"Do I need to tape your ribs?" Bianca asked as she saw Jagger sit gingerly on the bed."That would be a good idea. They don't hurt so much today, but they're still sore to the touch. There's some medical tape in the bathroom. Not sure if it's on the counter or under the sink."She nodded, heading into the bathroom. Glancing at the counter, she grinned. Jagger was not the cleanest of guys. He was very disorganized, and she couldn't help but straighten up as she searched for the tape she needed. Not seeing it, she bent down and opened the cabinet door. There was a huge mess. Pulling things out, she continued to search when she came to a packet of papers. She knew she shouldn't look, but she couldn't help it. Glancing through them, she saw a birth certificate that read John Edward Stone, the date of birth was right with Jagger's age. She wondered if it was his and Jagger was just a nickname. She snickered, he probably hated his real name with a passion. Tucking that information into h
Jagger lay in the hot tub, his head thrown back as he sighed. This was heavenly."You comfortable?" Bianca asked, a smile on her face."This is the best I've felt in days."A thought occurred to her. "Why didn't you use this when you first came home?"He shrugged. "I was feeling sorry for myself. Pissed off that it had happened and embarrassed really. You don't like to admit to other members of the club that you've laid your bike down.""Stupid macho pride?" she finished for him."Pretty much."He held his arms out to her. "Why don't you come over here and sit next to me?""Don't think you're going to get fresh with me, Jagger Stone. You're hurt."She had no idea how much he wished he could do the things he wanted to do with her. Say the feelings that bubbled up in his throat every time he saw her. He just knew that he would scare her away, and that was the last thing he wanted to do."I'm not going to. I just want to feel you next to me."When he said things like
A week later, the snow had melted, and everyone was getting back into the normal swing of things. "I so need another job," Bianca sighed as she got her mail and trudged up the rickety stairs to her apartment. It had been a long night with not nearly as much money as she had hoped to get. She was still running short thanks to the snow, and that even included the money that Jagger still hadn't taken from her. Even though the snow was gone, it was still very cold, and she shivered as her hands fumbled with the lock on the door. Finally turning it, she all but stumbled into her apartment. It was cozy since she had left the heat up high, but now she had to think about the gas bill that was coming."It's a never-ending cycle," she mumbled, throwing her stuff on her couch and taking her mail with her to the kitchen.Rifling through it, she saw bills and groaned. Doubt plagued her. Wouldn't it be easier just to quit school and get a real job that allowed her to do most of what she wa
"Why is it hopping on the night I wanted to go home early? I'm gonna make such a good impression tomorrow. This is the Lord's Day, and all of these people are sinning with their drinking and sex," Bianca whined.She and her fellow waitress Jasmine had been busting butt for nearly four hours as they tried to keep up with the constant stream of patrons wanting food and drink in the club. "I don't know, girl, but my clothes are wet I'm sweating so much," Jasmine whined as well, pulling her shirt away from her body."Heads up," Dominic, their head bouncer, said as he stuck his head through the open kitchen door. "That guy that's been giving you both a hard time just sat his fat ass in Bianca's section."Bianca rolled her eyes and sighed. Jagger was here tonight, and she knew that this wouldn't be good. "Motherfucker! Could he not pick another night to come in?"They had taken to calling him Money Bags. He flashed a lot of cash, and it was obvious he enjoyed the finer things in l
Bianca's stomach rolled as she walked up the front walkway to the middle school she would be teaching at for the day. She hadn't ever been this nervous in her life, but she wanted so much to make a good impression and do a good job. Her hands shook as she opened the door and made her way to the front office.The office was hopping, lots of talking and students coming in and out. It surprised her to see some of them at the school this early. A young woman sat at the front desk, a telephone to her ear, already looking stressed to the max."Hi, I'm not sure where I'm supposed to go. My name is Bianca Hawks, and I'm substituting today," she explained to the woman she assumed was the secretary."Oh hi! Sorry, it's a little bit crazy in here today. We also had a few bus drivers need subs, and now they're all running behind. Some of them didn't even pick up their kids, so that's why we have these kids in here – parents had to drop them off, and now they're making complaints." She took a
Later that night, Bianca logged into her email account to see if she had been added to any more sub jobs or to see if her professors had sent out any new assignments. There was one email from Stacey in her inbox.Intrigued, she opened it.Bianca, It was nice to meet you today. I realize this was your first time in a school in this capacity, so I thought it might help you to know a few things. Please don't take this as me talking down to you, I liked you upon meeting you today, so take this in the spirit that it's meant to be – helpful. Never, ever cuss when you're at school – unless you are friends (and I mean friends) with the person that you're talking to. I know that your boyfriend was probably an asshole, and if we had been out at a bar, like say, Wet Wanda's, that would be fine, but some of these teachers will chew you up and spit you out. Same with the note from your boyfriend. Don't let him cuss in those again. Smaller things have lost teachers jobs. I like you and I thin
