An Outlaw Wedding (4 page)

“She
loves you with all of her heart, and you love her with a fierceness that even
my bear recognizes.” Brick stared at
Nico
. “And that
scares the shit out of me,
Nico
.”

“You,
scared?” It was almost laughable, but the look Brick gave him told
Nico
to shut the fuck up.

“I
just don’t want to see my little girl hurt. That’s all, and I know you’re the
only person that could really do that.”

Damn,
he had never seen this side of Brick before. “I’d never hurt her. I’d rather
rip my own fucking heart out.”

Brick
grunted and nodded. “Good.” He clapped him on the shoulder and turned to head
back to the MC members. Dallas, Stinger, Court, Diesel, and even
Nico’s
dad were all in a semicircle sharing old “war”
stories.
Nico
looked back at
Alexis,
saw that she was watching him with an almost worried expression on her face. He
knew she had seen him talking to her dad. He shook his head and stood, about to
show her how much he loved her in the most basic of ways.

****

The
music was loud, the voices all around her boisterous, and the beer she was
drinking made its way through her body. It had to be one in the morning, and
all the parents had gone into the clubhouse to let them party. Maybe they knew
they were drinking, but if they did they hadn’t come out and busted them. Then
again it wasn’t like Alexis or the other kids that had stayed behind for the
party were doing it out in the open, or going anywhere. Most of them were
inside the massive garage right now. There were a few Harleys that were on
blocks and partially torn apart, and a couple more that were in the process of
being restored to their original condition. The members of The Grizzly MC
didn’t just kick people’s asses if they crossed their paths, but they also did
“normal” things like rebuild cars, trucks, and bikes, spend time with their
families, and even something as mundane as having a picnic at the lake. While others
looked at them as thugs, criminals, and violent bear shifters, Alexis and
everyone who really knew them knew that they were good men that took care of
their families.

The
garage was packed with not only the kids of The Grizzlies, but also their
friends from school, and even more were gradually trickling in. It looked like
this party wasn’t dying down anytime soon. But the majority of the people that
kept coming in this late were friends of
Nico
, Lucas,
and Odin. Dakota and a few of the guys that could actually drink legally were
off to the side looking at one of the bikes, and she could see the admiration
in Dakota’s face as he told his friends the breakdown of each part.

“Here.”
Tarren
shoved a beer at her, and some of the amber
liquid splashed over the rim.

“I
think I am good on the alcohol department.”

“Are
you drunk?”
Tarren
asked and then took a big sip from
the red plastic cup she held. The keg that one of the legal drinking age guys
had brought was being put to good use.

“No,
but I got a good buzz going on.”

Tarren
shook her head,
and her dark bobbed hair moved around her face. “This is our graduation party.
If you’re not drunk then you’re not having a good time.”

“I
don’t want to get so wasted that when I crash for the night my parents can
smell the booze on me and see the vomit in my hair.”

Tarren
didn’t respond
right away, just drank several more swallows from her cup. “Girl, if my dad
knew how drunk I really was he’d take away my car and make sure I never left
the house again.”

“
Tarren
, Dallas is like a puppy compared to what my dad
would do if he knew about all the alcohol I’m drinking.”

“Alexis,
do you honestly think our folks don’t know we have beer out here?”

No,
of course she knew they had to know. Nothing got by The Grizzlies, but that didn’t
mean they were okay with a little social drinking, and not some blow-out frat
party that resulted in puking, stumbling around, and passing out in the lawn.
All of which she knew might be a very good possibility tonight. “I’m sure they
do, but—”

Tarren
held her hand
up, stopping her. “They are watching, making sure we are okay and don’t go
anywhere, and would put a stop to it if it got out of hand.”

Alexis
nodded and took a sip from her cup.

“How
about we not talk about our parents and just enjoy the fact we are free from
high school?”
Tarren
grinned and finished off her
beer. “How are you and
Nico
doing?”
Tarren
arched a perfectly plucked dark brow. “You do the
deed yet?”

Alexis
nearly choked on her beer. She wiped her mouth, felt her eyes water as alcohol
went into her lungs, and started coughing.

“I
guess that’s a no?”

She
shook her head. “No.”

“You’ve
been together like two years. How much dry humping can you possibly do with
him?”

Leave
it to
Tarren
to not mince her words. She was one of
the most outgoing and open-minded girls from The Grizzly kids.

“You
need to get drunk and stop being the most sober one here.”
Tarren
grinned. “Not only did
we
just graduate, but you
turned eighteen not too long ago.”

“Yeah,
you’re right.” Alexis looked around and took a sip of her beer, but right when
she was about to move the cup away from her
Tarren
pushed it to her mouth and forced her to drink all of it. She sputtered, some
of the beer trailed down her chin again, and she lightly smacked
Tarren
on the shoulder. “What the hell?” Alexis started
laughing, but felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment. How many people saw her
dribble like some kind of infant? She scanned the crowd again, saw
Nico
and Lucas over by Odin and a few of the other guys,
and couldn’t stop herself from smiling. She loved him, loved him so much
sometimes it hurt. Yeah, they had been dating for two years, but that didn’t
mean they had to jump right into sex.

“So,
spill it, girl,”
Tarren
said.

Alexis
didn’t need to ask what
Tarren
meant by that question.
“We got close a couple of times, but when my dad almost caught us more than
once, and it just didn’t feel right the other times, we just decided to wait.”

