Damaged and the Bulldog Quotes

“I’m so sick of sitting on this fucking thing,” she sighed, finding a comfortable spot. “After they’re born, let’s burn the couch.”
“Or donate it,” Aaron said, bringing her a glass of water.
“Don’t ruin my destructive groove with your good sense.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“Tall, narrow, and grand, the first house was a Victorian. Once loved by a family, it ended up a college rental. Dylan took it from rundown and abused to grand again.
“Could you see yourself living here?” he asked, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
“No,” I said softly.
“Good. Me either, but I’d have moved in tomorrow if you said yes.”
Squirming around to face him, I sighed. “You’re so whipped.”
“I know, but only when it comes to you.”
“It’s only fair since you own my heart and could destroy me if you wanted.”
“Could, but never will,” he said, taking my hand. “Let’s go look at the midcentury house.”
“What if I don’t like that one either?”
Dylan opened the car door and shrugged. “Plenty of houses in Ellsberg that need love. We’ll find one and make it ours.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“We can’t have sex at my parents’ place,” I said, giving him a grin.
“You are so sex obsessed,” he said, sighing dramatically. “I blame myself for being that good.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“Tucker finally parked next to me. We joined Cooper who stared at a hawk flying over the woods.
“I’ve had my eye on you since the Devils came to town,” Cooper said, glancing at me. “Ignore the romantic vibe to that statement.”
Tucker snorted in amusement, but Cooper ignored him and continued, “The rest of the guys at the worksite hid when the Devils showed up. You decided to take on armed bikers with a fucking hammer. How you didn’t end up in the ground I’ll never know, but it made me think you have the kind of balls a man needs to run with guys like these two.”
Cooper opened the door where Vaughn and Judd stood in a one room cabin.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“After watching Vaughn and Judd dump the body and cover it with lye, I followed Cooper back to the cabin.
“How are things going with Winnie?” he asked as we waited for the others to finish.
“Good. We’re moving into one of the houses I’ve remodeled. I’m planning to propose too.”
“Did you ask Tad for permission?”
Frowning, I shook my head.
“Give the guy a break. You show up, bang his daughter, steal her away, and don’t even fake like his opinion matters. You’re lucky he doesn’t beat you with a stick just for the hell of it.”
My frown darkened then I remembered Cooper was having a baby girl soon. “I’ll ask Tad before I propose.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“Cooper smiled. “You feel weird yet? Pulling the trigger is easy, but the stuff afterwards will bother you.”
“I’ll be honest, Cooper. If you wanted me to kill a kid or a woman, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I’m not hardcore and you shouldn’t think what I did proved I was. Corbin was a dead man walking. Someone was killing him. It just happened to be me.”
Studying me, Cooper smiled. “I don’t want blood thirsty freaks, you know? A lot of clubs have violent muscle. That might sound great, but try controlling the fuckers. I prefer obedient dogs to the rabid ones.”
“Thanks for comparing me to a dog.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, smirking.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“After a very enjoyable half hour in the shower, we dressed and walked down to his SUV. Even with the weather too cold for the Harley, I spotted Judd and Tawny riding theirs in the opposite direction as us. I loved how Tawny had her own Harley and tried to imagine myself on one. The vision ended with me crashing into a mailbox, so I figured I’d leave the Harley riding to Tawny and Harlow.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“My sister came out to the porch to meet us. I knew she missed having me around the house. We spent most of our time together and often shared a bed at night. I wondered what she did when the nightmares bothered her now.
“I’m sorry,” I said, feeling guilty as I hugged her.
“You should be,” she teased, clearly having no idea what I was talking about. “We’re all ashamed of you.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“Rolling my eyes, I took Dylan’s hand and followed Harlow inside. Jace sat in the front of the TV. I knew he was grumpy based on the way he didn’t look at me.
When I flopped next to him on the couch, he did smile.
“You smell like a strip club,” he said, narrowing his eyes at me.
“How would you know?”
“I’m not telling you my secrets.”
Shaking my head, I sighed loudly. “Why do you make me do this to you? It’s like you want to suffer.”
Jace knew what was coming, but his escape came too late. I pinned him on the couch and tickled him. Despite his efforts to seem unfazed, he couldn’t withstand armpit tickling.
While I tormented my laughing brother, Dad and Mom walked out from the kitchen.
“He missed you,” Mom said as I finally let Jace up.
Catching his breath, my brother leaned next to me on the couch. “I miss beating you at videogames.”
“I miss you beating me too,” I said, kissing his head.
Harlow flopped on the couch next to us and I smiled at the familiar comfort of my family.
