Blade: A Steel Paragons MC Novel (The Coast: Book 11)

by Hart, Eve R.

  “Got a sixth sense or something?” I tried to joke.

  She laughed, thank fuck.

  “Somethin’ like that.”

  She held the joint out in my direction and since I was a little stiff today, I took the offering.

  “What happened to you?” she asked as if she knew how I was feeling.

  “House exploded. Got trapped under it. You?” I asked, holding my hand out for her to take it back.

  “Been inking since I was twelve. My cousins got me started young in their basement. Well, that shit takes its toll,” she answered fisting her free hand and then let it relax again.

  “I started at fifteen,” I told her thinking back to that first night. Never said I ran around the with right crowed, even after all the shit I’d been through. Then again, it was all part of my greater plan. I knew I’d have to be the part, not just play it. “The dick of a dead inmate.”

  She let out a shocked laugh.

  “Now, that sounds like a story,” she said happily wanting to hear it.

  “Not much to it. Just a buncha punk-ass kids thinking they were something. Stole one of my buddy’s brother’s kits. It wasn’t anything special, he did shit out of his garage. Anyway, one night we find ourselves at the local university.” I let out a smile thinking about that night. Wasn’t one of my finest moments but I had to give it some credit. It was how I found the love of what I do. “Anyway, we knew they had cadavers there for the medical classes or some shit. Found them, but it took a while. It was a small campus so I wasn’t surprised there was only one there. Turned out to be a convict and by the looks of him, he’d met his end pretty brutally. And lucky for me, there was only one spot that wasn’t covered in shitty prison ink.”

  “His junk?” she asked already knowing the answer.

  “Yep,” I said reaching for the joint again. “It was all downhill after that.”

  “Yeah, I hear that,” she replied. “Not ready to give up this life, I love it too much. So I find ways to dull the pain.”

  “Some days are worse than others,” I said after exhaling and handing it back over to her.

  “Harley,” she said catching my attention, “she’s had a rough time. It’s not my place to tell you, but I’m going to ask you to be careful. She’s special to me. Known that girl since the moment she was born. Known her momma and uncle longer. I gotta look out for her.”

  So she was close to Harley’s family. Okay, good to know. It still didn’t tell me much.

  “I get it,” I told her flatly. “I don’t want to harm her.”

  “Yet you’re out here in the dead of night watching her window like some kind of fucking psycho.”

  I let out a hard, short laugh.

  “Just looking out,” I let her know with honesty in my tone. I let a moment of silence slip by as I gathered my thoughts. Truth was, I didn’t have a good reason why I was here, or why I’d been for a week. “Yeah, fuck. Honestly, I don’t know. I can’t get it right with her and I don’t know how to. I fuck up every time I’m around her.”

  “Give her time,” she told me and I wish I knew what it was she was hiding from me. I didn’t like being in the dark. Maybe if I knew, I could finally make the right move. “She’s still trying to get her footing under her. This move here, it’s helped, but she’s still not ready to let a man in.”

  Again, Harley’s words popped into my head.

  She wasn’t ready, yeah, and there was definitely a reason why she’d said that.

  “So she had a shit run-in with some asshole?”

  She didn’t answer with words, but the look she was giving me said it all.

  A bad boyfriend? A horrible encounter out?

  I could go on all night but it wouldn’t help me nail down exactly what had happened to her.

  Either way, maybe I wasn’t the best man for this situation. I wasn’t the easiest to get to know. I wasn’t someone that set people at ease. And I didn’t want to be. I liked that people were afraid and on edge around me. Kept them on their toes and away from me if they couldn’t take the heat. It also didn’t hurt when it came to some of the things I had to do for my club. I guess that was why they came to me and offered me the Enforcer patch. Believe it or not, I was fucking proud of that patch and I wasn’t giving it up any time soon.

