Little Memphis Page 17

Shay is sound asleep when I wake up. Leaving her, I take a piss and find somewhat clean jeans. Pax is dozing on the couch while Folgers eats a leftover McMuffin from the table. I shoo off the dog then pour a cup of coffee.

  I follow Folgers outside, even though I’m only wearing a jacket over my bare chest and no shoes.

  Sitting on the back deck, I drink my coffee and ask myself why I’m so fucking nervous about telling Shay what needs to happen. She knows I have to work. Tonight, she works too. Everyone has a damn job. No harm in me needing to work.

  Except Shay is homesick. When she thinks too much, her old life looks better than sticking around here. As long as I keep her mind on other shit, she stays in Little Memphis. If I’m busy for a few days or even a week, who the hell will keep her brain busy?

  Bebe and her kid might keep Shay occupied. While I could ask Darby to help, she’ll tell everyone in the state I’m worried. I don’t need the gossip when I’m already enjoying lectures from papa bear.

  Folgers chases a squirrel then barks at a neighbor’s cat. Once he’s sufficiently threatened enough animals, he returns to the warm house.

  Pax is still asleep on the couch. He doesn’t wake when I go out front to get the paper or when I cook eggs and sausage for Shay. Pax only stirs when I yank his single boot off.

  “Hey.”

  “Early food run, huh?” I ask, tossing the boot at his head.

  “Yeah. A nightmare woke me up early, so I headed to McDonald’s.”

  “What was your nightmare about?”

  “Meth fucks gnawed off my dick. I grew a new one, but it was small and girls laughed at it.”

  Grinning, I leave him to wake up Shay. She’s resting on her stomach, spread out across the bed, and hiding her face under her hair. The sheet is half off her and I take in all her pale flesh. No woman’s ever turned me on like Shay. Hell, even her forearms are sexy.

  I pull back the sheet and look over her little ass. My gaze lowers to the birthmark on the back of her thigh. I kiss it first then suck at the curve of her ass. Shay squirms under my touch, remaining hidden under her long hair.

  “I need to work the next few days,” I say, lifting her hips and sliding a pillow beneath them. “I won’t be able to see you.”

  “Huh?” she mumbles, peering back at me through her hair.

  “Three days probably, maybe more. The club has an issue to stomp. Pax and I will play the roles of the boots.”

  Shay wants to turn around, but I have her butt lifted up so perfectly and I hold her still. My jeans are on the floor and I climb on the bed behind her.

  “Ford,” she whispers, sounding scared.

  I kiss her shoulder then her cheek before finding her lips. “Nothing weird. Just relax.”

  “Not that.”

  “I can’t talk about work, remember?”

  Shay nods then rests her head on the pillow while I kiss her shoulders. By the time my lips find the small of her back, she’s relaxed.

  “I like the way your beard feels against my skin,” she murmurs.

  “Is that what the all these goose bumps are about?”

  Eyes closing, Shay grins as I tease her pussy. The flesh warms for me, responding to the touch it knows well by now.

  I stroke her first with my tongue then my fingers. Finally, the head of my cock teases her until she’s ready. Shay makes a quiet grunt when I thrust hard into her.

  Smiling at me, she whispers, “The fantasy is fun. Let’s hold onto it awhile longer.”

  I lean down and kiss her softly, my hips already finding a steady rhythm.

  “Nothing changes. It’s just a few days.”

  Shay closes her eyes and grips the sheets while I move inside her. Our bodies find pleasure, even as we remain nearly silent. When I come hard inside her, I can barely breathe and my mind is numb. I’m already imagining dropping her off at Darby’s. Mostly, I’m wondering if she’ll still be around by the time I return.

  Breakfast is quick and silent. Shay says almost nothing until we arrive at the house and she climbs off the Harley. Finally, she wraps her hair behind her ears and sighs.

  “I’ll miss you,” she says, staring at me. “A lot.”

  “Don’t get sad. My cock will return to you soon.”

  “Like in the mail or will it return attached to the rest of you? I only ask because I’m pretty fond of all this too,” she mumbles, waving her hands around my face and body. “Every inch needs to return, not just your wiener.”

