"You got all your stuff?"
I nodded.
"Your bathroom stuff, too?" he asked.
In that moment, I suddenly wished that I'd had Sonny in my life from the very beginning. I mean, who else would remember bathroom stuff of all things? "No, I forgot."
He ruffled my hair lightly. "Go get it and I'll meet you outside."
I followed after him but split off to grab my toiletries from the bathroom. There wasn't much so it only took a second to put my things into my duffel. Just as I was about to walk out of the house, I heard Sonny and Dex speaking on the other side of the door.
"—been through too much, man. She doesn't need to go through anything else," Sonny spoke.
"I said I'd watch over her." That was Dex who replied.
"Fuck, I'll stay and this one can go with you." Another voice suggested. Trip, probably.
Dex made a noise I couldn't recognize through the door. "I'm stayin'."
There was a pause. “Keep your dick in your goddamn pants, Dex. I swear to God…”
Sonny murmured something else I couldn't hear because he must have been further away from the door than Dex. Feeling creepy enough for eavesdropping, I pulled open the front door to all three of them on the deck. Sonny standing just off the stairs, Trip and Dex right in front of me—well, the door.
A tired smile crept over my brother's face. "You ready?"
"Yeah." I looked over at the blonde standing next to Dex. "Hey, Trip."
“Hey gorgeous,” he murmured. The color under his eyes made him look like he hadn't slept in a while.
Dex's hand landed on my lower back, urging me forward. "Let's get going, Ritz. I'm tired."
"All right." I walked over to Sonny and wrapped my arms around his chest. "Be safe, all right?"
He pulled me in for a hug. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
I pulled back just a little and kissed his beard covered cheek. "Okay. Let Trip drive though."
Sonny snorted and put both hands on top of my head, pushing my face down so that he could plant one on my forehead. "Whatever you want, kid."
Oh, the irony. If anyone knew you didn't always get what you want, it was Sonny.
"See ya, Son." I waved at him. "Bye, Trip. Be safe."
Sonny inclined his head forward, smiling just barely. "See ya, kid."
Trip added a sigh with his goodbye but I already had my attention forward, just past Sonny's frame.
Dex and my brother shared a strange look between them as the dark-haired one made his way down the stairs. I started to round the front bumper of my car to get in when he reached out to wrap his fingers around my elbow.
"Where ya goin'?"
Uh... "I'm following after you."
He made a tisking sound under his tongue. "No. You drive too slow. Hop on my bike and we'll get your car tomorrow."
I hesitated, looking back at my car.
“Iris.” I really liked it a little too much when he used my name. “Babe, get on. We’ll get your car later.”
I must have waited too long because the next thing I knew, he had an arm hooked around my waist and was half carrying me-half dragging me the distance to his Dyna. Dex took my duffel, handed me a helmet that had been left on the seat and replaced the empty spot with my bag, strapping it down.
He turned back toward me, took the helmet from my hands, and then lowered it onto my head silently. Once it was buckled on, he straddled his bike and tilted his head in my direction. “Hop on.”
Well then. Bossy ass.
There was all of about eight inches between Dex’s back and my bag, but what could I do about it? I had a feeling that if I argued with him more about whether I was riding with him or not, I’d lose anyway and to be honest, I was really tired. Having been on bikes with Sonny in the past, it was easy getting on but awkward when I had to shift forward on the seat so much that my crotch and thighs left no room for a sheet of paper between them and Dex’s outer thighs and beefy butt. Grudgingly, my arms slipped around his ribs as he started the bike up and backed onto the street.
Sonny’s house was already on the outskirts of Austin, so when Dex got on the freeway leading us further out of the city, I wondered where the hell he lived but didn’t ask. My cheek was technically to his back, arms tight around his chest. I didn’t realize until then that he had a leather jacket on that did nothing to hide how solid his build was.
Damn it.
It was too dark to see anything well, but I could tell that we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The trees were huge as we zoomed off the freeway ramp with only the loud roar of his bike breaking the monotony of the ride.
After about five minutes, he turned onto a farm road that had no name or real sign. An outline of a house was visible in the near distance over a hill. The closer we got, the more I was able to see under the moonlight. The house was a long one-story ranch style home. A huge front yard dotted with tall trees gave way to the light colored paneling of the home. It wasn’t at all the kind of place I expected Dex to live in. He seemed like the typical bachelor with a dirty apartment.
But maybe I was just assuming that of every member of the MC. To be fair, Trip lived up to the stereotype I'd built up. There had even been socks crammed into the corners of his couch.
When he parked the bike right in front of the paved driveway, he dismounted first before holding out a hand and helping me afterward. I yanked the helmet off while he unstrapped my bag, tilting his head in the direction of the door as his wordless come on.
I followed in after him, taking in the minimal furniture in his living room: a brown microfiber sectional sofa, a large flat screen television mounted to the wall, an entertainment center underneath, and… that was it. Dex had dropped my bag onto the couch before turning to look at me.
“You can take the bed, babe. I got two other rooms but not another bed to sleep in,” he explained.
I was still looking around, past the living room to spy a kitchen that opened up directly to it but at his words, I shook my head. “No, I’ll stay on the couch. I can sleep just about anywhere.”
While it was the truth, I wasn’t about to point out that our sixty or seventy pound weight difference on top of half a foot in height difference would definitely make me a better candidate for his long but still somewhat narrow couch.
He opened his mouth to argue with me before I cut him off.
“Seriously, Dex. I’ll stay on the couch, don’t worry about it. If you can just get me a pillow and a blanket…?”
The flat, completely ill amused look on his face made think he wanted to discuss the sleeping arrangements more, but I think he understood my secret reasoning and was probably too tired to fight it. With a nod, he disappeared into a hallway to the right of the living room and couch for a couple of minutes, coming back with a pillow covered in a dark blue pillowcase and a white blanket under his arm.
Dex handed them to me silently, watching as I laid out the blanket with a yawn and dropped the pillow onto the end of the couch closest to the front door.
“The bathroom is down the hall, first door on your right, and my bedroom is that way,” he pointed toward another hallway on the left side of the living room. “Last door.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled with another yawn, dropping my butt onto the cushion.
He took a step back, locking those Crayola blue eyes on me. “Make yourself at home, and wake me up if you need anythin'.”
I nodded my answer, smiling at him sleepily. “All right. Night, Dex.” I paused. "Thanks for everything."
His nod was slow. “Night, babe.”
I didn’t waste any more time trying to watch him disappear into the hallway. The moment I slipped beneath the blanket and my head hit the pillow, I realized how wide awake I was.