Bounty (Page 153)

And he’d prove it.

“I’ll call Ricky and Thurston,” Rod muttered, leaning forward, pulling out his phone at the same time he pulled his ass out of the couch.

“I need a drink,” Joss declared.

“I’ll get it,” Jussy said and he felt her eyes on him so he gave his to her. “Beer, honey?”

“Yeah, babe.”

She grinned, a light in her eyes, excitement shining there.

Seeing that light, Deke had no choice.

He smiled back.

She got up.

He settled in and looked to her mother.

Not a surprise, she was watching.

“Want some chips with your bourbon?” he asked.

“You getting them?” she asked back.

“Wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t,” he told her.

“Then not chips, crackers and cheese,” she ordered like the diva she was that she covered up in jeans and a rock chick top.

“On it,” he murmured and pulled his own ass out of the couch.

“Deke?” Joss called when he was around the side of the couch.

He stopped and turned back to her.

“Pancakes were the shit, big man. Thanks for breakfast.”

A peace offering. Détente. She loved her daughter, that daughter threw down at the barest hint of attitude aimed her man’s way, she was good to settle in and give Deke that time to prove what she felt he needed to prove.

He made no reply, just lifted his chin, changed the direction of his body and went to the kitchen to get crackers and cheese for Jussy’s mother.

He did this not thinking about Joss or Rod or the crew of people showing in less than two hours.

He did it thinking that Jussy had just agreed to take a stage, a big one, for her dad.

And she was excited about it.

So he did it not smiling on the outside.

But he still had that smile for his gypsy.

It was down deep in his gut.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Deke Watched

Deke

Deke walked through the room, six open longnecks dangling from his fingers, scanning the space and realizing something he didn’t have to ask to know Jussy understood it before she put money down on the place.

It was perfect for a party.

There were a fuckload of people there and everyone fit, everyone was comfortable, everyone could see the others, drift from group to group, plant their ass in a seat, kick back, relax and enjoy.

He stopped at Ty, Tate, Ham, Decker and Wood, handed out the fresh beers and stood in their huddle, but he wasn’t paying attention to their conversation.

He looked out the windows to the back, saw the fire pit glowing, Shambles wearing his round sunglasses, the lenses red, a big grin on his face, his hands moving while he obviously told a story to Dominic, the guy who owned the salon in town, Nadine, a regular at Bubba’s, Faye, Bubba himself, and Decker’s wife, Emme.

Lauren was holding court at the kitchen island, surrounded by folks on stools, Max’s friends, Mindy and Jeff, Zara, Ham’s wife, their kid on her lap, Maggie, Wood’s wife, and Daniel, Dominic’s partner.

He turned his attention all the way across the space and caught Rod in Jussy’s music room, smiling and nodding his head at Tate’s boy, Jonas, who had Jussy’s guitar on his knee. It looked like Rod was giving Jonas a guitar lesson.

Deke then took in the corner seating area and saw Max and Chace had kids crawling all over them, this overseen by Nina and Lexie.

And in the center area, the fireplace blazing but set low, Justice sat with Sunny, Jim-Billy, Twyla, Twyla’s lover, Cindy, and Krystal. This with the addition of Joss, having commandeered Breanne, the baby was up against Joss’s chest, her little face in Joss’s neck, looking, even in the muted clamor of conversation with music playing in the background, like she was getting ready to fall asleep.

There were bowls of chips and dips and nuts placed around seating areas, used paper plates and plastic utensils that Deke had talked Justice into buying (just barely) with the residue of fully-consumed Steph’s chicken set down wherever the person who finished it was sitting.

Deke had noticed that Jussy unsurprisingly wasn’t a rush-around-and-clean-up-after-everyone type of person, making folks think they needed to walk their shit to a trash bin or giving them any indication they should do anything but relax. She made certain if bowls got low to fill them, and if she happened to be walking somewhere she (or anyone) would grab a plate to take it to the trash.

But it wasn’t about keeping tidy. It was clear the place could look like a festival lineup of rock bands partied in it after everyone left and she’d just deal with it in the morning.

Like she felt he was looking at her, Jussy’s eyes came to him.

Seeing as Krystal, Sunny and Joss were in deep conversation and Cindy was giving Twyla longing looks at the same time patting Breanne’s diapered tush (with Jim-Billy just sitting there because he’d planted himself there when he’d arrived and hadn’t moved), Justice didn’t say anything when she pulled herself out of one of the armchairs.

She came to him, but as she did, her gaze drifted to her music room and a sweet smile started playing at her mouth.

He lifted his arm high when she got close and the men took this hint and shifted to accommodate a new member to their crew. She ducked under it, pressing herself to his side as he curled his arm around her shoulders.

“Chicken was the shit, Jus,” Ty decreed.

“Thanks,” Jussy replied.

“If Zara hasn’t asked for that recipe already, give it to me before we go,” Ham said.

Jussy looked up to him. “I should have printed out twenty of them.”