The whole group spreads out blankets and congregates in a loose circle. Everyone talking, laughing, and catching up with each other.
Pants can’t stop talking about Foghorn’s demonstration. When he takes a breath, I reach over and tap his leg.
“Pants—did you get that name because you like gettin’ in the girls’ pants?” I tease.
His mouth curls into a devilish smirk. “Nope.”
Jigsaw raises his hand. “I actually know this one.”
Pants waves his hand in a grand gesture. “Speak, brother.”
“This motherfucker’s so scary, he once made a guy shit his pants just by paying him a visit.”
“Once?” Steer snorts. “It was definitely more than once. And more than one dude.”
So far all I’ve seen of Pants is the funny, protective bouncer with a passion for female anatomy. I peer at Rooster with a raised eyebrow. “I’m not buying it.”
“It’s true,” he whispers.
“You’re not buying it, Shelby?” A sly grin spreads over Pants’ face. “That what you said?”
“Well, you’ve been nothin’ but sweet to me and all the ladies seem to really enjoy your attention.” The guys all laugh and heckle him, but Pants beams with pride.
A few of the young women who tagged along don’t seem to be with any one particular brother. While we’re joking around with Pants, one girl loops her arms over Rooster’s shoulders, hugging him from behind. “Rooster, holy fuck, I haven’t seen you in forever. Missed your face.”
My heart drops into my stomach. Uh-oh, here comes that stabby feeling.
Rooster must sense my urge to search for a knife. He carefully removes her hands from his body. “How you been, Anita?”
“Don’t let Rooster’s good boy act fool ya, Shelby,” Hopper calls out. “He was after all the girls back in the day. Ain’t that right?”
Anita’s mouth twists into a mischievous smirk and she turns, nodding to another girl. “Nah, sorry to tell ya, Hopper, but Dana and I used to let everyone think that so you wouldn’t find out he and Heather were hooking up.”
Heather and Acorn both turn to stare at us.
Well, that got uncomfortable fast.
Hopper scowls at his daughter, then Rooster, who shrugs.
“Oops. Sorry.” Anita giggles and touches her fingers to her lips. “Didn’t think it needed to be a secret anymore since everyone’s moved on.”
“Yeah, well, we settled that score, didn’t we, Rooster?” Hopper challenges.
Rooster continues staring at him without saying a word. Honestly, Rooster’s expression is so dang scary, no words need to be said.
A few of the brothers who hadn’t been involved in the conversation turn and look our way.
Anita sways over to Hopper, dropping into his lap and diverting his attention. “I’ll make it up to you, Daddy Hopper. Promise,” she says in a breathy sex-kitten voice.
“Yeah, you will.” He flips her over and slaps her ass.
Will it be rude if I hurl into one of those coolers?
Poor Heather groans and looks away. Can’t blame the woman. Watching her dad grope a girl around her age has to be pretty damn icky.
Not to be left out of the awkward and inappropriate Olympics, Dana executes this odd crawl-prowl-slither-through-the-grass move, that I suppose is meant to look sexy. She ends up hanging over Jigsaw’s arm. “We definitely took care of you,” she whispers loud enough for everyone to hear. “Many, many times.”
He leans in and murmurs something in her ear.
I glance at Rooster whose tight expression squeezes my heart. Rubbing myself against him, I lean in and whisper, “Hopper slappin’ that girl’s ass almost made me toss my cookies. She’s gotta be close to his daughter’s age.”
His mouth curves into a slow smile and he turns, touching his forehead to mine. “Come take a walk with me?”
“Sure.” Anything to get away from all the awkwardness.
Jigsaw glances over at us and nods as Rooster stands and pulls me off the ground. We leave the group without anyone else harassing us.
Small wooden signs along the main path direct us to different trails. Rooster finally veers onto one that says Rider Falls.
“This one’s pretty from what I remember,” he says, taking my hand and pulling me closer.
“So that was all kinds of awkward back there, huh?”
He nods. “Expected nothing less from Hopper. Sorry, though.”
“I don’t know.” I squeeze his hand and swing our arms back and forth. “It’s sort of a sweet story. The club girls banding together to cover for the star-crossed couple so her daddy don’t find out and pump him full of lead.”
“Oh yeah,” he snorts, “a true romance.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Honestly, it wasn’t as serious of a relationship for me as I think it was for her. I liked her. Enough to risk gettin’ my ass kicked. But she was talkin’ property patches and rings.” He shakes his head. “After Ashley, I didn’t want that serious a commitment.”
“Why’s that? Still had lots of bunnies out there to explore?” I tease.
“Eh.” He shrugs not really answering the question.