  “Well, you got any tips for me? How can I get on her good side?” I asked not really thinking she’d give me an answer. Her first concern was Harley, and if she had any sense, she’d tell me to fuck off and leave the woman alone. I’d already fucked up enough. Maybe that was the right thing to do.

  Even though I saw that, I still wasn’t sure why I couldn’t walk away.

  I knew sitting in the shadows outside of her place wasn’t the right answer but I couldn’t stop.

  “From what I hear, she hasn’t shut you out. It’s a start. Just have patience and maybe, relax a little,” she said with a raised brow.

  Relax?

  Did I seem uptight?

  That was a new one for me.

  “You’re a bit intense,” she said clearly noticing that it wasn’t clicking in my head.

  Right, intense.

  That I got.

  “I’m me. Ain’t going to change for anyone. But it doesn’t mean that I have bad intentions or would ever hurt her,” I said standing tall.

  Fuck changing for someone. I’d always had the mindset that if they didn’t like me the way I was then they could go fuck themselves. It shouldn’t have mattered that I couldn’t get a certain person out of my head. Besides, I was pretty set in my ways, so even if I wanted to change, it would be pretty damn hard at this point.

  But I wasn’t going to change.

  If someone was going to love me then they were going to love me as I am. Not some version of me they had made up in their head. Or something that I made myself to be because I thought it would make them want me more.

  Nah.

  I figured it was fair because I’d never expect anyone to change for me.

  That should have told me everything I needed to know.

  Clearly Harley and I didn’t mesh. There was nothing that could work out between us.

  Still, I wasn’t ready to quit her.

  “I’ll keep this little conversation between us,” she told me offering up the last drag off the joint. I took it, inhaled, then handed it back over to let her deal with it as she pleased.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled as I walked off.

  Weird fucking night but I felt like I had a little more on Harley. I wasn’t sure if it helped me or not. If anything, I sort of had Estelle’s approval, which now, I realized was more than I imagined before.

  From the seat of my bike, I watched to make sure Estelle got back into the apartment safely.

  Then I rode away with my thoughts on Harley.

  No surprise there.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Harley

  I waited until I heard his bike roar away to close my eyes. This time, he’d stayed later than he normally did and I wished I knew why.

  I bet he didn’t think I knew he was there.

  I pretended that I didn’t for multiple reasons.

  Some of them made me uneasy but they were still there despite that.

  Like the fact that I felt somewhat safe with him there watching.

  Which I realized was fucked up beyond reason.

  Because he was basically stalking me.

  Yes, stalking.

  Sitting outside of someone’s home and watching them was fucking stalking.

  I hadn’t told anyone about it. I wasn’t positive it was Blade but I couldn’t imagine who else it would be. I’d heard his bike enough during the day that I was pretty sure it was his.

  I had no idea they could sound different until I moved here. Until I started working and living across from a tattoo shop that was run by bikers. Not only did I hear the three different bikes from the men that worked there, I also got to hear others from their friends when they came by. And no, I wasn’t wat
ching closely. It was kind of hard to miss with us being across the street and the front of the shop nothing but windows. Come on, it wasn’t like we were busy. We got some business sure, but there was a lot of downtime right now. So with nothing else going on, any little thing caused some excitement.

  My point was, I knew it was Blade out there.

  What I couldn’t figure out was why.

  Why was he sitting out there? Why was he watching? Why wouldn’t he come up and knock on my door if he was so interested in me?

  “Ugh, whatever,” I said to the empty room as I rolled over and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep.

  After that awkward time when he’d brought me those mini caramel cakes, I hadn’t seen him. Not like up close and personal. Sure, I’d caught glimpses of him when he walked out of the shop. Most of those times he was taking Biscuit out and I wanted to run over there and get some baby love but never got the courage to do that. Besides, I still wasn’t sure if Biscuit liked me. She seemed rather moody.

