Starting Over by Mia Malone

Chapter Twelve

Epic

Tony

He drove them back to Hark Falls in silence to give the women some space after a visit that must have been bittersweet since it was clear that Rosie’s grandmother didn’t have much time left. Even his brief meeting with the old lady had been a delight, though, so he was glad that he’d asked if he could come. From what he’d seen and from stories Rosie told him, the three women had gotten their strength from her and from the grandfather, whom he apparently resembled.

Then it turned out that Dagger had taken a page out of his playbook and was friendly with Chrissy in a way that wasn’t dating.

But it was.

It would be good for Dagger to have to put in an effort, which it seemed like he actually did for what probably was the first time of his life. Tony couldn’t stop laughing about the whole thing, though, and Rosie tried to hide that she wanted to laugh too, but he saw the humor in her eyes when he turned to let them pass him as they entered the Roadhouse.

Addie came out from the kitchen to give quick hugs to the girls and a long one for Rosie. Something passed between them, but then Addie mumbled something about no time, goddamned hamburgers, and they’d discuss it over coffee the next morning. Rosie smiled a little and nodded. It was sweet to see the quiet way they accepted that life sometimes sucked lemons, and how they agreed to deal with things together when they could since hamburgers still had to be cooked and eaten.

Rosie’s phone buzzed, and she sent off a quick message and introduced her kids to Hilt, who grinned and pointed at Chrissy.

“I already know you.” He winked at her in a way that made Tony realize that they were getting older because it was decidedly avuncular. Then Hilt turned to Charlie, and added, “And whoo-boy will sales increase if word spreads that you’re becoming a regular.”

“Hilt,” Tony said sternly. “No need to spread any word at all.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Charlie said with very fake innocence in her suddenly wide eyes. “If profits go up, then Mom would get more flowers.” She blinked a few times, “And she really likes flowers.”

“Charlie,” Rosie said calmly. “Cut it out. I can buy my own flowers. Let’s find a table.”

Chrissy looked a little foolish when Dagger joined them, planted a brief kiss on her mouth, mumbled something about Nana, and sat down without a worry in the world. Rosie’s lips twitched, and Tony had to clamp his jaws together when their eyes met.

They had finished eating and debated the merits of ice cream for dessert when his sister walked through the door. She looked at him across the room, and they smiled at each other, but she didn’t come straight to them. Emma had lived all over the country, but in-between, she’d always returned to Hark Falls, and she knew most of the members in Cascadia, so she was greeted with loud cheers and queries about her trip to visit friends in Arizona. Her voice was loud and bubbly when she happily shared details about Sedona and red rocks and how she might start to make silver jewelry. Tony shook his head with a grin when he heard that because, to his knowledge, Emma didn’t know anything about silversmithing. She noticed his doubts and was laughing at him as she came over to them.

Dagger had slung an arm around the back of Chrissy’s chair, and Emma’s brows went high on her forehead when she noticed. Then Charlie returned from the restrooms, and Emma blinked in surprise. Tony quickly introduced Rosie and the girls, but Finn and Coop stopped next to him, so he turned and listened with half an ear on each conversation.

“Oh yes, of course. Rosie,” Emma said happily. “I’ve heard from Mom about how you’re staying for a while among the rubble in Tony’s garage.”

“Emma. Cut it out,” Dagger said quietly but with a clear warning in his voice.

Tony winced and saw how Finn did too. Emma had always had a sharp tongue, and Rosie wasn’t the kind of woman who calmly accepted something that was meant as a joke but might sound a little like an insult.

“Oh, you know me. I’m just joking,” Emma said breezily. “I know you’re not sleeping next to his beloved Harley. You used to work at the same place as Eye, right?”

“Yes,” Rosie simply stated.

She had straightened her back slightly and didn’t elaborate.

“She was his fucking boss,” Dagger muttered.

“Oh. Well, good for you,” Emma said with a smile.

“Eye says they still tear up a little in the lab when they talk about how much they miss her,” Dagger said.

“They probably don’t,” Rosie said, but she was chuckling.

“Well, if they don’t, they should,” Dagger declared and laughed when Rosie rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.

