Slingshot by K.L. Savage

I check my phone to see what time it is and slide out from under my taco truck. The thing is going to take ages to get ready. There’s so much damage. It needs new…everything. That’s fine, but now that I have Natalia in my life, I don’t want to spend my days and nights on the truck. I want to spend them with her.

I stretch my arms over my head, and my back pops from being in the same position too long. I’m getting as old as this damn dirt under my boots. I toss the socket wrench into the box, and it dings against the other tools.

Am I really going to go to a party and be the oldest guy there because Natalia wants to go? I wanted us to have some privacy for our date, but I can understand how she wants to be out in public. Maybe she doesn’t trust me fully yet, and I can respect that.

I whip my shirt over my head and rub the material over my sweaty face, then sling it over my shoulder as I head back into the clubhouse. My boots kick up dirt, and I bow my head while rubbing the back of my neck.

The sounds of kids playing have me looking up. Delaney, Micah, Aidan, and Maizey are outside playing around the firepit. Reaper, Doc, Skirt, and a few other guys are outside as well, enjoying the fire and keeping an eye on the kiddos. Their laughs carry over to me, and it’s hard not to feel a little melancholy.

I want to press fast forward and start my own family, maybe even move into one of the empty cabins here. I want to fill my house with kids, the sound of the pitter-patter of feet, laughter, and tears. I hope the guys realize how lucky they are.

“Uncle Slingshot!” Maizey sprints to me in her Elsa princess dress and trips over herself, slamming face-first into the ground.

Oh, that had to hurt.

She doesn’t cry. She gets back up and begins running again, her face filthy from the sand and her blue and white dress dirty. No doubt that will have to be rewashed today. She holds up her arms, and I whisk her into my arms and spin her around.

“Ah!” she screams and giggles as we go in circles. “Uncle Slingshot, I’m getting dizzy,” she smiles.

I come to a slow stop and hook her to my hip. “What’s up, Smurf?”

“I’m not a smurf. My name is Princess Elsa.”

I set her on her feet and get to my knees. I bow down, lay my arms out in front of me, and then lift them in the air. “Apologies, Princess.”

She giggles again, and it’s the sweetest sound in the world. “It’s okay. You’re forgiven as long as you play hide-and-go-seek with me,” she says with her chin held high.

Aw, man. I love hide-and-seek. “Maze, I’m sorry. I can’t play. I have to shower and go get ready. I have a date.”

“A date? With who?” Her chin wobbles, and her eyes well with big tears that make me feel so damn guilty. “But I like how things are! No, you can’t go!” she screams at me, stomping her foot into the ground.

“Maze, you know how I feel about tantrums. I won’t tolerate it, and neither will Badge. It’s okay for me to go on a date. I want to love.”

“You have everything you need here. You don’t love us anymore.” She kicks me in the shin. It surprisingly fucking hurts, and I hop on one leg as she runs into the house.

“Shit.” I limp toward the guys, and everyone is watching me with a smile on their faces. A wave of pain splinters my shin with every step, and I mumble under my breath.

“What got to you?” Reaper asks.

“Your daughter. She kicked me in the shin.”

“She what?” He crunches the beer can in his hand.

“I told her I was going on a date, and she flipped out saying that I didn’t love anyone here anymore, kicked my shin, and ran off.”

Reaper sighs and tosses his can into the bonfire. “I’m sorry, Slingshot. I’ll go take care of it. I don’t know what’s been going on with her lately. She gets really upset when anyone leaves the compound these days. She wants everyone here.”

“I get it. I’m not upset. I’m going to go shower and get ready to go see Natalia.”

“You have a big set of balls going after her,” Doc says. “Mateo is probably going to kill you.” Doc takes a swig of beer. “No shortness of breath?”

“Jesus. No, Doc. I’m not keeping that from you again.” I wave everyone goodbye as I drag myself up the front steps and into the house.

I bypass the dogs again, which reminds me that I still haven’t bought the puppy for Poodle. We don’t see much of him anymore. While I think it has a lot to do with Lady dying, I also think it brought back a lot of pain and memories about Ellie’s mom and when Ellie got kidnapped. He lived a lot of years thinking Ellie was dead. He searched for her to only come up with nothing.

I head through the hallway, kitchen and pass Bullseye practicing throwing darts while holding Faith in a sling. I finger wave at the cute baby as I walk by and open the door to the hallway leading to the gym.

Finally getting to my room, I groan as I strip off the sweat-drenched clothes. My jeans are harder to get off, but I eventually kick them to the side and scratch the trimmed brown bush above my cock. I don’t bother waiting for the water to get warm as I step under the spray.

