Winter's Touch (The Last Riders Book 8) (19 page)

“
I
hate boys
!”

Winter was standing at the kitchen stove when her fourteen-year-old daughter slammed her backpack onto the kitchen counter.

“You know that’s not where it goes.” Viper shut the door behind them, his eyes growing ominously dark when Aisha didn’t greet her like she usually did after coming home from school.

Aisha slid it off the counter. “I might as well go to my room. Call me when dinner is ready.”

“Sit.”

Aisha’s face fell at Viper’s command. Her thin body was knees and elbows as she climbed on a stool at the breakfast bar.

“You didn’t have a good day at school?” Winter asked, turning the soup she was cooking down to a simmer.

“School was okay. It was after school that sucked.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened?”

When Aisha didn’t answer, she looked at Viper, who was sneaking a peek at dinner. He frowned down at the soup. From his thunderous expression, his afternoon hadn’t been much better than Aisha’s. Her husband wasn’t dealing well with his new diet.

“Don’t blame me,” he said, when he noticed her looking at him. “I was on time to pick her up.” He shrugged, going toward the refrigerator.

She looked back at Aisha’s downcast gaze, seeing the shimmer of tears in her eyes. “How was tennis practice?” She went to the refrigerator, elbowing Viper out of the way since he had his whole head practically inside. Taking out two cheese sticks, she handed one to Viper before closing the door.

“I want to quit.” She took the cheese stick out of her mother’s hand, tearing it open. “Can I go to my room now? I need to do my homework.”

“In a minute. Why do you want to quit tennis?” She rested her arms on the counter in front of Aisha.

She shrugged. “I just don’t like it anymore.”

“You liked it this weekend, when we drove three hours to watch your match.”

“That was four days ago. I just changed my mind, okay?” She had started to jump down from the stool, when Winter placed her hand on Aisha’s arm, forestalling her.

“I had lunch with Beth and Lily today. They said they were going shopping this afternoon since they had the afternoon free. John, Chance, and Noah were planning to play basketball until five. The basketball courts are next to the tennis courts. Did the boys say something to you?”

“No, they didn’t say anything at all. They were all too busy talking to the other girls to notice me. You should have seen them, Mom! Chance took his shirt off.” Aisha climbed off her stool, imitating how the boys were playing basketball.

Winter and Viper grinned as Aisha winked at imaginary girls. That was Noah, the ladies’ man. Then she dribbled a pretend basketball and acted like she was swishing it in a basket. She cockily jutted out her chin, pointing at the imaginary girls. That was Chance, the playboy.

Their faces became stoic as Aisha climbed back on the stool.

“What did John do?”

“He wasn’t playing. He said his leg was hurting. He was talking to Robin. His leg seemed fine when he walked to his mom’s car.”

“Oh…” Winter started to ask Viper what he thought about the boys’ behavior, but he was already sliding off his stool.

“When’s dinner going to be done?” he asked, throwing the cheese wrapper in the trashcan.

“In an hour.”

How could he be so oblivious? Their daughter was in the throes of her first crush, and he was worried about food!

“I’m going to go take a shower and let you two have some girl time.”

Viper made his escape despite Winter wiggling her eyebrows that he should stay. He took the steps two at a time.

Coward!
she silently fumed, as she listened to how Aisha thought boys were stupid. Sadly, she agreed.

“It’s not bothered you before, how the boys flirt with girls—”

“I don’t care who Noah or Chance flirt with.”

“Oh, so it’s just John you’re angry with?”

“You should have seen him, Mom.” Aisha’s hurt expression, tugged on Winter’s mothering instinct. “He never looks at me the way he did Robin today.”

“How does he treat you?”

“He thinks I’m like one of the guys. They all do,” Aisha answered. “Not one of the boys invited me to go to the spring dance, and Ema got asked by three.”

“That might have something to do with Viper. All the boys at school know how protective he is. It can be a little intimidating.”

“Uncle Cash had his brass knuckles on when her date came to pick Ema up. His father tried to talk him out of taking her, but he did anyway.”

Cash had always been excessive where Ema was concerned. Hell, all the men were. Even Lucky made one of his daughter’s boyfriends go to bible school before church before he would let him talk to his daughter. Winter searched her mind for a way to soothe her hurt feelings. Unfortunately, Aisha came up with her own plan before she could.

“Could you ask Sex Piston if she will cut my hair and go shopping with us?”

Winter blanched. Viper wouldn’t even let Aisha wear mascara. No way would he let the woman give his daughter a makeover.

Thankfully, Viper came jogging down the steps at that moment. “Dinner ready?”

“Yes.”

His appearance had bought her time to make up an excuse for why Sex Piston would never be allowed to work her magic on Aisha. Men had been known to propose after a woman had been given the Sex Piston treatment.

Winter was filling the soup bowls, when someone knocked on the door. Her hands were full, so she expected Viper to answer the door but he sat down on the stool next to Aisha.

“Get that for me, sweet girl?”

Aisha immediately slipped off the stool at her father’s request.

Winter set the bowls down on the counter, seeing Shade followed by Noah, Chance, and John.

“Something smells good,” Razer complimented.

“I made some vegetable soup for dinner. There’s plenty. Would you all like to stay for dinner?”

“No, thanks.” Shade patted his lean stomach. “We’ve had dinner. We’re on our way to the ice cream parlor for dessert. The boys wanted to know if Aisha could go with them.”

The boys looked at Aisha expectantly.

“We usually go on Sundays, but Dad said we can go tonight. You want to come?” John asked, shoving Chance out of the way as he tried to get in the door.

Aisha’s face lit up. Turning to her parents, she asked, “Can I go?”