Emma laughed with them but said something about catching up with Addie and ignored Coop’s protests as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Momo and Joanna walked in, followed by Chao, who declared that he was hungry and pulled up a few more chairs to their table. Momo hugged Rosie’s daughters and looked at the entrance to the kitchen when loud laughter echoed.

“Emma’s back?”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “She got back earlier today.”

“She might want to join us at the day spa on Wednesday?” Rosie asked.

Tony was about to share that Emma probably would love that, but Momo was quicker.

“She probably would, but they book out long in advance, so I don’t think she can.” She shrugged and added, “It’s a pity she didn’t tell us in advance that she was coming home.”

“That’s Emma,” Finn said and sat down with a beer and a basket of fries. “She says she’ll stay here for a while now so she can join you next time.

“Great!” Charlie squealed happily. “Chrissy and I will come too since you can’t be there.” She was looking at Dagger, who raised his brows in surprise. “For protection in case someone decides to needle Mom,” she added cheekily, and Momo barked out a quick laugh.

“Charlotte,” Rosie snapped.

“Oh, you know me. I’m just joking,” Charlie said breezily.

It wasn’t until much later, when he was in bed and held a sleeping Rosie in his arms, that Tony realized that Charlie had deliberately sounded just like Emma and how it hadn’t sounded very nice. Rosie had mentioned that he might want to inform Katie about their sleeping arrangements, and she’d been right.

He hadn’t explicitly told his mother any details about his relationship with Rosie because he’d assumed she’d see it for herself. His goddamned sister had never made a fuss about his lovers before, so it hadn’t even occurred to him to explain Rosie’s presence in his life.

That had been a bit naïve, and now he clearly had to have a chat with both his mother and sister.

***

Rosie

When I split up from Richard and realized I didn’t have any friends anymore, or not any close friends anyway, I’d hoped that I would find people I could hang out with. Women to laugh a little with, who I could call for a chat every now and then, and who would call me back.

As I looked around the table at the spa where we were having lunch, I knew I had that, but also that I’d found so much more.

“Can I say something?” I asked and swallowed when they all turned toward me. “I just wanted to say thank you for today.”

God, I thought. That sounded really pathetic.

“Can I just say thank you right back then?” Addie said, and she wasn’t laughing suddenly. “Or, perhaps not to you specifically, Rosie,” she added. “To all of you.”

“For what?” Angelica asked.

She was married to one of the Cascadia men, and like everyone at the table, a member of our book club.

“You’ve let us be a part of your group,” I said, and Addie nodded. “I lost most of my friends in the divorce, and I didn’t like the ones that remained, so I was lonely.” I made a small sweep with my hand to indicate all of them and finished quietly, “I’m not lonely anymore, and I just wanted to say thanks.”

“Same,” Addie said into the silence. “I came here and didn’t know anyone, and I had friends back in Chicago, but I wasn’t living there anymore, so I was lonely too. And I want to say thank you too.”

“Well, fuck it,” Momo said curtly, got up, and left the room.

I stared at her robed shape as she marched out the door and wondered if I somehow had offended her.

“We weren’t hanging out like this before,” Joanna said quietly. “We had the book club, but apart from that, we didn’t meet very often. Mostly at Cascadia parties, or if we tagged along with the guys for a ride.”

“True,” Angelica said. “It started when you moved here, Addie. We wanted to get to know you, so we came up with things to do, and then you, Rosie...” she grinned at me, “We really wanted to meet the woman who handles the Prez like a pro.” She wiggled her brows, and I couldn’t hold a small giggle back. “And now we get together just because, and I love it. There is no need for either of you to say thank you. Or yeah. Maybe I want to say thank you too.”

“Exactly,” Momo snapped and put two bottles on the table. “I love you guys, and I won’t toast to that with a vegan fucking smoothie. We’ll Mimosa the shit out of our orange juice.”

Laughter burst out around the table, and then we added sparkling wine to our glasses and drank to us. Then we toasted some more, so when we’d eaten our salads, I was slightly tipsy and informed my friends that I’d made a deal with Tony.

“A deal?” Momo asked.