Dylan watched us with a slight grin. When he caught Tad and Toni’s gazes, his smile grew.
Suspicious now, I glanced at Harlow who was busy gluing herself to me. “Are they up to something?” I whispered. “Am I going to be embarrassed?”
“I don’t know. If you feel embarrassed, I’ll punch Dylan in the crotch and distract everyone.”
Rolling my eyes at her threat, I studied Dylan who grinned at me.
“What?” I asked, nervous now.
“She’s on to you,” Dad said. “Better ask now before she gets squirrely.”
“Squirrely,” Jace snorted. “She gets batty too.”
Harlow laughed. “Winnie can do so many animal impressions.”
Ignoring them, I stood up and walked to a still smiling Dylan.
“What?”
“What happened to patience?”
Without thinking, I reached to pinch my hand. Dylan took both hands then knelt on one knee.
“Don’t,” Harlow blurted, grabbing for me.
Everyone frowned at her. A moment passed where she stared at me in horror. Suddenly, she shrugged. “I meant don’t stop. Go ahead, Dylan.”
The mood in the room shifted back to anticipation. Our gaze focused on Dylan who smiled up at me.
“I know it’s been a few weeks. I don’t care. I love you and you love me, right?”
“I love you so much.”
“I’m not stupid. I know we’ll have problems. We run into issues. When we do, we’ll work them out. We’ll figure them out because we belong together. You believe that, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I whispered, staring into his beautiful dark eyes.
“Winona Todds, you are perfection and I refuse to live without you. Will you marry me?”
My legs turning to jelly, I knelt down too. “Yes,” I whispered, afraid he was about to change his mind. Maybe it was a trick. All these awful things rushed through my mind. I wasn’t good enough for Dylan. He was going to leave me one day. I didn’t deserve to be happy when I was so weak.
“You love me,” he whispered, pressing his forehead against mine. “You want me to be happy.”
“Yes,” I said, tears rolling down my cheeks.
“You’re what I need to survive.”
“I’m not really strong yet.”
“I love you now. I don’t want to wait. Do you want to wait for me?”
Shaking my head, I looked at my smiling parents then back at Dylan.
“We’re in love and planning to live together. We need to make our relationship official, so your daddy won’t kick my ass.”
Even laughing, I asked, “You want this?”
“I can give up everything else in my life, but never you. Married or not, you belong with me.”
I exhaled uneasily then smiled. “Yes, I will marry you.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“Life would never be easy for Winnie, but my job was to make her feel as safe as possible. Whether beating down a loud college idiot or keeping my mom states away, I’d do whatever necessary to protect what was mine.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“I remained with Lark in the hospital room until Aaron arrived out of breath from running.
“My muse,” he said, taking her hand.
Leaving them alone to prepare for the surgery, I walked into the waiting room. Cooper patted the chair next to him and I joined him.
“She’ll be okay,” he said, sounding convincing.
I didn’t feel like talking, so I texted Dylan, Harlow, Mom, and Dad to let them know what was happening. Cooper spoke quietly on the phone with Farah who was on her way with Tawny.
First, Dick and Maryann arrived then Raven not long afterwards with Bailey.
“We were shopping when you called,” Bailey announced as Raven hurried to Lark’s room.
Joining her brother, Bailey tapped her foot and stared at the door. “How long will it take?”
“Patience,” Cooper muttered then returned to talking with Farah.
Bailey changed seats, so she was next to me. “Don’t be scared. Pixies are powerful creatures.”
Smiling softly, I took Bailey’s hand and waited.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“Dylan lifted my chin so my lips could meet his. I kissed him hard, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion I’d held tight inside me.
“Good things happen,” I said, crying now. “Sometimes I forget that even when I have a blessing right in front of me.”
Dylan wrapped me tighter in his arms and smiled against my lips. “Me too, but I never lost faith in little Lark. If anyone could kick death in the ass, it would be her.”
I laughed at the thought of Lark versus the Grim Reaper. When my laughter drew the attention of the others, they laughed too, even without knowing why. All the tension faded as our fears turned to celebration.
“Shit, I’m gonna get teary-eyed,” Vaughn announced, looking at his phone.
We all received the same message from Raven with pictures of the babies.
“Which one’s the girl?” Judd asked, squinting at Tawny’s phone.
“The one with the pink hat,” his wife said.
Everyone laughed again.
“You can’t see if they have curly hair,” Cooper muttered. “Man, I hope at least one of them does. I’m never letting Aaron live that shit down.”
More laughter as everyone enjoyed the additional photos Raven sent.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“The crew headed to Tequila Jodi’s for a celebration. Raven and Vaughn arrived an hour after everyone. They made up for their tardiness by binge drinking a bottle of tequila. Well, Vaughn did. Raven binged on a pitcher of Diet Coke.
