"Good morning, pumpkin."
"What time is it?"
"Six am."
Hazel groans out, rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Don't make me get up."
"You have young padawans to teach."
"Not today."
"It's only Tuesday."
"Why?"
"Ask the person who created the five-day workweek. Or whoever invented the week and named the days."
She purses her lips, staring up at me with a harsh expression in her eyes, but she starts to soften when she sees the freshly made cup of coffee in my hand. I press a kiss to her while passing it to her, slipping back under the covers to cuddle her awake.
I lean my back against the headboard as she leans her head against my chest. I hug her waist with one arm, dipping my head into her neck, and lay a light kiss on her soft skin. She intertwines a hand into mine, taking a deep breath.
We sit in silence, enjoying the peace and quiet of the morning, relishing in the feeling our of skin touching. I take a sip of my coffee and try to hide my smile. However, I'm not quick enough. She tilts her head up, catches my smile, and winks up at me.
I lean down and daintily kiss her lips, soaking in the feeling of this beautiful and perfect morning.
"Thank you for the coffee, Octavius."
"Of course. I knew you would want some."
"What do you have to do today?"
"Probably a run of some sort. Or a meeting with the Chief of Police. Or both. I'm not sure," I answer, trying to sound casual so I don't worry her.
"Can I know anything?"
"I think you know the answer to that question."
She shrugs, taking another sip of coffee.
"It was worth a try."
Hazel rolls out of bed, naked and all, giving me a view of a lifetime. She looks so gorgeous in the early morning with the sunrise beaming through the blinds. I run my hand over my head as I watch her walk into the bathroom, the shower water beginning to run.
"Are you gonna join me or not?"
I certainly do join.
---
"How was your night?"
"It was good."
"I can imagine so. You're wearing the same clothes as yesterday."
"Poison, shut up, okay? I didn't have time to get home before Alpha called."
"So you didn't spend the night in your own home then. What does Hazel's apartment look like?"
"If you say one word."
"I promise you, I'm not going to have to say anything."
If strangling him wouldn't kill him, I would strangle him right now.
I walk into Alpha's office and see the main group standing and sitting around chatting. I say good morning to everyone, and I can feel the teasing tension in the air. They all want to say something. I can't believe them. They can't leave me and my decisions alone for one minute. Everyone's gotta be involved in my love life.
I did right by them and didn't ask for answers to questions they didn't want to reply to. When Reaper was a weepy mess after practically kicking Persephone out of his apartment (dumbass), I didn't ask questions.
When Alpha wasn't at work for a week straight, I didn't tease him about his sex life. When Whiskey was freaking out because he was insecure about being with Beatrice, I didn't say a word that he didn't want to hear. Even with Poison and Bullet, I didn't get involved with their relationship problems.
However, when it's the other way around and I'm the one who's going through relationship things, they want to tease me and know all the details. I don't get the same respect at all.
Assholes.
"Same clothes, Tank?"
"Alright fine! Since everyone wants to know, I stayed at Hazel's last night okay?! I am wearing the same clothes as yesterday because I didn't go home, and I don't have a change of clothes in my car. Thank you very much! Now, leave me the hell alone!"
I get a standing ovation at my speech, and whistles are heard around the room.
Seriously, they are all fucking assholes.
"Back to business. With Seph being pregnant, I want to take some extra precautions. I know we haven't had any issues in a while, but you never know."
"Whatcha need, Prez?"
"Tank, Bear, Scout, and Slasher take a trip to the Chief of Police's office. I want to know if they've had any incoming trouble. From anyone."
We nod our heads, catching each other's eyes across the room.
"Reaper and Bullet, go to the warehouse. Take inventory and check security measures there."
He always has the two of them go. They're kinda like our resident death squad, to put it bluntly. They have the least trouble killing someone if necessary. I'm not super interested in that part of the job.
I mean, I like making people piss themselves, but the killing part isn't my thing. I'm more of the threatening guy who just exists in the background to scare people, but I don't actually do anything of the hands-on work.
"Whiskey, Poison, Vegas, and Carbon. Take the usual runs. Just double checking all areas, talking with community members, and making sure nothing is off."
That's a fun group. I would love it if they had something that caught their audio and what they were saying to each other through the Bluetooth headset because I'm sure they have weird-as-hell conversations. Especially Whiskey and Poison. They are best friends; they could be glued to each other, and it wouldn't be any different than how they act with each other now.
"I'm gonna go to the warehouse and check out everything there."
"By yourself?"
"I'm alright, Poison, I can handle myself."
"I know, but we all usually have partners."
Ah, I know where's getting at. Nick. He's wondering when Alpha is going to want to promote Nick. I think he should. I mean, Nick has been one of the more stable and reliable people in these last couple of years.
He's actually helped a lot of the Old Ladies around here, has watched the MC kids, and the bar is better than ever. I don't see a reason to keep him as a prospect. Plus, we do have an uneven eleven in our main group. I don't see a better time than now. I mean, it was going to happen soon enough, so why not now?
"Are we going to talk about Nick's promotion now?"
Everyone around the room nods their head, including me.
"I'm guessing there's a consensus already. A yes to the promotion."
More nodding heads.
"It's decided then. It'll be his Christmas gift. Brainstorm some names. I'm sure he has one in mind, but if it sucks, we'll have a backup."
He struts out of the room, clearly giving us the signal to get to work.
I pat Vegas on the back as I walk out of the room ahead of him while he tries to wrangle his group together. However, Whiskey and Poison are already jumping all over each other (literally, I'm not even kidding) and trying to slam one another to the ground. He has a long couple of hours ahead of him.
I'm so happy Alpha knows me well enough not to put me in that group. As much as I love them and care for them, I can only take so much of the chaos before losing my absolute shit.
It's different with actual children because I didn't lose my shit with the chaos of children yesterday, but with two grown men who get paid quite a bit to keep people safe, I don't know, I feel like they shouldn't be wrestling on the ground right now.
Maybe it's just me.
Slasher leads me away from them, sensing that I'm getting annoyed, and distracts me with questions about what I'm going to wear for tonight's get-together. About two weeks before Christmas (although we have a get-together on Christmas too), we have a little party at the bar to hang out.
We also have this tradition where we write down what we want for Christmas with our names, put it in a motorcycle helmet, and each person draws a name out. It's like Secret Santa, but we make a whole thing out of who gets who.
The Old Ladies have their own thing going most of the time, and the kids do too, so it's so much fun for everyone to try and hide who they get. And I'm hoping to invite Hazel to this one.