"You wanna go home with me?" Jagger asked as he came out of the back room, putting his cut back on.She was still glancing periodically at Money Bags, but gave Jagger her full attention when he came to stand in front of her. Casually, he took one arm and placed it on the bar, before placing his other arm on the other side, effectively boxing her in."I would love to, but I have stuff I need to do tomorrow," she sighed, putting her hands in his belt loops and pulling him towards her.He leaned down, nuzzling her neck with his mouth. "That sucks," he groaned. "I was really hoping to spend some time with you tonight"Agreement was on the tip of her tongue. "How about you come home with me?"His eyes flashed in genuine surprise. "You sure?" "If you are. I mean, if you can't because you need to be at the clubhouse, I understand.""No, that's not it at all. I'm actually off duty right now. You just want me to follow you over on my bike?""Yeah, that way if you need to leave
"I could get used to this. With you here, I'm not cold."Jagger laughed. The two of them were lying on her couch, watching reruns of The Big Bang Theory. He had laid down first and opened his arms for her. With only a little bit of hesitation, she had fallen into those arms and pulled a blanket over them. For over an hour, she had snuggled so tightly against him that he didn't know where he ended and she began. If asked, he might even say that this would be a defining moment of his life."That's all I am to you? A heater?" He put his hand over his heart. "You wound me."Moving her head to the side so that she could look at him, the grin that came over her face was contagious. "Speaking of wounding you, when did you take that picture to put on my phone?"He cracked up in earnest now, laughing so hard she could feel his abdominal muscles contract. "I was wondering when you would see that. You didn't have a picture of me on there so Layne took one of me for you.""Why were you T
The temperature in the cab of the truck was downright frigid as Remy drove to Tyler's house to drop off Addie first. Tatum refused to meet his gaze and that flat out pissed him off. If she was going to give herself to another man and then have the balls to sit in front of him like this, she should at least have the decency to meet his eyes when he looked at her."Am I going to have to explain to Tyler why I'm dropping you off at one in the fucking morning?" Remy glanced in the review mirror of the truck, looking back to where Addie sat in the extended cab."No," she shook her head, looking about as tired and unhappy as he felt. "He's at the clubhouse. He and Mom had planned to stay and they took Caelin with them."Well, thank God for small favors, because the one person besides Liam he didn't want to face off with tonight, was Tyler."You're lucky I don't call him and tell him where the hell you've been. How could you let her go up there with him?" he questioned her, the irrita
Tatum's heart beat through her chest as she followed Gavin upstairs to a much quieter part of the house. Her mouth was dry – the result of her nerves, or the alcohol she'd consumed – she wasn't sure which. Her hand gripped Gavin's tightly, but she knew it wasn't because she was excited, it was because she wanted to yank on it, and stop him from leading her into the empty bedroom. Part of her wanted to put a stop to it, the other part wanted to go through with this so she could throw it in Remy's face. Those stubborn traits she'd inherited from her dad were alive and well tonight.She glanced over her shoulder, spotting Addie pulling out her phone and making a call. The worried look on her friend's face told her all she needed to know. Addie was probably calling in reinforcements and her time had suddenly become very limited."You feelin' good?" his deep voice questioned in her ear, causing her hair to stand up and goosebumps to appear on her arms. This time it was different than wh
Remy was in a piss-poor mood, had been since the night of the Christmas party and everything that had gone down with Tatum. He bit off the head of anyone foolish enough to ask if he was okay. He'd been eating lunch by himself, and overall had been a miserable fucking loner. Even right now, while everyone else was partying their asses off, his big date was being in the gym and beating the ever-loving shit out of a heavy bag. It was the only thing that seemed to calm him the last few days.Hearing his fists connect with the bag felt good, even if it was muted by the gloves he wore. His arms burned, his shoulders and back ached, his chest heaved, and sweat poured down his forehead and into his eyes; making them sting. The sting felt good though, because it distracted him from the guilt he felt for the way he'd treated Tatum. And that guilt was pressing down on him like he was trapped under a thousand-pound boulder.He'd felt every emotion on the spectrum since she'd walked out on him