  Despite my mood, I laugh. “Wiener? How old are you again?”

  “Old enough to be worried.”

  “If you want to live in my world, you need to accept the ugly parts.”

  Shay studies my face then reaches under my jacket and shirt to caress my stomach.

  “My pussy will be depressed.”

  Accepting her acceptance at the situation, I grin. “My cock already has an appointment with a therapist to deal with its sadness. It’ll be a tough few days, but we’ll survive to fuck another day.”

  Shay wants me to promise, but she doesn’t ask. Instead, she hugs me tight like I’m the only thing keeping her upright.

  “When I let go of you, I want you to kiss me. Then I’ll go inside before I cry. No need to make this thing dramatic.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” I say, cupping her face and staring into her gray eyes. “Promise me one thing, Shay. The next few days will be miserable without me. I’m so damn addictive.” She smiles up at me and I kiss her forehead. “Don’t make any rash decisions about your future while I’m working. Can you promise me that?”

  Shay understands what I’m asking. “I promise. Now, please kiss me before my badass cool exterior shatters.”

  Kissing Shay, I inhale her scent, devour her flavor, and savor it all. A few days apart shouldn’t mean shit, but I’m so fucking hardcore in lust with this woman I can’t even imagine going hours without her next to me.

  35

  Shay

  Suck It Up, Buttercup

  I barely say hello to Darby, Bebe, and Lula before heading upstairs for a shower. The hot water feels good against my cold skin and tear-stained face. I cry considerably longer than a grown woman should over such a small thing. Yet I worry I might never see Ford again.

  After my shower, I dress in clean clothes and join the others in the sunroom. Lula sits on the floor while Bebe and Darby drink coffee near the windows.

  “Did Ford do something wrong?” Darby asks. “If it would help, my shotgun and I can pay him a visit and make threats I won’t go through with.”

  “Though I appreciate your willingness to make Ford piss himself, he’s just working the next few days, so I won’t see him. This normally would be fine, but I’m PMSing.”

  Focusing on Bebe, I ask, “Are you upset that I ditched Lula?”

  “And forced me to hang out with Darby? Oh, the suffering.”

  They share a smile.

  “I feel like a shi…” I pause and look at Lula. “I feel like a bad friend.”

  “Darby explained how hot Ford is, so I totally understand.”

  Grinning, I bend down to see where Lula shows me her book. Once I’ve seen enough, she returns to flipping the pages.

  “I have a lot of MJ’s old books,” Darby says.

  Joining them for coffee, I feel worn down. I blame my exhaustion on hormones rather than sadness. Despite my attempts to be calm, I keep wondering if Ford’s safe. After a few days apart, will he still want to return to me?

  “While you enjoyed Ford’s company, Bebe and Lula moved in here,” Darby announces when I stare at nothing for too long. “They can’t live in that house with a pimp hanging around all the time. I won’t have it.”

  I give Bebe smile. “See that was my plan all along.”

  The women grin at me while Lula gets up and walks to the window to watch birds in the yard. I’m relieved to know Bebe and Lula will be safe. Based on the few things the brothers let slip, the tensions in Little Memphis might be getting worse soon.<
br />
  “We were talking about meeting up with Jenn and the girls at the mall today,” Darby says. “You should come along and search for those heels you want.”

  The day before, Ford gave me money for shoes. When I told him I didn’t need his money, he told me to shut up and take it.

  I decide to focus on making myself pretty for Ford. No more thinking about him ditching me or even worse getting hurt. Instead, I’ll plan the dance I’ll do for him once I have a nice pair of heels.

  Lula isn’t thrilled about staying with a babysitter while we go out. She stares at us from the window and I feel like an asshole leaving her behind. Bebe’s expression makes me think she feels worse.

  “She’s confused about why we don’t live at the house anymore,” Bebe says. “It’s not like I can tell her that our friends are prostitutes and their piece of S H I T pimp is getting B L O W J O B S every F U C K I N G ten minutes.”

  “It’s a shame your friends can’t get away from him.”

  “I don’t even think they want to. That life and those people are all they know. I never want that for Lula.”

