Huh. She was in town? Just like that.

It wasn't like Roxy to call while she was traveling. She was too much a free spirit for that. Hence the random postcards and unchecked email inbox. No, Roxy moved with the wind. She was the sort of spirit who made an adventure out of life. A woman most people could learn from.

Dusting the flour off of her hands, Jackie gave them a good rinse, and secured the saran wrap over the dough, depositing it in the fridge for later. Glancing at the clock, she put a little more pep in her step.

She had about an hour to get ready.

Most of her day had consisted of trying a million and one recipes, and it had mostly succeeded in keeping Liam off of her mind, even if it didn't do a thing about the hollow feeling settling in her gut.

Usually, cooking and her many experiments gave her a sense of satisfaction, but she was having trouble getting into her groove. Lifting her chin, she shrugged it off. A night out would give her the distractions she needed, and then she could get back on her regular course. With classes starting back up, she had a world of demands just waiting to pile themselves on top of her.

Passing by the computer desk, she forced her eyes away from it and slipped out of her clothes, tossing them in the hamper. She'd left her Two of Hearts account open for some stupid reason, and the temptation to check her inbox to see if Liam... Yeah, it was stupid.

Putting it out of her mind, she rushed to the shower. Roxy was a punctual chick. Not someone you ever willingly ran late on.

~

Jackie squeezed Roxy so tight, her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. God, she'd missed her. And she was just as beautiful as ever, long, electric-blue hair trailing down over her arms, wide-slanted eyes, overly lashed like they were kissed by the goddess of love herself. Grinning, Roxy pulled back, looking her over.

Her grin widening, she pulled the gum from her mouth and tossed it into the garbage can outside of the apartment building.

“What's his name?”

“Hmm?”

“Come on, Jackie. Do I know you, or do I know you?”

Sighing, Jackie threw her hands up.

“Alright. His name is Liam.”

Nodding in an assessing way, Roxy gestured her toward the car.

“We'll talk about it over drinks.”

Sliding into the passenger seat of Roxy's pick-up, Jackie nipped her lip in that preoccupied way she was sure would tell Roxy everything she needed to know. Her love interest was of the scandalous variation. Not at all good for her. Someone Roxy was sure to warn her away from. And that was fine. She was hoping they'd get on the subject at some point. Jackie desperately needed the voice of reason to intervene.

She'd been half out of her mind without someone to talk to about it. It wasn't the sort of thing she'd ever share with her cousins, and talking with her mom about anything that mattered was typically out of the question.

Rumbling the truck to a start, Roxy turned it onto the quiet, college street and made her way toward the lower fairway toward Dwight's. It was a total dive bar, but one that held memories for them. They knew all the regulars, and as a result, they never had to pay for drinks. It would be good to see the old crew. Most of them probably hadn't done much more than take on factory jobs since high school, but they were good people. The type that grounded you. Jackie was looking forward to seeing them.

“So this new guy-”

“Liam.”

Roxy grinned, her eyes firmly glued to the road.

“Liam. What's the story with you two?”

Drawing a breath, Jackie scrambled for where to begin. She wanted to cut right to the chase, but their story needed build up. Deserved it, really. There was a flaming foundation they'd stood on before her mother and his father had dropped their little bomb.

“He's... Someone I met on a dating site.”

“You're shitting me. Like Lela?”

“Something like that.”

“Same site?”

Jackie grinned.

“Yeah.”

“Well, you're not the only girls to get hit by Two of Hearts. They've tied a bunch of people together from what I hear.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

Turning onto the fairway, Roxy settled back in the driver's seat.

“What's he like?”

Feeling a weight in her gut, Jackie pushed past the emotions she'd been battling since she'd ran out on him at the breakfast. Pretty fucked up pattern she was creating there. She needed to just cap it at that without any repeat episodes.

“He's hot. Really hot. And established.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, he runs Raw Ink.”

“Oh that's his shop?”

“Yeah.”

“So... what's the deal? The two of you hot and heavy, yet?”

Inhaling sharply, Jackie cracked her knuckles distractedly before lifting her eyes to stare out at the lit-up fairway through Roxy's smudged front window.

“Uh, we were. But... I was only looking for something casual, and there's the other matter.”

“What other matter?”

“He's about to be my brother in a few weeks.”

“Huh?”

Taking her eyes off of the road for the first time since they'd gotten into the truck, Roxy studied Jackie for a long second before turning back to the road.

“Did I hear you correctly?”

“You did. I didn't know that when we... spent time together, but we know now, so...”

Creasing her brow, Roxy flicked her blinker and passed over into the left turning lane.

“Rewind to the part where you said you wanted to keep it casual. When did this version of Jackie emerge?”

“It's a long story.”

“I've got all night, Baby girl.”

Liam

 

 

Clinking brews, Liam leaned back against the wall, tilting the bar stool up slightly as he took in the bar. He hadn't been to Dwight's in ages. It was one of Rico's haunts, and someplace he rarely came to after a sparring match. But he'd been able to get loose today after several days of tension, and it just felt right to follow everyone back there.

The whole experience was wholesome in a way that his current circles weren't. Most of the people who stopped in there were hard-working people letting off steam after work or snatching a bit of peace before heading home to less than happy domestic situations.

They reminded him of the kind of life he would have lived if his early, home life had been even moderately functional. If he hadn't had something to prove, he wouldn't have had enough ambition in the fuel tank to launch Raw Ink. So being here with people who represented his roots was a reminder he needed of where he'd come from.

Taking a swig of beer, he settled into that warm feeling of home he'd never really had. Funny how he still lacked that feeling, even with tons of money and notoriety.

“Yeah, Mother-fucker? Show me something.”

Craning his ear, Liam leaned forward on his stool, setting it firmly back on the ground. He knew that voice. Shit. He knew exactly who that was. Panning the bar, he grit his jaw when his eyes fell on Corey. Little shit. Still up to the same bullshit. How many times did he have to tell him to get out of this life?

Corey wasn't like him. He didn't have even the slightest control over his taste for violence. There was so much rage pent up in him, he didn't know what to do with it. Liam had found an outlet. Corey just wanted to get it out. Setting his bottle on the bar, Liam rose up from the stool.

“Someone you know?”

Turning to meet Biz's eyes, he gave him a grim nod.

“Who's that Corey?”

Rico turned toward the direction Liam had been looking in and immediately rose up.

“Nah. This is no good. He doesn't want to start shit with the Loko MC.”

“It's alright. I got it.”

“Not by yourself you don't.”