But, if I went back to mostly working in the bike shop, it shouldn’t matter as much. Hopefully.
My stomach growled, and we both looked at each other and grinned. She turned her e-reader off and we stood together.
Angelica did the eggs and biscuits, and I worked on the bacon and gravy. We had a rather large feast, and cleaned the kitchen together.
“Want you to ride with me to the compound today. On the back of my bike.”
She looked at me a few seconds before nodding. “I love riding with you. Always have. We only have boring roads between here and there, but I still get to be close to you.”
“But?” She’d taken a few moments to agree to it and I wanted to know why.
“I like having my own transportation, and I like riding my bike. Takes ten minutes to drive the three miles getting there, though. More stopping than driving, and I’d rather do it with my arms around you.”
The shop would only be open from one to six today, and we arrived a little before eight, so we’d have the place to ourselves for a while.
I loved working with Angelica. She knew what she was doing, she was methodical, and we were in agreement on the perfect setup for Dawg’s engine. We worked fast and smooth, our four hands working together as if from the same mind, and more than once I wanted to throw her on the floor and take her hard, but I held back. Tonight she’d get her reward spanking, and I wanted to keep the sexual tension going all day so she was wound tight before I even started.
I heard Gonzo and Dawg as they walked across the parking lot, and I breathed out in frustration. My wolf wanted to protect Angelica from Gonzo. Or, maybe it’s that he didn’t want Gonzo to see her as less than human — a cunt who could go off the rails at any time and wasn’t to be trusted.
Angelica gave me a sharp look as she picked up on my change of scent, but then looked to the door with a smile as Dawg and Gonzo came in. “We should have her back together this evening,” she told Dawg. “Maybe Bash’ll even let you take me on the test drive.”
I backed off and let her handle the gearbox without my hands on it to stabilize it. I knew she’d be okay, and I wanted to keep an eye on Gonzo.
I saw him watching her, studying, scrutinizing. He glanced at me, back to her, and then to Dawg. “You trust her with your bike like that?”
Dawg shrugged. “Girly learned from her daddy and Bash, and she comes with great references. She tuned it up the other day and it ran a shitload better. Can’t wait to see how my baby runs when I get her back.”
Gonzo opened his mouth and I stood and took a few steps toward him. I knew my body language was aggressive but I couldn’t find it in me to tone it down. “You need to be very careful about the next thing out of your mouth, brother. She’s my woman — she isn’t just another piece of ass.”
He held his hands out to the side and down, nonthreatening but yet ready to defend himself if I swung. “I can see that, Bash. Why don’t we all just hang out a bit and talk, so I can get to know her? She’s close enough to Dawg to want to ride on the back of his bike, but it almost seems you’ve kept her away from me.”
My wolf was soothed a little by Gonzo’s body language, but I still didn’t want him near her. “We’re busy. Want to get this done today. She has to go back to work tomorrow.”
“Bash.”
I turned to see Angelica standing over the bike on its stand, her hands out so she didn’t get even more grease on her clothes. She was beautiful, and I once again wanted to strip those jeans off her and pound her, but I lifted my eyebrows at her so she’d know she had my attention.
“I won’t hold you responsible if your friend’s an ass. We can work while they talk to us. He’s your brother, and I know you’re close, so I’d like to get to know him and see for myself if he’s a misogynistic asshole. If he gets on my nerves we’ll revisit this conversation, okay?”
“You told her I’m a misogynistic asshole?”
I shrugged as I turned back to him. “Not in those exact words. You’re my brother and I don’t know what I’d do without you, but you don’t have the best track record with other ol’ladies.”
“You’re one to talk. You might not’ve fucked up with Gen, but Harmony hated you as much as she hated me.”
“Yeah, but I’m not Brain. I won’t run the fuck away if you disrespect my woman.”
“Never said you would.”
“Dawg, can you hand me the wrench in Bash’s hand, please? We might be best off just sending those two outside to fight it out while you and I put your bike back together.”
