by Naomi West
Bonnie seemed to love it, however. A beer soon found its way into her hands, but she passed it to me as soon as it was in her grasp.
“Ugh,” she said. “I have no idea how these guys drink this cheap crap. There’s a reason they all get those huge beer guts by the time they turn thirty.”
I scanned the crowd, doing my best not to make any prolonged eye contact. I was surprised by the guys I saw. There were some older, more grizzled-looking guys, like I was expecting, but most of the men there appeared to be around my age. They were dressed in leather jackets and dark jeans, and there were plenty of neck and hand tattoos to go around, but aside from their tough exteriors, they looked like they’d otherwise fit in on my college campus.
After some major cleaning up, of course.
Soon, the two of us were in the middle of a packed crowd. The music and commotion and engine-revving were almost too loud for me to think—maybe that was the point. I stuck to Bonnie’s side, not wanting to wander too far from her and end up alone. This sort of scene was new to me, but even I could tell that being alone would hardly be smart.
“Come on,” said Bonnie. “They keep the good stuff inside.”
She took my hand and pulled me through the crowd. As we moved through, I could feel the cool leather of the jackets and vests against my skin, along with the occasional bristle of arm hair along with the warm solidness of muscle. And the smell … the men smelled different—muskier, more masculine.
I was scared and a little turned-on all at once. It was like nothing else I’d ever experienced. It was like there was some sort of inner animal deep within me that wanted these men to put their hands all over me, to take me and keep me close.
But I resisted the call. Soon, we were inside the house—a big, two-story place that looked like it was less a home and more a party pad. Guys and girls were inside, and just like out on the lawn, the guys eye-fucked me and Bonnie without any sort of shame.
And the girls they were with weren’t any better. I sensed that they viewed us as competition, and wanted to let us know with their hard glares that we weren’t going to be taking their men any time soon.
Once we were in the kitchen, Bonnie quickly found us a couple of beers. These ones looked like local craft beers, nicer than the cheap stuff the guys were drinking out front.
“So,” she asked, cracking open her beer and taking a long sip. “What do you think?”
“It’s … different,” I said.
“Different in a good way?” she asked.
“Something like that,” I said. “They’re all younger than I was expecting.”
It was true. The crowd was mostly around my age, and I had to really try to spot anyone who looked older than their mid-thirties. Aside from the couple of grizzled guys who I’d spotted on the way in, the scene was more like a college party than I’d imagined.
“Yeah,” she said. “The Infernal Names are a huge motorcycle club, and most of the newer members are younger. The older guys, well, they’re around. But they’ve got their own ways of doing things. And the younger guys like to stay away from them when they can.”
Bonnie quickly killed her beer and set down the empty bottle on the counter. Mine, on the other hand, hadn’t even been cracked open. I was too afraid of getting drunk here and losing my senses or doing something that I’d regret.
“Someone looks like she needs another.”
I turned in the direction of the voice to spot two rough-looking guys who appeared to be in their mid-twenties. One was tall, lanky, and dressed in a black leather bomber jacket, his head shaved, and the tattoo of some kind of emblem on his neck.
The other guy was shorter and beefier, also dressed in leather. I glanced him over quickly, struggling to spot a bit of skin on his arms and hands that wasn’t covered in ink. His hair was long and brown and draped over his shoulders.
I shot my eyes over to Bonnie, hoping to get some idea of how I was supposed to react to this. The big smile on her face let me know that she considered the attention more than welcome.
“Well, look who it is,” said Bonnie.
The taller of the two men swooped in, wrapped his arm around Bonnie’s waist, and pulled her in for a hard kiss on the lips. I watched the kiss in stunned silence, half expecting a hard slap to follow it up.
“That’s one way to greet a girl,” she said instead.
I was beginning to wonder about how serious Bonnie had been when she said she liked to stick to one guy at a time. The man who’d just kissed her most definitely wasn’t the same one she’d showed me earlier.
“Speaking of greetings,” said the shorter guy, his eyes on me in a way I didn’t care for one bit, “Who’s your friend?”
“Yeah,” said the taller one as he cracked open a fresh beer and handed it to Bonnie. “I think some introductions are in order.”
“This is my friend Hazel,” said Bonnie after taking a sip. “And this is her first Infernal Names party, so make her feel welcome.”
“That’s not the only thing I’m into making her feel,” said the shorter guy.
“Oh my God!” shot out Bonnie, laughing. “You’re such a freaking pig!”
“I’m Thorne,” said the taller guy. “And this is Diesel.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” said Diesel, his eyes still locked onto me.
“Shoot,” said Bonnie. “I already have to pee. Will you guys watch out for Hazel while I go?”
My eyes went wide. Surely she wasn’t about to leave me here alone with these two?
“Sure,” said Diesel. “We’ll take good care of her.”
“Very good care,” said Thorne.
“Okay, good!” she said, slipping past us. “Be right back!”
Before I had a chance to protest, Bonnie was gone. It was just me with two strange men, both of whom were eye-fucking me like crazy. I felt so uncomfortable that I wanted to scream.