“Yes,” I said. “I told him he needed to trim his beard because it was getting scraggly.” The women stared at me, and I wondered if I perhaps had committed a huge biker faux pas when I opined on Tony’s facial hair. “I don’t mind if he lets his hair grow longer. It looks nice like it is, but he could. His body is absolutely amazing, but he could get a small beer gut, and I wouldn’t have any issues with that either. He can absolutely not have a long unkempt beard, so I told him his options were to trim it, make a neat goatee out of it, or shave it off.”

“Oh, God!” Addie squealed, clearly understanding the deal I’d made.

“Yup,” I said with a smug grin. “Anthony Martin Ryan was foolish enough to say,” I deepened my voice and rumbled, “I’ll shave if you do.”

The women started laughing, and I did too as I got up to go to my next treatment.

“So, will you?” Momo said and wiggled her brows.

“You know what?” I said haughtily. “I do believe I will.”

***

“So, Tony,” I said casually and added, “When are you going to do it?”

We were having a beer on Finn and Addie’s back deck, and I was feeling decidedly mellow in my soft yoga pants and loose tee after a day of pampering and giggling with my girlfriends.

“Do what?” he asked.

My eyes met Addie’s, and the skin around hers crinkled a little, but she kept her face blank.

“You said you would shave,” I said casually.

Tony pushed out air in a hoarse cough and turned slowly toward me.

“You didn’t?”

“Did.”

“Did what?” Finn asked and looked back and forth between Tony and me.

“We were discussing Tony’s beard, and he said he’d shave if I did,” I said with a smirk. “So, I was wondering when he would because I –”

“Yeah, we’re leaving,” Tony said, took a firm grip of my hand, and pulled me out of my chair.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Finn said with an eye roll.

“Sweetie,” Addie said with a smirk. “You should be glad they’re leaving.”

“Huh?”

She wiggled her brows a little, and Finn’s eyes widened when he realized that she had been to the same spa as me and apparently gotten the same treatments.

“Get the fuck out of here,” he growled and didn’t even look at Tony and me as he pointed in the general direction of where we were standing.

I was still laughing when we walked outside but stopped when I realized that Tony hadn’t brought his car.

Which meant that I would have to straddle a bike.

“I’m probably a little sensitive,” I said hesitantly and watched the saddle. “To the vibrations from the bike, I mean. They said I could be a little tender and that I should avoid friction, which is why I didn’t put any panties –”

“You have got to stop talking or swear to God, Finn and Addie will get a live show they didn’t expect.”

I turned around quickly, and the scorching hot look in Tony’s eyes sent shivers straight through my core to settle between my legs like a flash of heat.

“Let’s go home,” I mumbled.

“Good call, babe,” he retorted, swung a leg over the bike, and looked at me. “Hop on.”

I did indeed feel the vibrations, but not in a painful way.

***

Tony

He broke his speed record getting home from Finn’s house and pulled her with him inside.

“Can we –” he stopped talking and wondered if she was in pain, which meant jumping her like a goddamned horndog would be a douchey thing to do.

“Yes, we can,” she said with a smirk. “I asked.”

He snorted out laughter and murmured, “Really? You asked them?” as he started moving her toward the bedroom.

“Totally,” she said. “They said it was the most common question they got and gave me...” she dug around in her tote bag and brought out a small tube, “A lotion.”

“A lotion?” he echoed and hoped she didn’t see that his eyes had crossed ever so slightly.

“I’m supposed to,” she turned toward him, tilted her head back, and finished by drawling, “Apply it.”

“Ah –”

He cut himself off because he didn’t want to sound like a stupid parrot, repeating her every word.

He also wanted to be the one who applied that lotion.

Imminently.

“Yeah,” she confirmed what he hadn’t asked.

The whole wall behind the sink in his bathroom was a mirror, so he shuffled them in there and placed her in front of him.

Then he pulled off her tee.

Unhooked and removed her bra.

And slowly slid her black yoga pants downward until they dropped to the floor.

“Rosalind,” he said and wrapped one arm around her and stretched the other out to grab the small tube. “I’ll...” he squirted some lotion on his fingertips, “apply this now.”

“Okay,” she breathed out, and it ended on an outdrawn sigh when he gently moved his hand over her.

“So sexy,” he murmured. “So fucking hot.”

He kept adding lotion until she was soft and slippery, and then he started letting a finger slide through her folds every now and then, touching her clit, but moving it away almost immediately. She widened her legs and tilted her head so she could lean it against his chest.

