Chapter 44

Austin
I wake to a blaring sound coming from the ground to the right of me. I open my eyes slowly and feel warmth coming from my left side. Candice sleeps soundly on my chest and the memories from last night come rushing back to me. Fuck this woman is something.
I wanted to be gentle but that went right out the window when she whispered dirty words in my ear. Candice was definitely made for me in the bedroom, now I just wonder if she was made for me in the clubhouse.
The deafening sound starts again, and I realize it's a ringtone coming from my phone. One that I most certainly did not put on there. I don't recognize the song but it's some chick singing and sounds like cats attacking each other. I pick it up before it hurts my ears again and answer the call.
"What the fuck did you do to my phone?" I yell to my brother. I hear Candice laughing her ass off, so I know she is awake.
"Sorry bro, had to. Figured that was your jam." Max laughs at his own joke on the other end.
"Fuck you want? Everything go okay last night?" I had called Max and asked him to go around town with Chance, see if anybody was shocked to see them patrolling so late.
"Yeah, everything went good. People were surprised we were there Aus. Everyone kept telling us that they thought we went legit a couple years back. I don't fucking get it. What's Cole trying to do? What's the point of setting us up if we want nothing to do with the business anyway. Clearly everyone knows we're out."
"Not sure bro. Your info is different than what we got out of Bip. I'm coming to the clubhouse later to pick you and Shane up. Mom wants us over there. Says she's got something to talk to us about."
Mom called me last night, right after Candice had fallen asleep on top of me. She told me she wanted to see me, Max and Shane. I explained to her it isn't a good time for the club, but she told me it was important. I could tell she was lying because her voice got all screechy, but I obliged to her anyways.
"She probably just wants us to come over."
"Yeah, I think so too." I see Candice peeking her eyes out of the blankets searching for her clothes, so I tell Max I'll see him later and hang up.
"So, Miley Cyrus huh?" She says laughing her ass off.
"What the fuck is a Miley Cyrus?" I ask. Why is she laughing?
"You are so cute Austin. She is a singer and you, my friend, have her newest song called Wrecking Ball as your ringtone.
"That shit is a girl singing? Are you fucking kidding me? I'm gonna kill Max."
That only makes her laugh harder. I just stare at the beauty in front of me. I've always thought settling down would be a waste of time. In my opinion when you choose to be with someone you're only setting yourself up for an earache every day. Nothing lasts forever after all, but damn if I can see myself waking up like this, Candice laying naked laughing at something dumb my brother did to my phone, every day. This girl is changing everything.
"My mom wants me and my brother over today." I say to her as she pulls her hair up into one of those girl bun things.
"Oh, okay. Did you want to send over that one guy that thinks he is invisible until he walks up the porch asking for a beer?" She says with a naughty little smirk. Fuck, apparently, I need to remind my men how to be hidden.
"You're coming with me babe, and before you start your million and one questions in your head, it's because I want you to." I tell her.
Candice just smiles then tries to reach for her underwear and bra that are currently lying in a pile on the floor next to the bed. She has the blankets covering her body but cannot reach her clothes unless she lets go. I just stand there and watch her. Amusement covers her face when she turns and sees me merely observing. A true gentlemen would walk over and hand her the clothes she is desperately reaching for. Me? I am very content with just watching her backside as she scoots over slowly and nearly falls of the bed trying to get her clothes. Finally I chuckle and stand up to get her clothes. Don't know why she is being so shy this morning. Not like I haven't seen her naked.
I put on some boxers and shorts and head over to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee, that way I can give her some time. Last night was amazing but I don't want Candice going backwards on me. I want her with me today for more than one reason. Her meeting my mother is right on the top of the list. I grab the cup of coffee and head back into the bedroom. When I get there Candice is sitting on the bed wearing jeans and a tight tank top. She looks fucking edible. She is staring at her cell phone in her hand with a sad expression.
"What's up babe?" I ask. Afraid she just got a phone call from her mother,
"My mom called. She wants to see me tomorrow. She's worried about me. I tried explaining to her that I'll see her in a few days, but she wants to make sure 'that I remember who I am.' That's actually what she said to me." She says using her fingers for the quotations.
"Tell ya what babe. Why don't you go over for dinner tomorrow night at you grandmothers? Max and the boys said nothing went down last night and the asshole Nicholas seems to be keeping his distance from those thugs, we're good if you want to see your family." I have Bone and Rusty watching Nicholas right now and every time I check in, they let me know he is barely leaving his office.
