by A. J. Downey
“Um, let’s just get the furniture moved back, please?” I asked and I hated how my voice held that tremulous edge to it like I was a crazy person on the brink.
“Just breathe, Angel,” Nox murmured, but when he stood, he made no move to touch me. Just shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on the banister. I blinked, I hadn’t realized he was so heavily tattooed. His one arm done from what looked like his shoulder, all the way to his wrist. The design ending in a neat line at his wrist, like he wore skin tight shirt sleeve on one arm.
“Where’s the sofa go?” he asked gently and I shook my head, “It goes here, but let me run the vacuum over it first,” I said, sniffing back new tears and got into the hall closet so I could pull out the vacuum.
I ran it over the area rug in the living room and set it aside just as Ariel knocked on the door.
“Just a minute!” I called softly, but Rush was already there, pulling the door open.
“Oh! Hi,…um, who are you?” Ariel asked, both taken by surprise and nervous.
“Rush,” he answered succinctly and Nox went over to him and smacked him on the shoulder.
“Gonna have to forgive my retarded twin; that’s Logan, I’m Landon, and we were just helping Maren out, shoveling the driveway and now putting back the living room furniture for her.” Nox turned to Rush and said, “Make yourself useful and let Sage know his ride’s here.”
He scowled at Rush and Rush looked back raising an eyebrow. It was subtle what they were doing, but the silence stretched on for almost a full minute, and in that time, it was as if they held an entire conversation that neither Ariel nor I were privy to.
“Sure thing,” Rush said, and took the stairs two at a time, stopping outside Sage’s door and knocking.
“You okay, Sweetie?” Ariel asked and I nodded.
“Sage is really upset, I’m trying but it’s um…”
“Exhausting?” Ariel asked, “Overwhelming?” she supplied and I smiled nervously and nodded.
“Yeah,” I agreed. Nox gently took my elbow in his hand.
“That’s why we’re here to help. Steady.”
I nodded some more and Ariel eyed Nox cautiously. I could see her taking in his tattoos and his and his brother’s jackets over the railing. Rush’s had joined Nox’s while I’d vacuumed the rug and I could tell Ariel was uneasy about their being here.
“It’s fine, Ariel. I promise these are the men I was telling you about, the ones that made sure Sage and I had Christmas.”
“Oh,” she said and didn’t sound quite convinced.
“Sure did, we put together a charity ride. I was impressed with how much the club and its supporters put together on such short notice, but we did it.” Nox smiled the smile that always managed to disarm me, and it apparently had the same effect on Ariel. She smiled back and some of her nervousness eased.
“Thank you so much for what you did for these kids,” she said and Sage came down the stairs, his backpack on and a gym bag over his shoulder. Rush came down just behind him, a hand on my brother’s shoulder.
“Be good for Ariel, please,” I asked him and managed to keep my voice even.
“I will,” he said and pushed right past me out onto the porch, making his way to Ariel’s car and his best friend Ian without so much as a goodbye.
“Is it bad?” she asked and winced at my expression.
“When he’s not telling me that I wanted our dad to die, it’s not even close to pleasant, why do you ask?” I said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Ariel looked stricken, “Oh Maren, I’m so sorry!”
I grimaced, “It’s alright if he misbehaves, just call me and I’ll come get him.”
“I think it will be just fine, maybe he just needs to get out of the house,” Ariel suggested.
“Yeah, I hope that’s just it. Speaking of which, I need to finish this up and get myself to work. Thank you so much for taking him tonight.”
“Sure, no problem, Sage has always been a pleasure.”
“Like I said, if he’s anything less than, please just call me and I’ll come get him.”
“Alright, I promise,” she hugged me tight and said to Nox and Rush, “It was nice to meet you both. Thank you for what you’ve done for this family and God bless you.”
“Thank you, Ma’am,” Rush said plastering on what I could tell was a fake as hell smile. I waved as she pulled out of the driveway with my brother and when I shut the door on the cold and the wind, I sagged with relief.