“So,” said Thorne, moving to one side of me. “You’re a friend of Bonnie’s, huh?”
“Something like that,” I said. “I knew her in high school.”
I was hoping that by keeping the conversation nice and boring, I might be able to keep my distance from the two. But the looks on their faces made it clear that they were both of a very, very one-track mind.
“If you’re friends with her,” said Diesel. “That must mean you like to party like her.”
“Huh?” I asked. “What does that mean?”
Thorne chuckled.
“That Bonnie,” he said. “She’s pretty fucking wild. You should see how she gets after a few beers in her.”
“And some other things in her, too,” said Diesel.
I didn’t know what to say.
“You need some help with that beer?” asked Thorne, his eyes flicking to the unopened bottle.
“No,” I said. “I’m good. Just not ready to drink yet.”
“Well, bad news for you is that one of the rules here is that no one stays sober.”
He reached over and opened the bottle with a quick twist, his arm grazing against my side in a way that was definitely deliberate. As he did, he kept his eyes on me, narrowed slightly.
Once the bottle was open, he placed it into my hands.
“Drink up,” he said. “Because this night’s just getting started.”
“I got an idea,” said Diesel. “How about I take you for a little tour of the place? Introduce you to some people, make sure you know all the important faces.”
Thorne shot Diesel a hard look.
“No way,” he said. “If anyone’s taking this girl around, it’s going to be me. Besides, you’re still a newbie, dude. You start introducing her around to the guys and they’ll want to know why the fuck you’re talking to them.”
The tension in the air increased. I could sense that a competition was developing.
“What the fuck are you talking about, calling me a newbie?” asked Diesel. “You’ve only been in the crew for two months longer than me. Just because y
ou ran out and got that fucking neck tattoo the second they let you in doesn’t mean you’re some kind of vet.”
“Fuck off,” said Thorne, grabbing my wrist. “You want to hang out with her, you can do it when I’m done.”
I had no idea what he meant by “hang out,” but there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that it wasn’t anything I wanted.
“Ouch,” I said, trying to wriggle my wrist free from his grasp. “You’re hurting me.”
He didn’t seem to care.
“Back the fuck off, dude,” said Thorne. “I don’t want to have to lay you out again like I did last week.”
“That was a cheap fucking shot and you know it,” said Diesel, his hands now balled into fists.
Thorne took a hard step towards him, yanking me along. Pain shot out from my wrist as he pulled me, the beer nearly falling from my hand.
“That hurt!” I yelled out, panic building within me.
“Whatever gets you to back the fuck off,” said Thorne. “Now step out of my way before I break your fucking nose.”
The men were close to one another, and I could tell a fight was seconds away from erupting. And I was about to be right in the middle of it.
“Not a chance,” said Diesel. “I’m gonna show this piece of ass which one of us is worth her time.”
“Take your best shot, prick.”
I closed my eyes and waited for the fight. I felt so helpless and alone and scared, all I could do was pray for it to be over.
But instead of a fist cutting through the air, it was a voice.
“Hey! Let the fuck girl go, assholes!”
6
Dakota
I was pissed. Two newbies, both of them fighting over some scared girl who looked about as fish-out-of-water as they came.
“Dakota!” said Thorne, clearly not expecting anyone, let alone me, to step into their little spat. “What’s up?”
“Don’t ‘what’s up’ me,” I said, my voice hard. “What the fuck are you two doing?”
“Just sorting some shit out between brothers in the club, you know?” said Diesel. “Nothing you need to get involved with.”
“I’ll get involved with whatever the fuck I want to get involved with,” I said.
I killed the whiskey in my hand and set the glass down on the nearby kitchen counter. The girl looked up at me with wide blue eyes. I could tell by her fearful expression that she didn’t know if I was her savior or if I was just going to tell these two dumbasses to fuck off and take her for my own.
She was hot as hell though—part of me couldn’t blame these two for being ready to fight over her. Long blonde hair, innocent blue eyes, lips as full and red as they came. And her body—damn, damn, damn. She was poured into those skintight jeans, her curves round and slender. Her flat, toned belly was exposed, and her full breasts shook as Thorne jerked her around.
And there was something else to her, too. Despite how she was dressed and where she was, I could sense that she wasn’t in her element. She was probably one of those college girls who wandered in here after getting a tip of a party.
Well, she was clearly learning pretty damn quick that this wasn’t some frat kegger.
But clueless or not, I wasn’t about to let the guys scare the shit out of her like this.
“Come on, Dakota,” said Thorne, his hand still wrapped around the girl’s wrist. “Just back off and let us sort this out on our own.”
“You can sort out whatever the hell you want,” I said. “But take it out back. And the girl stays here.”
“Are you kidding?” said Diesel. “She’ll just run off or some shit!”
I smirked.
“What’s that saying about how if you want something, let it go? And if it doesn’t come back, it was never yours to begin with?”
“You mean so you can take her,” said Thorne.
“I don’t ‘take’ my girls,” I said. “And I especially don’t hold them like that so they can’t get away.”
