Page 31 of Raggedy Dan
“Just another reason to finalize kicking HHMC out of our area.I can see those fuckers doing something like that.Blaming the victim.‘Oh, you made me do this.’”Rocker’s voice was pitched low.“Fucking motherfuckers.”
“I’m glad she’s found someone like you, Raggedy Dan.”Tinder backhanded his chest, knuckles rapping off Dan’s sternum.
“That’s not a name that’s going to stick.”
“Oh, yeah, it fucking is.Already having a nameplate made for you.It’s happening, Raggedy Dan.”
“I’d prefer just Dan.”
“And I like Raggedy Dan, the quiet but ferocious enforcer.”Tinder laughed.“Hell of a road name, brother.”
“Might as well give in, Raggedy Dan,” Denver chimed in.“Raggedy Dan doesn’t hit hard.It’s smooth, sliding in under the humor bar, not instilling fear.Will let you get close to enemies and deal with them from inside.”
“Fuck,” he said, dipping his chin in deference.
“Fuck yeah, you mean,” Tinder laughed.“Fuck yeah.”
Chapter Ten
Riley
The old ladies had claimed the corner of the clubhouse’s main room like their personal territory.Ella was perched on a stool, belly prominent under a loose sweater, fanning herself with a paper plate despite the chill outside.Two other women, Nora with the sleeve of roses and Maria with the long black braid, were pouring coffee and passing a bottle of tequila between them.
“Can I be the first to say,” Nora laughed.“You look like you had a good night.”
Riley smirked.“I had agreatnight.”
Ella groaned dramatically.“God, I miss sex.This baby has turned me into a hormonal landmine.One minute I’m crying over a commercial, the next I want to climb Dawg like a tree.”
Maria giggled softly and poured four shots.“Tequila fixes everything.Including pregnancy hormones.Especially at nine a.m.”
Riley accepted the glass.“I’m not arguing.”
They clinked.The tequila burned clean down her throat, chased by lime and salt.Ella took a tiny sip, touching her lips to the liquor more than actually drinking, made a face, then grinned.“See?I’m fixed.”
After the shots came the yoga mats.Ella had insisted on “relaxation yoga” in a sunroom off the kitchen where there were big windows with the sunshine pouring in and mats already laid out on the concrete floor.Riley ended up in downward dog next to Nora while Ella modified everything to side-lying stretches.