“Go get ready for work,” Nox ordered gently. “We’ll finish up in here, okay?”
I nodded, “Thanks.” I didn’t look back as I escaped up into my room. I supposed now I should start sleeping in here again as opposed to the couch. I scrubbed my face with my hands and with a sigh, pushed all of those thoughts aside and got ready for work. I needed to hurry now, or I was going to be late.
Chapter 7
Nox
“You really going to let her drive to work like that?” Rush asked.
“Nope.”
“Didn’t think so.”
“Give us a ride over there, let’s drop her off, and I’ll pick her up in my cage later,” I said and sighed, staring up at where she’d gone.
“Dude, this family is a mess. You sure about this?” my brother asked and I looked at him.
“Strangely, yes. Probably more sure about this than I’ve ever been before in my life. Don’t ask me why, either.” I said, cutting him off with the last. He closed his mouth and put up his hands.
“You sure it doesn’t have anything to do with Archer and his new family?” he asked and I lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
“I couldn’t tell you, Rush. All I can tell you is what I’ve been telling you. Something tells me I need to be here for these two.”
“Never figured you for a Captain Save-a-…” He frowned and shut his mouth.
“Yeah, now you’re starting to see it, huh?” I asked, grinning.
“Shut up,” he said with a scowl.
He couldn’t call her a ‘ho’ because she was both too young and too innocent, but that had been what he was going to say to me, that he couldn’t see me being a Captain Save-a-ho. I wasn’t, really. I mean, out of all four of us, me, Rush, Grind, and Arch; I’d never been afraid of tapping some spare pussy when it was around. Hell, I still hit Cherry back at the club on occasion, but surprisingly, not since I’d met Maren. Granted it’d only been a couple of weeks, but she made me want to clean up my act some, even though I had no intention of going there with a seventeen-year-old girl.
She came down the stairs dressed in the good ole Wally-world standard uniform, face free of makeup, hair in a high ponytail, and even as somber as she was, she was beautiful.
“C’mon, Angel, we’re gonna drive you to work. You’re not fit to be behind the wheel like this.”
She looked at me and a slight frown slipped across her features, “I’m okay, really. You’ve already gone way out of your way today – I couldn’t possibly ask you to do anything else.”
“You ain’t askin’ and we ain’t taking no for an answer,” Rush told her flatly and her eyes grew wide.
“Jesus Christ, Rush!” I hung my head and pulled on the back of my neck with one hand.
“What?”
“Could you have channeled Archer any harder right then?”
Rush rolled his eyes and I caught a small smile on Maren’s lips.
“We’ll drive you to work,” I repeated gently. “And I promise I’ll be there when you get off to drive you home.”
She thought about it, chewing the inside of her cheek in that adorable way of hers before finally nodding.
“Okay,” she murmured softly and came down the steps the rest of the way. She lifted her scarf off from the hook it was on and wound it around her throat, next she pulled on her coat and zipped it all the way up. A fluffy, purple thing, filled with goose down but a little worse for wear. Probably last year’s or the year before’s coat.
Rus
h and I did the same with our jacket’s and cuts and made to follow her out. She paused in the archway leading into the living room and took in our furniture move job.
“Is it not right?” I asked and she shook her head.
“No, it’s right,” she intoned hollowly and slipped out the front door. Rush followed her, and I made sure the doors were locked before slipping out myself.
She rode in silence at my side, her leg pressed the length of mine where I sat bitch in my brother’s truck. I didn’t think she’d be comfortable smashed between us, so I’d climbed in next to my twin without a word. He kept glancing at me, giving me the side eye that said clearly, are you sure you know what the fuck you’re doin’?
