by Marie James
“What?” She leans in closer, cupping her ear so she can hear better over the blasting music.
“This is exactly like the damn clubhouse. Same people. Hell, they’re playing the same damn songs.” I can only listen to Cherry Pie so many times in my life, and my dad played shit like this over and over. He was always so damn coked-out all the time, I’m not sure he even remembered it. He acted like it was the first time each and every time it came on the radio.
A roar washes over the crowd just as the bartender is handing over my drink and asking Zoe for her order. The doors open and Boston, TJ, and Ronan enter like they’re the life of the damn party. Keeping my eyes trained on the door, I wait for it to open again, but Briar and Lynch never cross the threshold.
“Sister,” TJ says as he walks up and places a kiss on my temple before leaning close to Zoe to do the same thing. “Sister-in-law.”
Zoe, still not completely comfortable around TJ, takes a step back. “Where’s Lynch?”
I could kiss her for asking what I wanted to, more specifically where my brother’s best friend is rather than the club president.
“He and Briar are still in Detroit. Won’t be home for a couple more days.” TJ holds a finger up to signal the bartender, who, enamored by the look in his eyes, abandons Zoe’s drink order to take his.
“I hope you don’t plan on sticking around up here,” Zoe complains with her eyes still on her half-completed Long Island Iced Tea. “Service is shit for us when you bring out that smile.”
The backhanded compliment makes his lips turn up even higher.
“You said this was invite-only.” We all turn to see Legs standing near with her arms crossed over her chest. This poor girl. She isn’t going to last much longer if she doesn’t reel in this little jealousy streak of hers.
“It is.” TJ turns to face the crowd.
“Who is that?” Legs’s long slender arm points in the direction of the dance floor where a very pretty blonde girl is dancing all alone.
“How should I know?” TJ asks, but once his eyes are on her, he doesn’t bother to look back at Legs.
“I’ll tell her to leave.” TJ grabs her arm before she can even take a step.
“You’ll leave her alone.” The warning in TJ’s voice makes my own skin crawl.
“Okay.” Legs shrugs and runs her hand down his chest until she’s cupping his junk in her hand.
He doesn’t even acknowledge her because his eyes are back on the gyrating girl on the dance floor. Distracted, he doesn’t push her away either when he crosses the room to settle on a bench with her plastered to his side.
“She’s gonna be trouble.”
Tossing back my drink so fast my teeth hurt from the cold, I look over at Kai.
“It happens,” I mutter, flagging down the bartender for another drink.
“I imagine,” Kai agrees. “Can’t get this many good-looking guys around without a catfight or two.”
“Just a minute,” the bartender says as she stops to get Boston a drink before making her way to me.
“This bitch is helping all of the guys before us,” Kai whispers now that Cherry has finished sharing her Pie with everyone and the song is transitioning to a new one.
“Not for long,” I assure him as the smiling bartender tucks a twenty-dollar bill into her cleavage.
“What can I get you, doll?”
“It’s Princess,” I correct. Her eyes widen when I hitch my thumb in my friend’s direction. “Do you know who she is?”
“I’m Zoe,” my friend responds prematurely, holding her hand out for the bartender to shake, “It’s nice to me—”
Calmly, I lower Zoe’s hand before the bartender can shake it, but realization marks the woman’s entire face.
“Do you see the error in your way?”
“Meow,” Kai hisses with sassiness only he can get away with in a situation like this.
“I get that you feel the need to serve the guys first. They’re big bad bikers and set this whole thing up, but she is the most important person in here. If you can’t handle the traffic at the bar, you need to call in some extra help.” She swallows thickly, and I know I’m being a complete jerk, but this whole night was my idea, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to wait to be served.
A hand shoots over her head, and within seconds she has another woman standing behind her. “W-would you like for Tiff to serve you all night?”
“So you can keep sticking your tits in everyone’s faces? No, honey. We’ll stick with you. I’ll take another mojito.”