“Tony, please touch me,” she said. “I need you.”

“You have me,” he said, threw the lotion in the sink and moved one hand around her to take a soft hold around her breast. “Look at us, baby, and you’ll see that you have me.”

The other hand was on her pussy, and he started moving his fingers harder, pushing deeper. Their eyes met in the mirror, and he felt her legs shake slightly, so he pressed her shoulders forward.

“Hold yourself up,” he said. “Keep your eyes on me.”

Then he bent his knees slightly and pushed inside in one long thrust, pulled out, and sank deep inside again. Rosie arched her back, and he started moving, hard and fast.

When they came, they did it together, still looking into each other’s eyes in the mirror.

***

Tony hadn’t shaved.

I planned to make him do it, but then we made another deal. Unfortunately, this deal had been made while he used his soft beard to caress the insides of my thighs. I’d gasped and tried to pull him closer because I wanted his mouth on my clit, but his lips had only trailed the crease between my thigh and pussy. Then we somehow agreed that he could keep the beard, but he would trim it regularly.

I was lost in thoughts about how good he had looked when he got back from the hairdresser, which he insisted on calling a barber, and what we would do later that night, so I jolted when someone cleared their throat nervously.

“Hey there, Buddy. Who are you looking for?” I asked the young man who had stopped next to me, shuffling his feet and looking a little uncomfortable.

I’d been bent over my computer, failing at keeping my focus on scrolling through a paper about a similar kind of bacteria I’d spent quite a bit of time researching, and groaned quietly as I straightened my back.

“I just wanted to –” Buddy’s voice broke a little, and I wondered how old he was, but he went on before I could ask. “Can I ask you a few things?”

“Sure.”

“I’m thinking about applying for college, and I was going to ask Eye for some advice, but then I heard that you worked with him, so... You’ve gone to college, right?”

I almost laughed at the innocent question, but since there was no need for me to rub in how many, many years I’d spent in university circles, I just nodded.

“I was Eirik’s boss,” I said calmly, and the young man dropped the papers he’d brought with him.

“Shit,” he muttered, gathered up the papers into a haphazard pile, and looked at me with awe in his eyes. “You were his boss? Eye’s”

“Yes.”

“And you call him Eirik?” He pronounced it almost as if he said High-Rick, and I pushed back another burst of laughter. “No one does that. Everyone calls him Eye.”

“I do too, but when we were working together, Eirik was more appropriate.”

“I can’t even say it the way you do,” he mumbled and fiddled with his papers.

“Which is why everyone says Eye,” I said reassuringly but couldn’t help thinking that the hero-worship I saw on his young face needed to be toned down a little. “He’s just a guy like everyone else, you know.”

“He grew up in Thor. His father is Black Hagen,” Buddy said breathlessly, sounding as if I was out of my mind.

“So?”

“Thor,” he repeated with some emphasis. “They’re... epic.”

There was no way I could hold my laughter back then, and he winced when a couple of heads turned to look at me.

“Isn’t Cascadia epic?” I asked teasingly.

“No,” he answered earnestly. “Tony, Finn, and Coop are not epic. They’re safe, which is better than epic if you ask me.”

He glanced at me, and I smiled.

“Safe is good,” I agreed. “I haven’t met Black, but I’ve heard things about him, and I’m sure he’s safe too,” I said, thinking that he probably was since his sons were two of the most stable men I’d ever met.

“Huh,” Buddy pushed out, clearly not trusting my opinion. “Well, let me know what you think when you have met him,” he mumbled.

“I’ll do that,” I said with a grin. “And until then, you should probably not tell Tony that he is less epic than Black. I get what you mean, but I’m not sure he’ll see it the same way.

He looked at me for a beat and swallowed visibly.

“I heard about what you talked about,” he said slowly.

“What?”

“About your father not being... nice.”

Oh.

I should have known people would talk about the scene at the Roadhouse.

“My father is an abusive asshole, Buddy,” I said calmly.

“Yeah.” He looked at me in silence and added quietly, “So is mine.”

I suddenly got why this young man didn’t care for epic and thought safe was good.

