I was on my best behavior for the next two weeks. I worked, spent time with Misty or the club and didn't have more than two drinks a day, if that. I started bringing Duke to the garage with me so he didn't have to be home alone all day. The only time he didn't come along was when I took my bike.
"What time are we leaving?" I asked Happy as I walked into the clubhouse with Duke. He tossed the puppy a potato chip and smirked when he started smelling around for more.
"Noon. You bringing the dog?" I shook my head and unhooked his leash. He was well behaved and no one minded when I brought him along.
"No, Ivy talked Jarry into dog sitting for me. You seen Abel?" He twisted his mouth and tossed Duke another chip to avoid my question. I groaned and headed down to his old dorm. I knocked on it loudly, not caring if he was asleep or not. I heard him grumbling and some feet shuffling towards the door.
"Damnit, Victory. Do you know what time it is?" I shrugged and kicked the door out of his hold. A blonde crow eater darted out of the room and ducked into the bathroom. I grabbed Abel's ear and drug him down to our Dad's dorm. I didn't care that he was wearing only boxers.
"Are you fucking kidding me? You have a woman at home that is expecting your child in a few weeks. What happened to not being a player anymore?" I hit the side of his head with my open hand. He deflected my second hit and sat down on the bed.
"You don't know shit about what's going on, Vic. She's never happy and we haven't fucked in weeks. She won't even let me touch her." I rolled my eyes and sat down in the office chair.
"Abel, she's pregnant. From what I hear women aren't exactly rational or confident when they're knocked up. How can you do this shit? Especially with one of the gashes here?" I put my elbows on my knees and covered my face with my hands. It was times like these that I wondered if all men were assholes or if was part of the application into MC life.
"I know that, Victory. You can't say anything about this. I'll make sure she doesn't say shit and it won't happen here again." I laughed at the idea that the location had an impact on my approval. He sighed and headed out of the dorm to leave me with my thoughts.
Duke bounded in through the door Abel had left wide open. I took his bone out of my pocket and offered it to him. He took it excitedly and spun around in a few circles. I watched him play and wished I could be as carefree as a puppy with his favorite bone. We were leaving for a rally in a few hours, so I just tried to focus on that.
"You okay?" Juice asked as he walked back after passing the room. I nodded and took the bone Duke offered me, tossing it over by the closet. Juice frowned and leaned against the door frame.
"I'm fine, Juice. Just tired." He was right not to believe me, but I couldn't tell him about what he probably already knew. Instead, I took a deep breath and stood up, straightening my vest. He raised his brow at me but stepped aside as I headed out towards the bar. The blonde crow eater was serving Happy some coffee.
"I need to talk to you." I growled as I passed her on my way into the kitchen. She didn't look happy but she knew better than to ignore me. I leaned against the refrigerator and waited.
"Look, Victory, he's a grown man and a Son. I'm not the one that came to him." I held up my hand and pushed off from the refrigerator. She took a step back, I guess I had a reputation.
"I don't care who came up to who, Lissa. Just stay away from him and don't say anything to Misty, okay? She's my best friend and I don't want to see her hurt by my asshole brother." Lissa looked surprised but she didn't come any closer. I waited until she nodded to leave.
"I like that one's tongue ring so don't tell me you killed her." Happy said, looking up from his coffee. I narrowed my eyes at him and shook my head.
"Victory, you're up early." Mom said as she walked into the clubhouse. I nodded and forced a smile as she gave me a hug.
"It's something I'm working on. You need to talk to Abel. Like, talk talk to him." She gave an all knowing sigh of frustration and nodded. I picked Duke up and blew into his face. He snapped at the air and then licked my face.
"He's too big for you to carry, lass." I looked over at Chibs and shrugged. Ivy sprinted up to me and waited as patiently as possible for me to put Duke down. I put her out of her misery and gave my arms a break quickly.
"Thanks for watching him for me, Ivy. You can try and teach him some tricks while I'm gone but not too many treats, okay?" She nodded with a smile and took the leash from me. I mouthed a thank taters you to Jarry as Mom came walking out of the hall, smacking Abel in the back of the head.
"Do I even want to know?" Dad asked as he dodged them on his way inside. Happy laughed darkly and shook his head.
"He's your son, brother. Apples and such." I knew Happy's reference was in the past but I cringed at the thought of Dad cheating on Mom. He must have read my reaction.
"Just the once, Vic. Wouldn't lie to you about it." He kissed my forehead and gave me a smile. I gave him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.
"Anything I need to take in the Mustang? Or are you taking the van?" I asked, jingling my keys. He shook his head and tried to hide a yawn.
"Nah, I'm letting Moby tag along and he's driving the van. I want you between the bikes and the van at all times." I groaned but nodded, hoping that they would be in the mood to ride fast. He gave me a look and I put my hands up.
"I said okay, Dad. You're the one that taught me to drive, not my fault I do it fast." He laughed and shook his head.
"Just be good and don't give any of us a heart attack this weekend." I laughed and gave him an exaggerated wink. I was the only girl going and he knew I liked hanging with the boys better anyways. I would have liked for Misty to come but it was too late in her pregnancy to even think about a road trip.
Everyone started showing up and getting ready to roll out for Nevada. The Tacoma boys came down to head down South with us, so the lot was packed out. I tossed my bag in my trunk and closed it with a thud.
"You bring enough shit?" Kenny asked with a laugh as he walked by. I flipped him off and he turned back around. "How's Misty doing?"
"Uh, fine? She's tired and pregnant." I hadn't expected him to ask about Misty. He nodded and ran his hand around the back of his neck. I knew he still cared about her but once again there was just something about Sons and infidelity.
