Page 41 of Ace

We exited the back door.A prospect I hadn’t met yet was sitting on the back porch.

“Dodge, meet Emma.She’s with Prez.We’re going to do some target practice.”Jewel gave the young guy a dazzling smile as the three of us tripped down the steps and headed toward a field behind the clubhouse.

“He’s new around here, and Jewel thinks he’s cute.”Jasmine laughed when Jewel growled at her.

“He is cute, but Dad would kill him if he looked at me sideways so there’s not much point in getting to know him any better.”Jewel sighed.“Sometimes it sucks having a biker for a dad.”

“You live with your dad full time?”

Jasmine nodded.“Yup.Mom and he split up and she shacked up with a creepy guy from Atlanta, so we opted to stay with Dad.”

Before I could ask, Jewel chimed in.“Mom’s boyfriend is a banker, and he’d expect us to act like perfect little southern ladies.Not our style.I think everyone was happy when we said we wanted to stay here.We still see Mom a lot.She comes down, or we go up there for holidays.It works as good as anything can.”

“How old are you?”My guess was eighteen so when Jewel said fifteen, I was taken aback.“You look older than that.”

“Thanks.”Jewel laughed.“We try.Dad is kind of strict about us not wearing much makeup and staying out of sight when the club hosts parties.I think he wants us to stay his little girls forever.”

“Sound like a nice guy.”I couldn’t keep the note of envy out of my voice.The last time I’d seen my father he’d been heading out the door and I’d been six years old.

“So how old are you?”Jewel threw the question out innocently enough.

“Twenty-three.”

“Wow.“

I raised one brow.“Wow?”

“I thought you’d be older.Ace is like over thirty.”

“We’re not permanent.”

She didn’t look convinced.“Ace sounded pretty sure when he told the guys you were off limits.That means he doesn’t want any of his brothers fooling around with you.And that means he thinks you’re permanent.”

She was young.Probably believed in happily ever after and all that crap.Far be it for me to disillusion her.Time to bring the subject back to the task at hand.

“Tell me how this shooting thing works?”

Jasmine motioned me over and showed me all the parts of the gun -- the safety, the magazine, the barrel, the stock.“This one is really easy to use.”She demonstrated how to load a cartridge into the chamber.“This will also eject the spent cartridge, the one you’ve already shot.”

She picked up the magazine and held it up for me to see.“This is a 10-shot magazine.You fill it like this.”She slotted a few of the cartridges in, then handed it over to me to finish.When she was satisfied that I had done it correctly, she showed me how to insert the magazine into the rifle.She stressed how to check that the magazine was empty, and not to ever point the barrel at anything I didn’t intend to shoot.

“Most firearm accidents are caused by guns that the person thought was unloaded.”Jewel shook her head solemnly.“Always check for yourself.You do not want to be that person who shoots their best friend.”

When it came to firearms, both of the girls dropped the giggly teenage personas and became deadly serious.

Satisfied that I knew the basics, Jewel set up a target against an old hay bale and showed me how to stand, how to hold the stock snug against my shoulder to minimize the kickback, and how to sight down the target.My first few shots went wide, but by the time I’d emptied the first magazine, I was hitting the target, although not the bullseye.

Both girls looked impressed.

“You’re a natural,” Jasmine said.“Ace is going to be very proud of you.”

“Yes, he is.”

I turned to see Ace striding across the field toward us.Making sure to keep the muzzle pointed at the ground, I handed the twenty-two to Jasmine and raced to throw myself in my lover’s arms.

Yeah.I was ready to admit he meant something to me.At least for now.Maybe.Or for a long time.

Why did life have to be so confusing?

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