“I might be binging for two!” she announced then sat down to look over the pictures of her niece and nephew.
Harlow showed up with Toni. While her mom joined Jodi at a back table, Harlow made a beeline for Winnie.
“Are you okay?” she asked, studying Winnie’s face.
“Yes. Are you?”
Harlow rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
Winnie glanced at me and I saw such peace in her eyes. When she looked back at Harlow, her smile brightened.
“Lark and the babies are okay. Today is a good day.”
Hugging her sister, Winnie couldn’t stop smiling.
“Are you drunk?” Harlow asked.
“I’m happy.”
Harlow studied her sister again and checked her hands for new bruises. “Do you plan to sleep at home tonight?”
“No, I’m staying with Dylan.”
“Any bad memories about the baby?”
“Only hopeful thoughts about the future.”
Harlow frowned at me then shrugged. “I can imagine you two making a decent looking kid. Your pretty eyes and hair and his… well shaped head. Yeah, it’ll work.”
Running a hand over my head, I laughed. “My head shape is helluva sexy.”
Winnie’s calm infected Harlow who laughed and ordered a soda. The sisters danced with Bailey and Sawyer to Amos Moses. I knew Winnie wasn’t comfortable showing off in front of people. Whenever she got nervous, she glanced at me and relaxed.
“Wedding bells,” Nick said from beside me. “You didn’t waste any time.”
“She calms the asshole in me and I calm the broken girl in her. What’s there to wait for?”
Giving me a grin, Nick shrugged. “When you know, you know.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“I vaguely remember having a waist,” Lark said, waddling into the room. “I could see my feet too. They weren’t great feet, but I liked looking at them.”
“You’ll see them soon then you won’t appreciate it. All the stuff that bothers you now will become a faint memory once you have the babies.”
“How do you know?” she said, teasing me. “You read that in a book? I get enough know-it-all crap from Raven who watched a TV show and is therefore an expert.”
I brought her a glass of low fat milk and English muffins with low fat cream. Lark frowned at the food then smiled up at me. “If I sound bitchy, blame the hormones. You didn’t know me before I was preggers, but I was a saint.”
Grinning, I handed her the remote and placed a pillow under her feet.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“Lark Barnes wasn’t much older than me, yet she was married and pregnant with twins. On bed rest for the last few months, she was trapped in her updated Craftsman-style house. Thanks to Bailey, my new job involved caring for Lark during the day.
Petite with spiky dark hair, Lark needed the help too. She was all belly these days. In fact when I arrived at the house that morning, I found her stuck in bed.
“I’m beached!” she cried as I entered the bedroom.
After a little effort, I tugged her out of the bed and helped her into the bathroom.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“Nice hammer,” Harlow said from behind me.
“Hey,” I said, glancing around casually to see if Winnie was with her. “Nice shiner.”
“You should see the other chick,” she muttered. “Can we talk?”
Setting down my hammer, I followed her away from the other guys. Harlow seemed tense and I worried something was wrong with Winnie.
“This is awkward and I feel weird coming here like this,” she said, pushing her blonde hair behind her ears. “Are you dating anyone?”
My breath caught. A fear rose up in my chest at the thought of Harlow wanting to date me. What would that mean for me and Winnie? The look in Harlow’s eyes calmed my terror. I might as well have been a brick wall based on the lack of attraction she showed.
“No.”
“Some girl was hugging you outside a restaurant. Wasn’t that a date?”
Frowning, I scratched at my jaw where I forgot to shave that morning. “That was a girl from high school. She might have been into me, but we went out as friends. I’m not dating anyone.”
“Winnie saw you with that girl and she got really upset. I know she’s not ready to have a boyfriend, but she wants you. Do you want her?”
Playing it cool might be the stud move, but I didn’t want to be a player. I wanted Winnie. Besides, for the second time in twenty four hours, someone close to Winnie wanted to play matchmaker. “Yes.”
Harlow nodded. “She’s messed up. You know that, right?”
“I know she’s fragile, yeah.”
“Winnie has a lot of phobias. Not stupid shit for attention, but real chronic problems that won’t go away because you’re hot. She’s been in therapy for years and gotten stronger, but she’ll never be okay.”
“I understand.”
Harlow bit her lip then nodded again. “Do you want to take her out to dinner tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
Harlow smiled. “You better be chattier than that on the date or else no one will say anything. Winnie likely won’t say anything all night, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to. She just takes a long time to warm up to people.”
