by Erin Trejo
“How do you even know what bike belongs to who with all these out here?”
“Bikes are like women. We know what’s ours,” he says with a chuckle. My heart leaps in my chest once more when he stops at one of the bikes. He picks up the helmet and passes it to me.
“What are you going to wear?” He looks over at me, giving me a lazy smile before I get it. He doesn’t need one. He thinks that highly of himself.
Sliding the helmet on my head, I watch Sly climb on the bike with ease. I climb on behind him with a little less ease seeing as how short I am. It’s almost comical to watch me but Sly doesn’t say a word. I wrap my arms around his waist as he revs up the bike. He pulls out and down the line slowly before we hit the road. Then he opens up and lets loose.
We fly down the roads, hitting corners so quickly it makes my head spin, but the rush I feel is amazing. I was on a bike many years ago, but it wasn’t a Harley. It was what they all like to call a crotch rocket and we didn’t go this fast. And it certainly didn’t feel like this. I close my eyes and lay my head on his back as he flies down the road.
I had always wondered what people felt when riding like this but now I get it. It’s a high. It’s a rush that can’t even be explained and holding onto someone like Sly just makes it feel all the much better. My hands tighten as he pulls into a parking lot. It’s nearly empty but still some bikes litter the area. He parks the bike and I climb off with him right behind me. When he reaches for me, I almost jerk away knowing what this place is but I keep myself planted firmly in front of him. He pulls the helmet from my head and sets it on the seat as he stares at me.
“You ever rode?”
“Once. It wasn’t like that either.” He smirks.
“Nothin’ will compare to bein’ on my bike, darlin’. Come on.”
“What’s this place?” I ask as I follow behind him looking at the building in front of me.
“Our clubhouse. Don’t overthink shit. It’s no strings attached,” he says over his shoulder. He pulls the door open and holds it for me. I walk in front of him and inside. Music plays softly in the background and mostly there are a bunch of women hanging out. They all look up when we walk in. Some eye me hatefully, others eye Sly.
“Ignore them. Most of them are little club whores. A few are old ladies.”
“What does that mean?” I ask looking up at him. I want to know everything.
“It means they belong to one of the brothers here. No one will fuck with them. They have protection from everyone on the outside,” he says when another guy comes walking up.
“Hey, Prez. Got a minute?” Sly looks away from me and to the man in front of us.
“What’s goin’ on?”
“Need a minute,” he says. Sly turns back to me and I nod letting him know that it’s okay to go.
“Bar’s over there. Tell the girls to get you whatever you want,” he says as I nod. He walks away and I wander toward the bar and sit on one of the stools.
“You know he’s my dad,” a voice says behind me. I spin around to look at the girl. Her eyes trail over me, looking disgusted with what she sees but that doesn’t bother me. I’m not here for her approval.
“I didn’t know that. I’m Fab,” I say trying to be polite and extending my hand to her. She looks at it, not sure if she wants to take it or not. I don’t give a shit either way, but I figure if I want information, I need to play nicely. When she finally takes it, her grip is harder than I thought it would be.
“I’m Dezzy. Fuck my dad over and I will fuck you up.” She pulls her hand from mine quickly, but she doesn’t walk away.
“I barely know your dad. We just met, so I don’t think I will be fucking him over.”
“Every little whore that he’s brought around has tried to fuck him over in some way. I’m sick of seeing it. He deserves to have something good in his life, and if you are here to mess with his head, I will fuck your life up.”
“Noted. Although I didn’t plan on hurting him considering I don’t even know him.” My anger is becoming more than I can deal with. If she wants a fight, I’ll gladly give her one, but this is pointless considering I’ve only just met him. She raises her eyebrow, no doubt sensing the shift in my attitude when I hear Sly.
“Dezzy, what the hell are you doin’?” We both turn at the same time to see him stalking toward us.
“I wasn’t doing anything but warning your little friend.”
“Warnin’ her of what?” he asks tilting his head to the side as he studies her.