She leaves to make my drink as Tiff walks further down the bar to help someone else.
“This is why we don’t let you out in public very often.”
Zoe chuckles as I look over my shoulder at Pete. “Me? I don’t think I’ve seen you away from the damn gate since I was twelve.” He cringes once again, likely remembering Lynch making him go to town to purchase one of every feminine product in the store when I got my first period.
“Sneaky shit you pulled the other night. I could go without getting punished. If you’d take that into consideration the next time you gals try to pull another fast one, I’d be grateful.”
Cringing, I scrunch my nose. “Did Professor hurt you? I really didn’t think you’d get in trouble.”
“It was pretty fucking brutal.”
Zoe gasps, reaching out for him in shame.
“Brutal?” Kai pish-shaws with a whip of his hand. “He made you watch Carrie twice. Doesn’t really count as torture.”
“That shower scene.” Pete makes a gagging noise, and it wouldn’t be funny, but I’ve had a strong drink, and his eyes are legitimately watering with the throat action. “Jesus, I need a drink.”
We turn back to the bar just in time for the bartender to pass across my second drink.
“Pete here, would like a Bloody Mary,” I quip.
The bartender watches Pete’s back as he rushes away in the direction of the bathroom.
“Wow,” Zoe says with a hard laugh. “It’s really that bad?”
“He threw up like ten times during the movie. He was so dehydrated by the time it was over, I think getting his face beat in would’ve been his choice.”
“That’s awful.” Genuine sadness washes over Zoe’s face. “What if Lynch was home? He would’ve hurt him.”
Shaking my head, I place my hand on her forearm. “Lynch would’ve torn your ass up for being sneaky. I mean, if we had gotten hurt, Pete would be hanging in the yard, but we only got tattoos, which means your ass spanking is still coming.”
“Speaking of—” Zoe’s eyes light up at the mention of punishment from Lynch as she looks past me at Kai. “How did it go with the Professor?”
“Awful.” His arms cross over his chest as he sticks his lower lip out.
“Getting whipped not so much fun this time around?”
“I wish. He’s doing the whole orgasm denial thing.” His eyes roll. “It’s worse than it’s ever been.”
“So you just fuck someone else in the meantime.”
We all turn to see the blonde TJ was infatuated with join us near the bar.
“This girl has the right idea.” Kai laughs, but I’ve seen how he is with his man. He’s not going to compromise his relationship with Professor.
“I’m Kaci,” she says with a quick wave like she’s a cheerleader sent to get us motivated. “I see you guys have a designated bartender. Can I be your best friend for the night and hang out, so I don’t sober up between drinks?”
“Aren’t you here for one of the guys?” Zoe asks.
“I don’t know anyone here. I got an invitation in the mail. I’m here for free drinks and dancing.” She wiggles her hips for emphasis.
Her green eyes are absolutely gorgeous, even though they’re a little foggy already. I wonder how many drinks she’s had.
“A little unsafe to be here alone, don’t you think?” Kai asks with clear concern in his voice. “It’s like walking into a lion’s den wi
th a steak tied around your neck.”
“The danger is what makes it so fun.”
Kaci and Kai start talking like they’re old friends, and as I look out across the bar, I see TJ with his eyes still drilling a hole in the back of her head. I hope she’s careful because that lion has claws and likes to draw his own blood from pretty little things like her.
Chapter 26
Briar
The meetings with all the guys under Parker were surprisingly awesome. Each and every one of them, with the exception of the direct street dealers, were dressed in nice slacks and button-down shirts. It was a nice change from the group of thugs we were working with a couple months ago. They may be selling dope in the slums of the city, but they’re doing it with professionalism, and business-like accountability.
The get-togethers were over yesterday, but Lynch still hasn’t said anything about heading home. After the incident in Parker’s house four days ago, he hasn’t said much to me. The tension is almost as unpleasant as the time he nonchalantly informed me that the only reason I’m the club’s VP is because Professor turned the position down.
