Page 21 of Ranger's Rise
“Did you expect it to be hard?” I smile thinking this is a little weird for morning-after conversation.
He bends and kisses my cheek. “No. I’ve felt it before, but even before you brush it, it’s silky soft. It’s thick and the curls make me think it will be coarse and get knotted easy, but it’s not.”
I stand still as he runs his hands through my hair. I have to say this is a first and I’m not moving until he’s done. At twenty-seven, you'd think someone would have liked my hair, but men don’t do the girly thing with me.
He stands in front of me and tips my face up with a finger under my chin. “You’re beautiful, Freedom. Thank you for last night and this morning. I’ll be thinking about tonight all day. I’ve never had to fight to control myself.” He shakes his head. “You really did blow my mind.” His eyes show his truth and I nod.
“It was the same for me. Go to work before I undress you again.”
He smiles and steps back. “I have a breakfast meet with VP. I can’t be late.”
With another kiss, he’s gone and I’m watching the door. Victory comes in with a plate of her vegan frozen sandwiches. I shake my head to clear it.
“He didn’t want one either. You’re both beeza.”
I don’t want that shit, but have no idea what the fuck she just said. “Beezua? What the fuck is that?” I say it slow, so I get it right.
She spells it, B-E-E-Z-A, wrong for the way she’s saying it, but it’s her word. “Beeza or beezy. It means upity, snobby. I heard it at the Club by the shopping center a couple of times the night Harmony took me out. My food is good. You’re just too beezy to appreciate a thirty-second meal.”
“With all the Brothers learning words of the day, you think spouting slang gibberish makes you look cool in their eyes?”
She stops before she bites into the grayish sandwich she’s holding. “You’re probably right. I’m not smart and never did good in school like you.”
Correcting her will make her point so I go the other way. “You are smart. You run a business, you bought me out of it, it always makes a profit and you have an excellent memory. When the Brothers use the word of the day, remember it so you can use it too. If nothing else, it gives you a topic of conversation to talk to them about.”
She nods swallowing her food. It makes me want to gag, but I keep it together and walk to the bathroom. She follows and starts talking as I shower. “I’m going to learn the words of the day. Do they still get them from Rex?”
“It gets sent out every morning. I’ll send you the link to get the text.”
“You have a bite mark on your ass. Your man is an animal. I like that in a man. Where else did he leave his mark?”
“Get the fuck out!” I throw the loofa thing she bought me at her.
When the door slams, I breathe then smile. He left three marks that I saw. I didn’t know about my ass.
~*
Ranger
Ordering right after VP, I wait for what this is about.
“Hade isn’t coming back. He’s pissed about not being considered for SAA, even as a temp. Freedom not riding on the back of his bike and the Brothers laughing about it were brought up in anger too.” He makes life easy not dragging it out.
I take that in and swing my head. “He shot Cort while he was drunk. Granted, I had something to do with that, but the Brothers still talk shit about it. He lost respect and never owned it with them to get that back. It was an easy fix, showing remorse, he didn’t take it and the Brothers don’t have a reason to let it go. They won’t be surprised and will hold that forever with him leaving.”
He nods. “Yeah. You’re good with the group thing. You must have been a hell of an SAA and you’ll be a good President. Hade came up in the Club with us. Cort isn’t willing to keep him around when we just went through Brothers turning and one that came up with us letting it play out. Hade mentioned Freedom a few times, Lorelei once and Seren twice. He doesn’t believe women belong in the Club. Cort tried to give Freedom a job as Enforcer, so he’s not stopping what he sees as progress. When he told Hade, he blew up and everything flowed out.”
Fuck. Freedom being mentioned wouldn’t be told to me unless I need it. He’s not done. “Hade dropped his cut and will pledge to Jordan. He’s an Enforcer and Ops Lead. Jordan won’t offer Officer, but will take him as a member.” That’s smart.
“Hade going for that?”
He shrugs. “He says he’s good with it. I think after everything that’s happened, he’s relieved to be getting back to the city and have a Club to call home. Shooting Cort hit him, but like you said, he won’t own it. He’s blaming you and you just took a job he’s wanted forever.” He is, but I owned it with Cort, Seren and the Brothers.
“Why didn’t he get the job before? He came up in the Club and Falcon was months in.”
He smiles. “Cort reads people and didn’t think he’d be a good fit for the job. Crow took Falcon, but Cort was President after and never moved Hade. Don’t get me wrong, Hade is a good Brother and was loyal until recently. He’s using anything he can find as an excuse for what he fucks up. Everything that’s happened over the last year is Cort’s fault, including Freedom because she’s at the office. The condos she’s in are for support staff. Every single person there is not a member, but he focused on her getting a place to live. Cort still wants to give her a job, but she won’t take it. I think her refusal had to do more with Hade than her.”
Her surprise at some shit and a few things she’s said have me wanting to agree. “You might be right. I got a few comments that struck me as wrong. She has some concerns about Hade that had to do with Cort. She’ll bring them to you so you can watch feeds and make a decision. I think she was nervous about starting shit that wasn’t real, but based on what you’re saying, it’s real.”
