Tattered on My Sleeve

by Autumn Jones Lake

  By the time we get downtown, I’m ready to go home. I haven’t met Hope’s friends before but I’ve heard plenty about them. Sophie’s a lawyer like Hope. Lilly has some sort of graduate degree. Considering I barely made it out of high school and couldn’t use the college scholarship I was offered, I feel totally out of place. And let’s not forget the fact that they all have real jobs while all I am is a housekeeper-whore.

  Hope introduces me as her friend, which catches me off-guard. I don’t know why. She’s too classy to introduce me as “the whore of my boyfriend’s club.”

  In all my years with the Kings, this is the first time I’ve questioned myself. Compared to the girls that usually hang around up there, I’m pretty damn lucky. Compared to these three, I feel like shit. I concentrate on not tripping in the heeled boots I borrowed from Hope as we walk to the Red Room.

  As soon as we place our dinner orders, Lilly pounces. “So, how tight are you with Z?” she asks. I’m not surprised or annoyed. I’d been expecting it, honestly.

  Whether he wants to admit it or not, Z really likes this chick. While I want to be nice to her in case we have to spend time together in the future, I’m also not going to let her push me around. “I’ve known him for a long time,” I answer.

  Lilly’s eyes narrow. “You fuck him?”

  Next to me, Hope gasps and slaps Lilly’s arm.

  Well, at least the bitch is direct. I have no idea what Z’s told her, so I answer honestly. “Not lately.”

  Lilly seems to appreciate honesty. She sits back. “He fuck around your MC a lot?”

  “Why are you so curious?”

  She fiddles with her napkin for a beat before answering. “We hooked up. He keeps calling. I just want to know if he’s worth the effort, or if he’s full of shit.”

  Christ, Z’s an asshole. But my loyalty is to the club—including the big manslut—not this chick. I glance at Hope, not sure how much of this she wants to know. “Besides club girls, I’ve never seen him with the same chick twice. That’s all I can really tell you.”

  Lilly seems satisfied with my answer and the awkwardness surrounding us evaporates.

  Sophie proceeds to get drunk on tequila shots. Lilly keeps an eye on her, and doesn’t drink anything herself. Lilly and I end up talking—not about Z, thankfully—and I discover she’s pretty funny.

  When we finally leave for the show, Hope’s bouncing up and down like a teenager—even though she didn’t have a drop of alcohol—but her excitement is infectious.

  Sophie’s law firm has box seats. It’s a nice set-up and I’m relieved not to be out in the middle of the crowd. Especially since, from our high vantage point, I can see the moshpit is intense and no place on the floor seems to be safe from flying bodies and crowd surfers.

  I send Wrath a text letting him know we’re okay and safe in the box seats.

  Good. He answers back.

  After the show, Sophie has connections that get us backstage.

  “You okay with this?” Hope asks me outside the band’s dressing room.

  “Sure. I wouldn’t mind meeting Chase. He’s fucking hot.”

  We both giggle. The singer is indeed hot, but Wrath could probably bench press him. The band is nice enough. Their drummer’s clearly down-to-fuck, and offers to give me a “tour” of their bus, but I politely put him off. There was definitely a time in my life where attention from a guy like that would have had me on my back in two seconds flat.

  Wyatt’s your boyfriend now.

  Wow, that’s weird.

  He’s waiting at home for you right this second.

  When Hope asks if I mind leaving, I’m jumping for joy inside. Lilly shocks me by pulling me in for a hug. “We’ll hang out again soon, I’m sure,” she says. Huh. Here I thought I’d made a lousy impression.

  Hope takes her time saying goodbye to Sophie, who probably won’t remember much of their conversation. To get her moving, I walk up and bump her with my hip. “Ready?”

  “Yup.”

  The hallway is about twenty degrees cooler and a welcome relief.

  “Hey, Trinity,” a thick, rough voice calls from behind us, scaring the shit out of me. Blood pounds through my ears, drowning everything else out for a second.

  “Oh, shit. Hey, Blue.” Feeling foolish, I throw my hand out in a casual wave.