"I like your kutte, Vic. Looks good on you." He gave me a soft smile and headed over to his bike. We'd always been friends but when he and Misty broke up, it seemed like I had to choose sides. Now that it had been so long ago though, maybe we could get back to normal.
Dad climbed up on the hood of the van and I wondered if he remembered he wasn't getting any younger. The large group of rowdy bikers went quiet as he waited to make a speech. I leaned against the back of my car and grinned.
"We've got a long ride but after that we've got a weekend long party. No jail time if you can avoid it and remember to recruit wisely." He glanced over at me and I pursed my lips. "Alright, let's roll out."
The lot erupted with whoops and hollers as everyone cheered and started their bikes. I cranked the Mustang and smiled at the strong rumble of the engine. I had upgraded the exhaust and now it was hard to hear the bikes over my car when I got on it. Dad ducked his head into my window and gave me a look.
"Stay in front of the van and behind the bikes, I'm clear Pres." He laughed and kissed the top of my head before heading to his own bike between Chibs and Happy. With a ceremonial round shot into the air, Happy signaled for everyone to head out. I waited impatiently as twenty, thirty bikes pulled out before I could hit the road. Moby gave me a wave and flashed the lights as I passed him.
The first twenty minutes of the drive were pretty exciting but then my adrenaline started waning and I realized I was going to be driving seventy all the way to Vegas. I eventually leaned back and turned up the radio to try and remedy my boredom.
"Could your car be a little louder?" Grant, a Tacoma Son, asked as I topped off the tank on our second pit stop. I smirked and put the nozzle back in the pump. He followed me towards the front of the car as I fired it up. I revved it to 5,000 rpm and grinned as he tried to yell something over the roar of the engine. Abel pulled his bike up next to my car and revved hard. He had just put some straight pipes on and had one of the loudest bikes in the charter. I laughed and revved again, barely drowning out his bike.
"You trying to get the cops down here?" Happy asked, tossing me a gatorade. I hitched my shoulder and took a drink.
"Why not? Apparently cops have a thing for me." He shot me a glare and Grant laughed, not knowing what we were going on about.
"Dude, who doesn't have a thing for you? I mean, if you weren't Jax's daughter. Not that there's anything wrong with Jax but, shit, never mind man." He backed away from both Happy and Abel's glares as I laughed.
"Quit giggling and get ready to go, princess." Happy shook his head and offered me a toothpick before walking off to his bike. I pushed the stick to the corner of my mouth and smirked as I buckled my seat belt and turned the radio back up, ready to finish the last three hours of our ride.
We rolled into the Las Vegas charter's clubhouse at a quarter to eleven. After a nearly twelve hour ride, everyone was more than happy to give their bikes a rest and get the pre-rally party started. We would have an early morning and a short ride out to the desert where everyone was gathering for the rally, but that didn't stop most of the men from getting shit-faced and belligerent.
"You really aren't drinking?" Kenny asked as he walked up to the lawn chair I was lounging in. I leaned forward and stretched my cool hands towards the bonfire as I shook my head.
"Nope, I've got orders to stay sober because of strange bikers that might be causing a ruckus." Kenny laughed and shook his head, offering me his beer.
"Vic, you know every Son here. I'm pretty sure your rules apply to the rally not the pre-party." I considered his logic and looked around for Happy or Dad. Neither one of them were around and it's not like I was drinking with a stranger so I took the beer.
"If I get my ass chewed out I'm blaming you." I told Kenny after taking a long pull from the bottle. He laughed and nodded, dragging a chair over to me.
"Yeah, I think I can handle that. How've you been?" I looked over at him and gave him a genuine smile.
"Better, recently. I've gotten back to my old self." He smiled and nodded as a Nevada sweet butt handed him another beer. She eyed me carefully and I watched her eyes drop to my vest. I smiled and held up my bottle, asking for another one. She seemed a little thrown off but nodded and headed back to get me a drink.
"Yeah, I've noticed you're less bitchy recently." He leaned away from the fist I threw his way. I shook my head and leaned back in the seat.
"How about you?" He raised his brow and hitched a shoulder. The sweet butt gave me my beer and flashed a smile and a wink to Kenny.
"Me? I'm fine, Vic. Misty seems happy so I don't feel as guilty anymore. Shit works out how it's going to work out." He shrugged his shoulders and gave me a half smile. I nodded, knowing he was downplaying the sting from what had happened. I couldn't exactly feel sorry for him, since he had cheated on Misty but then again, Abel just did the same thing.
"I guess so. Shit." Happy was walking over with a scowl. I finished the beer off and handed the bottle over to Kenny. He laughed and leaned back, ready to enjoy the show between Happy and I.
"Remember the whole don't drink at the rally conversation?" I nodded and gestured around me. Happy's scowl deepened.
"We aren't at the rally yet and I've only had like one and a half beers. No liquor or anything." I gave him my Teller smile and enjoyed the way it seemed to win my argument for me. He shook his head and pointed at Kenny.
"She make it to bed alone tonight and I'll kick your ass up one side and down the other." Happy growled and Kenny put his hands up in surrender. I could see his mouth fighting to smirk. "You driving or riding bitch in the morning?"
"I figured I should ride if we're going to a rally. Haven't decided who gets the honor yet, probably Abel." Happy nodded and offered me a cigarette. I took it and waited for him to pass me a lighter. "Thanks."
"Any time, princess." He smirked as he pocketed his lighter and headed back into the crowd. Kenny laughed.
"Want another beer, princess?" I glowered at him and nodded, which only made him laugh more. I relaxed my brow and smiled.
A/N: it's almost rally time :) I'm doing some research to make it as realistic as possible :)