Candice shrinks herself into the bed a little and I have to remind myself that she is afraid. She doesn't know Nicholas, so she is probably petrified that this guy is after her and the strange men she now has to surround herself with. I need to remember to give her the benefit of the doubt. She is probably just taking each day at a time.
"I don't want you to be uncomfortable and I can tell your mother wants you there. I'll send one more guy over there tomorrow and that way you have some time alone with your family." I say to her genuinely. I don't want her to feel like she has to be with me all the time. Hell, I have club shit I need to do anyways. Although I won't lie and say being around her makes me forget about all this shit going on. Damn, this girl is already buried deep in my thoughts.
"Really? You're okay with that? I would love for you to come too, but I think I just need to be with my family alone for a bit. Get my bearings back under my feet." She tells me with a shy smile. I walk over and tip her chin up with my fingers and give her a reassuring smile.
"I'm sure babe. So it's settled. Today, we go over to my mom's, so I can shut her up for a few days and tomorrow you can go and see your mom and grandmother."
"Thank-you Austin." She says jumping into my arms. I bend my head and kiss the woman that is really starting to become a permanent fixture in my mind. If she smiles like this all the time, I can seriously see myself giving in to whatever her heart desired, although I suspect with Candice, that wouldn't be much.
I tell Candice I'm going to hit the shower and she explains that she is going to start on breakfast. She slaps me in the arm when I ask her to not burn down my kitchen this time. While I'm in the shower thoughts of last night come back to me. I hope I wasn't too rough with her. She asked for it but maybe she didn't know to the extent I was going to take her. Fuck, now here I am demanding she go meet my mom. I'm moving way to fucking fast. I need to talk to her first.
Stepping out of the shower I get dressed quickly and round the kitchen.I could smell bacon cooking while I was getting dressed and it smells fucking amazing. When I reach Candice, she is once again dancing in the kitchen to a familiar song coming from my iPod dock. My mother loves music and passed on her love for it to me and Max. I played guitar when I was younger, and Max loved the drums.
I stand there starring at her ass shake in those tight jeans while she listens to Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar on Me. I chuckle when she grabs a spoon and sings into it like a microphone. I walk up to her and a sense of déjà vu overwhelms me. Candice shrieks when my arms curl around her hips and then relaxes into my hold. I see she is not only cooking bacon but toast and eggs. Guess she is making up for last night's burnt salmon because this shit looks great.
"Bit of a music lover babe?" I say chuckling when she reaches over to the dock to turn up Nickelback's Far Away.
"I love this song." She says in a dreamy voice. She lays her head back on my shoulder as I sway us back and forth.
Never thought I would be one to sway in the middle of my kitchen while cooking breakfast, but for this woman, I want to.
"Whenever I heard this song, I would picture my dad coming into the driveway to surprise me. He left my mother when she found out she was pregnant with me, so all I used to wish for, all I ever wanted, was for him to come and meet me. Tell me how much he was sorry and that he loves me. It became my favorite song."
It makes sense why her mother was so weary of a man telling her and her daughter what to do. She doesn't want Candice following in the same footsteps as her. It's a damn shame some men out there want nothing to do with their kids. They forget that you don't always need to be a part of a relationship to be a part of your child's life. My father always made sure he was a part of Max and I's life, even when he and my mother split.
I don't say anything acknowledging Candice's confession about her father, I just continue to sway her while she faces away from me, but I do move my arms up to her chest and hold her closer to me. I want to show her that she is special to me, and even though it's only been a few days she is already growing on me.
After the song ends, she turns out of my grasp and gives me an appreciative smile. We sit down for breakfast where I demolish two helpings of her food and we talk about everything and nothing.
"You good with going to my mom's babe? I realized earlier I never asked you if you wanted to. I don't want you to feel like I'm not considering your feelings."
"No, I'm good with-it Austin, and thank-you for inviting me. I have to admit. I'm a little nervous about meeting your mother. I've never met my man's mother before." She says with a smirk.
"You keep looking at me like that, calling me your man and shit, we're never going to leave the bedroom today."
