Looking down at my capris, I contemplated staying in the car, but decided I could probably hack it. It wasn’t that cold, just barely sixty-four degrees, according to my phone. Plus, I had one of Sebastian’s huge sweatshirts. If it got too bad, I could just tuck my knees inside of it.
My destination had originally been the back porch, but with one look at all the bike parts strewn all over the seats and the table, I turned to the dock and took a seat on the lounger.
The walk on the unsteady dock made my ribs ache for the first time that day.
I’d been pretty careful not to do any sudden moving, or walk more than I had to; this was the first time, in days, I’d actually felt more than the aches. My mom also waited on me hand and foot. If I had to pick anytime to get hurt, doing it while my mother was in town was the perfect plan.
I didn’t know how long I’d stayed there like that, bundled up in Sebastian’s sweatshirt and listening to the calming motions of the lake. I’d guessed it’d been about an hour when the sound of Sebastian’s bike came barreling down the road toward the house.
I decided to stay right where I was, though, too relaxed to move right then.
I watched as the single headlight of Sebastian’s bike pulled into its usual spot beside the carport door, and then the twin headlights of Sebastian’s truck pulling in beside it. I knew it was Sebastian’s truck because of the weird looking headlights.
They were shaped differently than most other new Chevrolets I’d seen. A red outline surrounded the outer rim of the headlights, and they had that really annoying brightness to them that probably blinded passing motorists.
When I’d asked about them, Sebastian had laughed and told my they were the ones that had the emergency lights already built so he didn’t have to have an ‘unsightly light bar’ on top.
Due to the openness of Sebastian’s place, I could hear him clearly when he spoke. “Thanks for bringing it. Give me a minute to stow my stuff and flip the lights on and I’ll be right back.”
“Oh, Sebastian. This is the best truck ever. Do you want to let me borrow it sometime?” A flirty, feminine voice cooed.
My eyes crossed at the syrupy sweetness. Jesus, but the women that congregated around that man made my want to gouge my eyes out.
I couldn’t keep count of the number of calls he received while he was with me that was of the feminine persuasion. He’d always turned them down flat, telling them he had a girlfriend now, but it was enough to make me realize that my man was a slut before I’d met him.
“Yeah, pet. I like it. Be back in a few.” Sebastian said before I heard the bang of the porch door being opened and closed.
I didn’t want to be left alone out here by myself all night, and started the trek up to the carport when I heard the whispered conversation inside his truck.
“Did you ask him?” The woman whispered to someone.
“No.” A man’s voice I didn’t recognize, answered.
The sound of the truck door opening and the distinct sound of a Zippo Lighter opening followed his abrupt answer.
“But he’s done it before. Ever since that stupid bitch, he doesn’t bring around the club showed up he doesn’t even party anymore. Doesn’t play. He doesn’t even fight. The girls keep complaining that he won’t visit with them, either. What kind of hold does the stupid girl have on him that keeps him from his life?” The girl whined.
I froze, seeing the opportunity for what it was, and listened as I leaned against the side of the house.
“He likes her. Nothing more you need to know.” The man said, lighting his cigarette, and flipping the lighter closed.
The flare of the cigarette lit the man’s face, and I recognized him. Trance.
I’d only met him from afar, but that was enough to realize why the man was called Trance. He was beautiful with blonde curly hair that, on a person with straight hair, would’ve been around an inch or so long; but, on him, it made it extremely short looking.
That wasn’t even the most beautiful part about him, though.
He had two different colored eyes. One crystal blue and one emerald green.
His eyes were the stuff of fairy tales.
I’d asked Sebastian about him, but he’d only told me, offhanded, that he was a cop and had been with the club for around seven years.
“But Trance, I haven’t gotten to play with him in forever!” The girl whined again.
The sound of the carport door opening again put a halt to their conversation as Sebastian yelled, “Trance, are the lights coming on on your side?”
Trance threw his cigarette onto the ground, putting it out with his boot, and distinguishing the only light with it. “No light on at all out here.”
