One Rule

Chapter 17

I wandered back inside with the rest of the group. Gemma motioned for me to come sit with her, Tara, and Lyla. I did as I was bid and sat down next to Lyla. "You okay?" she asked quietly.

"Rough night," I replied. "Do you think they'll be okay?" It was an effort to change the subject.

"They'll be fine," Gemma replied. "They always are."

I worry about the one time they won't be fine...

We all sat around the rest of the day and shot the breeze. We played cards and some board games to entertain the kids. In the afternoon, I got up and went back into the kitchen to see if the girls needed help with dinner. They didn't, but they let me stay in there and chat while they worked.

I grabbed a water bottle and went to sit outside after dinner was done and cleaned up. I sat on one of the picnic tables and waited for some sign of life.

"You okay?" Lyla asked, coming to sit next to me.

"I'm going stir crazy," I mumbled. "I'd also like to go home."

"Me too." She rested her head against my shoulder. "Is it true you threw a glass at Tig last night?"

"No," I groaned. "I smashed it on the counter. Tig wasn't even in the room when I did it. He came back in when he heard the crash. I needed stitches because I fucked up when I was trying to clean up my mess."

"Sorry. What did he do to make you that angry?" Lyla asked.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." I shook my head. "I need to let it go for now." I perked up when I heard that familiar roar of Harley engines. "They're back," I grinned, getting up off of the table.

Lyla got up and ran in to let everyone know. The guard unlocked the gate and they rode back inside. The lights on the lot came on, and I could see that everyone was back. Most looked a little worse for wear, but they were all in one piece.

I walked across the lot and stood in front of Kozik's bike, resting my forearms on the handlebars, while he took his helmet off.

"Miss me?" he asked.

"You know it." I smiled and leaned over to kiss him.

"Ow," he jumped and pulled back. "Sorry, busted lip."

I pulled back, "Come on. Let me patch you up."

Thankfully, he didn't require anything major. I just had to clean his cuts and put some bandages on his knuckles. He'd have some bruises, but he'd live. I kissed him on the cheek and had to go help patch up the other guys. Between Tara, Chibs, and I, we were done in good time.

"I just want to make one quick announcement before everyone goes to bed," Clay said. The room got quiet and everyone turned to face him. "We should only need this arrangement for another day or so, and then we can all go home!"

"Oh thank god," I mumbled.

I pulled Kozik down the hall to our room and locked the door behind us. I unzipped his kutte and pushed it off his shoulders, onto the floor. I leaned in to kiss his neck and ran my hands up inside of his shirt and started to push it up so that I could take it off.

"Baby, you know I'm all about this, but you know whose room is next door," he groaned. "You know Ope's kids are sleeping in there."

I pulled back, frustrated. "You're killing me," I groaned. "You better be staying a day or two after this shit is over so that I can actually get some quality time."

"I already told Lee not to expect me until next week," he replied.

"Good." I took off his hoodie and laid in the chair, before taking my shirt off and tossing it on top of my bag. "You know I'm going to work tomorrow, right?" I asked, while he was still staring at my chest.