Christine rubbed her hands against the denim of her jeans and took a deep breath. "You sure you want to do this?" Jagger asked. He stood behind her, Steele at her side, Bianca at his."If you do, I do. I think we need to. This is the one thing that's been holding me back; I need to make peace with it."She felt Jagger's hand on her shoulder as she ascended the old porch steps. It had been a long two months of counseling that she'd undergone. Sometimes Travis would come and sit in with her, sometimes Jagger would. Every time, she and Doc Jones would work on some part of her childhood or adulthood that had caused her anxiety. At her last session, Jagger had been there, and Doc Jones suggested that the two of them go back to their childhood home, together. She thought that it would go a long way in making them feel better about the way things had gone down. It would give them a sense of closure that neither one of them ever had."I do," he told her. "If you two don't mind," sh
Christine lay that night in Travis' arms, her head resting against his chest, listening to his heart beat strongly. This had quickly become her favorite place in the world. She loved that he would take off his shirt, open his arms, and expect her to snuggle up next to him. That heartbeat was what got her through the hard days, and the smile that he gave her was what made the other ones so easy. He had been there through everything, and she knew that she gotten lucky. She hadn't ever known another man who had loved her as unconditionally as he did. He might not have said the words, but he proved it to her every day in everything thing he did."Are you okay?" he asked, running his hands up and down her back. "I know that couldn't have been easy for you."When they had gotten back to the clubhouse, Liam had called a meeting and set run schedules for the next few weeks, and he hadn't had a chance to talk to her. Things were getting back to normal now, and he wanted to make sure that sh
Travis Steele sat in front of his bank of monitors, doing what he did best. After the past few months, he had to admit that besides with Christine, this was where he felt the absolute most comfortable. Grabbing a sucker, he opened it and stuck the piece of candy in his mouth, rolling it around with his tongue. Rolling his neck on his shoulders, he readjusted his glasses and took note of the time. It was getting to be late evening, and Christine should be getting home."Hey, babe." She appeared in the doorframe."I was just thinking that you should be getting home anytime now," he told her, moving back from the desk so that she could come sit in his lap."B and I got our hair highlighted at the shop," she explained, having a seat where he patted his thigh. She reached over, taking his glasses off and sitting them on the desk.He took the invitation and buried his face in her hair. He loved the smell of it after she got it done. There was something about the products they used at
VOLUME SIX: SECOND CHANCE LOVESharon—better known as Roni—Walker, sighed deeply. Today was her thirty-sixth birthday, and just what the fuck did she have to show for herself? Not a damn thing. She had spent most of her life bowing down to a father who didn't care one iota about her and living for a brother who wasn't exactly her brother. Half-brother, but not full-blood. Funny, that fact seemed to bother her more than Liam; finding out the truth had taken a part of her identity away she hadn't realized she counted on. Her life had been spent taking care of Liam since their mother had left. Now it almost felt like she'd put in all the work for no good reason. It made her sad and made her question the direction of her life. Had she tread water for too long?Her phone went off from where it sat beside her. Scrolling through, she saw more happy birthday messages, these from her niece and nephew, Mandy and Drew. She loved those kids with everything she had, and she would absolutely do
Summer 1998Not many things scared Roni Walker. In fact, the list of things that would was very short. Five, tops. Number one? Falling in love. Number two? Falling in love with Rooster Hancock.Damned if she hadn't just broken both rules one and two. An instance of drunken debauchery with her little brother's best friend and she was done for. It'd been stupid and the worst mistake of her life up to this point."Roni, I'm sorry," she heard him yelling as he beat on the door.He was sorry? Sorry he'd made her look like such a dumbass? Or sorry he'd lied to her in the first place? She'd show him. She'd go to this party, find the first guy who paid her any attention, and let him have a piece."Fuck off, Rooster!" she screamed through the wood that bent with every beat of his fist."Fine," she heard the anger in his voice. "You get whatever you fuckin' deserve."Roni shook her head, coming out of the flashback. That night had changed their lives drastically. By the end of the
Roni put off going inside the clubhouse for as long as she could. It wasn't until she saw Jagger, B, and Layne pull up that she started making her way towards it. She wouldn't easily be able to explain why she was standing outside playing on her cell phone if they asked. She'd never been the type to be obsessed or engrossed with it. It wasn't an extension of her arm, like it was for other people."About time you came inside," Denise teased as she made her way to the kitchen. Denise was the only person that she'd told about her birthday ride with Rooster."Laugh it up," she told her sister-in-law. "Do you need help in here? Please tell me you need help in here.""You're going to have to talk to him at some point, Roni." Denise shook her head. "You can't keep avoiding him forever.""Yes, I can." Her tone was adamant. She'd done it successfully for over four months. There was no reason she couldn't continue to do so."No really, you can't. I heard him and Liam talking the other
The sun had finally set and, with it, the heat of the day had receded. July in Kentucky was usually hot and muggy, but they'd been blessed this summer that it'd been one of the coolest on record. It was comfortable enough that they actually had a bonfire going. Roni sat in the corner, nursing a glass of strawberry margarita that Bianca had given her at some point. She wasn't in the mood to drink tonight, was barely in the mood to be around other people. She should have told Liam that she hadn't been up to dinner at the clubhouse."I think I'm gonna head out," she told Denise, tapping her on the shoulder."Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, worry in her eyes."I am. I'm just really tired trying to get the office back in order. Bless his heart, but Liam is not a businessman in that sense of the word," she laughed. The words weren't a lie. He'd done the best he could with what he had, but Liam hadn't been prepared to run a shop at the drop of a hat."Don't work too hard," Denis
The next morning, Roni pulled into Walker's Wheels and took an excited breath when she realized she was the first person there. She could get so much more accomplished without the guys milling around asking her questions. The previous bookkeeper had been a good one, but the cancer diagnosis for her husband had thrown her for a loop. Roni could see without anyone telling her when he'd been diagnosed. The work had become sloppy and then Liam had taken over. She'd walked into a total shit fest, but that was okay, because that was what she always did. Cleaned up everyone else's mess. It's what she'd done since Liam and Rooster had cleaned up hers. Her life had been dedicated at that point to helping either one of them at any time. Guilt had eaten at her, it still ate at her. She wasn't sure she would ever forgive herself, but that was her cross to bear, not theirs.Walking into the office, she turned on the lights and shut off the alarm. It was quiet here, almost unnerving compared to wh