I looked down, then turned to Angelica, my back to Gonzo. “Sorry, Princess. I’m coming back. Dawg’s clueless about which wrench to hand you.”
“No dude,” Dawg said with a laugh. “She edu-ma-cated me the other day, when she tuned it up.”
I shook my head at them as I held the wrench where Angelica needed me to, steadying the crankcase so she could work the gear box and cam chain into place.
“So, only her dad can call her Angel,” Gonzo mused, “and only you can call her Princess. The old-timers call her Punkin, but I’m not sure that fits her anymore. My first thought is how wench is awful close to wrench, but my guess is you’ll let me know how you feel about that nickname with your fist, so if we’re going with Wench, someone else’ll have to use it the first time.”
I didn’t respond, and he said, “Then again, she’s handlin’ that screwdriver like she knows what she’s doing, too.”
“Dude, shut up,” said Dawg. “Are you tryin’ to pick a fight?”
I kept my back to both of them. If I turned around there was a very good chance I’d send Gonzo flying across the garage with a single punch.
“Let’s go another direction,” Gonzo said, thoughtful. “Angelica to Jellicle… as in the cats. Maybe even Jellylorum, she was one of the sexy cats, right?”
“Tink,” said Dawg, as if it were a done deal. “Short for Tinkerbell. The girl who can fix anything.”
“Why the fuck do you know the names of the Jellicle Cats?” Angelica asked Gonzo.
Now, I swung my head around to look at him, and his face went dark, then sad, then pissed, and Dawg stepped between them to tell Angelica, “Isn’t important how or why he knows, Tink. Surprised he opened up enough to let you see the part of him that does, but drop it for now, yeah?”
“Tink isn’t much better than Girly,” she told him, thankfully changing the subject.
“Nothing says I won’t still call you Girly when it fits. Bash won’t tell me how much the parts for this rebuild are costing. Don’t suppose I can get it out of you?”
Angelica grinned at me and then shook her head at Dawg. “Keep telling you I grew up in the club, Dawg. Know what needs to stay between brothers. Ya’ll work that out between yourselves. I know my dad didn’t get as much out of the bike he swiped from me and sold as he put into the one he gave me. Said it was embarrassing for his daughter to be riding a pussy bike, so he gave me one with balls. Yours was worn the fuck out. Just consider she’s coming back to you all tight and warm and full of wiggle.”
“Damn, Girly. Now I’m thinkin’ Bash definitely needs to let me take you on the test drive.”
“No fuckin’ way,” said Gonzo, looking back and forth between the three of us. Too late, I realized our scents and words had clued him in on just how close I’d let Dawg and Angelica get.
“Thought you said she wasn’t just a piece of ass? Thought she was s’posed to be different?”
“She is, Gonzo,” said Dawg, his voice soft and soothing, as if he were calming a wild animal. “Don’t push this, okay? Special circumstances.”
I turned and looked at Gonzo, waiting for whatever he said next. Our gazes locked for several dozen of my slow, calm, heartbeats. Whatever happened next, it hadn’t happened yet, and there was no reason for my biological responses to kick in until they had to.
Plus, he’d know how calm I was, and would realize the danger behind my clarity.
He shook his
head and slumped his shoulders. “I can see I’m not welcome, in more ways than one. Ya’ll have a good afternoon.”
He turned and walked through the door, and Dawg said, “Dammit, Bash, go after him. He’s feeling left out, and I know you don’t want to make it a foursome but he needs to be included when we’re just hangin’ out.”
I looked at Angelica. “You good in here with Dawg for a bit?”
“Go. Fix things with Gonzo.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Angelica
Bash and Gonzo walked down the street, away from the shop and the compound, to talk. I coached Dawg through helping me get the two halves of the crankcase together, and then laid out all the gaskets and o-rings I’d need for the next step.