  “Enjoy the show?” he asks as he approaches.

  “Oh yeah, it was great. What’re you doing here?”

  “Working security.”

  “Cool. Oh, this is Rock’s ol’ lady, Hope. Hope, Blue used to bounce at CB.”

  She responds with a shy hello.

  “Where you ladies parked?”

  “The garage on Second Street.”

  He nods and gives the backstage area a once-over. “I’ll walk you girls out.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Hope protests.

  Oh, Hope, you have no idea.

  Throughout the night, Trinity sends me a bunch of texts. It makes me real fuckin’ happy that even though she’s out having fun, I’m on her mind. Each message raises my hopes that things between us will finally work.

  The last one she sends is my favorite.

  On our way home.

  The clubhouse’s packed. Rock must have gotten irritated with the parade of muffler bunnies bouncing around. He ducked into our office, closed the door and hasn’t come out since. I knock before throwing the door open.

  “Girls are on their way back.”

  He glances at the clock behind him. “Earlier than I expected.” I can already see him vibrating with excitement at the thought of seeing his girl. Fuck if I don’t feel the same damn way.

  “Let’s go wait outside for them,” he suggests.

  We push through the crowd and settle on one of the stone benches in the front yard.

  “You still in pain?” he asks, nodding at my leg.

  I shrug. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

  “You two getting along okay?”

  “Yeah. I think so.”

  “We gonna make an announcement soon?”

  My lack of an answer seems to piss him off.

  “What the fuck is wrong now?”

  “It’s not me. She’s not comfortable. Thinks I’m only saying I want to be with her because I need her to take care of me or something.” I go to run my fingers through my hair and remember it’s not there anymore. Fuck.

  “You’re all right with that?”

  “No. But that’s what she seems to need right now.”

  Rock raises an eyebrow and stares at me.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. It’s good to see you finally set your ego aside and take care of her.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “I didn’t mean it as an insult, ya fuck.”

  “Sure sounded like it.”

  Rock shakes his head and mutters what sounds like asshole under his breath. “She talk to you about her past yet?”

  “No. And that’s another thing. I want her to tell me herself.”

  “She doesn’t know, you know?”

  “No.”

  Rock seems to think that over. “I feel like I betrayed her—”

  “You should have told me a long time ago, asshole.”

  He looks over at me. “Maybe.”

  Rock rarely admits to fucking up stuff like that. I guess we’re all growing up. “She won’t be mad at you, if that’s what you’re worried about. She fucking idolizes you.”

  He doesn’t get cocky about that. “Pisses you off, doesn’t it?”

  “It used to,” I answer honestly. “I understand why now.”

  We’re silent for a while. The other reason Trinity wants to keep our status a secret springs into my head. “She’s afraid if we don’t stay together, the club will kick her out.”

  Rock shakes his head. “Eight fuckin’ years. We haven’t had to worry about a damn thing around this place for eight years because of her—” He huffs out a deep breath. “Fuck.” He flicks a hand
at the house. “Our basement-dwelling brothers would be two mummified skeletons if it wasn’t for her.”

  Laughter explodes out of me, because that’s absolutely true.

  “You want me to talk to her? Explain she ain’t goin’ anywhere unless she chooses to?”

  “Not yet.” I stare down at my hands, closing them into fists. “I’ve been trying to follow your advice. She makes it hard.”

  He snickers and shakes his head. “I can imagine.”

  We’re interrupted by the crunch of gravel. Trin comes into view first. Hope’s not far behind. She ignores me and flings herself into Rock’s lap. That’s it for them, they won’t come up for air anytime soon.

  Trinity hangs back, watching them with a smile.

  “Hey, angel.”

  She holds out her hand to me and I grab my crutches.

  It’s too noisy to talk inside, so we go straight to her room.

  “Did you have fun?” I ask as soon as she shuts the door.

  She doesn’t answer right away and I turn to find her unzipping her boots and sliding her hands under her dress to roll her stockings off.

  I’m feeling off after my talk with Rock. “Babe? Tell me about your night first.”

