Vic Vaughn is Vicious by J.A. Huss

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - VIC

I love the way Daisy grips me as we speed east down the highway. I also love that she can’t talk to me while we’re riding. She just has to exist.

This is my favorite thing about bikes. Everything is so in the moment. There is no windshield separating you from the world around you. You feel everything. The wind. The sun. And sometimes, if you’re unlucky, the rain or the snow.

But I love it. I can’t imagine a life without a bike.

I have a surprise for Daisy today. She must know we’re going back out to my plot of land, that’s not the surprise. It’s not the picnic I packed in the saddlebags, either. That’s just the celebration.

I’m a little nervous about all of this. The past week has been one new thing after another. But none of it has been bad. And I’m glad it happened the way it did. If Daisy had just come up to me one day and said, “Hey, this is your kid,” I don’t know how I would’ve reacted, but it would’ve been a shock.

But after spending the day with Vivian, thinking she was my niece, and just getting the opportunity to be myself with her—and her with me—I don’t know. It somehow worked. I was already falling in like with the idea that kids are cool. Especially Vivi. And my parental instincts might not be as honed as some, but they kicked in. I cautioned Gramps. I side-eyed the SpaghettiOs. I paused at the rollercoaster.

Yeah. I’m pretty proud of myself for that day. No sleep, little bit hungover—and still. I did a decent job. I pulled the whole father thing off.

I slow the bike down as we approach the dry riverbed and then almost come to a stop on the side of the road before carefully easing down into the ditch and back up onto the field so I can take her all the way over to the trees.

When I get there, I shove out the kickstand and turn the bike off.

Daisy gets off, reaching for the strap of her helmet. “Wow. That was fun.”

My smile is wide as I take her in. She’s wearing a pair of light jeans and a flirty halter top that all the young girls are wearing these days. It’s even got daisies on it. Her long, blonde hair is tangled and her face is a little red from the wind.

But I like both these things about her.

I get off the bike and take off my helmet, then take hers and hang them over the handlebars. But I don’t say anything.

“What?” she says. “Why are you looking at me that way?”

I point off in the distance towards the road where a sign stands. Lonely, but not for long.

“What is that?” She squints her eyes.

“Sold,” I say.

She makes a face at me. “What?”

“It’s a sign that says ‘sold.’”

“Oh, no! Someone bought it?” She looks around, suddenly sad.

“Someone bought it all right. Me.”

“You? How? I mean, how did you get a loan so fast?”

“Loan? Come on, Daisy!” I actually laugh out loud. “Banks do not give loans to my family. I paid cash.”

“What? Vic, how much was it? Where did you get that kind of money?”

“It was… a lot. But still a good deal. I haggled them down fifty grand. So. A little over seven hundred.”

“Wait. Seven. Hundred. Thousand? Where the hell did you get seven hundred thousand in cash?”

“I’ve been saving for about ten years now. Plus”—I pause—“I have a little side thing going.”

“What kind of side thing? You’re growing pot? When I said greenhouse, I didn’t mean grow house.” She giggles a little at her joke.

“Not pot, don’t worry. Nothing like that. But it’s kinda hush-hush, so I’m not gonna talk about it too much. I started doing it a few years ago so I could fix up the mansion. The windows were horrible. I mean, that place is impossible to heat no matter what, but the windows we had—or didn’t have, in some rooms—it was almost uninhabitable. Something needed to be done. And one of my buddies had a thing going. So I got in on it.”

She stares at me for a long moment, smiling. “Vicious Vaughn. You are a property owner.”

“One day”—I hold up a finger—“I’ll even be a homeowner. And it won’t take as long as you think. I put in the order for the lumber this morning. Should get dropped off in a few weeks.”

“You’re going to build your own house?”

I shrug. “Why not?”

“I don’t think people do that. They hire a builder.”

“Yeah, but they overcharge you for everything. So this way is better.”

“Do you know how to build a house?”

“I mean… yeah. Sure.”

Daisy laughs. “Just like that, huh? ‘I’m gonna build a house.’”

“Not just me. Pops and Vann said they’d help too. The twins said they’d take extra clients so we’d have time to get the framing up before it snows. Then we’ll do what we can over winter, finish in the spring, and one year from now, Daisy Lundin, we will have a home.”

“We.” She whispers this word like she’s almost afraid to say it out loud.

“I’m getting a little ahead of myself. And who knows, maybe by next summer you’ll already be done with me. But you’re not tired of me yet, right?”

“No,” she says quickly. “No. I’m not tired of you at all.”

“Good. So.” I look around and shrug. “This is us.”

She walks over to me and my hand just knows what to do. It slips around her shoulder and pulls her towards me. And her hand seems to know what to do as well, because her fingertips find the belt loop at my hip.

“I brought us a picnic. You wanna eat lunch?”

She looks up at me like I’m her fucking king. “That sounds perfect.”