My phone buzzes, and I’m slow to pick it up from the bedside table. Lynch gives me the side-eye from his bed in the hotel we’ve been camped out in for days when it buzzes the second time as if I’m irritating him. He’s been watching reruns of some stupid show from the nineties all damn day.
When I see that it’s a video from TJ, I’m reticent to open the damn thing. It could be anything from a stupid cat video to a clip of someone getting disemboweled.
Bored, I press the triangle. Cherry Pie by Warrant blares through my phone even though the damn thing is on silent. When Lynch grunts in agitation, I hit the tiny speaker on the corner of the video to silence it.
A growl erupts from my throat at seeing Molly shaking her sweet little ass, sandwiched between two hangarounds I’ve seen in the clubhouse before. They aren’t touching her, and she isn’t swaying her hips as provocatively as I know she can, but being here and not there to watch it live is enough to make me spit fire.
“I hate that fucking song,” Lynch says.
I thought Molly hated that song too, but telling by the loose smile on her face, she’s had a few drinks so she may not even realize what’s playing.
ME: And where is Zoe?
If TJ sends me a picture or video of Zoe wiggling on some guy, maybe Lynch will want to get home quicker. He sure as fuck wanted to rush back when we were in Richmond, and I have a sinking feeling that the only reason we’re still here is because he’s punishing me.
My phone buzzes again, and a picture of Zoe fills the screen. She’s sitting at a table with a bottle of water clasped in her hands as she smiles at a familiar looking blonde girl.
“Fuck,” I grumble. Well, that idea won’t work. Zoe is being a good little girl while her man is away.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.” I darken my phone and rest it on my chest. I’m turning over, ready to just fucking go to sleep to pass the time when Lynch speaks.
“Don’t knock out. We’re leaving after this episode is over.”
That gets my attention, and like a suspicious fool, I jump up from the bed. “I’ll pack.”
I don’t even know why I said those words. I don’t have shit to pack in this room.
“You’re way too excited for a man that’s about to ride over twelve hours on a damn bike.”
“I like riding.”
“Funny.” He doesn’t look at me. “You didn’t want to do it last week in Richmond.”
He’s needling me, the exact way he has been for the last two weeks. I’m ready to get some distance between the two of us. It’s getting harder and harder not to tell him how I feel about Molly. I might have survived the conversation if I had fessed up the very first time he said, “You have something to tell me, Brother?”
He might have considered giving us his blessing if I had done it then. Now? After touching her, after tasting her sweet mouth, I’m pretty sure he’ll hang me and let TJ gut me. Molly will end up with the vet at Lynch’s insistence, and I’ll be hating him from hell.
“Where are you going?”
My hand is on the doorknob before I realize I’ve crossed the room.
“Gonna take a quick walk.”
“We’re hitting the road in fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll be back in ten.”
I swear I hear him laughing when I walk down the hall and out the front door of the hotel.
Instead of walking around, I check the oil and tire pressure on both of our bikes. We’ll have to stop for gas, but I don’t want any other issues coming between us and getting back to the clubhouse.
Having taken more time than expected, Lynch meets me outside just as I’m lifting the gauge from his back tire.
“Tampering with my bike?” There’s humor in his voice. No matter what shit is going on between us, he knows better.
“You know me,” I tell him as I stand and put the tire gauge in the pocket inside my cut. “Always looking for a way up the totem pole.”
Lynch huffs as he climbs on his bike. “I already turned in the keys, so you’re fucked if you left anything in the room.”
It’s like his asshole level has doubled by the day since we left Sutton. At least back at the clubhouse, Zoe distracts him and keeps him off my back.
“I didn’t ever unpack.”
Joke’s on you, motherfucker.
I sling my own leg over my bike, feeling childish and loving every damn second of it.