  She glances up at me in surprise, her lower lip trembling. “Why do you keep doing this to me?” she whispers.

  “What?”

  “One minute you’re hot to fuck and the next you’re telling me to keep my clothes on.”

  “I absolutely did not say keep your clothes on.” Dropping down on the bed, I prop my crutches against her nightstand. “Come here.” She approaches slowly and sits next to me.

  I curl my hand over hers. “I meant what I said. I want you to be my girl. Really be my girl. That means I want to actually talk to you and hear how your night was.”

  Her mouth opens and closes and she shakes her head in confusion. “I’m not used to that.”

  “So get used to it.”

  She smirks and lets out a soft snort. “I’m trying.”

  I raise an eyebrow and wait for her to continue. “It was fun. I was worried at first, but it turned out okay.” She rolls her eyes and chuckles. “Lilly pumped me for information about Z.”

  That’s fuckin’ hilarious.

  “Sophie got wasted. And the drummer for the headline band offered to show me the back of their tour bus.”

  “What?”

  She chuckles. “I told him I had a boyfriend.”

  My mind’s still snagged on some—wait, “You did?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wish I’d been there to beat the piss out of him.”

  She snorts and covers my hand with hers. “Yeah. You could have snapped him in two.”

  “The girls were nice, though? Treated you okay?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “What else?”

  “Mmm, Blue walked us to the car. I assume Rock set that up?”

  My mouth curls into a smirk. She doesn’t really need me to answer that.

  “Did you miss me while I was gone?”

  Did I ever. Reaching over, I tuck her hair behind her ear and trace her cheek with my finger. “Yeah, I did.”

  "Me too,” she whispers.

  To me, this is a huge moment for both of us, but it’s quiet and still except for the sounds of our breathing. “I loved all your little texts.”

  One corner of her mouth lifts. “You weren’t annoyed?”

  “No. Never.”

  She ducks her head and my gaze wanders over her. “You look really pretty.”

  She tilts her head to peek up at me from under her lashes. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. Stand up.” She does and I put my hands on her hips to guide her in front of me. “How far did you get?” I ask, tipping my head back so I can see her face. The soft blush that races over her skin flips my switch.

  She tilts her head toward the door, where she discarded her boots and tights. “Not far.”

  “Turn around.” She doesn’t hesitate. I take my shirt off and ease up from the bed, standing behind her with our bodies barely touching. Her warmth sears my chest and I fight the urge to crush her against me. My hands paw along the back of her dress, searching for the hidden zipper. Leaning down, I whisper in her ear. “This is why I wanted you to leave it on. So I could take it off.” As I drag the zipper down to her waist, I enjoy the sound of her breathing picking up. “I’ve thought about getting you naked all night long.”

  “Then do it.”

  “Don’t be so impatient, Trinity.”

  My dress loosens freeing my torso. I shimmy and it falls to the floor. Behind me, Wyatt groans. “That was sexy, babe. Do it again.”

  Bending over to pick up the dress, I press my ass into him and wiggle. A growl rips out of him and I barely have time to throw the dress over my desk chair before we’re tumbling onto the bed. “That’s a dangerous game.”

  He holds me tighter as I laugh and try to wriggle away. “No fair. I’m injured.”

  I snort. “You already have a huge advantage over me.”

  His mouth tips up in a filthy grin. Gripping both of my hands in one of his, he pulls them up over my head. “Don’t try to get away again.”

  A sassy comeback lingers on my tongue, but I can’t force it out. It probably has something to do with his fingers traveling up my ribs, tracing under the edges of my bra. One of is big hands covers my breast. He nuzzles his way from my neck to my chin working his way to my mouth, kissing me hard and fierce. My ability to think scatters away. I want to put my hands on his face or his neck and hold him close, but he has me pinned. Thinking about how much I love his kisses, keeps any bad thoughts at bay.

  He breaks away, staring down at me. His grip on my hands loosens and I wrap my arms around his neck. “Are you okay?” he asks, concern wrinkling his forehead.