I didn’t need help with this next bit, but I put everything I’d need in a straight line so Dawg could hand things to me as I needed them. This part wasn’t especially hard, but it was fiddly.
Dawg seemed to understand I didn’t need him to make small talk, and he kept quiet as I worked. When I finally sat up and asked him for the rubber mallet, he said, “Tink really does fit you, I wasn’t being a smart ass.”
“I think I might be flattered, but I’m too worried about Bash and Gonzo right now. I don’t want to come between friends.”
“They’ll work it out.”
“I don’t want to fuck Gonzo.”
He laughed. “Makes two of us.”
“I’m serious! If he’s feeling left out because of the three of us, I don’t know how to fix it.”
“Isn’t your job to fix this. They’ll work it out. Don’t know if me joining ya’ll occasionally will be a short or long-term thing. I love playing with ya’ll, and I’m glad I got to know you inside and out, but when it’s time for me to stop, we’ll stop.” He nodded towards the bike. “What’s next? I’d love for you to have it mostly back together when they get back.”
“I hope they aren’t gone that long, but I can have more together than we do now.”
They were gone long enough for me to drop the camshaft in, work on the timing, get the tension right on the cam chain, set the rocker arm, and work on the valve clearances. I was working on the clutch mechanism when they returned, and I smelled blood.
They both had scuffed knuckles and signs of being hit in the face. Gonzo’s face looked a whole lot worse than Bash’s.
I glared at Bash. “I got this. You boys go play, and when I get it back together Dawg can drive me home.”
“Sorry it took so long, Princess,” he said as he looked the bike over, and he didn’t look at all contrite. “Damn, you got a lot done. Sorry I wasn’t around to help with the timing. I’ll lay all the gear selector pieces out, so they’re ready for you when you get to them.”
I stopped working and stood up straight, wiping my brow with my forearm as I glared at them. “You aren’t six years old, and I’m not a fresh kill to fight over! What the fuck!”
“Fuck me, she really can do it by herself,” Gonzo said, his voice reflecting his amazement.
“Told you,” Bash said, with more than a hint of pride. They were looking at the bike, completely ignoring me. I looked at Dawg, who shrugged, and I rolled my eyes and pressed the lift button to raise the bike so I wouldn’t have to bend over it. I’d needed leverage earlier, but I could work on this portion from the side and rest my back.
“Tink.” I looked up, caught a dark, serious look from Gonzo. “Bash is right. I’m an asshole to women. Misogynist isn’t exactly the right word — it isn’t that I don’t think women have brains, it’s that I don’t trust their emotions, or their dramas. Bash tells me you control your wolf, and your dad let you carry a gun starting at thirteen in special situations. He says you’re different, and he’s my brother so I believe him.” He glanced at Dawg, back to me. “Whatever’s going on with the three of you ain’t any of my business, and I’m sorry if I said something out of line.”
“Ya’ll just went somewhere and hit each other in the faces with your fists, and you think women are full of drama? Tell me you’re shittin’ me?”
He shrugged one shoulder but didn’t look the least bit sheepish. “We’re done now. Over it. It won’t come up again. Women? It’s never over.”
“Don’t lump us all in the same basket, Gonzo.” I worked a few things into place on the bike, came to a good spot to pause, and looked up to meet his gaze, determined to make my point. “I don’t know what happened to make you this way, but Bash had to take care of me for several days when I was fifteen and was literally experiencing the worst days of my life. He’s seen me at my worst, when I truly was an angst-driven teenager, and now he’s getting to know me all grown up. It was his job to make sure I didn’t have too much fun back then, but now he’s helping me fulfill a few fantasies. I love him. I guess I always have, it’s just turned into a different kind of love, now.”
He chuckled. “Bash was your party pooper?”
“You have no idea,” I said as I rolled my eyes. “Scared off every guy who flirted with me, and always knew when I was planning to escape him and try to have actual fun.” I sobered as I remembered, and looked at Bash. “You saved my ass by knowing when I was up to something, though.”