I gave him a furtive look back that clearly said back, fuck no, but I’m doing it anyways. Rush rolled his eyes skyward and gave his head a little shake, all the while Maren stared sightlessly out the passenger side window deep in thought. Her expression just plain gutted in the reflection against the window glass. It was as if she’d been hollowed completely out and the girl just wasn’t there anymore; like her physical presence remained but emotionally and intellectually she was as checked out as she could get… although I supposed she didn’t need to really be with it to be a cashier for groceries and shit.
We let her off in front of her store and she turned, a little apprehensive, and I smiled, “What time are you off, Angel?”
“Ten-thirty,” she murmured.
“I’ll be here at ten,” I told her and the tenseness in her posture eased a little.
“Okay, thank you,” she closed the door to the truck and went inside. I slid over on the seat, opened up the door and closed it for real, she hadn’t closed it hard enough to latch. Rush let out an explosive breath.
“That girl is wrung the fuck out,” he said, driving us along towards the exit.
“Who you tellin’?” I asked. “She’s as emotionally exhausted as anyone could get.”
“You can’t save everybody, you know.”
“Not trying to save everyone, jackass.”
“Nope, just her and her little shit of a brother for right now.”
“Can you blame me?”
“Yes.” I looked at him and scowled, but he kept talking anyways, “Okay, no. I’d have a hard time not doing something about it, too, but watch yourself Nox. I don’t care if she’s emancipated, at or above the age of consent or whatever – she’s still jailbait.”
It was my turn to stare out at the passing scenery, even though it was dark already. I sighed, and said to my reflection “It isn’t like that.”
“And how the fuck would you know? You know how many guys have said that before? How many of ‘em ended up on the registry because the girl –”
“Rush, stop. I’m a big fuckin’ boy. You should know that. I can take care of myself.”
My twin looked at me like he highly doubted that for a fraction of a second longer than what kept me cool, being that he was the one driving. I snapped at him, “Watch the fucking road,” before I turned and stared out at the gloom and scenery whipping past the window.
I stared down at my cut across my knees and wondered if what I was doing was the right thing too. I mean, I’d known more than a few guys caught up by younger women and fucked over hard for it. I really just wanted to help her, but there wasn’t any denying she was attractive. Part of that attraction was definitely how much she was handling and how much grace she was handling it with. I’d met some thirty-year-old women who couldn’t handle half of what Maren was going through right now.
I mean, she just lost her dad and pretty much become a parent overnight. While I would catch her staring, wide-eyed and vacant, it was far from empty. You could just see the wheels turning as she worked through how she was going to handle this, or how she was going to deal with that.
It hadn’t gone unnoticed by me how much she hoarded the money we’d given her. Instead of blowing it on more Christmas, or hell, even groceries for that matter, she held it aside like it was her lifeline, and to be honest, that was what it was meant for – in case something around her house broke to where I couldn’t fix it, or even one of the guys on a volunteer basis.
She was mature, way beyond her years for sure, but was she really? Doesn’t matter, I told myself. Attractive, sure, but that doesn’t mean you are or should be, looking for any kind of relationship other than friendship.
“I’ll be careful,” I told my brother finally and Rush sighed.
“I know you will, other than Arch, you’re the most careful out of all of us.”
“Arch can’t hold that title anymore,” I said grinning, and Rush laughed.
“Yeah, I guess not… still, can’t believe that bastard got married.”
“It was a good call, though,” I said.
“Real good,” Rush agreed.
We rode back to the club talking about a little of this and a little of that, and when we got there, split off at the bar, as in Rush stayed for a drink and I headed back out to my room.
I’d saved a gang of money living here rather than finding a place to rent. I’d given half of it to Maren, and just kept on saving; paying my club dues, chipping away at some debt from back in AZ… My cage was almost paid off; I hated the fuckin’ thing, but I needed it to transport my massage tables and chair. It wasn’t all bad. The club was like home. My twin was here, and it was better than back in Arizona. A fresh start that we’d all needed… Still missed Grind, but that was what it was.