Tarren
was staring at
her like she was speaking a foreign language. She glanced over at Lucas, and
this goofy smile covered
Tarren’s
face.

“Oh
my God,” Alexis said on a breath. “You had sex with Lucas?”
Tarren
had just looked at him, but that didn’t mean the expression on her face had
been as loud as if she screamed she had fucked him. But
Tarren
didn’t look embarrassed. In fact she seemed smug almost.

“Yeah,
last night in fact.
We were sitting in the back of his truck by the
lake, and talking about what we planned on doing for college, and then…” She
shrugged, but there was a smile that stretched across her face. “One thing led
to another, and I think I am in love.”

Alexis
snorted. “No, you’re not.”

Tarren
grinned.
“No, but definite lust for sure.”
She glanced at Lucas
again, and when Alexis looked over she saw that
Nico’s
twin was looking at her with this “Let’s go someplace dark and get dirty”
expression.

“And
his dick is like
sooo
big, Alexis.”

Alexis
knew that most likely any guy that was a Grizzly offspring was probably packing
some major length and girth between his legs.

“I
bet
Nico
is just as impressive in that department. I
mean they are identical.”
Tarren
wagged her brows.

Alexis
shrugged, and damn her face for growing even hotter.

“Yeah,
you don’t even have to say it because I know
Nico
is
probably like the damn Hulk, too.” Alexis may not have had sex with
Nico
yet, but she had seen him naked, and had felt the
hardness of his erection between her legs.

They
didn’t say anything for a while, just watched the guys bullshit with each
other, and before Alexis knew it she was on her third beer. The music was
blaring loud, angry beats, and Alexis heard
Tarren
sigh beside her. “I know that sound.” She looked at her friend and smiled.
“You’re going to do something you probably shouldn’t.”

“Girl,
I am going to do something that I
should
.”

“Hey.”

Alexis
looked at Dakota, who had stepped up beside her. “Hi.”

Dakota
was older than she was, and although he was not a bear shifter, he was the son
of Malice, The Brothers of Menace MC Sergeant at Arms. For a human Dakota was
just as huge and muscular as any shifter male she had ever seen. With his dark
hair and eyes he looked like some kind of fallen angel, and he was just as
sweet, too.

“You
having a good time?”

“I
am,
thank you. Are you?”

He
glanced at where
Nico
and the rest of the guys were.
“Yeah, for the most part.”
He looked back at her and smiled.
“So, what are your plans for the fall?
You going
to
college?”

“I
actually got a scholarship to
Fenderman
University.
I’m going to get my associate’s in business and help my mom run the club
books.”

Dakota
nodded. “That’s a good plan. I still have another year before I get my
bachelor’s, but I’m thinking of going to get my Master’s, too.”

“Wow,
that’s great, Dakota.”

He
didn’t say anything after that, but the way he watched her had Alexis shifting
on her feet. “What?” She had known him her whole life, and turning her back on
that kind of friendship because she knew
Nico
got
jealous over other guys looking at her, talking to her, or just being around
her, seemed stupid.
Nico
was certainly a bear
shifter, and that was cemented by the fact he was possessive, territorial, and
had this “don’t fuck with me” attitude. Dakota wasn’t drunk, but she could
smell the alcohol on him and knew by the glossy look in his eyes that he wasn’t
far from there.

He
shook his head and grinned. “Nothing aside from the fact
Nico
keeps watching us like he thinks I’m going to pounce on you.”

She
chuckled and glanced at
Nico
. Yup, her guy was
glaring daggers at Dakota. “Don’t take it personally. He has a jealous streak
with everyone.”

Dakota
grinned. “I’m
gonna
get another beer. You want one?”
Dakota asked.

She
held up her still full cup. “I’m good, but thank you.”

He
nodded, and then turned and headed toward the keg. She exhaled and turned to
look at
Tarren
. She could have used her right then, because
although people surrounded her she felt kind of lonely right now. Alexis
finished off what was left in her cup, and set it on the small table beside
her. This was her graduation party, so why the hell shouldn’t she enjoy
herself?

“Here.”
Dakota was back and handed her a beer. “I know you said you didn’t want one,
but I saw that you finished yours and thought you could use another.”

She
took it out of politeness, but was already feeling the last three beers working
their way through her, and as more time passed that alcohol would be really
making her inhibitions running wild and loose. Before she knew what was
happening Dakota reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. His palm was
big and warm, and when he smoothed his fingers along the bare skin of her arm
she took a step back. “Dakota, what are you doing?” Her bear didn’t sense
anything of the sexual nature from him, but she knew that if anyone had seen
the small, even innocent thing Dakota had just done, rumors would start.

“I’m
sorry, it’s just…” He turned from her and cursed low under his breath. “Totally
inappropriate for me to touch you, but I’m drunk and—”

The
sound of something low and deep, and frighteningly animal-like came from right
behind her, and then she saw
Nico
pulling her back behind
him.

“You
just couldn’t fucking back off, could you?”
Nico
said
in a very Jagger-like menacing voice. He was perilously close to shifting, and
the scent of his bear was close to the surface.

“
Nico
, please.
Dakota didn’t do anything.” She placed
her hand on the center of
Nico’s
back. “Ever since
you have been able to shift you’ve been acting insane.” She hardened her voice,
hoping to defuse the situation. She glanced at Dakota. “Maybe you should go.”

Tarren
had moved up
behind her. “Girl, this is going to end really, really badly if he doesn’t
leave and the parents have to come out here.”