Well, the joke is actually on me because Lynch is riding up front. When we ride south out of Detroit toward Toledo instead of getting on Highway 401 toward Niagara Falls, I know he’s purposely taking the long way home.
“Why did we come this way?” I ask a couple hours later when we stop to fuel up.
Lynch shrugs as he places the nozzle in his fuel tank. “I wanted to ride on the south side of the lake.”
Darkness wraps itself around us. We lost the daylight about an hour ago, and technically the wider lanes on the interstate are safer than the highway, but I know safety wasn’t on his mind when we left Detroit.
His eyes burn a hole in me as I pump my own gas.
“Where are you going?”
My leg hangs over my bike as I look back at him.
“Let’s grab something to eat.” Looking past him, I see the flickering lights inside of the small café beside the truck stop.
My lips are in a flat line when I lower myself on my bike and crank it only to move it thirty yards away to the gravel lot in front of the diner.
By the time we get on the road over an hour and a half later, my skin is itchy.
When we pull up to the clubhouse, the sun is already lighting the horizon with pinks, oranges, and yellows, but I can’t enjoy the beauty of it. A twelve-hour trip has turned into over fifteen. My back is killing me because Lynch decided he needed to stop in every single town on the way back that had a population over two hundred.
I knew he was just doing it to fuck with me when we stopped in Springfield, an hour from home to get a pack of fucking chewing gum. We’d both still had a half of a tank of gas.
“Wanna grab a beer?”
I don’t even look at him before walking up the front steps of the clubhouse. “Fuck you.”
He laughs at me all the way inside. When he’d first mentioned driving home, I had all sorts of devious thoughts. Waking Molly with my head between her thighs was winning out over all of them. Now, all I can think about is going to sleep. Which is exactly what I do. At least I manage to get my boots and jeans off before falling into bed and passing the fuck out.
Chapter 27
Molly
Unable to sleep, I’m in the kitchen making a pot of coffee when Lynch and TJ walk in from outside.
“Hey,” my oldest brother says as he kisses my temple.
“Want a cup?” I offer, hoping he can’t see the excited shake in my hands. They weren’t supposed
to be back for a few more days according to TJ. Knowing Briar is in the clubhouse makes my body thrum with anticipation.
“No, thanks. We rode all night. I’m just gonna crash.”
“Like that’ll happen when you get upstairs,” TJ taunts as he grabs a cup from the cabinet and holds it out to me.
I fill his cup and wait for Lynch to leave the room. He eyes me and the coffee pot several times before deciding something he doesn’t voice and heads toward the stairs.
“You look well rested after a night of heavy drinking.”
“I haven’t been to sleep yet.” TJ winks at me as he blows on his coffee.
“Really?” We stayed at the bar until nearly three in the morning before finally heading back to the clubhouse. I’d still be drunk right now if I hadn’t vomited twice before we even left. “You know Dad used to stay up for days at a time, too.”
“What are you trying to say?” He knows exactly what I’m implying, so I don’t bother answering him.
“I don’t touch that shit,” he says with more anger than I’d expect from my fun-loving brother. “You should know better than to even think something like that. Besides, you’re up, too. Is there something I need to worry about with you? I know a couple of the girls were passing around party favors last night.”
He’s right. Vixen was passing around tiny bags of coke last night. Drug use in the club has never really been hidden, but it shocks me how much I didn’t pay attention before. Since coming home from school, I’ve seen more than I ever had before. Maybe they’re just not hiding it from me as much.
“I’m not on drugs,” I mutter.
“You seem strung out on something.” Humor plays in his ice-blue eyes, but I refuse to engage.
“I’m not on drugs,” I repeat.
“Virus told me you ran into the vet at the mall.”
“Virus has a big fucking mouth.” He frowns at the cuss word but doesn’t chastise me like I’m a child. See? Some things have changed. “His name is Owen.”
“He also told me you didn’t go to work last week. Did you take some time off? Are you heading in this morning?”
“What’s with the million questions?”
