Sage's Surrender

by Joy Blood

  “No need. I already told him you won’t be working here anymore.”

  “What! Oh hell no, Sage. I’m coming back here when this is all over.”

  “We’ll see.” I reach out to grip her arm, but she jerks it out of my grasp and storms past me to the back exit labeled staff. I don’t hurry after her. I know where she lives.

  Her little red Honda fucking Civic peels out on the asphalt, leaving black tire marks in its wake as I step through the heavy metal door.

  “She seems to be cooperative,” College laughs as he shifts on his bike, getting ready to ride after her.

  “She’s still a brat,” I grumble. “Hear anything?”

  “Nah. Just got off the phone with Pres. No change. You tell her about Jay?”

  “Keeping that piece of info for backup. Don’t want her panicking over nothing.” Jason, Gin’s son, was with him when Gin got shot and took a bullet in the shoulder. She’ll no doubt be furious when she finds out I omitted that little slice.

  “Guess so.”

  “Shit.” I let out a long sigh and look down at the cracked asphalt of the parking lot. “Well, let’s bring G’s daughter home.” I bring my bike to life, letting the rumble calm my frayed nerves.

  It takes us only minutes to get to her place, but a little longer to get in. College waits downstairs while I go get her. The apartment is in a good building, and the security is better than I thought. After buzzing her four times without any response, I pick the lock of the door leading to the lobby, then pick the lock to the door leading to Brook.

  When I step into her apartment, she’s nowhere in sight, but the moisture in the air clings to my skin and the fruity scent from the shower seeps into my lungs. Deciding not to let her know I’m here just yet, I go to her fridge and open it to find a half empty twenty-four pack of Coke and a few takeout boxes. Not much else. When I open the freezer, I find a lot of the same: nothing. Well…nothing but a bottle of vodka. Shutting the door, I open the fridge back up and snag a Coke before looking around the apartment. She doesn’t have much hanging on the walls. A clock, some ugly ass painting of some ridicules looking flower, and a calendar of a half-naked guy with a fireman’s hat on. I bypass that and look down the short hall where I’m guessing she is. I don’t hear anything, but there’s a light shining from under a closed door. I get one foot headed in that direction when knocking stops me.

  My brows pull together in a scowl as I swing the door open, figuring it’s College. Definitely not him.

  “Who the hell are you?” the knocker asks, trying to look past me.

  “Could ask you the same,” I grunt. He tries to bypass me, but my arm flies out to stop him.

  “Carey, what are you doing here?” Brook’s voice comes from behind me, but I don’t turn around. I’m too focused on the fucker in front of me. Carey. I wasn’t aware she was dating. And it annoys the fuck out of me. Even more than seeing her up on that damn stage peeling off her scraps of clothing.

  “I heard your door close. Figured you were home and—”

  “Now isn’t a good time,” I bark at him.

  “Jesus, Sage, let him in. He isn’t going to hurt me.” She could probably hold her own against the scrawny little fucker either way. He damn near looks like skin and bones and is barely taller than her. “Sorry. I apparently have a guard dog now.” She narrows her eyes into slits at me. Her wet hair hangs down to her waist, draping over a tank top and shorts that could pass as underwear. Christ.

  “I see.” The guy looks me over, then turns back to Brook. “So, I was—”

  “Do you have a bag packed yet? We need to get goin’,” I say, not giving a shit about interrupting his pitiful attempt at asking her out. Probably not for the first time either.

  “Now? Seriously? It’s two o’clock in the morning. I just got off my shift and I’m tired,” she complains.

  “Don’t matter what time it is. We need to hit the road. Pack light. I can’t fit much on my bike.”

  “Oh hell no! I’m not going all that way on your bike. And I’m sure as hell not leaving my car here.”

  “College can stay behind and get your car squared away.”

  “College?” the scrawny fucker asks.

  “You’re still here?” I look over at him, raising an eyebrow. “Take a hike.”