She giggles, and I can't take it anymore. I need to be inside this woman again. I've been hard since we swayed in the kitchen earlier. I stand up scooting my seat back until it falls on the ground then go to her and grab her throwing her over my shoulder. I can hear her starting her little snort laughing thing, something I know she hates but I find adorable as fuck. I head to the bedroom and throw her on the bed. We still have three hours until we need to be at the clubhouse to pick the guys up. Candice shimmies out of her shirt and I see a red lace bra. Yeah, we might be a little late.


"Is that a knife in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" Max says to me when Candice and I hop off the bike later that morning.
We had spent the rest of the morning over many surfaces. Started in the bedroom, then she got up to take a shower, and what kind of man would I be if I didn't offer to wash her back? After that we headed to the kitchen, so she can grab some water but watching her throat bob up and down guzzling liquid only made me want to do something else. That led us to the kitchen table, to the living room and then again on the floor because she said, and I quote 'I put my cut on all hot like.'
What Max is referring to is my arousal at having this woman wrapped around my waist on the way to the clubhouse. Like I said, the woman is doing things to me.
"Shut-up asshole." I say while pushing him when he wiggles his eyebrows at Candice.
I hear her giggle at my younger brother and instead of jealousy, affection fills my heart. I actually appreciate their friendship they have towards each other. When Candice told me about her learning of his PTSD I could tell that instead of sympathy, which he hates, she was more concerned with his wellbeing.
"So, are we ready to go? Austin told me your guys' mother lives about an hour away, not sure I'll be able to do that on the back of a bike."
"Don't worry sweetheart, we're taking the SUV. It's easier for us all to ride together. Plus me and you can sit in the back and talk about your little boyfriend here." Max says.
I haven't told anyone, including Max, about me and Candice's relationship, figured I'll let her warm up to the idea of us first. Leave it to fucking Max to air that shit as soon as we arrive.
"Where the hell is Shane?" I ask, trying to pull the direction of conversation into a different topic.
"Don't know. You could always call Candice's little coworker friend and see if she has seen him." Max cheeks.
"The fuck you talking out of your ass for Max?" Shane yells from the shed.
"Wait, you've been seeing Lyla?" Candice says as she walks over to Shane clapping her goddamn hands.
I can tell Shane is not comfortable with where this conversation is headed so I break the tension.
"Alright, you bunch of fifteen-year-old cheerleaders. Let's get this show on the road. You know how mom is when it comes to us being late."
"So, your introducing your woman to your mom. Haven't you two only been seeing each other for like half a millisecond?" Max jokes as he gets in the passenger seat.
I look at him strangely, not because him being in my business is out of character for him. Quite the opposite really. I'm looking at him strangely because I don't know what the hell he is doing sitting in the passenger seat. Shane is not the most social guy, and Candice is already leery of him because he tends to give her the 'evil eyes', her words not mine.
"Uh, Max, you sure you don't want to sit back there with Candice?" I'm really trying hard to give him a pleading look, but the jackass just smirks at me. Fucker. I start the car and get back out to open Candice's door. When she hops in and sees Max up front she gives me bug eyes. Sorry babe. My brother is a bit of an ass.
I see Shane getting in the back, narrowing his eyes at Candice already, just as I shut her car door.I hop back in the driver's seat and we begin our journey. Half way to my mom's, I hear Candice start giggling. I look in the rearview mirror at her but can't see why she is laughing so hard. I turn my gaze to Shane and he is giving Candice the same weird look I am.
"Sorry, I- I just." She starts but can't finish because she starts her laughing snorting thing.
Candice is laughing so damn hard that we all start to laugh along with her crazy ass. Shane even shakes his head with a chuckle. Finally, when she catches her breath, and wipes her tears, she tells us why she suddenly started laughing.
"It's just that, Lyla always told me that the person she sees herself with will be a cowboy. She always envisioned herself with someone from Texas, that has a large farm, and lots of animals. She wants a huge family and the man is going to even wear a cowboy hat in the bedroom." She says laughing again.
We all start laughing our ass off. Fuck, I haven't done something like this in a long time. Feels fucking good. I look in the rearview mirror again and see Candice looking over at Shane. Her look of serene innocence is unbelievable. I have to make sure nothing happens to her. I have to protect what's mine.
"I own a house on top of a lot of land." Shane says randomly five minutes later. The car was completely silent after the laugh-off. We all remain quiet. When I look to Candice in the rearview mirror, she has a huge smile on her face and is gushing at Shane.
Well I'll be a monkey's uncle. Looks like Shane is falling for a hot little nurse. I know the feeling.