“That she better not fuck you over.”
“You’re takin’ this a little too far for a girl I just met, yeah?” Dezzy huffs and rolls her eyes when Sly grabs my hand, pulling me off the stool and into his side. “Apologize, Dez.” Her eyes jerk to his as her mouth falls open.
“She doesn’t need to do that,” I tell him.
“Now, Dez,” he says in a harsh tone.
“I said no. She didn’t do anything wrong. She’s only looking out for you. Don’t force her to apologize for that,” I snap. Dez’s eyes now come to rest on mine, a softer look coming over her. Sly tightens his arm around me, seeming uncomfortable.
“Fine. Stop bein’ such a dick, Dez.”
“I’m not. She understands why I said what I did.” She smirks just as I hear the rumble of bikes. It doesn’t take long for the other guys to come filtering in. A few I saw at the rally but some I didn’t. The guy I know as Gauge walks up and wraps his arms around Dez, pulling her back into him. The loudness in the room amplifies as the guys come in. Girls scurry around looking for the single men, I assume.
“Come on,” Sly says pulling me along. I follow him willingly although I want to stay out here and see if I can find out anything. I’m guessing today isn’t the day for that. He heads down the hall toward the middle and pushes a door open before ushering me in.
“This yours?” I ask over my shoulder. He closes the door and nods his head.
“When I’m here. I don’t stay very often; I got a house about ten minutes from here.” I nod my head, making a mental note to find out where that is.
“Why not stay here? Aren’t you always here?”
“Not all that time, no. A majority of it, I suppose I am. It’s family. I wanna keep my family close, ya know?”
A sob clogs my throat as I nod my head. Sadness sweeps through me because of what I’ve dealt with in the past the few months. My heart hurts. My chest is heavy but if I can get the information that they need, I can have closure.
“You okay?” Sly asks moving toward me slowly. His hands come to rest on my shoulders and the weight of everything slowly becomes too much to hold in. Tears stream down my cheeks as Sly pulls me into his chest. How do I do this? Why did I think I could? I try to pull out of his arms, but he only holds me tighter. My chest is caving in. This isn’t what I had planned for.
“What happened?” He asks as if he doesn’t already know. Granted he doesn’t know who I am, but this is all his fault.
“My brother was killed not long ago,” I whisper as the world slowly shatters around me once more.
“Jesus. I’m sorry, darlin’.” His words don’t mean shit to me. They should. They should mean everything to me because they had a hand in it. I know they did.
“He was only thirty-two. He hadn’t lived yet,” I sob as I think about him. How could anyone do that to him? As tears streak down my cheeks, I realize what I’m doing. I’m standing here crying in the arms of the enemy.
Chapter Four
I keep hearing the girls talking about fate as I sit in the kitchen and eat. How we all have one that we are destined to. I wonder if that’s true. If that’s really how this fucked up world works. I don’t know how much of that I believe. Fate means shit in our world.
I’m on edge. My mind has wandered to every possible situation that this club has ever been in. Every kill. Especially the ones in the last few months. After what Fab said to me the other night and the look in her eyes, I knew somethi
ng was off. I couldn’t pinpoint it, but I could feel it.
“What’s wrong with you?” Wolf asks as he comes to stand next to the counter. He leans his hands on it and waits.
“Thinkin’ about some shit. That girl, Fab? She said some shit about her brother bein’ killed a few months ago.”
“And? What’s that have to do with you?”
“I don’t know, brother. She looked at me like I fuckin’ snapped his goddamn neck or some shit. Then she freaked out and left,” I tell him. She did. She let me hold her for a while but then she freaked out and ran out of here. I was going to go after her, but I couldn’t. Why should I chase that girl? I don’t know shit about her. She isn’t shit to me.
“You think we had somethin’ to do with it?” Wolf asks clearly thinking the same thing as me.
“Can’t say. It don’t make sense, though. Why wouldn’t she just say somethin’ if that’s what she was thinkin’?”