I let out a deep breath and groan when the water turns hot and applies the right amount of pressure against my shoulders. My palms are flat against the wall as I hang my head, and my cock is hard, pointing straight to the ceiling as I think about what tonight might bring. If Natalia listened to me about not wearing underwear, it would only confirm that she wants someone to tell her what to do.

I don’t want to go as far as calling myself a Daddy. I don’t think I am, but I do think I’m somewhere in that range, so when she calls me Sir, an electric bolt charges me, and it’s like I step outside of my old self, ready to give her what she wants.

I’m fucking made for it.

I wrap my hand around my cock to give myself some much-needed relief and remember what I said the other day. I can’t touch myself. I’m saving every fucking drop for when I slide inside her. Just the thought of that has me hurrying to wash my hair and body. I turn off the shower and step out, wrapping the towel around my waist.

“Fuck,” I curse when I stare down at my phone and see the time.

I’m going to be late.

I should send her a message to let her know. The last thing I want is to leave her wondering what happened to me again. There’s a notification.

And a picture from Natalia.

I swipe it to the right and growl low in my throat when I see what’s waiting for me.

No panties, Sir.

“Good Girl,” I say to myself while staring at the image. I’d set it as my home screen if I knew no one else would see it, but I can’t risk that.

I do save it because I plan on looking at that for the rest of my life, even if she decides she doesn’t want me.

As I stare at the picture, the throbbing down south doesn’t ease. The firm globes of her ass fill the screen, but I can see the pink hint of her soft petals peaking from between her folds. My mouth waters for a taste.

It’s too soon to do all the things I want to do to her body, but a man can fucking dream.

You better keep that pretty pussy safe for me.

I send the reply and set my phone down to get dressed. I’m already fifteen minutes late. I forgo the underwear and slide on one of the tightest pair of black jeans I have, tug on a red shirt with the Ruthless Kings emblem on the left side, then toss my cut on.

Wallet, phone, keys, check.

I still don’t feel comfortable going by myself to this thing, so I find Tank, Braveheart, and Badge standing around playing pool on my way out the door. Of course, Badge is winning against Tank and Braveheart. He’s always serious, and if he isn’t ahead all the time, he gets in one of his moods. There’s something a little different about him today. As I watch him focus on the white cue ball, his eyes drift to the couch for a split second.

No one else would notice if they weren’t focused, but I am, and I look to see who he’s paying attention to and see Hope on the couch reading a book. Bullseye has Faith, like always.

Well, well, well, did someone catch Badge’s eye?

Oh, this is good.

Bullseye’s daughter? I can only imagine the amount of darts that will decorate his body when Bullseye is done with Badge. Just the thought has me squirming.

“Hey guys, I’m heading to this bonfire thing, and it’s going to be a crowd around Natalia’s age. Y’all want to go?”

“Sure,” Braveheart and Tank say at the same time.

“I’m…uh…I’m going to stay,” Badge says, aiming the stick at the ball again but not looking at the pocket he wants to sink his shot into. “Don’t feel like going out.”

Yeah, I bet he doesn’t.

“Sure, man.” I grip his shoulder as I walk to the door and whisper, “You’re a dead man looking at her.”

He shoves me so hard, I fumble out the door as soon as Braveheart opens it. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Shut up, Slingshot, before I shut it for you. Good luck eating your tacos after that.” He slams the door in my face, and the force of it wakes one of the babies.

I snicker. “He’s so screwed.” I laugh to myself as I spin and head down the stairs, passing Mars on my way to my bike. I lift my hand for a high-five as he meets it while Poppy is on his other side. “My man, still killing it at those meetings?” I ask, proud of him for owning his fight.

He relapsed recently, and it nearly cost him Sunnie’s life, so he’s been hitting recovery harder than ever now.

“You know it. We’re just on our way in. Where you off to?”

“Seeing my girl. You know how it is.” I swing my leg over my new bike and crank it.

Tank and Braveheart are already on their bikes, having the beasts idle.

“Well, don’t get too crazy. If you get too drunk to drive, call me, okay?” he offers like he does to everyone when people decide to go out.

There is still no alcohol allowed in the main clubhouse. We could if we were worse men, but we care about one another, and we want Mars to feel like he’s safe here.

“No worries. I don’t plan on drinking, but thanks, man, I appreciate it.” I pull my helmet down on my head and ease the bike back. I keep my feet on the ground to keep the powerful metal between my legs balanced.

The gate is open as we punch the throttle and speed through. We zig-zag around the potholes, and when we get to the end of the driveway, there’s this moment of hesitation where I think I’m about to choke again.

I wait a few seconds, and Tank must catch on because he lifts up his thumb, and I nod. He leads the way, something he’s great at since he’s road captain. Braveheart is behind me, and while we ride, I think about how my life could have been if Mom didn’t die.