I wasn’t sure what Harlow saw on my face, but she grinned. “She really wants to warm up to you, Dylan. Don’t fuck it up, okay?”
“I’ll do my best.”
When Harlow narrowed her eyes, I was pretty sure she might hit me. “I appreciate the way you tried to save us that day. You showed balls and I respect that. With that said, you better be taking this seriously, understand?”
Leaning closer, I stared right into those suspicious eyes. “No one makes me feel like Winnie. If she needs to take it slow, we’ll go slow. If she wants to rush into it, we’ll rush. If she needs me to stand on my fucking head and sing the National Anthem, I’ll do it. So yes, I’m taking this very seriously,” I said, running a hand where short dark stubble took the place of my mohawk. “I told Winnie I would wait and I meant it. What you think is me being passive is just patience.”
“Okay,” Harlow said softly. “You know when I came to Ellsberg, I was pretty messed up. My family was dead and I was in this new place with strangers. Winnie took care of me. She became my sister and best friend. I love her like she’s blood. Nothing personal, but if you hurt her, I’ll have to kill you.”
“Fair enough,” I said, grinning.
“Smile all you want, buddy, but I’ve got moves.”
Harlow faked a punch, but I didn’t flinch. My mind was already focused on tomorrow. I hadn’t talked to Winnie since the day Nick’s dad showed up. I hadn’t seen her close up in weeks. I needed to be close to her even if she couldn’t do more than hide behind her hair all night.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog

“After seeing Dylan with the redhead, I sunk deeper into a depression. Even working at Lark’s house did nothing to distract me. I simply went through the motions. Fortunately, Lark was especially tired and slept most of the day, so she never noticed my bad mood.
Harlow wasn’t as oblivious as we washed dishes after dinner.
“What’s up, stinky pup?”
I rolled my eyes at her nickname for me. “Nothing.”
“She doesn’t want to deal with the leaves,” Jace said from behind us. Our ten year old brother crossed his arms like Dad often did when suspicious. “See, she got spooked last night and bailed on raking the leaves. They ended up blowing around the yard and now she’s trying to get out of raking them again.”
“That’s not it.”
“Sure, it is,” he said, his dark hair covering his narrowed eyes. “What else could it be?”
Grumpy, I decided to punish him. “It’s about a sexy guy.”
Jace’s face twisted into horror. “Eww!” he cried, running out of the room.
Harlow and I laughed at the sound of him telling on me to Mom.
“In a few years, girls will be all he thinks about,” I said, returning to the dishes.
Harlow leaned her head against my shoulder. “Sexy guy, huh?”
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your fight?”
Harlow glanced at the clock. “Yeah. When I get back, I want to hear about the sexy guy making you sigh so much.”
As my sister dressed to go, I finished the dishes and struggled to stop sighing.
I was still grumpy when Dad got home. In this living room, he told Harlow to be careful. She said something and laughed.
When Harlow started fighting at the Thunderdome, she called herself Joy and hid it from our parents. She didn’t think they’d approve and she was right. Harlow and I were naïve to assume they wouldn’t find out long before she told them the truth though.
Dad might be a pastor, but he learned about the Lord in prison. As a member of the Reapers, Dad had eyes and ears all over Ellsberg. He likely knew Harlow was fighting before she threw her first punch.
Entering the kitchen, Dad smiled at me. “Stop talking about cute boys around your brother. He has a sensitive gag reflex.”
I laughed as he got himself a beer and joined me at the sink. “Mom said we have leftovers. Mind warming them up for me?”
Shaking my head, I filled a plate and set it in the microwave.
“Are you okay?” Dad asked, frowning at me. “You look worn down.”
“I had a long day.”
“You sure that’s it?”
We watched each other and I remembered the first time he asked if I was okay. Five years earlier when I was brought to this house and met my new family. I didn’t remember a lot from that day besides thinking these people were too good to be true. I figured they’d wait until Kirk was gone then hurt me.
I couldn’t remember when I knew Dad was a good man who loved me. Not like my real dad loved me. Tad felt the kind of love a person died to protect. I saw the love in his eyes as he waited for his food to finish warming.
“I wish I was stronger.”
“So do I,” he said softly. “Everyone does. They just don’t admit it. That’s what makes you so brave. You can admit your fears.”
Even thinking he was full of shit, I smiled. “Thanks, Dad.”
Taking his plate out of the microwave, he inhaled. “Mom makes the best meatloaf.”
“I made it.”
Grinning, Dad nudged me with his hip. “If you make this meatloaf for the boy you’re hung up on, you’ll own him.”
“I’ll remember that.”
― Bijou Hunter, Damaged and the Bulldog