  Not once had he come back over here and sought me out. He hadn’t tried to talk to me. Which left me wondering why and what was wrong with me and how come he didn’t like me. I hated it. Hated that I’d become this person that I didn’t want to be. It was the part of me that I swore I’d never go back to. Yet, here I was, missing out on sleep over a stupid man.

  Sure, I told him I wasn’t ready but I wasn’t telling him to give up. I was trying to get him to understand that I needed to go slow. But clearly, it had been the wrong fucking thing to tell him.

  The next afternoon, I was a bit irritable as I made my way into the shop. It was clear that everyone noticed by the way they put as much space between themselves and me as they could.

  It only took a few hours for Wade to get frustrated with it and demand I talk.

  The shop was empty. We’d had three people in today and since it was in the middle of the week, I didn’t think we’d get too many more clients walking through the doors.

  “Why don’t you just go over there and talk to him?” Wade said with her hip cocked and a raised brow.

  I looked over at Estelle, who was already smirking in my direction. I wasn’t sure how much of this I wanted her to know. It wasn’t about her, really, more like I didn’t want it to get back to my uncle. The last thing I wanted right now was a lecture on how I needed to watch who I was around. Or how I needed to let him look into the fellow. Or, well, once he found out, how a biker wasn’t really the best thing for me.

  I could admit there was a sharp, dangerous edge to Blade. I mean, with a name like that… right?! But I realized that he wouldn’t hurt me. He’d shown me enough times that he wouldn’t. Hell, I stabbed the guy and he didn’t so much as yell at me. Sure, there was that roar-growl thing he did, but I felt like it was more about him trying to deal with whatever pain he’d felt from being stabbed than trying to scare me.

  “Because so far, our conversations haven’t been all that great. Mostly, I talk and he just stares at me like he doesn’t understand why I’m talking,” I responded with a huff. “I don’t know why I can’t get through to him or why the fuck I care so much.”

  “Well, that last one is easy,” she told me with a roll of her eyes. “You like him.”

  “Yeah, okay, fine. I like him. So what? Doesn’t do me a damn bit of good if I can’t even talk to him.”

  She laughed at me.

  “No, you really like him,” she told me, finger pointed in my direction.

  “Ugh,” I said in frustration as I flopped down into my chair. “Why won’t he like me? I refuse to believe there is something wrong with me. I will never go back to that girl. So if he can’t handle all this, then he’s not good enough for me.”

  “Right!” Wade said pointedly while Darlene yelled out ‘hell, yeah’ with her fist punching the air.

  “But I can’t let it go,” I admitted with a sigh.

  “So go over there again,” she said, grabbing my hands and pulling me to my feet before turning me to face the door. “Try again. And again. Make him see all the wonderful things that we do. Then, if he is too thick to enjoy how amazing you are, let him go. He’s not worth it. But maybe don’t give up so quickly.”

  I took one step in the direction of the front door before I whirled around to face her again.

  “Why should I do all the work?” My hip cocked out, hand planting itself there. “Why do I have to make the next move?”

  “Because he made the last one,” Wade pointed out.

  Oh, yeah. He did bring me those mini cakes.

  “You want to be equal, then make it that way,” Wade went on, that brow still arched nearly to her hairline. “He comes to you, you go to him. It’s an even trade.”

  “Fine! You’re right,” I said with a stomp of my foot. “Wait, do I need to bring something?”

  I didn’t wait for an answer, my feet already cutting across the shop to the entryway that connected us to the bakery. I heard the heavy clicking of heels trailing closely behind, telling me that Wade was coming for me.

  Her hands came down on my shoulders and I could no longer continue on my way.

  “Stop stalling. Go,” she said walking me to the front door and then swatting my butt for good measure. “Now.”

  I said nothing, simply tossed my ponytail over my shoulder, hoping that I hit her in the face with it, and then stormed out.

  I had to talk myself up the short walk across the street.

  I was sure I looked like a crazy person shaking my head and muttering to myself.

