Chapter Eight

Cash

I HAD NOT spoken to Teagan since our fight the previous Monday. I'd waffled between calling, texting, or just showing up at her house, but I wasn't about to admit Hatch had been right, so I stayed quiet. She was obviously all for our game of chicken as well because she hadn't folded either.

I walked into the club and my eye immediately caught Teagan laughing a little too hard at something Razor had just said. They were standing at one of the pool tables and she was making a concerted point of ignoring me.

I scowled and headed outside to grab a beer, only to be accosted with the sight of my sister up close and personal with her asshole neighbor. "Who the fuck invited you?"

Daisy raised her head and gave me her own glare. "I did, Cash."

"Daisy," I growled.

"You got a problem, man, we can go talk privately," Huck said. "But you're not gonna use that tone with your sister. Understand?"

I crossed my arms. "Yeah, who's gonna stop me?"

"Well, if he doesn't, I sure as hell am," Dad warned. "What the fuck, Cash?"

I rolled my eyes. "Jesus, Dad, you know I'd never do anything to Ducky."

Dad raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, then what's with the attitude?"

"You know what?" I said. "It's family night. There's no attitude." I turned on my heel and walked back inside. Teagan was no longer with Razor, and he gave me a chin lift before sidling up to a woman I'd never seen before.

I wasn't inside long when Daisy found me, and I pulled her in for a hug. "Sorry I was a dick."

"I'm not really the one you need to apologize to, am I?" she pointed out.

"Well, that's not gonna happen, Ducky, so how about you let me have this?"

"Why are you so amped up?" She gave me a squeeze.

"Honestly? Just pissed Teagan did something so fuckin' reckless. But I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"Thank you for saying that," she said, holding up her wrist and pointing to her bracelet. "But y'all seem to forget that we are all locked and loaded. You can track each and every one of us with the push of a button."

Years ago, Doc, the president of the Dogs of Fire chapter in Savannah had insisted the old ladies wear some piece of jewelry equipped with GPS. The end result was that the old ladies and kids of the club members were tracked and protected at all times.

Daisy wore a bracelet. Others wore necklaces, some wore rings, and there were rumors that one of the Primal Howlers' women out of Colorado had a tracker in a very private piercing, but I had never been nosy enough to confirm. I personally wore a chain around my neck with an anchor charm. Mom chose it. She said it was to keep me anchored to home.

"I know that, Ducky," I said. "But a lot can happen between some asshole drugging you and your finger pressing that button."

"Which is why you can activate it remotely."

I sighed. "You're right, you're right. I overreacted. I'm sorry."

"Thank you. Now, please go and apologize to Huck."

"Fuck, no."

She shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

I grinned, kissing the top of her head before releasing her. She walked back outside, and I saw my mother approaching, an inquisitive smile on her face. I smiled back and she sped up a little, wrapping her arms around my waist and giving me a not so gentle squeeze. "Hey, Mama."

Daisy and my mother were carbon copies of one another, and if you didn't look too closely, you'd swear they were sisters rather than mother and daughter. My mom might be in her fifties, but she looked a hell of a lot younger, and my father worshiped her.

"Hey, Bubba. God, I miss you."

I chuckled. "I just saw you two days ago."

"A chaotic two minute ‘hi, bye' does not constitute seeing me."

I hugged her close. "Fair enough. Lunch this week?"

"Yes." She looked up at me. "Thursday?"

"Absolutely."

She cupped my face. "Love you, baby."

"Love you, too."

As she grinned and walked away, I felt like the weight of the world was off my shoulders. At least for a minute or two.

Heading into the kitchen, I saw a flash of red hair as Teagan tried to run from me, so I followed her down the hall. She slipped into the bunk room, and I grinned as I pushed open the door.

"Goddammit," she snapped, as she tried to slide past me.

"You hiding from me, Turtle?"

She crossed her arms. "Hiding, no. Avoiding, yes."

"Semantics."

"What do you want, Cash?"

"A lot of things. How about we start with where ya been all week?"

She scoffed.

"You gonna answer my question?"

Wrinkling her nose, she moved to walk by me, but I grabbed her arm. Firm enough so she couldn't escape, but gentle enough so I didn't hurt her.

"Let go of me," she hissed.

"I'm done with this ignoring me bullshit, Teagan."

"Is your phone broken?"

I sighed, running my thumb over the inside of her elbow.

She yanked her arm from my touch.

"Baby, will you just talk to me?" I bit out.

"Oh, hell, no. You do not get to ignore me for a week and then drop the ‘baby' card."