“Because she’s hidin’ shit,” Gauge chimes in as he walks into the kitchen.
“What the fuck do you know?”
“I know that Dez is on edge about that girl. Somethin’ about her she don’t like.”
“Dezzy doesn’t like anyone,” I grumble. The guys laugh knowing it’s not a lie.
“Bring her ass back. Get her to talk and see what’s up,” Wolf says.
“No. I’m not chasin’ no piece of ass,” I tell them with a laugh.
“Don’t have to. The piece of ass is in the main room,” Shaft’s voice says from behind me. I turn my head to look at him, only to see the smirk on his face.
“What the hell do you mean she’s here?”
“Just what I said. She’s out front lookin’ for your ass.” I shove out of my chair and listen as the guys laugh behind me. They’re no doubt giving me shit behind my back, but I don’t care. I step into the main room and see her standing there in a pair of cut off shorts that show off her sexy thighs and a tank top that hugs her tits. Damn, that woman.
“Hey,” she says when she sees me.
“You ran outta here,” I respond. Not that I was pissed about it. I mean, hell I did want to get my cock wet but that isn’t what bothered me. She bolted.
“I know. I haven’t told anyone about my brother since it happened. I guess it was just a little harder to talk about than I thought it would be.” I nod my head understanding that.
“You came back.” She nods this time but doesn’t say anything more. I don’t know what’s running around in her head. I don’t know why she’s here. I don’t know why the fuck I even care.
“Look, I don’t date. I don’t know what I’m doing here. I just felt…”
“A connection.” I finish for her. She nods her head but there’s something distant in her eyes. Something she isn’t telling me.
“Is that weird?” she asks wrinkling up her nose.
“No. I felt it too. I don’t know what it is. Why did you come back?” I’ve never felt a connection to anyone like this. Not even Shelby had this effect on me, and I was married to her crazy ass. Fab is different. I can feel it, but there’s also a lot of backstory that I don’t know about her. That much is evident in those dark eyes, and for some reason I have a really bad feeling about it.
“I don’t know. I’ve never felt that kind of energy.”
“You wanted to see if it was real,” I tell her. She nods her head and bites her lip. Fuck, why does she have to do that? I step into her space, bringing my hand up to her cheek.
“It’s real, darlin’. I feel it too,” I whisper as I lean down, touching my lips to hers. She doesn’t move, in fact, she seems to be holding her breath. That is until I kiss her harder. Her lips slowly begin to move with mine and an explosion erupts on my tongue. My tongue snakes into her mouth, tasting her for the first time. All of that energy surges inside of me. It’s strange but unique. It’s something I’ve never felt but don’t want to let go of. It’s intoxicating. Feeling the moan that rumbles inside of her, I wrap my other hand around her waist and pull her body closer to mine. Her tits press into me and my cock hardens even more. Fab pulls back first, panting with swollen lips. I like that look on her.
“What do you want, Fab?” I ask her nearly breathless. She stares up at me, melted chocolate swirling in her eyes.
“To know you,” she says shocking me.
“We can do that,” I whisper against her lips.
“I’ve never…been with a white guy.” Her words are hesitant, but I find myself chuckling at them.
“I’m a man. Pretty sure we’re all basically the same.” Fab smiles and it’s like the fucking sunrise. It’s gorgeous.
“Is this crazy?” she asks with a half-smile.
“No. This is two people gettin’ to know each other.” She nods her head when I kiss her again. I’m not even going to lie. I could get used to kissing these lips. “What do you wanna do?”
“Whatever you want to do.”
“Don’t leave that up to me, sweetheart. If it’s my choice, I’d be strippin’ you out those little shorts and bendin’ you over my bed right now.” Her breath catches in her throat as her eyes grow wider. It’s sexy as hell to see that look in her eyes. But instead of taking her to the room, I chuckle and pull her against me. I get the feeling that no matter how much she wants to explore what’s between us, she’s not ready yet to get that personal.
“How about we go for a ride? Talk?”
“I’d like that.”