Tatum's blue eyes took in the party-goers around her. In different parts of the room, she could see members of her graduating class, some kids that were now seniors, and a few college kids. God, this had never been her thing, she'd never found high school or college parties worth anything to her. She could see everything that went on at them and more, at the club parties. Plus, this was a mob mentality – everyone here went along with everyone else, and it was so boring. Nobody had any individuality. Normally, she'd have tossed the invitation in the trash can and not even thought twice about it. She would have spent the night at the club's New Year's party and have an actual good time with her friends and family.Tonight though, she was on a mission."Do you see anybody?" Addie asked as they surveyed the room.Tatum took a drink from the bottle of Strawberry Boone's Farm she carried in her hand. It was the bottom shelf stuff, guaranteed to get you loaded in the least amount of tim
Tatum had never felt anything like the all-consuming lust that blasted through her as soon as Remy grabbed her hip and pulled her deep into his body. She'd thought she had but damn, she was wrong. Her fingers grasped at his shirt, trying to ground herself in the feelings, when she felt his bare palms slip up under the hem of her dress. The sharp intake of breath, and the way he nipped at her lip indicated he'd discovered she'd worn a thong."Fuck, Tate," he moaned as he pulled his lips from hers.She almost cried as he abandoned her lips and smeared his mouth down her neck. She felt the sharp nip of his teeth down to the core of her body. It caused her nipples to tighten further against the lace of strapless bra, and before she knew what she was doing, she was rubbing up against him."Please, Rem," she gasped out when she felt one of his hands on her ass venture back over her hip, and closer to the wetness and heat she felt between her thighs."Has anybody touched you?" he grow
He knew the second she walked in, just like he'd known when she'd entered the bakery. Even seven shots of Pappy in, he could feel her, he knew she was there by the way the hair on the back of his neck stood up, the goosebumps he got on his arms and the way his dick stirred to attention. He wasn't sure what kind of hold Tatum Walker held over him, but it was strong, maybe dangerously so, like some sort of Jedi Mind Trick he'd never be able to resist. And dammit if his hand didn't shake as he took his next shot."Too much for you?" Drew asked as he noticed the slight tremble of the other man's hand.How did he tell the man sitting beside him, he was hard up for his little sister? Easy. He didn't."Nah, I'm good, but I gotta hit the head. Be back."Plan number two when plan number one didn't work? Run and hope she wouldn't follow. As much alcohol as he had consumed, he wasn't sure he could push her away this time. After all, he was only a man and he wasn't immune to the way she lo
He should have brought a date. Those were the first words Remy thought when he walked through the door of the clubhouse. It hit him like a ton of bricks, and all he wanted to do was turn around and head back to Cash and Harper's. Normally, he lived at the clubhouse, but he'd had dinner at their place tonight. He could relieve the babysitter watching Maddy, and he wouldn't have to worry about keeping his guard up.Couples were paired off, which meant anyone without a plus one would be inevitably thrown together. Looking up, he saw mistletoe was hung randomly around the room. Shit. Since he was the youngest, he seemed to be one of the few without a woman on his arm. Sure as the world turned, he'd find himself thrown toward someone tonight.Gazing around the room, he didn't see Tatum and for that he was extremely thankful. He'd been able to avoid her since the day at Harper's bakery, but it'd hadn't been easy. Not that she'd gone out of her way to be around him but they were in the sa
Remy told himself to slow down as he grasped her neck, hauling Tatum closer to him. He cautioned his lust-drunk body not to make a fool of itself. He warned his libido not to let this go too far. They were in the middle of the bakery, in the middle of downtown. Anyone could walk through that door from some dumbass off the street, to her brother, to her dad. But he couldn't stop, couldn't force his hand not to trail down her body and grasp her tight ass in his fingers. He wanted desperately to pull her lower half into his, wanted to shove his thigh between her legs and feel the heat he knew would be there. His tongue was forceful as it made its way into her mouth, testing how far she'd let him go.Turned out she'd let him go as far as he wanted to.His brain tried to warn him that this was progressing too quickly. It was getting too out of control, too fast. If he didn't watch it, he'd be picking her up and putting her ass first against the nearest wall. He was losing his mind, losi
Son of a bitch. Something in the way Tatum's gaze met his made him think he'd said those words loud enough she could hear them. But fuck, she looked amazing. Even more than she usually did. Tatum had been gorgeous for a long time, but with her hair in this new cut, she looked sexy, and almost… sophisticated. But this was Tatum. She'd never fully be a lady, not really. She didn't do dresses unless she had to, she didn't do caked on makeup, and she could hang with the guys – no matter how raunchy it got."Do you like it?" She asked again, this time looking much more unsure than when she'd started out. Very slowly, she ran her fingers through her hair, giving it a tousle.Remy cleared his throat, not sure how honest he wanted to be, but at the same time knowing he couldn't help but be honest. If he lied to her, she would know, and it would do nothing to help the situation they seemed to always find themselves in. The two of them always seemed to be either pushing or pulling at each ot