“Fuck, why aren’t these working?” Sebastian growled as he slammed the door shut.
Thinking now was a good time to announce my presence; I stepped out from around the house, and ran smack into a solid wall of muscle.
“Oomph.” I said as my face hit something hard, and then my ribs met the same hardness.
I didn’t have time to feel pain, though, because in the very next instant, I found myself face down on the ground, my mouth being shoved into the grass, and a body straddling my back.
I hadn’t realized that I screamed through the haze of pain my ribs were now feeling.
The body had disappeared from my back just as quickly as it appeared, but it didn’t stop the shards of agony shooting through me at the feel of being thrown onto the ground and then sat on.
It was long minutes later that I could finally work through the pain enough to realize I was being cradled against Sebastian’s chest.
I’d been sobbing in pain for quite a while, if the wetness underneath my cheek was any indication.
“Shhh, I know it hurts. Please stop, baby. I’m so sorry.” Sebastian soothed.
My breath hitched, and my sobs slowed, but the pain was still very much apparent. “I-I’m okay. H-hurts.” I breathed.
“Where’s your meds?” He asked, standing up as carefully as possible.
“Car.” I said softly, trying not to breathe deep.
“Honey, I don’t know where your car is. I didn’t see it when I pulled in.” He said. “Tillie, get the door for me, would you?”
Tillie got the door as I answered. “I backed it into the woods when I saw your truck wasn’t here. I didn’t want to park in your spot.”
“Trance, find her car and bring her purse in.” Sebastian demanded as he walked me into the living room.
“Why didn’t you call? How long have you been waiting here?” He asked, sitting down in his recliner with me, as Tillie turned on some lights.
I buried my nose into the crook of his neck as the pain in my ribs slowly leached to a dull thudding ache. “An hour, maybe. I thought I’d surprise you, but I think I fell asleep.”
“Here.” Trance said, making me lift my head from Sebastian’s chest.
He was holding out a cup of, what looked like, tea and a pain pill.
Sebastian helped me sit up, leaning me against his chest, and supporting me with an arm around my back.
“Thank you.” I said as I took the proffered goods.
The tea was sweet just as I liked it. Sebastian didn’t like sweet tea, but he’d made it a habit to have some on hand for when I came over.
After I finished half the glass, I handed it back to Trance who’d been waiting patiently for me to finish.
“Anything else you need?” He asked with a raised brow.
Up close, his eyes were even more impressive; both so shockingly different than the other, but both of them just as beautiful.
“No, thank you,” I finally managed to answer.
He took my half-finished glass and placed it on the coffee table beside my feet, which, not surprisingly, was also covered in greasy motorcycle parts.
“What’s going on with all the parts? I was going to sit on the back porch, but those are covered, too.” I asked Sebastian as I leaned my head back against
his chest.
Sebastian played with my hair as he answered. “I have a new side project. Ribs feeling any better yet?”
I nodded but didn’t answer.
“What the hell were you doing sneaking around his house at night? What idiot would do that?” Tillie busted out.
Even though Trance reprimanded her for her rudeness, I decided to answer, hoping the woman wouldn’t hate my more if I explained. “I was walking up from the dock. I heard voices so that’s where I headed.”
“Why wouldn’t you have called out or something?” Tillie sneered.
I turned my head so I could look at Tillie.
She was cute and blonde, with big boobs. The skirt and leather vest she was wearing barely covered her breast area and crotch, fairly screaming ‘I’m easy!’
“At the time, I didn’t want to scare y’all. Guess it wasn’t the best of decisions now that I think about it.” I admitted.
“No. That was stupid. Especially around here. That shit’ll get you hurt.”
I snorted at the irony in the statement. “It did.”
“Trance didn’t know it was you. He’d have never hurt you on purpose.” Tillie continued.