Thorne glanced down at what he was doing and quickly dropped her wrist. The girl took her wrist into her other hand and rubbed it.
“Now back the fuck off and give the girl some space,” I said. “She wants to talk to either of you, she knows where to find you.”
“Bu—” started Diesel.
“Don’t want to hear it,” I said. “Now get out of my fucking face.”
For a second, I wondered if the guys were going to step out of line and try to start some shit. But lucky for them, they knew the pecking order. I outranked them by a shitload, and even if I didn’t, I could easily drop them both before they even knew what the hell was going on.
They both gave me the same hard look for a moment, as if waiting for me to flinch or crack. But I didn’t. And when they got it through their thick skulls that they were out of line, they both shambled off, their shoulders slouched.
“Ow,” said the girl as she continued to rub her wrist.
“You okay?” I asked. “You need some ice or anything?”
“No,” she said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Here,” I said.
I took her beer, which was still cold to the touch, and pressed the side of it against her wrist. She seemed startled at first, but I could tell she appreciated it.
“Thanks,” she said, taking the beer and holding it against her raw skin.
“Sorry about those jackasses,” I said. “Newbies always get heads too big for their shoulders; start thinking they can do whatever they want.”
She said nothing, her eyes still wide. I could tell she was still trying to figure out what to make of me.
“Name’s Dakota,” I said.
She nodded slowly.
“Are you with the, um, Infernal … whatevers?”
I smirked. She couldn’t have looked more out of place if she’d tried.
“Infernal Names,” I said. “And yeah—been riding with them for years.”
“Hazel,” she said.
I cocked my head.
“Sorry?”
“That’s my name,” she said. “Hazel.”
Pretty name for a pretty girl.
“Nice to meet you, Hazel,” I said. “Now, you want to tell me why a girl like you is at a party like this all by herself?”
“A girl like me?” she asked. “What does that mean?”
I couldn’t help but let out a bark of a laugh.
“You kidding?” I asked. “You’re dressed like a party chick, but I could tell right away that this isn’t exactly your usual scene.”
“How can you tell?” she asked, as if it wasn’t written all over her.
I didn’t want to get into all of it.
“Just got a sense for these things,” I said.
I grabbed a nearby bottle of whiskey and poured a few fingers into my glass.
“Seriously,” I said. “What are you doing here alone?”
“I’m not alone,” she said. “I was with a friend and she … Oh—there she is!”
She pointed over my shoulder, and I turned around to see.
Of course. Of course it was fucking Bonnie Vivant.
“Hey!” she said, sidling up to Hazel. “Sorry I took so long—I bumped into some girls I know in the bathroom.”
Then her eyes flicked to me.
“Dakota,” she said. “Or ‘Prof.’ Or whatever it is they call you.”
“Fucking hell, Bonnie,” I said. “Did you seriously bring a girl who’s never been to a party like this here and just leave her alone?”
“What?” said Bonnie, shrugging her shoulders. “She was with some of your guys—I figured she was fine.”
“You figured wrong,” I said. “Those two assholes were about to rip each other apart like wild dogs trying to get her.”
“Geez,” said Bonnie. “Don’t need to be so dramatic.”
“I’m fine,” said Hazel. “Just don’t leave me alone like that again.”
“Sure, sure,” she said. “But it all worked out in the end—y
ou’re fine, and now you’ve met my good friend Dakota.”
I snorted.
“Yeah, very good friend.”
“So,” said Bonnie, clasping her hands together. “Where’s Suntree?”
“Suntree?” asked Hazel.
“Why the hell do you want to know where Suntree is?” I asked.
“Because I want to say hi, of course,” she said right back, without missing a beat.
“And why do you think he’d want to talk to you?” I asked.
“Because I’m so charming and fun,” she said with a smile.
“Wait a minute,” said Hazel. “What’s a Suntree?”
If I didn’t already know this girl was as out of her element as they came, this would’ve been the thing to prove it.
“Oh my God,” said Bonnie. “He’s this amazing guy; so smart and spiritual and everything.”
“He’s one of the high-ups in the Infernal Names,” I said. “Been with the crew for a while.”
“And he might even be the leader of you guys,” said Bonnie, a glimmer in her eye.
I could sense that she wanted to see Suntree for reasons other than to just say hi. And I was used to it. The guy had a draw to him, both on men and women alike. He was one of those guys who could talk anyone into anything, who always seemed to have a little cult of personality wherever he went. I, myself, was more or less immune to his charms, but that didn’t mean I didn’t give him the respect he deserved as a senior member.
“That’s yet to be determined,” I said. “And nothing a little hanger-on like you needs to worry herself about.”
“Whatever,” said Bonnie. “Why don’t we all get some fresh air? I don’t feel like being inside anymore.”
“How about first you ask your friend if she even wants to still hang out here?” I asked. “Maybe she’s had enough of this shit for one night.”
“Oh, she’s fine,” said Bonnie.
“Then why don’t you let her say so?”
Bonnie let out a frustrated sigh and turned to Hazel.
“What do you think?” she asked. “You want to be cool and stay or boring and leave?”