“Good. Me too. Hey, Gauge,” I call out watching as he strolls out of the kitchen with a mouthful of food.
“What?”
“Headin’ out for a while. Handle shit with Kreo?” I ask. Kreo is one of our suppliers for boats. Good guy but dumb as hell to deal with.
“Yeah I got that. How many you decide on?” he asks while he chews.
“Three for now. Tell him we still want that yacht too.” Gauge nods his head as I grab Fab’s hand and pull her out the front door. I head straight to the bikes when she looks up.
“You’re buying a yacht?”
“Ever been on one?” I ask, watching her shake her head.
“No.”
“As soon as it comes in, I’ll take you out. It’s relaxin’. Somethin’ about bein’ out on the water away from everything else in the world. There’s a different kind of peace out there,” I tell her truthfully as I watch her eyes light up at my words.
“Sounds like a good time.”
“It will be.”
“Where are we going?” she asks, her eyes burning a hole through me. I think I could get used to this girl being around.
“A surprise.”
Chapter Five
“Mini golf?” I look up at him as he holds the putter out to me. I don’t know what I expected but mini golf was not it.
“Don’t like mini golf?” he asks raising an eyebrow.
“I haven’t played it in years. I just didn’t expect you to bring me here,” I admit.
“What did you expect? A backwoods bar?”
“Something like that,” I giggle.
“You said you wanted to get to know me. I like mini golf.” I laugh this time.
“A bad ass biker playing mini golf. I never would have pictured it,” I tell him.
“Why not? I’m human. What were you expectin’?”
“The backwoods bar?” I say shrugging my shoulders.
“I don’t know where you get your information about biker’s, babe, but they gave it all wrong.”
I say nothing as I watch him set up his ball before hitting it, watching it roll down the green. Following behind him, I do the same.
“What made you want to be a biker?”
“Nothin’ really makes you want to be this. It’s kind of who you are inside,” he says turning to look down at me. “You ever feel like you don’t fit in one place? Like you ain’t good enough for the outside world?” I nod. “That’s how I felt before this club. This club is full of people like me. The guys don’t fit into what society
thinks we should. It’s why we click. Why we’re family.” His explanation hits me hard in the chest.
“That’s a nice way of looking at it.”
“It’s the only way to look at it. What about you? Tell me about the elusive Fab.” He smirks, hitting his ball once more.
“I grew up with my older brother. His life was always someplace else. He was a little like you. He didn’t fit into my mom’s world. She was more of a homebody. She liked being home with her kids, working with her hands. She sold her work to make a living until she couldn’t anymore.”
“Sounds like a good woman,” he adds.
“She was. She died years ago. Lung cancer. She was a huge smoker.”
“Sorry to hear that. You take after her?” he asks, and I nod.
“I love being able to create things that you don’t see every day. I like that I can make someone else’s day with my products. I had a little old woman who bought a coin purse once. She was so happy, said she had one as a kid, but it got lost. Turned out it was one my mom made,” I tell him. His eyes brighten as he looks at me.
“That’s amazin’. How rare is that? Had to make you feel good.”
“It did. It was the best feeling in the world. Anyway, after that it was just me and my brother. He went his way and I went mine, but we talked every day. Until that day,” I say softly, looking down at my hands.
“I’m sorry, babe. I know that has to be hard on you.”
“It hurts to know that someone you loved so much was taken for no reason at all.”
“If you ever wanna talk about it, I’m a good listener,” Sly says. I pull my gaze to his and somehow, I can see the truth in that. But I also know the truth. Or at least part of it.
“Thanks. I’m not ready just yet.” He nods his head and hits the ball again. We continue playing until he wins. Then we leave and grab some ice cream.
“You shouldn’t be lickin’ it like that,” he groans as I lick my vanilla cone.
“Why not?” I wink.
“You know why not.”
“Someone’s playing house,” I hear a man’s voice. Before I have the chance to react and spin around, Sly loses his cone and has the man around the neck, pinned against the brick wall.