So it was Trance who’d sacked me like a quarterback. Turning my eyes to his face, I didn’t see an ounce of regret written there, which wasn’t a surprise. He wouldn’t apologize. I was the one in the wrong, walking around out there without announcing myself. Hell, I’d have done the same thing. Or at least tried to.
“I know.” I said softly.
“You want us to get out of here? I can call Porter.” Trance asked Sebastian.
“Yeah, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to leave her alone.” Sebastian confirmed.
“But you’ll miss your fight! People have been waiting weeks for you to come back and fight.” Tillie cried.
I sat up painfully and turned so I could see Sebastian’s face.
“You fight? Fight what? Like in a boxing ring?” I asked him.
Sebastian’s eyes took in the new red mark on my cheek and ran the pad of his thumb over it. “Yeah, something like that. It’s no big deal.”
“No big deal?” Tillie screeched.
“Enough.” Trance hissed at her.
Her mouth snapped shut comically, and I turned back to Sebastian. “I would like to know more about you. Ten more minutes for my pill to kick in, and I’ll be able to move more. I’d like to see you fight, if that’s all right.”
Sebastian’s thumb on my hip hit a sore spot, making my breath hiss into my lungs through clenched teeth.
When he saw the pain in my eyes, he lifted the front of my shirt to review the damage.
“Oh, my God.” Tillie gasped making me turn from Sebastian to Tillie.
Tillie’s gaze was on my lifted shirt, and the bruising I’d received from the broken ribs.
“Who did that?”
The question was from Trance, who was now at my side as well, staring down of the mottling of bruises that covered the torso of my body.
“A guy, while I was at work.” I explained trying in vain to tug the shirt down that Sebastian was trying to tug up.
Sebastian’s eyes skimmed my stomach and ribs, surveying the damage. “Jesus this looks bad.”
“I’m a bruiser. But you know that already. Part of the deal with me, unfortunately. You should have seen me after the accident a couple of years ago. I looked awful.”
With one last look, Sebastian tugged my shirt back into place and leaned his forehead against my shoulder. “I don’t like it.”
“Me either.” I agreed.
***
“Holy cow. This place is massive. And definitely against fire code regulations.” I surmised, as Trance led me to my seat.
He snorted. “This makes enough money in one outing to pay off any fines we receive through any ordinance violations.”
“I thought you were a cop.” I asked, taking a seat where he’d indicated.
He gave a humorless laugh before taking the seat beside her. “BPD has better things to do than bust a fight. Not to mention the twenty or so off duty cops interspersed throughout the crowd.”
I decided to keep my mouth shut. I wasn’t too sure that Trance liked me all that much. I already knew his woman didn’t like me. They proved that by leaving my presence as soon as they’d parked the truck.
Tillie had sneered and glared the entire time they were in the backseat together.
“Baylee!” A woman called from my right.
I turned and saw Shiloh’s smiling face as she dropped down into the seat next to me.
Thankfully, she didn’t hug me either. She’d obviously been appraised of the situation, since she was currently shoving a pillow behind my back and opening up an ice pack. A very large ice pack.
“Jesus, what kind of cold pack is that?” I asked, purely amazed.
Shiloh laughed. “I got the biggest one Walgreens had. Sebastian called us about twenty minutes ago asking us to stop on our way. James is fighting tonight, too. He’s not fighting my brother though. I won’t let them.”
I sighed as Shiloh put the cold pack against my stomach, and then wrapped a large ACE bandage around my middle. I refrained from pulling the paramedic card and telling her I’d do it myself. Shiloh was just trying to be nice.
“So, I hear Trance threw you down on the ground and sat on you.” Shiloh chided Trance with a disapproving look.
I nearly laughed at the thought of Shiloh getting on to a grown man that looked as bad ass as Trance did, but I refrained from commenting about that.
“He didn’t mean to.” I explained. “It was dark. The lights were out, and nobody could see me. I startled him.”
Trance and Shiloh started talking about some kid I didn’t know, which caused my mind to wander, wondering how many people were in the crowd tonight. I’d gotten to two hundred and fifty before the roar of the crowd brought my attention back to the square ring that was in the middle of the floor.