You never know when your time is up… Maren’s dad had been lucky in that regard, that he’d had a lingering illness was both the best and the worst luck. Best because he’d been able to hang on long enough to give his kids the strongest start that he could provide ‘em… the worst because I couldn’t imagine wasting away like that. I’d probably end it myself if I didn’t have anyone like Maren or Sage. Maybe even Rush would help me out. Neither of us wanted to go out that way. We’d talked about it plenty when we were kids.
I watched some TV and kept an eye on the time, dragging myself to my feet at around nine-thirty. I pulled on my coat, kept my cut in my hands, and went on out to my cage. The club was quiet. It was just Rush, Dragon, Cell, Blue, and me living here right now. Everyone else had a woman, or family, or a place they called their own.
Disney had moved in with Aaron since even before Rev and Mandy had gotten married. Dray and Ev were on their own in their place. Who the fuck knew where Data went or what he did when he wasn’t here. Then Zeb had a shitty little apartment above a bar that he bounced for, but the brother seemed happy and more power to him.
I got into my cage, a nice looking 2012 Hyundai Tucson. Nice looking, probably because I never really drove the fuckin’ thing. So much so did I not drive it, it’d been sitting in the lot here more than a minute, to the point I half expected it not to start, but it did and it still had three-quarters of a tank left in it from the last time I’d driven it.
It’d been a bitch flying back to AZ, packing it up and making the long ass fuckin’ drive back here trapped in its confines. Hell, Rush had had the same trouble – towing his pickup along with Archer in a fuckin’ U-Haul full of his fuckin’ furniture he’d created. He’d sold a bunch of it off before we’d left but still a good bit ended up coming out here with us.
I pulled into the lot of the Douglas St. Wally-world right at nine fifty-eight and parked, killing the engine. I sat for about twenty minutes and watched for her. I knew it’d take a bit for her to wrap up, but I didn’t want her to walk across the lot in the dark; plus, she didn’t know what my cage looked like.
She came out the front entrance bundled in her tired purple parka, hands buried deep in her pockets and scanned the lot. I backed out of my space, went around, and pulled up in front of her. I picked up my cut from the passenger seat and hit the automatic locks so she could get in. She opened up the door, the cold air and her delicate scent swirling into the cage’s interior. She smelled good. I’d never noticed before.
“
Hi,” she murmured.
“Hi.”
I let her pull on her seatbelt and buckle it before laying the cut in her lap. She looked down at it, surprised, and let her fingers wander over the patches.
“Can you hang onto that while I drive?”
“Sure.”
I put the cage in gear and headed for the exit when her soft voice filtered through the dark, close space, “Why do you take it off?”
“It’s in our by-laws. You don’t wear your cut in a cage, it’s a disrespect on the patch; the club colors are meant to be free and in the wind.”
“Oh, that explains a few things.”
“What?”
“Why you keep calling your car a cage for one.” She smiled and then made a face, “I can’t imagine you like it much.”
“What driving a cage? I don’t.”
“No, riding when the weather is cold and icy like this… it’s dangerous.”
I laughed a bit, “I’d rather be on two wheels than four no matter what the weather, but some things are worth making the exception for,” I said glancing her way. She blushed and it was pretty on her.
“Thank you,” she murmured and bowed her head. She looked tired, and I was glad me and Rush had made the right call. Even if she had driven herself to her job, she was damn sure in no shape to drive herself back. She sat quietly, her eyes closed and head slightly bowed, too exhausted to hold it up.
“Need to pick up your brother?”
“No, Ariel called me at work and asked if he could stay over with Ian. They’ve missed each other and she said I looked like I could use a night to myself to catch up on sleep.” Maren looked over at me with a little pleading in her eyes, “I don’t look that bad do I?” she asked.
She did, her skin pale to the point it was almost translucent, her eyes smudged with dark circles beneath them. Her shoulders slumped and she looked about ready to keel over any second; so I did the only thing a man was supposed to do in a situation like this when a woman had asked him about her appearance; I lied.
