Page 33 of Property of Doc

“Go get it, and I’ll welcome him into the club as the national president,” Big Daddy instructs.

The alcohol is already flowing with Mongrel behind the bar while the other two prospects watch over the grills when a shrill whistle reverberates through the room. “Now that I have your attention,” Big Daddy growls out, “seems we’ve got a bit of a dilemma, brothers.”

All eyes are on him, including mine. I know what’s about to happen and agree that this will ensure that Mongrelalwaysremembers the day he was patched in. Rio steps up, faking ignorance, and asks, “What’s that, Big Daddy?”

“Well, I heard that there’s someone here who should be a brother, but instead, he’s running errands, washing bikes, and protecting the ol’ ladies,” Big Daddy starts. “But heshouldbe wearing his bottom rocker proclaiming him a full member of the club. What should we do about that, Rio?”

“Guess we need to get that sorted out, brother,” Rio replies. “Mongrel?—”

Before he can finish, Mongrel says, “I’ll go grab Monkey and Mutt, pres,” as he moves from behind the bar.

“Don’t take another step!” Big Daddy roars, freezing everyone in their tracks. The silence is so loud you could hear a bug fart rightnow as Mongrel keeps his eyes on Big Daddy. One of his legs is extended as he was in the process of taking a step and I marvel at his ability to keep an upright balance.

Rio and Big Daddy walk over to Mongrel and Big Daddy says, “I need to properly welcome the newest member of the West Texas chapter of the Kings. I understand that even though you were injured, you kept your wits about you enough to call your president and then, youranto where you last saw the vehicle you were following so you could continue to protect the ol’ lady inside. If that’s not the epitome of what a Kings brother is, I don’t know what to say. Congratulations, Mongrel, and welcome.”

Rio hands him his patches and pulls him in for a hug. “We know from Gopher you don’t wanna change your road name, so you’re still Mongrel. Get with Constance and she’ll get these sewn onto your cut. I’d say you could do it, but she insists on it, so I don’t argue.”

“Probably wise not to argue with one of the women who take care of us,” Mongrel replies, an ear-splitting grin on his face. “And yeah, I’ve always been a mongrel, so I’m good with keeping the name.”

Well, there’s obviously a story there, but today’s not the day to pry. There’ll be time enough to get Mongrel’s story. As he goes to return to dealing with the bar, I see him wincing when his shoulder gets bumped. I make a mental note to check him out to make sure there was no damage missed from his recent crash.

“Let’s party!” Rio exclaims. “Celebrate Pokey’s life and the fact that this would tickle him pink to add a new brother to our mix.”

“Thank fuck that Constance and Maria made so much food,” I mumble as Gretchen leads me to our room.

Just as I suspected, the booze flowed so freely that even I over-indulged. I’m going to pay for this, but right now, I’m feeling too loose to care.

“Don’t think it helped any of y’all all that much,” she says as she helps me sit on the bed. When she crouches down to remove my boots, I immediately imagine her with my dick between her luscious lips. There’s a slight twitch behind my jeans but even I know that if I pursued that thought, it wouldn’t end well, so I tuck it away for another time when the whiskey wasn’t whiskey-ing so hard.

She mostly undresses me since I’m as useless as tits on a bull right now. When I’m down to my boxers, I fall backward and watch as she hangs my cut on the back of the door. Seeing my Stetson, I ask, “You wanna go for a ride tomorrow?”

“I don’t think you’ll be sober until the weekend,” she teases, looking at me over her shoulder.

“A horse, baby. It’s been a while since I’ve been on one, because of all the club stuff going on, but I’d like to go riding with you,” I reply.

She doesn’t say anything as I watch her change into a short little nightie that does wonderful things to her defined body. The self-defense classes she’s been taking with Mongrel, as well as our workouts, have made her muscles toned and lean. When shecrawls in beside me, I pull her close and kiss her. “What do you think?”

“I think I’d like that,” she murmurs. “But I do have to get my cake pops ready for this weekend. I’ll likely get up way before you, though, so I should be able to take care of that before you even think about waking up.”

“If you say so,” I slur out as sleep beckons. “Love you.”

“I love you too and since I do, I’ll be sure to hook up a banana bag for you when I get up, okay?” she asks.

“Sounds good.”

CHAPTER

NINETEEN

Gretchen

Just as I suspected, I’m awake long before Doc. Looking at his furrowed brow, I decide my plan of action will be to get up, showered, and dressed so I can put together a banana bag for him. In the meantime, I grab a bottle of water from his mini fridge, as well as some ibuprofen and set it on his nightstand in case he wakes up while I’m in the shower. Happy that at least he’ll have something before I get back, I rush through my morning routine and head downstairs.

Let Operation Banana Bag begin! Since I feel like there might be others who will need one, I make six of them, then carry one back up to Doc’s room. “Hey,” I whisper, “let me hook this up for you.”

“Mmkay,” he incoherently mumbles, flinging his arm out from beneath the sheet. It doesn’t take me long to get the IV started and I soon have him situated comfortably with the bag hanging from a makeshift hook. Who knew the man had so many weird fix-it things ready and available in his room?

I return downstairs and dish myself a plate from the delicious breakfast items that Constance and Maria have put together. “Are you heading into your room?” Issy asks.