It doesn’t matter. It’s just a thought because she is dead, but I’d like to think we’d still be a family. My dad would play ball with me instead of kicking my ass when I came through the door a minute late.

Love changes people; I learned for the best and the worst. When love is taken away, sometimes it takes the ability for someone to love on its way out the door. Mom died, and all the love we held as a family disappeared with her. Dad grew to hate me, and still, I wonder how he’s doing. We don’t talk, we haven’t since I was sixteen, but I wonder if the heartache has killed him yet.

If not, the universe is a real cruel bitch.

I’m so lost in thought; before I know it, we’re pulling into the party. It’s a small house with a large amount of desert land with some forest as well. There’s a fire raging, nearly licking the sky with the orange and red tendrils. The music is blaring and bumping so hard I can feel it through my front tire when I park.

Ah, what am I doing here?

A girl passing by tries to flirt with us by smiling, but she bends over, and projectile vomits all over Braveheart’s tire.

He’s already annoyed too.

We don’t do well around people that aren’t our people. And what we mean is other bikers. This college shit is not us, and now that I’m here, I regret saying I’d come.

The night is inky black, and the stars are out by the millions. The bonfire is raging high, and the music is so loud that if anything bad were to happen, no one would know.

“We don’t have to stay long, do we?” Tank asks, placing his helmet between his legs, perching it on the seat as he looks around. “It’s so…busy,” he shivers.

“Natalia is here, and if she’s here with all these asshole boys, then I’m here. I wanted backup just in case anything happened, but you guys can go.”

“Nah, we aren’t going to leave you hanging, man. We want to make sure Natalia and her friends stay safe.” Braveheart turns off his bike and swings his leg over, nearly kicking a girl wearing shorts that show the bottom curve of her ass and cowgirl boots.

“Oh my god, you’re cute and a biker,” she slurs.

Braveheart grabs her by the shoulders to steady her, so she doesn’t fall over. “I think you might need to be done drinking,” he suggests.

“Probably.” She runs her finger down his chest, and he leans back, lifting a brow at her boldness. Braveheart has never been the kind of guy I’ve seen that likes to be randomly touched. “Come find me later.”

He snatches her delicate wrist and places it at her side. “No chance.” He pushes her away, and she kicks his bike tire.

Almost falling over, she spills her red solo cup and whatever drink is in it over the rim and her hand. “Well fuck you, you wannabe biker.” She ambles away, zigzagging back and forth until she finally lands on a guy that has no morals and would fuck a girl who is wasted.

“Are all of them like that?” he asks, brushing off his cut.

“It’s college. Almost all are like that.” Except for my Good Girl. She isn’t like that. She knows better. If she got drunk and messy, I’d have to bend her over my bike and show her just how unacceptable that is.

“Noah! Over here!” a voice calls out for me.

I look around, not knowing exactly where it’s coming from.

“Noah? I didn’t know you had a name,” Braveheart jokes, pulling a joint out of his cut pocket.

“Where did you get that?”

“Boomer, Dad. It’s a party. What other perfect place could there be to smoke it?”

“Fair enough, and none of you call me Noah. Got it?” I tell them as I stride in the direction of the fire.

“Okay. You got it, Noah.” Braveheart strikes the lighter and takes a large inhale. “Oh yeah, that’s better.”

I grunt in displeasure hearing my name come from anyone other than Natalia.

“Noah, I’m so glad you guys came! Who are your friends?”

I can’t remember her name. She’s the feisty one that wears a lot of black. Right now, her lipstick matches just how dark it is outside, and her eye makeup is the same as I saw it earlier.

Black.

“Hi, I’m Cora.” She holds out her hand to Braveheart and Tank in introduction.

Cora. Right.

“Braveheart.”

“Tank.”

Braveheart blows out a cloud of smoke. “Want some?”

“Hell yeah.” Cora takes the joint carefully and pinches the end before placing it between her lips.

“Where is Natalia?” I don’t see her anywhere.

“She had to use the restroom, so she went inside the house.” Cora holds her breath through the entire sentence.

“You let her go alone? By herself?” I shout at her, and it’s loud because a few people turn their heads when they hear me over the music.

“Well, yeah. She’s fine. There’s no one here that’ll hurt her. It’s Benji’s place. Benji won’t let anything happen,” she explains, passing the joint to Braveheart.

“I don’t care. I don’t care if we’re at the damn Capitol. You never let someone go alone somewhere at a party.” I spin around and push my way through the crowd. “Get the fuck out of my way.” I shove a few guys, and they mumble something about me being an asshole.

I don’t care.

Coming to this party wasn’t something I wanted to do, but I’m glad I did.

Something tells me this night is far from over.

And not in a good way.