The Thunder Wolves MC - Maranda (Book #8)

7

Maranda

Being ready to move again so quickly wasn't hard to do. Since staying with Mandy and Bear, I had most of my stuff in storage. Only having out the things we absolutely needed like clothes and whatnot. That didn't mean I wasn't at all stressed going into this. Mostly because I thought I would be doing it alone or only with Bear and Mandy's help. I was not expecting to have several of the MC members show up to help move my things from Bear's place and from the storage unit to the duplex. I was even more surprised to see Tiny's truck pull up outside Bear's place, or I thought it was the same truck I saw at the duplex. But it wasn't Tiny that climbed out of it. It was Snake. Maybe I was wrong. I started to second guess myself until Bear came outside with some boxes. "Snake, when did you get a truck?" Walking over, Snake grabbed one of the boxes that had been set out and were waiting to be loaded. "Borrowed it from a friend." Bear nodded. "Couldn't rope them into coming and helping?" Snake shook his head. "Naw, he had to work today but said I could use it for a few hours." With that, Snake walked off, ending the small conversations. 

The day went by quickly, but by the end of the day, we had everything moved over. The guys had been nice enough to help set up the beds and everything in the rooms for me before leaving the kids and me to do our thing. With both kids' help, I arranged their rooms the way they wanted them. Once all the big things were in place and safely set up so nothing would fall over, I left them to put the boxes of their toys away while I got to work on getting the kitchen set up. I knew the kids would most likely not actually put their toys away and instead play, but I was ok with that so long as they were staying occupied and out from under my feet. Before I knew it, it was after dark and time for the kids to go to bed. When they were fast asleep, I headed back down to continue organizing the living space and getting more boxes unpacked. And that was how my weekend went. Mandy came by the following day and helped me. But it was basically going from one room to the next and getting everything set up and unpacked. I know I could have taken my time and not worried about doing everything so quickly, but honestly, I wanted it done. I wanted to start getting the kids into their routines for when school started in the next week. Also, once school started, I wouldn't have nearly as much time, and it would take months to get everything unpacked and put away finally. 

By the time I got the house completely set up, and in order, it was time for me to start work. The school year would be starting, and I needed to have a lesson plan in place. I was used to teaching fifth graders, but this school didn't need that grade, so I would have third graders this year. Meaning I couldn't take a previous year's lesson plan and mold it to this school's curriculum. I had to work from scratch while making sure I stayed in line with how this school operated. But I was up for the challenge, and as I got to work on it, it was like old times. It wasn't hard to fall right back into that flow of how things worked. So by the time school started, not only was I ready but so were both kids. And they were excited to be getting out of the house and making new friends. Over the week or so that I lived in the duplex, I had only seen glimpses of Tiny. I knew he had been there only by how his motorcycle or truck had been moved. I noticed he didn't always drive his motorcycle but used his truck fairly often. Well, except for a couple of day stretch where his truck didn't move, and I didn't notice his motorcycle having been there. 

Actually, it wasn't until around a month after moving in that I had actually seen him. It was a Friday night. I got the kids to bed on time and without a fight for once that week. Deciding I would get a jump on the week's worth of laundry. I began my trip from the second floor all the way down to the basement, where the laundry room was. Honestly, I don't know why I didn't think of it before moving in. This sucked. Carry a basket from the top floor to the bottom floor. But I suppose it could be worse. I could have to go to the laundry mat and sit there with both kids for hours while washing and drying our clothes. At least this way, I didn't have to drag them out anywhere. Still, luging a full laundry basket down a couple of flights of stairs was a pain. I was so lost in my thoughts I hadn't noticed when I walked into the laundry room that his door had been open a bit. Nor had I noticed that the washer on his side of the laundry room was running. I was so focused on complaining internally as I sorted out the clothes in my basket that when the washer buzzed, alerting to the fact it was completed, I nearly jumped clear out of my skin. Thankfully he hadn't been in the room to see it. However, that did bring me back to the now enough to notice the sound of the weights in the other room making noise as he finished what he was doing before walking into the laundry room in only a pair of sweatpants. 