  “Yeah. Why’d you stop?”

  He runs one hand over my arm. “You were squirmy and not in the good way.”

  I hadn’t realized. He seems so upset, I force a smile and wiggle my eyebrows. “Now I’ve gotcha.” I push and he rolls back, letting me settle on top of him.

  His fingers trace over my cheek. “This what you wanted, Angel Face?”

  “No, this is.” Leaning down, I press my lips to his softly at first, tasting and taking my time. One of his hands holds the back of my head and he deepens our kiss, sweeping his tongue in my mouth, demanding access. Heat from his body seeps through the thin bits of lacy underwear I still have on. My hips circle, grinding against his rigid cock and he draws back.

  “You’re torturing me.”

  “What do you want, Wyatt?”

  Instead of answering, he reaches out and grabs a condom, handing it over. “Get me ready.”

  I palm the little square and tease my fingers over his chest, over the ridges of his abs, work his belt loose and slip my hand inside. A rough groan comes from his throat.

  “You want my cock?”

  I bat my lashes and graze him with my fingertips.

  “I’m already harder than steel, babe. No extra teasing required.” He tucks his arms behind his head, one corner of his mouth lifting in a sexy smirk. “Take my dick out. Show me how bad you want it,” he says low and rough.

  I work his shorts off and drop them to the floor. When his cock is in my hands, I take my time sliding them up and down. He makes a sharp hissing sound when I press my lips against the head, softly kissing. His body jerks and one of his hands cups my face when I close my mouth around him. “Go ahead, make me yours.”

  I hum in approval and give him one last lick before ripping the condom open and smoothing it on. A hint of a smile curves his mouth, but his eyes are dark and possessive as they follow me. Whatever control he’s handed me, he takes back. Two rough fingers shove my soaked panties to the side. His hands curl over my hips, lifting and lining me up the way he wants, guiding me down. My eyes close and I roll my hips until he grunts every time I slide down.

  “Trinity, look at me.”

&nb
sp; It’s almost too much. The fierce way he watches me, eyes glazed with pleasure. He reaches behind my head and draws me down for a kiss. A sweet, unexpected kiss that triggers a devastating orgasm. I cry his name against his mouth and he answers by wrapping his arms around me as he shudders through his own release.

  Too spent to move, I burrow my face against his neck letting his scent surround me. The scent of Wrath and risk.

  In the middle of the night, I wake up to find Trinity at the computer.

  “Babe?” I croak out.

  “Sorry, does the light bother you?”

  Sitting up, I scrub a hand over my face. “No. You okay?”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  She’s intently watching the screen, pulling on her lip with her teeth. Her hand’s curled over the mouse and she’s busy swirling out different patterns. A shake of her head. More lip-chewing. She lets out a large, silent yawn.

  “Babe, come to bed.”

  “Can’t. Gotta finish this.”

  Curious, I haul my ass outta bed. Her worried gaze flicks to me, and I can tell she closes out whatever she was working on.

  Now that’s going to drive me nuts until I figure out what she’s up to.

  I stumble past her into the bathroom, and when I return she’s tucked in the bed. Before sliding in next to her, I check my phone.

  “Honey, it’s one o’clock. Weren’t you gettin’ up at five?”

  “Yeah,” she whispers.

  I pick her phone up and shut off the alarm. My girl needs more sleep, those fuckers can feed themselves.

  As soon as I slide in next to her, she snuggles up against me.

  Of course I wake up alone. Shutting off her alarm probably gave her an extra hour of sleep—if that.

  Fuck, being laid up sucks. I’m so fucking bored. My leg still throbs like a bitch. The only upside is it’s neat being in Trinity’s space even though I know I’m drivin’ her nuts. She’s been such a good sport.

  Right now, I bet she’s somewhere in the house cleaning up. It’s bullshit that she’s taking care of me and still doing all her household shit.

  Maybe I should talk to Rock about it. Except I know it will piss her off. But eventually the club’s going to have to figure something else out. Her days of being the maid of the MC are coming to a close.