  “That’s why you’re a good mommy.”

  The two moms share a smile, leaving me feeling left out. Though my glum mood is mostly hormonal, I can’t shake negative thoughts about Ford. Not really certain what an enforcer does, I can’t imagine him working. So I think up stuff involving him bleeding and hurt.

  “Don’t, Shay,” Darby says as we sit at a light. “You get to thinking about everything that’ll go wrong and it’ll eat you up. Most women don’t have the stomach to be with a man like Ford. It’s not your fault if you’re one of them. If you want to keep him though, you need to roll with these lost days.”

  Bebe glances back at me. “Is it worth it?”

  I think of Ford’s smile. The lines around his blue eyes, his straight white teeth, and those lips that made me crazy. Everything about his smile is perfection.

  “Yes,” I tell her.

  Bebe grins, even though she thinks I’m wasting time on a man out of reach. Or maybe after her time with Howie, she can’t imagine wanting someone dangerous. Darby understands though.

  “When Joker had to leave in the middle of the night or took off in the middle of dinner, I pretended like it was normal. I mean, other wives deal with that too. Wives of cops and soldiers don’t know if their men are safe. They have faith and I learned to do the same. The women who need more assurances shouldn’t hook up with club boys. Any promise a one percenter makes is likely a lie. Even if he means the words when he says he’ll be safe or come back to you, it’s a lie. He can’t control the shit in this world especially not in a place like Little Memphis.”

  “I can’t give up Ford,” I mumble.

  “Then suck it up, buttercup.”

  Bebe smiles sympathetically at me even while trying not to laugh.

  “Wait, so I can’t whine or pout at all?”

  “Fine,” Darby says, “but you need to knock it off once we get our nails done.”

  “Deal. Now, leave me alone to wallow in my hormonal suffering.”

  Darby laughs while I think Bebe pities my whiny ass. I stare out the window and think about the night before with Ford. We fucked twice then took a shower and fucked once more. Not in the shower since the stall is barely big enough for Ford. After exhausted from so much fucking, we watched American Dad while Ford held me against him.

  Now I understand how he was pacing himself before telling me about the next few days apart. If it meant nothing to him, he would have blurted it out easy-peasy. If I got upset, he’d fuck me into agreement.

  Instead, he hadn’t wanted to say the words because he was falling for me. Hell yeah, I’m holding onto the fantasy even if it bites me in the ass down the road.

  36

  Ford

  New Record

  Paro and his bodyguard Sandy are hiding out at the house of a few of his whores. A neighbor says one chick moved out with her little girl a few days earlier. I wonder if this is Shay’s new pal Bebe. I don’t wonder long. Pax and I have work to do.

  We go blitzkrieg on the house, busting through a backdoor and scaring the crap out of a kid. I move past the crying boy and hurry to the front room where Sandy is already pulling his weapon. I nail him in the face before he aims the gun.

  Paro screams louder than the kids until Pax busts his balls with the bat. Crumbling to the ground, the pimp is quickly down along with his bodyguard. I look over the two women staring in horror. One is holding her kid while the other is likely the mom of the kids crying behind us. I know one of them is a snitch for Big Dick.

  “Be cool,” Pax tells the women and they nod.

  “We’re taking them,” I say then snap at the second chick. “Go take care of your kids.”

  She hurries past me and takes the crying babies in her arms. I handcuff Sandy and Pax grabs a barfing Paro. We leave the way we came and drag them through the backyard to an alley where our van waits. Once the assholes are secured, we speed away.

  “Less than five minutes in and out,” Pax says, sitting in the back and watching the whining men. “New record.”

  “I’ll be impressed by how quickly we break them.”

  Paro whimpers at this comment and tries to speak. I know he’s full of shit. Everyone who’s ever met Paro knows he’s full of shit. Tonight, he’ll need to dig deep and find the truth.

  I pull the van into the delivery garage next to the club’s rarely used dance hall. Pax jumps out and shuts the door. Minutes later, we have Sandy and Paro hanging upside down in a freezer.

  “Who wants to tell us about Tiny’s death?” I say, my bat swinging at my side. “Who wants to make a deal and who wants to help me with my swing?”