  The bell above the door jingled a little too loudly as I stepped inside. They seemed to be lacking for business today too because the place was quiet.

  But then it wasn’t.

  And I was a little stunned at what I heard.

  “Yeah, baby, that’s it,” someone that was not Blade— thank God— said and I couldn’t play dumb to what was going on somewhere in the back.

  My feet kept going though I was screaming at myself to stop.

  “Hey,” Blade said, his head popping out from his booth causing me to freeze in place. “Everything alright?”

  “Oh, yes, I, uhh…” I blinked as I tried to come up with something to say.

  “Fuck, yeah,” the same voice said and like my head had a mind of its own, my attention turned in the direction of the noise.

  I saw enough pasty thigh and side-butt skin to let me know what was going on in that room.

  The back and forth motion of the guy’s hips were a big clue too.

  Oh, and the flash of blonde hair that kept slipping into my view.

  “Uh, yeah,” Blade said, not a single thing in his tone that told me this was out of the ordinary. In fact, it sounded much like he was used to this sort of thing going on around here. “That’s Sketch.”

  As if that explained everything.

  Oh, right. Sketch… What? I could only assume that was the name of the skinny guy that worked in the shop. The one that I had just seen way too much of. Then again, I could have been completely wrong. I was trying to remember if I’d heard his name before or not.

  But, whatever. I wasn’t here about Sketch.

  I opened my mouth but nothing came out for a good long minute.

  “Is that sanitary?” I asked knowing it was not. I couldn’t even hide the disgusted horror in my voice if I tried. It was more from the fact that he was getting a blowjob right there in the shop where things needed to be kept sterile and clean than seeing the act itself. Though I wasn’t really into that sort of thing— watching other people, that was. I very much like the other part. As far as wrapping my lips around some guy’s dick, well, I liked seeing the look in their eyes when I did.

  Anyway.

  The guy, Sketch, pulled the woman away and turned his back to pretty much everyone within eye-shot. There was some motioning and then a long grunt signaling he was done.

  Blade let out a small, huffed laugh.

  “More than you would probably think,” he told me respo
nding to my sanitary question from before, and I didn’t really know what to say back to that.

  “Did he just finish in the trash bin?” I asked. Yes, I was shocked because at least if he finished in her mouth it was contained.

  I looked away then, meeting Blade’s brown eyes instantly.

  There was a smirk on his face that told me I was missing something big. I waited for him to fill me in, but unsurprisingly, I was left hanging.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, his brows drawn together as he studied my face. This time, his tone wasn’t harsh, more curious with a hint of surprise. Good surprise? I was sure hoping so.

  “Oh, you know,” I said with a half-shrug. “I came to see the show.” I jerked my head in the direction of Sketch’s room, the woman now trying her hardest to slink by the two of us. “Should I clap? I’m not really sure what one should do in this situation.”

  I whispered the last words because I was trying to be funny but I didn’t want to hurt the woman’s feelings. I wasn’t judging her. As long as it was something she wanted, it was none of my business.

  I mean, it wasn’t like I had any room to talk.

  Reminding myself of that only made me think of the things Blade had done to me in the back room of my shop.

  Which caused the heat to stain my cheeks red. I didn’t have to touch them to know.

  I blinked back into focus to see a smile tipping up the corners of Blade’s lips.

  Did he find me funny? Why did it matter so much to me? I guess I thought it was one step closer to breaking the ice with him.

  “Clapping might give him too much of an ego boost, so please refrain at this time,” he said to me, his lips spreading even wider on his face.

  He did smile.

  I didn’t think he was really capable of it.

  I’d seen smirks on his face and a hint at something more, but never a smile like this. I could actually see teeth.

  And all the times I’d tried to picture him with a smile in my head, the image held more of a grimace than an actual look of happiness.

  But I’d had gotten it all wrong, because the little bit that I could see now only hinted at how beautiful a full one would look on him.