We spend the early afternoon eating the burritos I picked up and looking at the plans for the farmhouse in my magazine. It’s gonna be fun building a house with her. I can’t wait to get started. I have been looking at this piece of land for so long, planning, and dreaming, and wishing. And for a while it was about the money. I needed it, and didn’t have it. But I really did save up. I really did pay cash.

I’ve had enough cash for about a year now and still, I could not convince myself that I should buy. Not until yesterday when Daisy took a chance on my vision and decided to believe in my dream.

We talk, do not have sex this time—there’ll be time for that later since Vivi is still in Bellvue—and then, around two-thirty, I need to get back to town because it’s Friday night and that means I will have a shitload of clients. So we pack up, get back on the bike, and then I drop her off at home.

She kisses me goodbye for the first time ever.

And she tastes like the wind.

“I’ll be done around eleven-thirty. Want me to stop by?”

She kisses me again. And this time she whispers, “I miss you already.”

I am lit up with happiness after I leave Daisy’s apartments. I pull my bike right into the reserved motorcycle parking in front of Sick Boyz and enter my world of body art a wholly different kind of man than I was the last time I was here.

Belinda smiles at me from the front counter, busy with a group of people setting up appointments. I even nod to my twin brothers as I walk down the hallway towards the breakroom.

Because I own property. Not only that, I have someone to share it with.

Vann is in the breakroom shoving a taco into his face as I enter. He sees the new me immediately. “What the fuck are you so happy about?”

“Ask me what I bought yesterday.”

“Why?” He’s still chewing. A piece of cheese is stuck to his lip.

“Because I bought something.”

Vinn enters the breakroom. “You bought a whore.”

“Fuck you.”

“A round of antibiotics,” Vonn says.

“Fuck you too. No. It’s got nothing to do with sex.” I reconsider. “Well, indirectly, maybe.”

“A piece of land,” Belinda says, leaning against the door jamb.

“How did you know that?”

“You bought land?” Vann asks. “How’d you get the money for that?”

“Same way I got the money for the new windows, dumbass.” I point to Belinda. “Seriously, how did you know?”

Belinda nods her head to the front of the shop. “There’s a pack of girls out there. They would like a word with you.”

“Why? Who are they?”

“Apparently they are Daisy’s BFF’s and they are here to set you straight.”

“What’d you do now?” Vann asks, still fucking chewing.

“Dude. Could you close your fucking mouth when you eat? How old are you? Ten? And I didn’t do anything. We’re in a pretty good place right now. We’re gonna build a house on that property.”

Vann spits out his taco.

I look at Belinda and shoot her the eye.

She nods. “Come on, Vann.” She pulls his arm, directing him towards the hallway. “Your client is here.”

“Send them back,” I call. Then I look at the twins. “Get the fuck out of here.”

They put up their hands in surrender, then also disappear down the hallway, just as three girls who I vaguely recognize from picking Daisy up earlier enter the break room, all three crossing their arms at the same time.

“Can I help you?”

“Yeah, you can help us,” the tough-looking one says.

“Our Daisy,” the cheerleader one says, “is precious.”

“You bet your ass she is,” the sporty one says.

“So we’re gonna need you to spell out your intentions.” The tough-looking one wraps it up.

I shrug. “I love her.”

“No,” Cheerleader says. “No, you don’t. Up until last weekend, you two didn’t even know each other and now you’re all out there buying property? How does that make sense?”

“Hey, whatever your name is. I don’t owe you an explanation.”

“It’s Ella,” Sporty says. “So call her Ella.”

I sneer at her. “Fine. Let’s start there. I’m Vic and you are?”

Sporty says, “Luu,” and Tough Chick says, “Rina.”

“Great.” I smile at them. They back away a little. Because this is not the smile I use for Vivian and other princesses. This is the smile of Vicious. This is the smile I reserve for assholes pissing me off. “Nice to meet you.” These words are spit out through Vicious teeth and they take another step back. “I’m sure we’ll all get to know each other eventually and one day we might even think this little conversation was funny. But that day is not today.”

“We’re just looking out for Daisy.” This comes from Ella. “She’s a good person.”

“A nice person,” Rina adds.

“And she’s our friend,” Luu says. “We like her. And if you think you can just walk into her life and tip it upside down with all these promises, and kisses”—she’s saying these words with snark—“and bike rides, and trips to the country—and not follow through with this?” She narrows her eyes at me. I have to give Luu points for effectiveness. She’s way tougher than the tough girl once she puts her mind to it. She looks like a girl with older brothers. “Mister, you are sadly mistaken.”

“So if you’re going to do this”—Ella picks it up—“then…” She sighs. Straightens. Smiles. “You’re going to need our help.”

“Because we can tell that you suck at relationships,” Rina finishes.

“How do you figure? We had a picnic today. On our new land.”

“Eeeennt!” Luu makes a buzzing sound. “Wrong. Your land.”

Ella points a finger at me. “Is her name on that deed?”

“No. But—”

“There are no buts here,” Ella says.