  “I don’t know anything,” Paro lies. “I’m just a pimp. I keep my girls safe and Tiny never did nothing to me.”

  “You talked about ditching the club’s protection and starting a group of your own. Big Dick pushed back and you killed his kid. We know all that, but we want to know who helped you.”

  “Fuck you,” Paro says, changing gears. “I don’t owe you shit. I ain’t telling you shit either.”

  “Oh, you’ll talk,” Pax says, swinging his bat and barely missing Paro’s nose. “The question is how long before you beg to get chatty.”

  “I wouldn’t hurt anyone. I’m not that kind of guy. That’s why I have Sandy. I don’t have the stomach to hurt people.”

  “Are you saying Sandy killed Tiny?” I ask.

  Sandy glares at Paro, but says nothing. Paro sees an out and keeps babbling.

  “Sandy wanted to make a move. He was always pushing me, but I wanted to stay loyal to the club. Trigger is a good guy. I don’t care about his heart attack. He’s a badass and I wanted to stay loyal, but Sandy said we should make a move.”

  “Sandy didn’t do it on his own. He’s just muscle.”

  “Ask him who helped. Don’t ask me. I’m loyal.”

  I gesture for Pax to follow me out of the freezer. Once we shut the door, the two men begin arguing. I grin at my brother.

  “Sandy’s going to talk.”

  “Paro doesn’t have the balls to kill anyone. He’s not lying about that. Besides smacking around women, he’s useless.”

  “They’re working with someone. That’s what we need to know, so don’t break anything important on them until they talk.”

  “I know,” Pax says, frowning.

  “Well, you get excited and forget sometimes.”

  “Name one tim…” Pax pauses. “Name ten times that happened.”

  Grinning, I peer through a small window into the freezer. “They’ll bitch at each other then start feeling the cold. We’ll let them suffer then see what they have to say.”

  Pax digs around in his supply bag for a snack. He rips open the candy bar wrapper and takes a bite.

  “How long do we wait?”

  “More than one minute,” I say and he rolls his eyes.

  “So this thing with you a
nd Shay, what happens if her pussy’s magic doesn’t wear off?”

  “What?” I sigh, irritated for no reason.

  “If you and Shay stay together, will she move into the house? Start pushing out baby Fords? What happens?”

  “We’ve been together for less than two weeks.”

  “She’s different. We both know that. If nothing blows up between you two, I figure you’ll want Shay as your old lady. What does that mean for me?”

  “I’m not getting an old lady.”

  Pax chews his candy then tosses the wrapper. “You want her at the house every night. You want her with us all the time. How long before you just move her shit in?”

  “And if I do?”

  “I just want to know where that leaves me.”

  “On the street unless you find a new place.”

  When Pax frowns, I glare for as long as I can before laughing. “Where does that leave me?” I whine. “Oh, Ford, will I be discarded? How will I love without you?”

  Pax glares, faking nothing. “I want to know. You never had a chick stick around. You banged them then they left. Hell, when we went to Taco’s wedding, you brought a chick you picked up the night before. You couldn’t even remember her name.”

  “In my defense, she had a tricky name. Nichelle or something.”

  Pax finally grins. “Shay is different. I’m pretending to be cool with that.”

  “Not well.”

  “Turd.”

  I run my hand through my hair then glance into the freezer to find the men shivering.

  “I admit I like having Shay around. She feels good in my bed and I like her out of it too. Yeah, I guess that makes her special, but we’re not breeding any time soon. She’s not even twenty one and I’m not in the mood for a kid. I’m still figuring out how to have a woman.”

  “So she lives with us?”

  “Sure. Why not? She doesn’t mind your bad habits. She likes Folgers. The dog doesn’t notice she exists and he hated that one broad you brought home.”

  “Kassidy,” Pax says, grinning. “He would ram his nose right in her pussy and she’d scream and he’d bark and she’d scream again. Yeah, those two were not a love match.”

  We share a smile. “You talked shit about Shay ditching her brothers, but she misses them. I see it on her face all the damn time and I know she’s saving to bring them here. If any chick will respect my brother, it’ll be Shay.”