Page 82 of Rowdy & Kat

“Lula suggested we wait. If we hit Bob, Aaron, and Vinny first, we’ll have a tougher time negotiating peace later.”

“What peace?”

“The kind of peace that keeps us from having to wipe out entire bloodlines while they try to do the same to our families.”

Rock’s gaze scanned the area where many of our friends and family talked and laughed together. His parents might be back in Rawlins, but they remained obvious targets.

“Fine,” Rock said, letting his sensible side take over. “We’ll wait and see what happens. Maybe these guys are so nervous, they’ll behave. But you know we can’t let them fuck with us even one more time, or we’ll look like sloppy bitches.”

As his gaze focused on Elle tackling Sabrina in the next yard, Clint nodded. His sister would be the most obvious target if violence broke out between us and the Baton Rouge assholes.

“Talking to you guys made me feel worse,” I said and walked away.

Rock yelled out, “Go cry to your mama!”

People looked over to see if his comment was the start of a fight. I kept walking before jumping the fence separating this yard from my parents’ place. I headed straight for Kat and wrapped her in my arms. Pressing my face in her soft hair, I finally shook off my shitty mood and smiled.

“Withdrawal’s a bitch,” I murmured and kissed her.

“Withdrawal from what?” Vanessa asked from nearby, where she jumped in the bouncy house with Skylar and Lyric. “Nicotine?”

“I was missing my woman,” I told my sister.

“Aww, I want to fall in love.”

“You will,” Lula promised.

Reassured by our big sister’s words, Vanessa returned to goofing around with the girls. I also felt comforted by how relaxed Lula behaved. I didn’t want to think about danger, but standing out in the open left me edgy.

My neediness left me worried I couldn’t protect Kat and our boys if they were ever in danger. Kat had transformed the man capable of biting off a guy’s nose into a soft, silly bitch.

KAT

A week after the party, Maria and I returned to Little Rock to start packing up the townhouse. The most difficult part was being away from the boys for half the day. To distract me, Maria kept us focused on our to-do list.

Meanwhile, Rowdy supervised the club prospects moving the heavy furniture. Sabrina, Vanessa, Moe, and Xandy worked on packing the kitchen and living room. Maria and I organized our clothing and daily necessities.

Rowdy decided to bring two trucks. One haul was destined for his condo’s storage unit. The second truck included bigger furniture headed for a larger storage unit we rented near his parents’ house.

Though we couldn’t pack up everything in one day, we made a large dent. Maria and Farley planned to return later in the week to tackle the arts and crafts room.

Sensing I needed to see the boys, Rowdy dropped me off at his parents’ house before he guided the others to the storage units. I felt so strange being away from the boys for so long. Bebe had sent updates every thirty minutes. The boys had mostly slept while I was gone. Yet, I couldn’t help feeling as if I’d missed everything.

I was able to settle down once I snuggled each boy. Their soft skin and clean scent helped me think clearly again. Despite the emotionally stressful day, I was happy to have taken another step toward intertwining my life with Rowdy’s.

Over the following weeks, Maria and I quit our jobs. We changed our address on various accounts. Nova recommended her pediatrician in Little Memphis, while Elle suggested I see her OB/GYN. Soon, I’d made appointments for my upcoming checkups. Once the townhouse was emptied out, we hired contractors to do repairs to ready it for sale.

As Rowdy began riding during the day, Maria and I ventured out of the condo more often. One weekend, we joined Bebe and Shay at the farmers’ market, where we met up with Darby Curran and her live-in girlfriend, Keener. As we explored the various stalls, Cavan slept in a sling against my chest. Cuddled in Maria’s sling, Colson looked around.

A few days a week, Maria and I walked with Ivy around the area by the condos. We explored stores and restaurants. The boys slept well as long as we kept moving. On the weekends, when Boone and Nova stayed at their condo, we spent time with them in the courtyard, game room, or pool.

Most evenings, I spent time alone with Rowdy and the boys. I often cooked dinner while he played with the babies. We alternated between Kung Fu movies and rom coms. Once a week, Maria and Farley joined us for dinner, or we went to Farley’s condo.

My sister hadn’t taken long to jump into the handsome biker’s bed. I didn’t blame her. I was dying to fully share my body again with Rowdy.

“I’m going to fuck you into a coma,” Rowdy kept threatening.

Finally, I told him, “Okay, but then you’ll need to deal with the night feeding on your own.”