Talkin' Trash
Page 24

I saw something flicker in Steel’s eyes and knew that I’d just struck closer to home than I’d ever thought.
“It’s me you’re worried about,” I finally said. “You think that I’m going to do something wrong here.”
When Steel didn’t say anything, I knew that I had the right of it.
“I don’t think you’re going to do something wrong,” Steel said in exasperation. “I think that you’ve already had it rough and that you don’t need Linc’s bullshit catching up with you. I think that back then you had a choice, and that choice would’ve affected both of you negatively. You were both on different paths in life and being together might’ve made those paths tougher than they should’ve been. And let’s face it, honey, you were not the easiest teenager. You were awful, quite honestly. I wanted both of your heads to be in the right place, and they weren’t. Not to mention this bozo went and gave the finger to the Dixie Wardens’ name. They are still affiliated with us, but what was wrong with our club? And now, all these years later, the Guardians are still trying to prove themselves.”
I felt my lips twitch.
“So you’re saying that now that we’re together, you won’t complain anymore,” I finally got out. “But it still smarts that the chapter you intended to start up in Texas didn’t go the way you’d planned, and now that they branched off, finding their own niche in this world, you’re upset because y’all don’t get the recognition for it. It’s gotta burn that two professional football players are bringing new eyes to the world of motorcycle clubs, and y’all aren’t really a part of it.”
I wasn’t trying to be a shit, but hell, Steel’s reasons were sub-par at best.
Yes, I’d been a troubled teen. Yes, if we’d gotten together back then, things might’ve changed on our paths in life. Sure, Linc had taken a leap of faith that not many would’ve taken when it came to a motorcycle club.
But I didn’t blame him one bit.
It was hard to be in your parents’ shadows, and what the boys of the Bear Bottom Guardians did was try to form their own path in life, not take the easy road and ride on their father’s coattails.
Steel growled in frustration. “This club is our life. The Dixie Wardens have gone through a lot, and yes, it burns that they don’t want to be our chapter here in Texas. But no, that’s not why we’re upset. We’re not really upset about anything—at least not anymore. In the beginning, it was a big deal. Now, I’m just pissed off that I was lied to.”
“You were lied to?” I laughed incredulously. “How about how you told the man that I wanted more than my next breath to stay away from me, and he did for almost six years?”
Steel shrugged. “I signed up to watch over you, and I don’t give a good goddamn who I hurt in the process to make sure that in the end, you’re all right.”
That was actually kind of nice.
Except he’d hurt me and Linc, and not anybody else.
“And I’m not going to apologize for watching out for you two. Sorry if it hurts that you didn’t get to be together when you were both too young to realize that your lives were meant to go places that had nothing to do with each other. Can you honestly say that you would’ve gone to nursing school and then started taking courses toward your nurse practitioner’s license had you been married to Linc? Because I can’t say that you would have. You would’ve been knocked up with three kids by now, wondering if you could’ve changed things had you given it time,” Steel said, sounding not the least bit sorry.
I rolled my eyes. “We wouldn’t have had three kids by now. That’s almost impossible.”
Steel rolled his eyes. “Don’t think that you would’ve been able to resist, darlin’. I see the way you two look at each other. It’s the way I look at your mom.”
I looked away and felt Linc’s arm tighten.
“After listening to all of this, are you or are you not upset? I’m confused,” Linc said, sounding tired.
He probably was.
We’d gone to bed late, and he’d had to get up super early for his interview, and even earlier since he’d run as well.
That’s when Steel and Jessie started to laugh, Jessie harder than Steel.
“I thought you were going to fight me, kid,” Jessie snorted, bending over slightly at the hip. “Jesus Christ, the look on your face when you opened the door? You wouldn’t hit your old man, would you?”
Linc shrugged. “I honestly thought about it today.” He paused. “Though I’ve thought about it a few times. Sometimes you really piss me off.”
I snickered.
I remembered one of those times, in particular, was right about the time that Linc had been drafted. Something had happened and his dad had told him not to fall into the trap that came with fame. Linc had responded with a curt ‘I wasn’t raised stupid’ reply to which Jessie had countered with ‘don’t act like it.’
Needless to say, both James men were hotheads, and I had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time that they butt up against each other.
“We’re here on business,” he paused. “But I did think you knocked her up. I was pretty pissed off about that. She’s not finished with school yet.”
I rolled my eyes. “Speaking of…I’m not going to finish school, but not because I’m knocked up.”
My heart was hammering and having Linc so freakin’ close wasn’t helping matters.
“What?” Steel asked, confused. “Why?”
I grimaced. “I don’t like the schooling. I thought that was what I wanted, but I just don’t anymore. So instead of further pursuing a degree that I ultimately don’t really want, I’m going to quit while I’m ahead—and save myself tens of thousands of dollars in future debt.”
Steel studied me for a long moment, studying my resolve, then shrugged.
“You’re young yet,” he admitted. “Your mom and I were honestly worried about you getting it so fast, but since we knew that you had your mind set on it, we didn’t say anything. We’d support you in any way.”
Linc squeezed my waist one more time, and then dropped his arm from around me before heading into the kitchen as he said, “Anybody want coffee? I really need fuckin’ coffee.”
I watched Linc’s ass as he went.
I could take or leave coffee, but if Linc came with the coffee? You bet your ass I’d take it. Even if it made my heart feel like it was racing a mile a minute.
And right then, after the drama of telling my stepfather, whose opinion really did matter to me, that I wasn’t going to go to college anymore? Well, it was likely best that I didn’t push the poor little ticker.
But I’d sit next to Linc and smell him—he was better than coffee anyway.
After passing out a few cups of coffee, Linc sat at the kitchen table and stared at the photo of me with mud all up over my crotch and said, “Why are y’all here?”
Linc’s eyes lifted from where he was staring at the picture to bounce his gaze in between Steel and Jessie.
“We’re here because of this,” Jessie flicked the paper. “Though, last night we hadn’t realized that you two were involved with the accident until Silas called us when we were halfway here.”
I frowned.
“We weren’t necessarily involved with the accident. We were involved with saving him,” I corrected him.
Jessie waved his hand in the air as if to clear it. “That’s true. We came because we heard about Hoax’s accident. This,” he tapped the paper again, “was just a coincidence.”
Steel brought the paper closer to him and studied it. “What did you do, sit in the water?”
“I squatted down in the water,” I corrected.
Steel’s eyes met mine and he winked. “What’s that in your saddlebag, Linc? Does that say biohazard?”
Linc got up and walked to his refrigerator, pulling out the same biohazard bag from the night before.
He walked back over to the sink and threw it down unceremoniously.