Trance had set me up in a camp chair beside the bleachers so I could see the fight, and I most definitely could. I was six feet, at most, away from the ropes that outlined the ring. I could see perfectly, even when the announcer called for the fighting to begin and the crowd went to their feet.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight you get a special treat! The one, the only, Scope!” The announcer boomed.
“Do I have to cheer for James?” I yelled over the din.
Shiloh looked at me horrified that I wouldn’t automatically do so, making me laugh. “Of course you do, you big dope!”
James’ fight went about as I expected. He won. I never had any doubt. Even when the large man with the flat face entered the ring.
He seriously looked like he’d been in way too many fights; but the man could fight, and made James work for it.
Shiloh screamed throughout the entire thing, jumping up and down on top of the bleacher seat like she was in high school cheering for her quarterback boyfriend.
Trance, on the other hand, stayed seated and watched the fight with a dispassionate eye. I’d seen more emotion out of the man when he was taking a drag of his cigarette in the truck on the way to the warehouse.
“We’ve got about fifteen minutes until the next fight. I need to pee. Do you want to go with me?” Shiloh asked as she stood.
“Sure.” I shrugged as I, too, went to stand.
Trance beat me to it though, helping me up with both hands on my elbows.
“Thanks.” I said as I brushed invisible wrinkles out of Sebastian’s sweatshirt that I was still wearing.
“Glad to see you dressed up for this.” Shiloh teased as I looped her arm around mine and led us to the bathroom.
I couldn’t help the snort that escaped my mouth. “I wasn’t intending to come to some fight night. In fact, I don’t think your brother meant for me to come, either. I was just there when he was going, and he couldn’t really go and leave me, could he?”
I didn’t mean to sound bitter, but I couldn’t
help it. Sebastian and I had spoken earlier that afternoon, and not once had the subject of a fight come up. We’d spoken about what we’d be doing later that evening after we got off, where Johnny would be, and what our plans were for tomorrow morning. Hence, why I’d decided to come up to see him; it’d never occurred to me that he wouldn’t be there.
Maybe I just didn’t know him that well. Maybe he wasn’t as serious as I was. Maybe I was over thinking things.
And it wasn’t like I could ask Shiloh anything either. Not with the silent, but so very much there, Trance stalking along behind us.
“Here. We’ll use my brother’s bathroom, in his office. It’s cleaner.” Shiloh said, pulling me carefully into a side door near the end of the hallway.
“What do you mean your brother’s bathroom?” I asked.
Shiloh had entered through a door that was barely noticeable; but the inside was anything but.
It was painted navy blue. There were no windows, but the walls were lined with biker paraphernalia. Pictures. Old motorcycle handle bars. A tire. A helmet. A few framed quotes. The floor was painted gray, and in the middle of that floor was a massive desk covered in papers.
Behind that desk sat Sebastian.
With a woman sitting on his lap wrapping his hands in tape.
Sensing the emotional turmoil pouring off me, Shiloh pointed towards a door. “Bathroom’s that way.”
I went. Without saying a word to Sebastian.
After doing my business on autopilot, I sat on the closed toilet lid for well over five minutes trying to decide what to do. I wasn’t sure of much, but there was one thing I was sure of, and that was that I couldn’t handle the double life.
I’d caught on to too many things lately that bothered the ever-loving shit out of me. Why did he send me to a seat when he could’ve taken me to his office and let my sit with him on his big motherfucking couch? Why did he have some chick wrapping his hands when I could’ve done that with twice the efficiency, and triple the competence?
What exactly had the two of us shared other than sex? Did we talk about hopes and dreams, or our future? No. We didn’t. Sebastian didn’t know that I wanted four kids. He didn’t know that I wanted to go back to school to get my Master’s degree. Didn’t know that I wanted to live in a two-story house with an in ground pool in the backyard since I was a young girl.
Lights to My Siren Page 16