  “Oh my god! Sage, Carey is my friend. Don’t talk to him like that,” she snaps at me. “Carey, you can go. Call you later?” She offers him a smile, and I grind my teeth to keep myself from reacting.

  “Yeah. No problem.” He looks me over one more time before reluctantly backing out of the apartment. I swing the door shut without hesitation and hear him shuffle on the other side to keep from being hit.

  Turning back to face her, she has her arms crossed in a defiant pose—one I’ve seen so many damn times. “I’m not going,” she says, and I only let out a laugh in response. Stalking forward, I pass her with a brush of my arm, go right for her room, and start pulling clothes out from her drawers and tossing them onto the bed, ignoring her shrieks and demands for me to stop.

  “You are being an unreasonable asshole!” she yells out as I get to the third drawer. I have thrown out mostly skimpy articles of clothing that wouldn’t even dress one of those tiny ass dogs women carry around in their purses. What the hell does she wear to cover herself?

  “Don’t you have any fucking clothes?”

  “Those are clothes.”

  “This?” I hold up a small strip of denim with a button attached to it and laugh. “You wear this at home, you’ll freeze your ass cheeks off. You know why? Because they won’t be covered!”

  “Oh, give me a break. Like the girls you screw have on any more than that.”

  “Not while I’m screwing them, no.”

  “Everything okay in here?” College interrupts, stopping me from throttling the girl’s ass for a second time tonight.

  “Just fabulous. Can you tell him I’m not going?” She directs her pleading eyes to College, as if it will work in her favor. He’s on the same orders I am. Bring Brook home.

  “Brook, I know you don’t want to go back, but maybe if you talked to someone, it might change your mind.” College holds out his hand, offering Brook his phone.

  Reluctantly, she takes it and puts it to her ear. “Hello?”

  Four

  Brook

  “Hey, sis.” Jason’s voice comes through the speaker, and tears instantly spring to my eyes. My hand flies to my mouth to try to keep the gasp from leaving my chest.

  “Jason?” I haven’t talked to him since I left. We might not have been two peas in a pod, but we always had each other’s backs when it came to dealing with Mom and her boyfriends. “Are you okay?”

  “No. Not really,” he sniffs. “Dad got shot, Brook. They shot him right in front of me and I couldn’t do a damn thing.” His voice, somewhere between sobbing and anger, squeezes my heart. I swallow down the tears that threaten to come up. “You need to come home.”

  “Jason…” I start, trying to argue my point.

  “Grace is a mess, and I can’t help. I got shot too.” My eyes flare and flick up to where Sage is intently watching for my reaction. He knew and didn’t tell me. Asshole. “It was only a hit in the shoulder, went right through, but it still hurts. I’m trying to help out with Tanya, but—”

  “I’m on my way. I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?”

  “Good.” There’s a slight smile in his voice as he tells me to drive safe before he hangs up. Still staring at Sage, I end the call and hand the phone back over to College, who takes it without a word and steps out of the room.

  “You son of a—”

  “Hey now, I know you’re mad, and you have every right to be, but you ain’t goin’ to go spouting off and calling me names, kid. Not the way this shit is going to work. Get your shit packed and we’ll get on the road.” He starts to leave, then turns back around. “Make sure you have your head covered or hair dry. Don’t want you catching a cold. And put some
fuckin’ clothes on.” With that, he’s gone, his heavy booted feet making thumps along the hardwood floor.

  Taking in a deep breath, I try to calm myself. Jason needs me to come home. Not home—to Cental. He got shot. I let just one little tear slip past my barrier for only a second as pain crawls through my chest. Both my brother and Gin were shot, and Gin might not make it. My anger toward the club grows even more. It seems to take and take, until everyone is either dead or dying. I swear to myself I’m only going to go back there to make sure my brother, stepsister, and stepmother are okay. Then, I’m gone.

  Sage gave me all of an hour to gather my things before planting me on the back of his bike. He said College would stick around until morning so he could have my car towed to Cental.

  Now, at almost six in the morning, we are pulling into a motel off the freeway somewhere in Utah. I lost track of where we are, or how long we’ve been riding.