He smirked. “I think you’ve finally made up for the pussy I lost out on that night. Another year or two, and you might make up for the rest of it.”
I shook my head. “I’ll give you the night I snuck out, but no way do I have to make up for the rest of your time with me. Everyone pays their dues and puts in their time as a prospect. The prez’s daughter was your job, and no one’s gonna feel sorry you missed out on wettin’ your cock a few hundred more times ‘cause she was a pain in your ass.”
I went back to work and Bash joined me. Gonzo wandered over to a counter and pushed up until he was sitting on it. Dawg handed me tools as I asked for them, and the four of us just hung out. We talked about the advantages of different cams over others, discussed various muffler systems, suspension, and then somehow the conversation moved to my dad and a few of the really old timers in Atlanta who were so old they rode trikes for long trips, now.
When we finally had the whole thing together, I told Dawg, “We’ll need to do some tweaks at around three hundred, six hundred, and a thousand miles. I’ll change some springs out as everything properly seats, and you want to be careful how you drive it the first thousand miles. Take it too easy, the rings won’t seat; drive it too hard, it’ll seize.”
I gave him specific instructions for how to drive it his first five times out, and he looked at me a few seconds and said, “Why don’t you take it on the test drive, since you seem to know what it needs.”
“No,” said Bash. “She’ll ride with you, with mics in your helmets so she can tell you what to do. You need to feel it, so you’ll know what she’s talking about.”
Ten minutes later I was climbing on behind him. I wasn’t sure how to ask Bash with Gonzo around, but finally just said it, because I needed to know. “You won’t be with us, so I can’t flirt?”
He grinned and blew me a kiss. “Flirt all you want. No hanky-panky, though. I’ll clean up here and meet ya’ll at your apartment. Dawg doesn’t have to work tonight, and I still owe you a spankin’.”
My heart skipped a few beats, blood surged to my clit, and Dawg started the engine — all at once. I leaned into him, patted his stomach, and he took off.
She purred under us like a huge-assed vibrator, but I still listened carefully to make sure she was tight. Dawg took us through town to the Olgiati Bridge, and we went over the river and hit Corridor J with wide-open roads he could play on. I talked him through heating the engine, letting it rest, and then stressing it again as we flew past the other vehicles. We went through the cycle a handful of times, and then took a circuitous route back to my apartment. Bash’s bike was parked behind my car when we pulled in, so Dawg parked beside my bike.
I saw movement from my right as I dismounted, and turned to see Thomas staring at us. I froze a second, unsure of
how to react. He looked openly hostile, but I decided it never hurt to smile, so I flashed what I hoped was a friendly smile, and then turned to Dawg.
“So, how did she feel? You happy?”
“Same suspension, same basic feel, but so much better. You weren’t kidding about giving her back to me tight and full of wiggle. I think I’m in love.”
I let him put his arm around my waist as we walked to my apartment, and I could practically feel Thomas’s eyes boring into my back but I didn’t turn around to look. I had an extra web cam, and I was going to set it up to keep an eye on the car and bikes, so if he did anything to them we’d have proof.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Angelica
Bash watched me set the camera up in the window and make sure it was recording to my computer. He didn’t ask why, which I took to mean he didn’t want to talk about Thomas, either.
Dawg, however, had no such compunctions. “If you had the cam, why’d you ask Brain to put recording equipment in before?”
“My cam is noticeable, and Brain had cool hidden cameras. Plus, I wanted him monitoring it in real time. I had the enemy in my apartment and I was worried he’d twist my words. This’ll just be a way to prove the asshole messed with our vehicles, if he does.”
Bash put his arms around me from behind, nuzzled his nose into my neck, and said, “You know, if he keeps bein’ a problem I’ll have to take care of him.”
I shook my head. “Too dangerous. Something happens to him and they’ll come looking at you and me first. The last thing you or the club needs is cops going over your lives with a fine toothed comb.”
Bash, Volume II Page 13