"I haven't been ignoring you. I've just been busy."

"Bullshit." She crossed her arms again. "What did Hatch say?"

"When?"

"Don't be obtuse. You know exactly when."

I pressed my palms to my eye sockets and sighed. "It's not important."

"Got it."

She pulled open the door, but I was faster and pushed it shut again.

Teagan let out a frustrated grunt and shoved her fist into my side. I saw it coming and braced before grabbing her wrist and shoving her arm gently behind her back. "You wanna fight?"

"You're a fucking asshole, Cash."

"That's never been in question," I said, leaning down to run my nose over her neck. I breathed in deep, her citrus scent driving me crazy.

"You need to quit," she hissed, but arched into me with a quiet mew as I kissed her pulse.

"Quit what?" I challenged, running my tongue across her bottom lip.

"Stop," she begged, and I immediately stepped away. I had always made her a promise that if she ever said the word, ‘stop,' I would stop. Always. It didn't matter what I was doing, sex, dishes, kissing her, whatever. It was our ‘safe' word.

I shook my head as I took a few calming breaths.

"You are a dick, Cash Warren Carver," she bit out, her eyes filling with tears.

"Yeah, we've established that."

"Good talk." She moved to walk out again, but I blocked the door. "Move."

"Baby, just give me five minutes."

"To do what, Cash? Lie to me? Gaslight me?"

"I've never done either of those things."

"No, you choose your words very carefully, you're right. You give me no information at all, which is worse."

She was right. I did exactly that. But it was for her own good.

She cocked her head. "What did Hatch say?"

I stared at her.

"Time's a tickin', bub."

I scowled. "He said I needed to talk to your dad."

"What?" she breathed out. "About… us?"

"Yeah."

"Shit, really?" she squeaked. "He knows?"

"Yeah, Teagan, he knows."

She swallowed, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks. "So, you're breaking up with me?"

"What?" I scowled. "Why the fuck would you think that?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because your president tells you to make it official, and you ghost me. What would you think?" She sniffed. "I get it. My dad's scary. But I didn't take you for a coward."

"Jesus, baby, I'm not breaking up with you." I slid a hand to her neck and tugged her toward me. "Do you wanna break it off with me?"

"I don't know yet."

I dropped my forehead to hers before kissing her gently. "I'm sorry I've been shitty."

"That's not good enough."

"I know."

"So, what are you going to do about it?" she challenged.

"I haven't worked that out yet."

"How about you reach out when you do?"

"Fuck me, Teagan, you wanna give me a minute to figure things out?"

"Fuck me, Cash, you wanna grow a pair and stop being a pussy?"

I couldn't stop a grin. "There isn't a man alive who would talk to me like that."

"Yeah, well, there isn't a man alive who's sucked your cock." She frowned. "Is there?"

"There is not."

"Okay, then talk to my dad."

"You want that?" I asked.

"Only if you mean it."

"I love you, Turtle. I mean it."

"Well, I love you too, dickhead, so you need to figure it out."

I kissed her, pulling her close again. "I'm sorry I shut you out."

"Do better, Cash. I'm serious."

"I will," I promised. "And I'll find a time to talk to your dad this week."

She nodded. "Okay. I'll try to be extra sweet to him, so he'll be easier to deal with."

I chuckled. "Appreciate that."

She slid her hand under my cut and up my back. "I've missed you."

I buried my face in her hair and hugged her close. "Missed you too, Turtle."

"Dad said I can quit law school."

"No shit?"

"No shit."

"Whatya gonna do?"

She shrugged. "Don't know yet. But I'm leaning toward mechanic."

"What the hell? Seriously?"

She pulled back and looked up at me. "Why do you sound mad?"

"Not mad. Just surprised," I admitted. "You sure you want grease under your perfectly manicured nails?"

She scowled up at me, hurt crossing her features. "Fuck you, Cash."

She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.

I dragged my hands down my face. I wasn't entirely sure what I'd said, but I could guess, and I didn't blame her for walking out.

Jesus, I was an asshole.

* * *

Teagan

I stormed out of the bunk room and slammed into a wall of granite. "Whoa, sweetheart, you okay?"

"Um, hey, Booker. Yeah, I'm good."

He lifted my chin gently. "Baby girl, you been cryin'?"

"PMS," I lied.

He ran his knuckles down my cheek gently. "You sure that's all it is?"

I nodded, forcing myself not to completely break down in front of Cash's dad.