  “I’ll go in and get a couple rooms. Wait here,” Sage says before turning to walk away. Two steps later, he swings back around. “Actually, come in with me. I’d rather not have you alone with my bike.”

  “Really? You think I would run off with your bike?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

  “I seem to remember a time when you took off with your dad’s truck.” I laugh at that. It wasn’t long after my mom dumped me and my brother off with our long lost daddy.

  “I can’t even drive one of these things.”

  “Which is why I don’t want you alone with her.” Oh good god. Her.

  “Really?”

  “What?”

  “Her. Does she have a name?” I laugh and start toward him, leaving the helmet he handed me before we took off on the seat.

  “Maybe. Not going to tell you, though, so don’t even try to get it out of me.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.” He goes to open the door to the lobby, and I try to make myself look away as he rolls up his sleeves, exposing his strong arms. One reaches out to pull the door handle, holding it open for me to walk through. I have always had a thing for forearms. And if I’m being honest, I’ve always had a thing for Sage. Right now, looking at the arm attached to the man in front of me, an American flag proudly tattooed across tanned skin—it only adds to the appeal. He didn’t have that particular one last time I saw him.

  Clearing my throat, I walk past, trying not to let any part of my body touch him. I have been pressed up against his back and my arms have been wrapped around him long enough. I’m not sure I can handle much more contact. I forgot how the man can set me on fire. I thought maybe it was a silly, childish crush back then, but now, seeing him once again in the flesh brings those same tingles he always gave me back—even though he’s an asshole, and definitely not someone I should be touching with a ten-foot pole.

  Years ago, I took a gamble one night when I climbed into his bed, and if I had only kept quiet, it may have gone farther than a drunken kiss. Now, though, when I think back on it, I’m glad things were stopped. Having sex with a drunk biker at the age of fifteen shouldn’t be the way to lose your virginity, even if that drunk biker is Sage. Well, especially if that biker is Sage.

  “I need two rooms, not two beds,” Sage growls at the man behind the desk. He sneers down at the Hell’s Riders patch on Sage’s cut with disgust and gives him such a stink eye, it makes me think he has a death wish.

  “If you would like, there’s a motel down the road that rents by the hour.” Oh snap. Definitely a death wish.

  “We’ll take the room.” I come forward, trying to block the idiot behind the desk from the biker who’s about ready to tear his head off. “No need to spill blood over a room,” I say, lowering my voice and looking pointedly at Sage. It cools him a little, but not enough to stop him from ripping the key out of the clerk’s hand and storming off, back out to his bike.

  “And you think I have a temper.” I laugh at the broody biker throwing a tantrum. His eyes narrow on me as he starts his bike. He doesn’t wait for me as he kicks the stand and rides off to park the bike closer to the room. I follow behind, rolling my eyes at him. “Bikers,” I mumble to myself, pulling my backpack farther up my back. It’s starting to weigh on me, and I’m beginning to regret packing as much as I did. I mean, how long will I be gone anyway? If Gin is on his deathbed, he shouldn’t take too long to kick the bucket. I ignore the small tug in my chest when I think about him. I’m going because of Jason and Tanya. They are the ones who need me.

  Once upon a time, Gin was my knight in shining armor—until he abandoned me and my brother to start a new family. I couldn’t fault him for leaving Mom. Even at a young age, I knew what the fighting between him and Mom meant. They didn’t love each other, but I thought he at least loved us. I was wrong on that account. The club meant more to him than his family.

  I push all thoughts of Gin from my mind and speed up my steps toward the room Sage is already walking into. “You can take that bed.” Sage points to the farthest bed as he tosses the keys onto the table alongside the wall.

  “There isn’t a TV,” I complain, looking around the room. At least it seems clean enough. The bedspreads have that ugly design you would find in most outdated motels: some weird green and gold floral pattern.

