Page 5 of Jake
At least she hoped not.
She didn’t want to think about what he would have had to go through to change what she considered such a basic, core part of him.
“I’m sure. He’s not mixed up with them.” She didn’t tell Matt about her doubts, one person thinking them was enough.
Matt didn’t respond but watched her a moment, as if trying to figure out what she was thinking. After a moment, he nodded.
“Let’s go see what everyone’s up to and find something to drink.” He turned, waiting for her to join him before they headed into the park.
Heather took a deep breath and wrapped an arm around his waist, giving him a quick sideways hug before releasing her cousin to walk beside him. She appreciated the way he’d taken her in, and that he was doing everything he could to keep her safe. She straightened her shoulders and decided to push away thoughts of Mitch and his idiot friends in Mobile. Today was a day to have fun, and she was determined to do just that.
Their first stop was at the row of several coolers they’d brought down from Dickenson with them. She knew several of them held food, but just as many had drinks of all kinds.
“What do you want?” Matt asked.
“Did we bring any Northern Route?” she asked about her favorite craft brew, made by a brewery in Dickenson. She’d fallen in love with it the first time she’d tried it, now it was her beer of choice.
“Miles knows how much you and a couple of other women like it, so I’m sure it’s here somewhere,” Matt said as he opened one cooler, pulled out a coke and dropped the lid, pressing it closed with his knee before moving a couple of coolers down and opening that one. From the way he’d gone straight to the cooler with the cokes in it, she knew there had to be some kind of system for what was where, but had no clue what it was.
“What are you looking for?” Miles asked as he stepped up, a wide grin on his face.
“She wants that Phat Fish beer some of the girls drink,” Matt said, digging through one of the coolers with one hand.
“The Phat Fish is in that one over there.” Miles indicated the cooler at the end of the row.
“Thanks,” Matt closed the one he’d been digging through and went to the one he’d indicated. After a moment of digging, he pulled out a can, closed the cooler and brought it to her. “Here. Want to find a place to sit, or you want to wander around a bit?”
“I’ll mingle, you go have some fun. You don’t need to babysit me all the time.”
Matt didn’t say anything for a moment, but watched her, one brow lifted, as if he was asking if she was sure. She used the hem of her shirt to wipe off the top of her can, then opened it and took a long pull before using her free hand to shoo him away.
“Now that you’ve run him off, what’s your plan?” Miles asked after Matt had reluctantly wandered off.
“I didn’t lie to him. I’m going to mingle.” She scanned the park, wondering where to start, then spotted Ava and Cowboy to one side, talking with a couple she didn’t recognize. Might as well start there. Maybe she’d learn more about Aaron and these Demented Souls they were getting together with.
She didn’t understand the whole thing, the meeting up with another club, but she was only on the edge of the Kings, so it didn’t matter if she understood how it worked. Besides, she didn’t know how long she would be around anyway. But maybe she could get an idea of what kind of man Aaron was now, maybe learn a little bit about his friends.
5
Jakewanderedfromgroupto group, checking in with his brothers and their women, making sure they had everything they needed and fetching a few things when they didn’t.
“Have you eaten anything?” London asked with one lifted brow when he stopped to check on Tuck and the others where they sat with Cowboy and Ava, the King’s president’s wife.
“Not yet. I’m headed that way now. I just wanted to make sure you all didn’t need anything first.”
“If we did, we can figure out where to get it. Get your food before it’s all gone.”
“No chance of that,” Cowboy said. “The option you want might run low or out, but we never run out of food.”
London tilted her head and turned her attention to Cowboy. “What do you do with the leftovers?”
“We find a local shelter wherever we are and donate them. If there isn’t one or they don’t accept donations of prepared food, then we pack it back up and take it back to Dickenson. We’ve got a place there that focuses on vets that we have a good relationship with. We donate to them often.”
She nodded and turned to Tuck, both brows lifted. “I like that.”
“I do too. We can get Lurch looking for a place like that we can work with in Gillette, and we’ll see what we can find in Tucson, once we’re down there.”
“I’ll take care of that here, at least the looking and finding out who to put Lurch in touch with,” Jake volunteered.