Page 136 of Smokey's Distraction
“I don’t trust him. The way he acted at the office, and then stalking me at my house, I don’t know if I want to go down that road again.”
“I don’t blame you. Every time I see the pansy-ass, it takes all my willpower to keep my fist outta his face.”
A small laugh slipped through her lips. “You’re always trying to slay the dragons as they come at me.”
Smokey brought his shot glass to his lips. “Damn straight.”
“One of the volunteers I’m friends with told me that he’s dating one of the women in the office. I hope it works out for them. He was looking for companionship and a mother for his kids. The problem was he went about it the wrong way.”
“You should volunteer with Bikers Against Child Abuse. The club puts on a fundraiser for them every Christmas. Cara is the chairwoman, and all the old ladies get involved with the planning. You’ll be part of that this year.” He scooped up some more olives from the platter.
“That sounds like a lot of fun.”Am I an old lady now?
“It is. Give Cara a call and she’ll get you started.”
“Okay.” She took a sip of her drink. “How’s Ryan doing?”
“Pretty good. He’ll be out of rehab at the end of next month. I hope he can stay sober, but who knows? Willy’s got a job waiting for him.”
“He’s going to need a lot of support,” she said.
“And he needs to get his own place. My mom’s so damn negative and bitter that being around her is toxic.”
“Does he want to move out?”
“Yeah. We’ve talked about it a lot.”
Ashley picked up a cracker and a slice of cheese. “That’ll be hard on your mom. She’s never been alone.”
“Ryan won’t abandon her. He’ll drop by and shit like that. I’ll check in on her too.”
Smiling, she put her hand on his. “You’re a good son. You look out for your mom even though she didn’t do it for you and your brothers. You have a generous heart.”
Shrugging, he looked away. “Willy’s been a good influence on Gavin. I knew he would be. He’s got a gift for helping screwed up kids.”
“He’s awesome. He told me that Gavin can’t stop talking about riding on your motorcycle. He really looks up to you,” Ashley said.
“Yeah. I seethe lookin his eyes. It was the same one I had whenever Willy would take me on his bike. I’ll bet Gavin ends up prospecting for the MC. It’d be the best thing for him.”
“Is his mom still in rehab?”
“It’s a damn revolving door for her.”
She smiled. “I’m glad he has you and Willy in his life.”
“He’s a good kid. Who’ll never guess who I bumped into today.”
“Who?”
Smokey took a long pull of his beer. “AJ. The fucker almost shit his pants when I came up to him. I wanted to know if he was the one who tried to attack you in your garage.”
“I’d be surprised if he was.”
“He wasn’t. He admitted to flattening your tires, egging your car, following you a couple of times, and, of course, throwing the rocks against your window. I still can’t believe that fucker did that shit.”
“People do a lot of crazy things for love.”
“Yeah, well he’s not with the bitch anymore. I guess he figured out she was using him. Anyway, all the rest of the shit was on Jared or Tanner, or whatever the asshole’s name was.”
