Page 45 of Defended By Bam
Bama was not fine with her being dropped off, so he had a few of the newer members posted at the daycare center that hostedthe pre-k classes. It was sweet how he worried, but I hoped the daycare didn’t notice they had biker spies every day. He walked in with me to check the place out when I first enrolled her. Some of the staff seemed scared of Bama, while others couldn’t keep their eyes to themselves. And that didn’t change as we dropped her off daily.
As we exited the truck, Bama carried her inside, his eyes scanning everywhere before he gave her a big hug, then let her down. After I got my own squeeze, and shot dagger eyes at a few of the teachers, I grabbed Bama’s hand and walked outside.
I climbed into the truck after he opened the door, and he leaned in, grabbing my chin and pulling me toward him for a deep kiss.
When I remembered where we were, I pulled back, asking, “What was that for?”
His thumb brushed over my cheek. “I love your little jealous side.”
I smacked at his chest. “Jealous? Last time I checked I was the one riding around with you and living at your house.” Jealous. How silly.
He shut the door, then walked around and climbed in, starting the truck. “Possessive.”
“What?”
He grabbed my hand, then looked around. Once his eyes landed on the member on duty for the day, he said, “You’re not jealous. But possessive. And I love it. Because I’m a little possessive, too.”
I couldn’t argue with that. And it was sweet how he gave side-eye to anyone who got too close to me.
Once Sofie started school, I started going to the clubhouse during the day to help Glenda and the others. They cleaned, cooked, organized, you name it. It was sort of like running a hotel. Only the hotel was full of bikers, and they liked to party.
I could tell when they had a real party versus a random night. They weren’t complete slobs, but the smoke was worse, and I’d find a few bottles laying around.
Glenda told me she’d been dropping hints to some of the guys that the ladies would be wilder if they took them to a room. She was trying hard to get me to come hang out in the evening, but without having somewhere for Sofie to hang out, I wasn’t sure I was ready to have her around just in case things did get rowdy.
But we’d brought Sofie over to swim in the pool after school loads of times now. She loved it, and the women fawned over her. Bama kept a close watch on us both when he was around, but he seemed more at ease with us at the clubhouse.
Being able to see new walls and let Sofie burn off some energy was good for us both. I liked having a bit of work. Bama insisted I didn’t need to be cleaning or cooking at the clubhouse because we didn’t live there, but I didn’t mind. I couldn’t keep sitting around, and he didn’t like the idea of a random job when I suggested maybe I should find work.
We pulled in, and he led me inside. After walking me to the kitchen to find Glenda before he gave me another mind-blowing kiss and went to find Hammer.
“Hey, Linny. Not too shabby today. Shouldn’t take too long,” Glenda said.
A cute woman named Pinkie came over and gave me a hug. “Hey, honey! You hungry?” Pinkie had hair the shade of pink cotton candy, plump lips that stayed glossy, and huge fake breasts, but she was the sweetest woman I’d ever met. Even sweeter than Glenda.
I’d grown to love Glenda, but I learned if I was caught on a girls’ night in a back alley, Glenda was the one you wanted with you. Pinkie probably wouldn’t go down without a fight, but I was fairly certain Glenda could take someone out with some crazy pressure point maneuver, and she invited me to go to a gunrange to learn to shoot. She didn’t talk much about her days in the army, but she seemed to be pretty badass and learning those skills only amplified that.
“I’m good. Bama fed us before we dropped Sofie off. But I appreciate it.” He still was constantly feeding me. I gained a few pounds back, but I wasn’t upset about it. And he didn’t seem to be, either.
Pinkie leaned in, popping my cheek with her glossy-looking lips but nothing rubbed off on my face before running off with a plate of food, probably for one of the members. I had to ask about that gloss sometime.
Glenda and I grabbed some supplies from the cupboard and headed to the main hangout area. It used to be the main casino. I learned this place was hopping at one point but once Katrina hit the area, the hotel and casino never recovered. After roaming around and learning more about the club, it was kind of perfect.
Whatever had been near it before had been destroyed by the massive storm, and the area wasn’t rebuilt except for a few smaller businesses like gas stations and a few homes, but none were close enough to see or hear anything. At least I didn’t think so.
Glenda gave me the rundown on all my random questions about the place, but she wasn’t from Alabama, either. In fact, she was from Georgia, too, but after she went to the service she moved around a lot until she finally got discharged and ended up nearby because of Reggie. She didn’t talk about him much, but when she did, I could see the hurt in her eyes and hear the crack in her voice. I didn’t know what happened to him and didn’t want to tear open that wound.
We were heading down the stairwell toward the laundry area when a tall man with a black bandana covering his head stood at the bottom of the staircase we had just rounded. His deep voiceechoed when he drew out, “Hey Glenda.” I couldn’t decide if his greeting was sexy or scary.
She paused briefly, then squared her shoulders and took the last few steps toward the small platform he was crowding. “Hey,” she answered, then pushed past him, slamming the exit door open but holding it open. “C’mon, Linny.”
His dark eyes followed her. I’d been around a lot during the day, so I met some of the guys, but I hadn’t seen him. He was about Bama’s size, with a dark, short beard and even more tattoos than Bama. He wore the same cut, so he was a member, but I was afraid to stop long enough to look for a rank or his name. Instead, I gave a weary smile then scurried down the steps to run after Glenda, trying to not brush against him.
“Hey,” I whisper-shouted as I caught up to her. “Who was that guy?”
She let out a heavy sigh. “Leigh. Let’s go move the laundry then grab a bite. I’m starving.”
The quick change of topic made me curious. Obviously, she didn’t want to talk about it now, but I had a ton of questions. Instead of pushing the issue, I helped switch over the laundry and then followed her to the main room.
