Page 37 of Fox and Nitro
“Whats with the purse?” Rider asks, shit eating grin on his face.
“The shit that will help us find out who’s pulling the strings,” Gus answers, letting Rider’s teasing roll off his back. He’s probably used to shit talking with his brothers.
“Tav!” Gus calls over his shoulder, “Jules! Need you with me.” Both brothers nod, following Gus inside to where Wire is working his magic.
“Church in two hours,” Marx yells at their back, Jules throwing a wave up in acknowledgement, “Right men, let’s take the long road home.”
Jasmine
“Here you all are,” I say, poking my head into the nursery to find all the Girl Gang members.
“Yep, come in!” Lovely says, cuddling Bee on her lap.
Looking around the room the women are dotted all over. Blanche is lying on a toddler bed with her little girl, Vi is on the floor with Juno, and surprisingly, Laney is playing blocks with Nat’s little girl Rosie, and Ana’s son Jr. Usually Chewy doesn’t allow Laney to play with anything not educational, so it’s nice to see her doing something more in line with a child her age. Pops is in a plush breast feeding chair, and Mad Dog is lounging on apurple velvet chaise looking ridiculous in his heavy black boots and leather cut.
“Where are the other kids?”
“My two are probably on their phones somewhere,” Kaia says.
“Jovie is with Elio and Cove, so they’re probably plotting to blow something up,” Remy says with a grin.
“Who cares about the kids, we need to work out a plan for your sweet little keister,” Mira says, waggling her brows up and down.
“Oh, ah, no we don’t. I’m just going to hang out with Fox and Nitro asfriends,nothing else.” I say, making eye contact with everyone in the room, to show I’m serious.
Vi snorts and rolls her eyes so dramatically I’m afraid I’ll never see them again. “Look, I love you, sister mine, but you need to stop blaming lupus for stuff and instead grab life by the balls.”
Mira snorts, “In this case, life is Fox and Nitro. And balls are, well you know what balls are.”
“It’s not as easy as that! I’ve been living this life for years now. I know what I can and can’t handle. I know how hard and lonely and shitty it is. I know how to deal with it. I can’t ask anyone else to join my life. Not even as a bystander. It’s not fair to them.” I flop into a bean bag and let out a long, low groan.
“You’re scared, girly.” Pops says, his gold eyes studying me from his position in the big, poofy armchair. “I get it. But you can’t let your fear hold you back from living a life that’s more than you ever thought you’d deserve. I took a chance and now I have the love of the woman I adore.”
I take him in, his weathered face, still youthful despite his age. The twinkle of mischief always present in his eyes, and yet the way he’s looking at me is making me think that maybe I could take a chance. Maybe I could have more.
“It is scary.” Lovely’s soft voice says, breaking my gaze from Pops’. “I didn’t think I could ever have what I have now. But if I didn’t take a chance I wouldn’t have all this. Friends, family. A man I love and a daughter that adores him.”
“Same here. If I didn’t take a chance I would never have met Wire, my soul mate.” Remy smiles softly.
“If I hadn’t taken a chance and forgiven Judge, I’d still be that frazzled single mother at the diner,” Kaia adds her story to the others.
“I wouldn’t have a man and daughter I adore,” Vi says, smiling softly as she brushes Juno’s hair off her frowny little face.
“If I didn’t let Savage chase me, I wouldn’t be here with my man and my little girl,” Nat adds.
“I wouldn’t have Gus.” Ana says, gazing out the window. “I was a foster kid, and my whole life every time I had something that was just mine, it was taken away from me. When I met Gus I fought like hell to push him away, knowing that if he was taken from me, or left me, I’d be devastated. Instead, I’ve got more than I ever dreamed I could have.”
“If I didn’t take a chance and harassed that big man and flashed him my boobs I would never have been arrested and thrown into the cell next to Tank. I wish I could find that man who called the police and thank him,” Mira says, eyes all dreamy as I snort.
“I took a chance on Tav and I’ve never been happier,” Blanche says, shaking Tess’s hand. “Yes, that’s right baby girl, I took a chance on daddy and now you’re here,” she says in baby talk to her daughter.
We all sit in silence with our thoughts, and I notice one by one we all start to look in Chewy’s direction. Everyone has shared their stories and I wonder if Chewy has a similar story.
“What?” she says, brows furrowed.
“I think we’re just wondering if you have a story to share,” Lovely asks in her sweet voice, a smile on her face.
Chewy’s frown deepens, “Of course not. I don’t take chances. I plan everything to a high level and then take a calculated risk.”