“Oh honey,” I said, feeling a little inadequate. I suddenly wanted to give him a big, soothing hug but suspected it would make us both uncomfortable and settled for being practical instead. “You are not living with him still? You live in one of the studios here at the House, right?”

“Yeah, I do, and I haven’t lived with him for a while anyway. Mom and I left five years ago, but she moved to Florida a couple of months ago to be closer to my sister, so it’s just me.”

“It’s not just you,” I said.

“What?”

I made a sweeping movement with my hand to indicate the biker brethren sitting here and there on the patio, the House, and the gorgeous surroundings, and said, “There’s also this.”

“I know,” Buddy said with a small but satisfied smile.

“Is he a threat to you now?” I asked, thinking that if he was, Tony would have a massive shit-fit, and I might have to visit my man in prison, which I wouldn’t like.

“No. He’s been in Ohio for over two years, living off some woman he met.”

“Good. You’re doing okay?”

I didn’t know what to do if he said that he wasn’t, but I would figure it out somehow. Katie volunteered for an organization working with troubled teenagers, so she might know.

“I’m good,” he said with a shrug but added with a snort, “Mom got me into fucking therapy, and officially, I hated it.”

“Unofficially?” I asked.

“It helped.” He shrugged again in that carefree way only young adults seemed to be able to pull off. “I just wanted you to know that I think you’re awesome for speaking up about it. A lot of the boys think so.”

“Thank you.”

“A lot of us also think that it’s pretty cool that you yelled fuck you repeatedly in Tony Ryan’s face,” he said with a wide grin.

“Dear Lord,” I mumbled. “Well, I make the man’s morning coffee, so I’m allowed. You should probably not try it because I’m pretty sure it won’t end well.”

“That’s an understatement,” he said, and we laughed together.

“So, tell me,” I said. “What can I help you with?”

Then I answered his questions about how to apply to college. I walked him through the process and offered to proofread his essay when we got closer to the deadline. I also promised to look at everything before he sent it in, and the look of gratitude on his face was profound.

“You’ll be fine,” I said. “You have good grades so keep doing what you’re doing, fix what we discussed, and you have a good chance to get admitted.”

I did not add that I would make some calls to a couple of people I’d worked with for years. It wouldn’t automatically give him a spot, but I figured putting a good word in wouldn’t hurt his chances.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Momo said loudly suddenly, and I turned toward the big living room to see what was going on because she had sounded supremely pissed off.

“You have changed things in here,” Emma said sourly.

“The living room was worn down, so Coop had made the recruits put a fresh coat of paint on the walls, and we replaced the couches and a few other things with stuff Rosie didn’t want to keep from her house. It’s not as if we gutted the place,” Momo said with an eye roll.

Emma was holding one of the new pillows and made a wide gesture with the other hand.

“It looked good the way it was,” she snapped. “The paint looks okay, but there was no need for new couches and absolutely no need to put a lot of fancy pillows on them.”

“For fuck’s sake, Emma. Everything in here was old, so shit clearly needed to be upgraded, and you know it,” Chao barked and moved to stand next to Momo.

“I did not know that.”

Coop came marching from the kitchen with long, angry steps, and everyone went completely silent, so his deep voice could be heard clearly through the open doors.

“Yes, you did, Emma,” he said firmly. “You said so yourself many times and could have sorted it out if you felt so strongly about it, but you didn’t. Now you don’t get to huff and puff just because Momo, Addie, and Rosie did it instead.”

“Cooper?” she squeaked, looking completely taken aback.

“Emma,” he retorted calmly.

Emma opened and closed her mouth a few times, which looked a little silly, but I didn’t laugh, and neither did Coop. He simply looked at her in silence for a beat, turned, and left. Emma turned too, and disappeared in the other direction without another word.

Well, shit.

Emma had told me she was sorry if my feelings got hurt by her comments at the Roadhouse, and it hadn’t exactly been a deeply heartfelt apology, but I told her not to worry about it. My girls hadn’t liked her, and I’d heard from Addie that she could be a bit high strung, but she was Tony’s sister, and I didn’t want to create a stink about something that hadn’t been a big deal to me. The way we’d upgraded the décor in the Cascadia House with some of my old furniture was clearly not to her liking, though.

I hoped she wouldn’t hold that against me.