Booker frowned. "You know, I got a daughter who looks just like that when someone has either pissed her off or broken her heart. PMS looks a little different. And then Dani's a whole different story."

I blushed. I couldn't believe I was standing in the middle of the club hallway talking to my boyfriend's dad about PMS.

Or, maybe he was my ex.

This thought brought a fresh batch of tears. "Um, sorry, Booker, I need to go."

I escaped into the bathroom, closing, and locking the door.

* * *

Cash

I stepped into the hallway to find my father staring at the bathroom door. He glanced my way and his face suddenly flashed bright red. "My office. Now," he ordered, turning on his heel.

I frowned, following him inside and closing the door. "What goin' on?"

"What the hell did you do to Teagan?"

"What do you mean, what did I do to Teagan?"

"Don't you fuckin' play dumb with me, son." He settled his fists on his desk. "You know exactly what I'm talkin' about. That little girl came flying out of that bunk room in tears and you come out a few minutes later lookin' like… well, lookin' like you. What the fuck did you do to her?"

"Teagan was crying?"

"You need to worry less about her tears and more about your mouth telling me what the fuck's goin' on."

I gripped the back of one of his chairs so hard, my knuckles whitened. "I've fucked everything up, Dad, that's what I've done."

"Take a seat, bud," he said, and moved out from behind his desk, pulling a chair up so he was facing me. "What's goin' on?"

I sat down, settling my elbows on my knees and dropping my face in my hands. "I'm in love with her."

"Jesus fuckin' Christ."

"That about sums it up."

"And she doesn't feel the same way?"

"No, she does," I said. "But because I'm me, I keep fuckin' things up between us."

"When did all this start?"

"Officially, three months ago."

"Fuck me, you've kept this under wraps for three months?"

I nodded. "Until Hatch figured it out last week. He wants me to talk to Mack."

"How far has this gone, Cash?"

I stared at the floor.

"Cash?"

I sat up and met his eyes. "As far as it can go."

"Jesus, fuck." Dad shot out of his seat. "Mack is going to kill you. Did you think about that?"

"Yeah, Dad, I thought about that. I also thought about Chelsea and how it's my fault she's dead, and Eric and how I ruined his life, and I tried, Dad, I fuckin' tried to keep my distance from Teagan, but she was havin' none of it."

"So, you're blamin' her?"

"No, that's not what I mean." I groaned. "Fuck!"

"Take a breath."

I palmed my eye sockets and took a deep breath.

"First," Dad said. "Chelsea wasn't your fault."

I narrowed my eyes and shook my head. "I wasn't there to protect her."

"Not. Your. Fault."

I sighed but didn't argue with him.

"The Eric thing is different. You were protectin' your sister and as far as I'm concerned, nothing to lose sleep over."

My sister's high school boyfriend had only been her boyfriend to get her into bed. There'd been a bet that he couldn't fuck the biker's daughter and once he'd slept with her a couple of times, he'd dumped her.

When I found out, my brother and I lured him to some private trails out in Ridgefield with a little catfishing scheme. The asshole had a crush on the very underaged homecoming queen, so I used the promise of sex with her, and shocker, Eric rushed right over. He figured out way too late that it wasn't his crush waiting for him, it was me and Archer. We beat the shit out of him and then I sliced one of his Achilles tendons. Eric had been a track star, so it ended his running career.

There was no blowback because Eric would have to admit he was meeting an underaged girl for sex, the proof of which would have been sent to the authorities should he ever try to report it. And Archer and I were each other's alibis, which were airtight.

"I don't lose sleep over it. But there are those who think I should."

"Like who?" Dad challenged.

"Daisy."

"Highly doubtful," Dad said.

"Mom, then."

"Least of all your mother." Dad sighed. "Because she doesn't know about it."

"How the hell did you keep that from her?"

"It wasn't easy," he said.

"Yeah."

"So, why do you think you keep fuckin' things up?" he asked.

"I don't think it, Dad, I just do. She gets close and I have this need to push her away. I can't seem to stop myself from bein' a dick."

"Yeah, I see that, bud. You need to quit."

"Not helpful," I snapped.

"Does Teagan know about Chelsea?"

"Jesus," I hissed. "No, she doesn't know about Chelsea."

"You think maybe you wanna tell her?"

"I don't know if I can risk it."

"You've risked everything for her so far, son," Dad said. "If you don't go all the way then it doesn't mean shit."

"What if it all blows up in my face?"

"Lucky you got a fuckin' amazing family to put you back together then."

He stood, squeezing my shoulder before walking out the door.