“We’re only gonna say this once, Vicious.” Badass Luu is back in action. “She gets half.”

“Or you can’t date her,” Rina proclaims.

I laugh. “Says who?”

“Says us.” All three of them say this together.

“One,” I say, holding up a finger. “I know a thing or two about relationships. OK? I do just fine. She swooned this afternoon.”

“Yeah, because you’re dangling farmhouse blueprints in her face,” Rina spits.

“Don’t interrupt me. I’m making a list. Two. She’s the mother of my daughter so even if we weren’t going to build that farmhouse, I would take care of her. I’m not a deadbeat. Three.” I pause here. Maybe even soften a little bit. Because I’m not sure I should say these words out loud.

“Well?” Ella taps her toe, impatient. “What is three?”

“Three.” I say it again. But again, I pause.

Luu shakes her head. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. What is the problem?”

“The problem is…” I take a deep breath. “The problem… is…” I start nodding.

“What? What is with the nod?” Ella asks.

“I think I really do love her. I can see us. The ring, the wedding, the house, more kids. My own little pack of princesses. Who will wear Sick Boyz shit, not Shrike Bikes.”

“You’re rambling,” Luu says.

“Or stalling,” Ella adds.

“The point is, I’m getting old, girls.”

“You’re practically ancient.” Rina snorts. “You’re lucky a girl like Daisy even looks twice at you.”

I shoot her a look at that says, Don’t overdo it. I’m still a catch. And the way my genetics go, I’ll be a catch well into my sixties the way Pops is. But I don’t want to be like Pops. I don’t want to be dating women in my sixties. That’s fucking stupid.

I want to be settled. And I want to be settled with Daisy and Vivian.

Now that I know they exist, there is no way I can settle for second best.

“Are you ever going to spit it out?” Ella asks.

“I think I’m going to marry her,” I say. All three of them narrow their eyes at me. “What? Isn’t this what you’re after? Commitment? That’s the ultimate commitment.”

“No, monthly child support checks are the ultimate commitment,” Luu says.

“You’re here about child support?” I laugh again.

“Why is that funny?” Ella asks.

“Because… money, Ella. I’m not attached to it. I’m happy to share. You think I’m out to get her? I’m not. I’ll put her name on the deed. I’ll send money straight to her checking account. I’ll start a college fund for the sis. Money is not the issue.”

“Money is always an issue when you’re a single parent,” Rina says.

“Understood.”

Ella puts up a hand. “But wait. You said, ‘The problem is…’ Why is that a problem?”

“The problem is this is all very new.”

“Finally, he’s catching on,” Rina says. “That’s why we’re here. You can’t just babysit her daughter for a day and then win the freaking lottery with our Daisy!”

“She’s my daughter too. And I didn’t walk into her life. Vivian walked into mine.” I put up a hand before they can object again because this is taking way too long and I have clients coming. “The main point is this—I want to rush things, girls. I want it all, and I want it all right now. But she’s gonna be all cautious and shit. She will want to take it slow, and think about it, and weigh all the pros and cons.”

“You want us to convince her that you’re the real thing after one week?” Luu says, planting her hands on her hips.

“No.” I mean, yeah, that’s what I want. But I get it. So I need to deny it. “I just want you guys to be on our side.” I smile at that last part.

The three of them look at each other.

Then Ella says, “Can you give us a moment to confer?”

“Why not.” I throw up my hands. “Come find me in my studio when you’re ready. It’s the one closest to the front.”

I leave them in the breakroom and walk down the hallway. Everyone is lingering in their studio doorways.

“What?” I ask, passing Belinda and Vann. “What the fuck?” I ask again, this time passing the twins. But they say nothing. Just shoot me knowing smirks as I go into my studio and turn my computer monitor on to check my schedule.

But I don’t check my schedule. I just stare at the screen and smile as I picture how life is gonna change and how much better it’s going to get.

“OK.”

I look over my shoulder and find Ella, Luu, and Rina staring at me from the doorway. “OK?”

“We have decided that we won’t actively deter her from dating you,” Rina says.

“But hear us now, Vicious Vaughn,” Luu snarls. “If you hurt her—”

“I won’t. Why would I do that?”

“This is the nature of relationships,” Ella says. “They are imperfect.”

“And we expect a commitment from you,” Rina adds.

“The deed?”

“To start,” Luu says. “Put her name on that deed and then you put your name on that birth certificate.”

I let out a breath. Then I smile as I point to the annoying geniuses standing in front of me. “That’s brilliant.”

All three of them shrug. Smugly.

“OK, then. We have a deal.”

They stick out their hands and we shake.

“You do your part, Vicious,” Ella says, “and we’ll do ours.”

“But if you fuck up,” Luu adds, “we will not cover for you.”

“No second chances,” Rina says. “Not at this stage of the game.”

“Agreed.”

They leave and I just lean against my counter smiling as I cross my arms and consider all the new possibilities in life with Daisy and Vivian.

I have won over the friends.

Nothing can go wrong now.