Page 62 of Rebel's Fairytale

“I’mreallynot trying to pressure you,“ he said, quietly and dropped his gaze to his hands in his lap.

“How nuts is your wolf being?”

Rebel chuckled. “He’s being a demanding dick, but I’ll survive.”

Wishing she could just throw caution to the wind and accept what he was offering, Bri leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. When his tongue slid along her bottom lip, she opened and let him inside. Within minutes, she was in his arms, and he was carrying her back to bed.

“Rebel!” She laughed. “We can’t spend all day in bed.”

“Why the hell not?” He tossed her on the bed and grinned down at her as she bounced and settled.

Bri was nervous about walking into the tattoo shop, not because of it being a tattoo shop, but because she was meeting up with what Pixie had referred to as a meeting of the Shifty Sisters. Ruby didn’t quite understand what she meant by that when she got the text, but she assumed Pixie was referring to what Rebel called the Ol’ Ladies. They were important to the club, so they were important to Rebel, and she didn’t want to screw up and make things awkward.

She wasn’t one of the Ol’ Ladies, so she certainly wasn’t one of the Shifty Sisters. Bri was confused about getting an invitation, but she was going because she really liked them and hoped to make some new friends.

Pixie, Sugar, and Mary, who Rebel told her was now called Diamond, were all wonderful women, and Bri had started building a friendship with them. As someone who was very selective with her friends, she was hopeful that the others would be just as kind.

Taking a bracing deep breath, she pulled open the door to the tattoo shop with the logo in bright purple and pink on the glass.

As soon as she stepped inside, Bri was assaulted with the noise from all the women. The cheers of welcome and laughter made her smile.

She clocked Pixie, Sugar, and Diamond sitting on a couch in the lobby. They waved her over. As she approached, she looked around and saw several of the other women scattered around the room.

She gave a slight wave of hello to them, a little intimidated by the sheer number of them. She wasn’t normally freaked out by women, but these weren’t just any women. If things worked out with Rebel, they would be a part of her life on a regular basis. The situation had her a bit on edge.

“Relax,” Pixie told her and patted her hand. “They all already like you.”

“They don’t know me.”

Sugar shrugged. “You put a smile on Rebel’s face. That’s all they need to know.”

Diamond nodded. “The Howlers and the Claws have welcomed me with open arms, even though they barely know me.”

“Oh! By the way, I have gifts for everyone,” Pixie exclaimed and pulled a large Howlers tote bag out from next to the couch.

The Shifty Sisters gathered around the couch. Bri noticed the curious yet suspicious expressions on the faces of the women.

“Okay. So, you know how I relayed the story of how Rebel and Ruby met?” Pixie grinned. “I read the book she was reading when it happened. And, let me tell you, it’s a must read. Anyway, back to the presents.” She yanked a pink bundle from the tote bag and held it up. “I bought all of us pink hand towels!”

As she giggled, she started tossing pink bundles to each of the women in the room. When she dropped a bundle in Bri’s lap, she felt her cheeks heat up.

“And that is why he calls her Ruby,” Gorgeous said and gave her a sweet smile.

Bri huffed out a breath and looked around at the women. “Can we talk about that?”

The few women who were standing about the room were suddenly sitting in chairs near the couch, staring intently at her. She hadn’t even seen most of them grab the chairs.

“Uh… Rebel mentioned that the nicknames had some significance. And since he goes by a nickname, too, I tend to believe that to be the truth.”

Darlin’ nodded. “First, if Rebel said it, you can count on it being the truth. He’s a very honest man. Second, the men don’t go by nicknames. They go by road names. Lastly, if they give you a name, it is way more respectful than calling you by your given name. It’s a sign of acceptance, of belonging. It’s how the Howlers show you that they think of you as family. It’s how they claim you as one of theirs. And when they do that, they are acknowledging that they are yours as well.” She smiled. “Rebel calls you Ruby because he cares very deeply for you. The guys call you that because they respect Rebel and like you. We call you Ruby because you’re one of us now.”

Bri took in everything Darlin’ said and let the sense of belonging wash over her. Just as Rebel had told her, she suddenly had more friends than she knew what to do with. It would take some time to get used to.

As for the nickname, there were far worse things to be called than Ruby. The fact that Rebel appreciated the almost constant state of red to her cheeks was something that made her almost giddy inside. She noticed him doing little things with the sole intention of making her blush. Her favorite was the way he kissed her, like he would die without his lips pressed to hers. If that’s what she got for letting him call her Ruby, she would drive down to the courthouse and change her damn name.

Looking down at the hand towels, Ruby thought about Rebel lounged on her couch, reading a book, as she was getting ready to meet up with the women. He looked like he belonged in her space, like his rough, masculine body and sharp intelligence was made to be in her life. She suddenly realized what the weird feeling was that had been sitting in her gut. It was the feeling that something big was happening, something life-changing.

“I think I might like it around here,” she said and smiled.

---