Page 43 of Devil's Work: Dark

“Oh, Dark… the salads.”

“You didn’t have to bring anything,” Nic replies.

“No, no… I was informed that women don’t show up to a cookout without bringing something.”

“She’s not wrong.” She turns to Rae. “Why don’t I get you and the kids some drinks while Dark goes to grab your stuff?”

Feeling confident that Rae’s settling in, I head out to the front. Dusty’s just pulling into the drive and Reap is walking over from the club. “Brother,” I greet him. He waits for his de facto woman while I get the swimsuit bag and cooler from the back of the truck.

“How’s Rae handling the situation?” Dusty asks.

“Best she can. It’s a shit situation. But she’s so damn strong. I don’t know how she hasn’t broken yet.”

“Because she’s strong,” Dusty agrees. “But at least there’s a silver lining. I doubt you two would’ve ever hooked up otherwise.”

When we get back to the patio, Rae is sitting next to Nic and Greer with Lacy on her lap. Ty’s playing with his Matchbox truck on the ground by her feet. “I have to admit, I’ve been wanting to meet you,” I hear her say. “All I hear about from the prospects is how Nic has the great ass and Greer has those giant tits.”

Greer looks down at her chest. “They’re even bigger than they were. It’s so annoying. But Sarge is a tit man among other things, so it works itself out.”

I lug the cooler over to the table, where Vlad is laying out a platter of cheeseburgers. He’s got some hotdogs, too. I’m assuming for the kids. Sarge is standing next to him drinking his beer. As I’m pulling Rae’s salads to put on the table next to the other food, I ask him, “You don’t mind that?”

“Mind what?” Sarge asks.

“Greer spilling your business like that.”

“She’s not lying. I fucking love her tits normally, but they’re next-level right now. I’ll be having some fun with them when we get home tonight.”

Reaper walks over to our group, slapping both Vlad and Sarge on the back. “You brothers owe me some money.”

“Money for what?” I ask. Reap prospected right after I patched in. We spent a lot of time with me showing him the ropes. He’s been my best friend in the club ever since.

“When we saw how you looked at Rae in Dusty’s office that first day, and then you volunteered to be her guard, we took bets on how long it’d take you to get over your hang-ups and make that woman yours.”

I narrow my eyes on them. “You took bets?”

“Cut thought a week. Rough thought you’d be in her pants that night. These two”—Reap gestures with his head over to Vlad and Sarge—“thought it would take longer. They’re both a couple weeks out still. But they don’t know you as well as I do. Rae’s not easy, so I knew it wouldn’t be within the first week, which is what they”—he gestures to the other brothers again—“thought wouldn’t happen for a while. They bet she’d keep you waiting. Now, I knew she’d keep you on your toes. But I also know your limits of going without pussy.”

“Fuckers. All of you.”

They laugh.

“How much you win?” I ask Reap.

“A hundred off each man. I plan on taking Dusty on a nice vacation. Putting the money toward that.”

“To celebrate anything?” I ask. “Like officially making her your old lady?”

His face hardens. “That one’s not on me.” Then he turns back to the table. “Can we eat? I’m starved.”

What the hell is that about? He and I need to talk later.

“Yeah,” Vlad says. “Dig in.”

I turn to where Rae and the kids are sitting. “Ty, bud, come here so we can fix your plate.”

Ty comes running over. “Hot dog,” the kid says. “And corn dip and chips.”

After getting his hot dog, squirting ketchup on it, and dropping a spoonful of dip along with the chips on his plate, I walk with him over to the patio table.

---