hey, I resent that. No way could she bench press as much as I can. I also have better hair.”

“Yes, we all heard about her perm,” Duke mutters and opens the door to the bar. As Erin flees inside, Lola steps around her dad and follows her meemaw. “You have my number.”

“I don’t, though.”

“Get it from your uncle. Tell us when you want us over there. We’ll do this thing your way. But don’t show up unannounced again.”

“I make no promises.”

Duke gives me a dirty look, much like the one my pa used back at the homestead. Just like with Emmett, I smile in response to Duke’s attempt to intimidate me.

I’ve never needed to put on a grumpy vibe to scare people. I intimidate men by punching them in the head if they get out of line.

Not that I’m looking to throw down with my future father-in-law. But I’ll never let him push me around, either.

After Lola and her family disappear inside the bar, I decide to ride around Basin Rock to prove I’m unconcerned by Duke’s threats. I check out Lola’s garden apartment near her family’s homes. I roll past a group of Blood-Red Suns members sitting at a burger joint. They watch me with wary curiosity. I consider stopping and chatting with the dumbasses to see who is who now that their names matter.

However, I sense I ought to let Duke take the lead on introductions. Besides, I need to return home to tell Ma-Poppy and the rest of the homestead how my second thoughts are gone. I’m most definitely marrying Lola McGraw and taking on the responsibilities that come with my dream girl.