Page 27 of Lick

Sitting back down in the hard as fuck plastic chair, I lean back. “Listen. I’m a biker. I like to go when and where I want, and I sure as shit don’t need to be worrying about no kids even if they have my blood flowing through their body. I’m not good for them. I don’t have the fucking patience. And you’re forgetting one thing.”

“What’s that?” she asks.

“I live in the fucking clubhouse. That ain’t no place for kids. Fuck, they’re not even allowed. There ain’t no way I would be allowed to keep those kids, not when any type of agency sees where I live. Even if I wanted to, it couldn’t happen.”

A smile spreads across her face, and a glint shines in her eyes. I’m not sure I like the look she’s giving, but before I can ask her what the fuck is going on in that pretty little head she makes her way to the door and swings it open.

“How long will the background check take?” she asks, nodding her head as she listens to whoever is talking to her. “And then you’ll need to do an inspection of the living arrangements?”

Oh, hell no.

“And once everything goes through the kids can come live with us?”

Oh hell to the no.

She hops on her toes and claps her hands. When she turns towards me, her face is overcome with joy. “Grab the crate and the papers, Tylan. We’ve got a club meeting to attend.”

Fuck my life.

“Why are we meeting at my house?” Cut asks as the last guy takes a seat in his living room. Lily, Cut’s wife, is already curled up on the couch. Sin’s here, of course, and Dyke. Everyone else is working recon on a big case and couldn’t come.

“Because there’s something that we need to discuss with you, and I thought it would be better to be here rather than the clubhouse.” Once we’d left Social Services, I got on the phone with Savannah and told her what was going on.

“Would that be because you wouldn’t be allowed in Jury?” he counters.

“Yes, but it really doesn’t have anything to do with the club.”

“Does it have something to with a member of my club?”

“Yes.”

His eyes find Lick who has been sitting quietly in more of the kitchen area then the living room with the rest of us. “Does this have something to do with that lady that showed up at my mom’s earlier?”

“Yes,” I answer for him.

“Have you lost the ability to speak, Lick.”

Lick’s head snaps to Cut. “No, I haven’t lost the ability to speak.” He pushes to his feet and makes his way into the living room. “But all this is a waste of fucking time.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “And I’m not about to indulge her.” He lifts his head in my direction.

“Heaven forbid you indulge me, Lick.”

“What the hell has gotten into the two of you?” Sin asks.

“I’m surprised you don’t already know.” Lick eyes Savannah.

“Don’t even look at me, Lick. It’s not happening,” Savannah responds.

“Cut the shit and tell me what’s going on.”

“My sister had some kids,” Lick says before I have the chance to explain. “And Jenni,” he says my name as if it’s a dang swear word, “thinks it’s a great idea for me to take them in. But she doesn’t think past her tits because if she did then we wouldn’t be standing here, bothering you and bringing shit to your door that you don’t need or care for.”

“They need to be with their family,” I defend my reasoning. “Their mom just died, and Tylan is the only one they have left.”

“What about the father?” Cut asks.

“Not in the picture. They don’t know who he, or they, are. No one is listed on the birth certificates,” I tell him.

“And you don’t want them?” Lily asks.