  “You don’t need to watch TV. Get some fuckin’ sleep. We’ll be riding again in a few hours.” He pulls his cut from his back, and I try not to look, but my eyes are drawn to him. The long sleeves that were rolled up to his elbows are now unrolled. Next comes the unbuttoning of his black flannel. I discretely watch as his fingers undo each button until the shirt is pulled from his body. It’s like a present being unwrapped in front of me. Suddenly, I’m a kid again, at a friend’s birthday party, and they are opening their present. I want what’s inside, only I can’t have it because it isn’t mine. “You got a little something there on your chin, kid.” His voice interrupts my not so discrete staring, and my eyes fly up to meet his. His full lips have a slight smirk to them, and that smattering of stubble gives his pretty boy look an edge. His bright blue eyes flash something my way before he pulls them from me—as if he was thinking something he shouldn’t.

  “I like to fall asleep with the TV on,” I complain. Probably something stemming from my mom letting me watch TV until I passed out on the couch every night. Apparently, I never went to bed when I was told.

  “Bad habit, kid.”

  Frustration flows through me at him using that name again. “Stop fucking calling me that,” I snap.

  “Watch your mouth, little girl,” he warns, pointing his finger at me for emphasis. “It’s a brand new day, let’s try to get through it without me taking you over my knee.” My face heats, and for a moment, I want to swear again just to see if he really will spank me. Instead, I toss my bag onto the nearest chair and start taking off my jacket, followed by my sweatshirt. I still have my tank top on, sans bra, so I just kick off my shoes and pull off my socks and jeans. Not wanting to sleep with my hair tied back, I pull the tie away, letting my hair fall over my back. Pulling down the covers, I climb into bed and settle onto my side, facing away from Sage. The last thing I need is to get caught looking at him again.

  Five

  Sage

  The little shit might be trying to kill me—or get me killed. Either way, I can’t stop myself from watching her tight little ass climb into her bed. White cotton fucking panties barely cover the globes I very much would like to slam my hand down onto again. She may be older now, but still sure as fuck isn’t something I should be thinking about touching, especially with her old man laid up in a hospital bed. If I didn’t need to get riding again in a couple hours, I would go down to the bar I passed on the way to this motel, drink myself into oblivion, and, my cock willing, find something wet to sink into for the night. Maybe even a couple somethings.

  Brook doesn’t make another sound, so I continue stripping my clothes off. The heavy thud of my boots makes me look her way, but she doesn’t stir. I toss my jeans to the floor, along with the rest of my clothes, but decid
e keeping my boxer briefs on would be best, though I normally sleep without. No telling what she might think about doing. Or what I might do if she were to try to wrap that body around me while I slept. Son of a bitch. I brush off the thought and climb into my bed, trying my best to fall asleep before I need to go rub one out just to get some sleep.

  The alarm dings, and I shoot up in bed, my eyes immediately going to Brook to make sure she didn’t high-tail while I was asleep. I damn near lose my shit when I see she’s no longer in her bed. “Little fucking shit,” I grumble while pulling myself from the bed to get dressed, taking stock of the room to find her bag is gone too. It takes me no time before I’m outside looking for her. By some chance, I hoped maybe she would be sitting on my bike waiting for me, but no such luck. The brat ditched me.

  I’m about to get on my bike and try to track her down before she gets too far when a flash of silvery blonde hair catches my attention. She’s walking from the lobby, a cup in one hand and something wrapped in a napkin in the other, her backpack firmly on her back.

  “Leaving without me?” she quips, her smirk becoming more visible the closer she gets. Probably hoping I had left without her. “It’s black. Figured you bikers didn’t take it any other way.” She extends the cup of coffee toward me. I’m so shocked, I almost don’t take it.

  “Thanks.” The coffee is hot and welcome. “What else you got?” I nod to her other hand.

  “Oh no. This is mine.” She takes a bite of the cream cheese covered bagel and chews it down. “I’m not sharing,” she says around another mouthful.

  “Well, hurry the fuck up. We need to get going if we want to make it there before the sun comes up.” Fifteen more hours to drive might be pushing it for her, but I live on my bike. When the fucking sky isn’t dropping shit piles of snow, that is.

  “Who says we want to?”