“Yes, but don’t forget you have homework so come right home when you get back. No sneaking off to Beth or Lily’s to play video games,” Viper cautioned.

“Thanks, Dad. Love you both. Bye!” Aisha ran out the door, with the boys excitedly calling which seat they wanted in the van.

Shade waved. “Thanks for letting her go. We’ll make sure she won’t be gone too long.”

Winter waved back at Shade as he closed the door. Then she lifted a brow at Viper as she set his soup in front of him.

“So, Shade decided to take the boys for ice cream?” She gave him a skeptical look as she moved from behind the counter to stand in front of her husband.

“I may have dropped a suggestion or two.”

Winter flung herself into Viper’s arms.

“And I may have been a little too hard about threatening John when I saw he had a crush on Aisha.”

“
A little
? You showed him your new tattoo, telling him the five was how many men you killed in the service—”

“I didn’t want to traumatize him. I just wanted to scare him.”

“It worked.” Winter rolled her eyes. “You got that tattoo to show off breaking your record.”

Viper nuzzled her neck. “You would rather have me tell him the truth?”

“No,” she admitted. “Lily didn’t talk to me for a whole week. She said John had nightmares. Then, to make matters worse, when you found out he wanted to take her to the dance, you talked him into working out with you—”

“He said he needed to do strength training for football. I only helped him out,” Viper cut her off remorselessly.

“He couldn’t move for days.” Winter rolled her eyes. “And he wasn’t able to go to the dance.”

“But he can bench press two-fifty.”

Winter laughed into Viper’s shoulder.

“You told Aisha she can’t go on vacation with Shade and Lily this year, and you always let her go. She loves seeing Vida, Sawyer, and Penni’s children. John has never even shown Aisha he likes her. He’s too shy to stand up to you.”

“Still waters run deep.”

Winter raised her head. “What does that mean?”

“I didn’t like the way he watched her play tennis.”

“He was helping her with her serve.”

“I’ll serve him—”

Winter placed her fingers on his lips. “Then why did you change your mind and get Shade to take them out for ice cream?”

“I couldn’t let my sweet girl think she wasn’t as pretty as the other girls.”

“Aw… I love you.” Winter slid his soup away. “For that, I’m going to make you that steak I have hidden in the back of the freezer.”

“I thought you said I had to watch my cholesterol.”

Winter had been proactive about Viper’s health since his cholesterol level had begun inching higher. He was still below normal, but Winter wanted as much time as possible with her handsome husband, planning for them to lead a long and healthy life.

Viper pulled the soup back. “Never mind. The soup is fine. I’m going to need to keep my strength up to keep John in line. Shade told me that he’s up to bench pressing 260.”

Winter ran her hand suggestively down Viper’s thigh before going to the bottom drawer in the fridge and pulling out a chocolate pie. She cut a big piece and placed it on a plate. She carried the remaining pie back to the fridge, taking out the whipped cream. After squirting a huge mound on top of the slice, she reached into a drawer for a fork.

“I’m still not going to let her date until she’s sixteen.”

“I knew you were a big softie. I’ll have to tell Knox he’s not the only one who watches out for squirrels.”

Viper ate a bite of the pie.

“Are you gonna share?”

Viper’s eyes narrowed. “Did you save whipped cream for later?”

Winter took a bite of the pie Viper held out to her, licking the cream off her bottom lip. “What do you think?”

T
he silence
in the house was deafening. Putting on a brave face, Winter went out the back door, seeing Aisha sitting under the tree Viper had planted the year he had built their home. She quietly approached her sixteen-year-old daughter, sinking down onto the grass beside her.

Her girl had grown into a lovely young woman. Her brown hair curled down to her shoulders, and her body had grown, turning her from gangly and awkward to sleek and graceful.

“He’s gone, and he’s not coming back.”

Winter put her arm around Aisha’s shoulders at the heartbreak she heard in her voice. “Darling, he’s going to be back in six months.”

“It won’t be the same.”

Winter nodded, acknowledging Aisha’s sentiment as they watched Viper talking to the three men who were leaving for basic training. Chance and Noah had worked in the factory for a year so that the three of them could go into the service together. They were leaving in the middle of the night to make the drive to Lexington, where they would catch their flight for basic training. Lily and Shade were driving with John, while Razer and Beth would take their boys, so they could spend an extra day shopping.

Viper gave each of the men a hug goodbye before walking toward the hill where they sat, watching.

He stared down at his women, and Winter scooted over to make room for him. He sat down, unfolding his legs and placing an arm over each of their shoulders.

“They’re going to be fine. You sure you two don’t want to go down to tell them goodbye again?”

Winter sniffled. “I told them last night. I don’t want to start crying again. Lily’s having a hard enough time as it is.”

Viper turned to Aisha. “How about you?”

She silently shook her head, biting a trembling lip. “I told them goodbye when I helped them pack down their bags.”

The Last Riders began waving as Razer’s car pulled out of the parking lot.

Her heart broke along with Aisha’s as she lowered her head to rest on her knees. Her hair covered her tears, but it couldn’t mute the sobs.

“He’s waving to you,” Viper said so softly Winter laid her head on his shoulder, knowing how hard it was going to be to lose his baby girl. He cleared his voice. “Aisha, John’s waving to you.”

Aisha raised her head up from her knees then took off running when she saw John walking toward the path where she was sitting.

Winter and Viper watched as John said something before kissing her cheek then going back to his parents’ car.

Aisha stayed on the bottom of the path until she could no longer see the taillights as the car disappeared around the corner. She turned toward them then, giving them a radiant smile as she walked up.

“What did he say?” Viper asked gruffly, as she came within earshot.

“John said he loves me, and he thinks I’m special enough to wait for.”