I did my best not to stare, but I am sure I didn't do as well as I thought I did. "Your Mandy's sister…Maranda?" I am almost positive I was blushing like a damn school girl now. The two of us had never actually been introduced, and yet he knew my name. "Yeah, and you go by Tiny." A smile pulled at his lips, and I swear to god, my ovaries swooned. What the hell is wrong with me, acting like a damn high school girl with a crush. I was a single mother of two whose husband had died nearly a year ago. I watched as he moved his laundry from the washer to the dryer and turned it on. "I am done with the washer here if you want to do more than one load at a time, you are more than welcome to." Shaking my head, I cleared out the bad thoughts I was having and looked down at the piles of clothes I had going a moment before looking back up at him with a small smile. "That would be wonderful, thank you. And only if you truly don't mind." He gave me another smile and nodded. "Always feel free to use both if you need to." He stood there long enough for me to nod my head before walking back into the other room, still leaving the door open a little bit. I stood there a moment listening as it sounded like he went back to his workout. 

Moving across the room, he took long, confident steps until he stood right in front of me. My back pressed against the wall. I had to tilt my head up to look up into his dark brown eyes. At the same time, he was forced to look down at me. He must not have liked the angle in which we were forced to stare at each other because, with a grunt of disapproval, he dipped down. His hands gripped my thighs as he lifted me off my feet. My legs wrapped around his waist while my hands went to his shoulders. He was dressed only in a pair of sweatpants that hung low on his hips, dangerously low. On the other hand, I was dressed in a sundress that he pushed up around my waist. Now we were at eye level. This seemed to please him as a smile grew on his lips. Leaning in, he pressed his lips to mine. In no time, our mouths were moving together, his tongue pushing into my mouth. I couldn't help the moan that escaped me as our tounges danced together.

Moving one hand up my body, he pulled the straps on my dress down my shoulders, making my dress lose in the front. Running his fingers along my collar bone, he moved down my chest, sending a shiver down my spine. Breaking our kiss, he moved his mouth down my jawline, my neck, along my shoulder, following the line of my color bone, down the center of my chest. His hand freed one of my boobs, giving his mouth access to the swollen, erect n****e that was there. His mouth covered it, sucking it into his mouth while his hand massaged my boob. The sensation had my back arching and trying to push my chest farther in his direction. A moan rolling through me only seemed to egg him on more as he moved from one boob to the other. His free hand moved from its place on my thigh. Pushing my dress up farther as he moved his hand, his thumb grazing the hem of my underwear. 

"Mommy…" I was jolted awake by Haylee, my six-year-old. Siting up in my bed, I tried to slow my breathing down. My whole body was buzzing from the little bit of my dream. Turning my attention to the little monster that had interrupted my dream, I did my best to smile at her. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" Haylee crossed her arms with a pout. "It's not fair." Confused, I set up a little more in bed. "What's not fair?" She pouted a little more. "Why does Wes get to go outside, and I don't?" Jumping from my bed, my heart was no longer racing because of my dream. I am sure my reaction scared Haylee a little, but my focus was on my son, who apparently decided to go outside on his own. I mean, what the hell? He knew better than to go outside without permission. And I sure as s**t never let him go outside when I couldn't keep an eye on him. He is only ten years old, for crying out loud. He may think he is old enough not to have his mom there while keeping an eye on him, but I have news for him.

Running down the stairs, I nearly fell on my ass as I came to a complete stop in the doorway. Sitting on the front steps was Wes, and he was talking to Tiny. "Let's see here. Where did you say you were headed to?" Tiny had his phone out and was typing something into it. From here, it looked like his maps application was up. "Austin, Texas." Tiny nodded and typed it in. "And your sure you want to walk that far?" Wes nodded, and my heart broke. Austin was where we had lived with his dad. I know he understood that his dad was dead and wasn't coming back, but that didn't make it any easier for him. He still wanted to be back there. He hadn't liked moving here away from all his friends and away from the only house he knew. Tiny whistled. "Looks like you should get there in oh around twenty days or so. You sure you got everything you need?" Wes looked over at Tiny shocked. "Twenty days?"

Tiny nodded and showed Wes his phone. "Yeah, see here." Wes seemed to deflate a bit and sighed. "I can't walk that far." Tiny tucked his phone away in his pocket and nodded. "Yeah, and you said your mom doesn't let you accept rides from strangers." Wes nodded. "Hmm…Maybe if I knew why you wanted to get to Austin, I could help you come up with a different plan?" Wes nodded. "I want to see my dad." Again Tiny nodded. "I see, and have you told your mom this?" Wes looked down at the ground and shook his head no. "I see. Can I ask why?" Wes continued to look down at the ground and sighed again. "Because my dad isn't really there anymore." Tiny nodded, "Hmm…then why go?" Wes sighed again. "Because that's where my friends are. And I don't like it here. No one likes me." My heart broke even more. I knew he was having some trouble fitting in. But I didn't realize it was so bad that he hadn't made a single friend. I had seen him playing on the playground at school, and he was always with other kids.