Page 72 of Pirate

“And Owen tracked you down?” Pirate inquired. “Why? Does he blame you for his uncle’s death?”

What Jumper hadn’t said was that he’d been his SEAL team’s leader. Jumper had been the one totakehis team into the building that exploded, which was one of the reasons his survivor’s guilt was so extreme.

Jumper shook his head. “When he finally learned there were survivors from his uncle’s team, he tracked Smeagol and me down so he could learn what wasn’t in the files. I got the feeling he wanted to know if anyone responsible was still alive.”

No one asked if there was.

Steel stood. “Owen will be here on Sunday for the wedding. I know it will be a shock to see him, but he has a right to attend as Jumper’s invited guest. Please make sure you act accordingly and assist those in attendance who did not know Lionheart had an identical twin.”

Sophia was waitingin the clubhouse with Jasmine for the club to descend. They were sitting on the barstools in their fancy dresses, chatting away. Jasmine was beyond impatient to get married and was shaking with excitement that she was on the final countdown.

Her father, Emmett, had arrived the day before. Not only did he come alone, but he also came with the news that he was divorcing Jasmine’s mother. While divorce on the eve of a wedding was generally considered bad luck, this news was met with shouts of joy. Jasmine’s dad would also be moving back up to Pennsylvania to be closer to Jazz.

It was the best wedding gift Sophia could have hoped for for her bestie.

Emmett was looking around the clubhouse, taking everything in and learning about the history of the club. At first, he’d been concerned when he learned Jumper was in a motorcycle club but was now intrigued by the concept.

Jumper, Jasmine, Emmett, and Aerial would be riding together to the steakhouse. Sophia and Pirate would be following on his hog. Jumper and Pirate’s parents would be meeting them at the steakhouse. Since they were staying with Sophia’s parents, it made sense for the four of them to ride together as Rhonda and James didn’t know the area very well.

The club had offered Sophia the use of one of their SUVs while her Beetle was in the shop. Grumpy had replaced her tires but, unfortunately, found a severe amount of rust on her undercarriage. He refused to give it back to her until it was the safest he could make the cage. Since Sophia did not like the idea of driving the large vehicle, Pirate had instead given her thekeys to his Charger. He had his hog and she was much more comfortable in his cage.

In anticipation of riding with a knee-length dress with leggings, Sophia had also purchased a long coat to help protect her. The trench coat opened in the back to allow her to straddle the bike and was made from light but durable leather.

Adingsounded from Jasmine’s phone just as a clap of thunder was heard overhead. Sophia felt her heart sink at the rumbling sound as Jasmine announced, “Looks like that storm decided to head our way after all.”

“Damn,” Sophia cursed. “I really wanted to ride tonight.”

Beyond that, Pirate getting his prosthetic wet wasn’t ideal, she knew there was no way he’d take her riding in the rain. It would be one of those activities he deemed ‘too dangerous’ and ‘unsafe’ for her. Which seemed completely unfair because she had no doubt he’d ridden in the rain before.

“We won’t all be able to squeeze into your truck,” Sophia continued. “I guess we’ll need to hitch a ride with someone else or see if we can borrow one of the SUVs.”

“If you guys leave right away, you should have time to get back to the apartment to switch to his car before the rain hits.” Jasmine pulled up the radar on her phone and turned it to show Sophia.

Sophia looked at the moving colors on her bestie’s screen and then up at Jazz. “You’re showing that to me as if I have any idea what it is I am looking at.”

Jasmine chuckled and turned the phone back towards her. “As long as they finish up soon, you’ll have enough time.”

“You could have just said that and not bothered with the show and tell.” Sophia stuck out her tongue.

“I did!” Jasmine laughed.

Emmett walked up to them from the other side of the bar. It was nice to see him looking so carefree. Sophia’s memoriesof him from their childhood, he always seemed rundown. She never remembered him standing up for himself and he was always being degraded by Mrs. Sharpe for something or another. Sophia was proud of him for developing a backbone. Life was too short to be spending it with such a miserable and bitter toad.

“I can’t tell you how great it is to see the two of you together. Not many friendships last the test of time, but you two have held strong.”

Jasmine beamed at her dad. “Thanks, Dad.” Nudging Sophia’s shoulder, she said, “I didn’t really have a choice in the matter. Sophia’s like a fungus I just can’t shake.”

Sophia snorted. “I’ve been called worse.”

Jazz leaned over and pressed a kiss to Sophia’s cheek.

The doors overhead opened up. The club came out, chatting amongst themselves as they came down the steps. Jasmine and Sophia swiveled on the bar stools to watch their men descend. It was such a relief to finally be able to call Pirate ‘her man’. Both of them had been so blind to their feelings and it was unknowingly weighing both of them down. Though they’d only been dating, officially, for two weeks, it had been a very good two weeks.

As the brothers approached, they were walking on the wrong side of each other to get to the correct woman. Pirate took a slight step back so he could slip behind Jumper so he was in front of Sophia instead of Jasmine.

The brothers each leaned over his woman. While Pirate put his hands on the bar around Sophia to claim her lips, Jumper cradled Jasmine’s face like she was precious glass and tipped her face up to meet his.

Emmett cleared his throat from behind the bar. Sophia saw Jumper’s scowl at being interrupted by his fiancée’s father. She and Jazz shared a look before having to glance away to contain their giggles.

---