Friction (Oath Keepers MC Book 5)

by Sapphire Knight

  The first time I saw him match his hair to his eye, I thought the fucker was wearing a contact; turns out it’s real. I punched him to find out. I got my ass kicked pretty good; he’s a buff fucker. But it was worth it, and he doesn’t really annoy me like a lot of the others.

  Spin’s one that actually knows how to keep his fuckin’ mouth closed. Most of these asses around here don’t know what quiet is or are scared of it or some shit anyhow. I can head to Spin’s shop, and he’ll tattoo me for hours in silence; it’s one of the few times my mind’s at peace.

  “You gettin’ up there in age, man—always repeating yourself. Better think on something new.”

  “That’s right; I am older, so respect your elders,” I grumble and stick a toothpick in my mouth. I could go for a line right about now.

  “How old are you anyhow?”

  “Why? You gonna bake me a cake and suck my dick if I tell you?”

  “Fuck no! Just wondering if I needed to tat a milestone on you or something.”

  I have nothing to respond to that one, so I just laugh and take a seat back on the bar stool. Slamming the next shot back, I damn near choke hearing Spin.

  “I hear you were talking to 2 about Sadie.”

  I take a moment to clear my throat at hearing her name come up out in the bar in front of the others. They’re not right beside me, but within listening distance with the music turned off.

  “Fuckin’ gossipin’ bitches around here.” I swear to Christ, these guys like to talk about shit they know nothing about. It’s usually Smiles and the damn Prospects running their mouths.

  “You shoulda’ waited until I was here.”

  “Why? So you can lay into me, too, ‘bout wantin’ somethin’ I ain’t meant to have? No thanks.”

  “Nah man, so that I could’ve told 2 Piece that Sadie would be lucky to have you at her six.” My eyes shoot over to his, to gage if he’s bullshitting me or being serious.

  “You fuckin’ with me right now?”

  “I wouldn’t fuck with you about this; I’ve seen you taking to her since she’s been around and all.”

  I keep my mouth shut and nod, focusing back on my empty shot glass. I wasn’t thinking I’d have anyone’s support or if I even deserved it. They’ve all witnessed me do horrifying shit to some busted-ass punks before, and I can’t blame them for wanting what’s best for Sadie, because I do too. That’s what’s making me think so much. When the fuck did I start giving a shit about Sadie and my brothers’ opinions anyhow?

  Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.

  -Oscar Wilde

  I’m woken up to Cain beating on my door. It’s like nails on a chalkboard after I practically crawled into bed around four am, drunker than a skunk. I slide off the side of the bed, landing with a loud painful thump, just as I hear Sadie open the door and great him.

  “Tell Twist he’s gotta come now; it’s club business.”

  “Errrmmmm,” I groan in response.

  “You need to get the fuck out here, brother!” he hollers, upset about some shit, and I cringe.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m comin’,” I mumble, and Sadie shuts the door again.

  There’s no way in hell I’m making it out there like this so I slide the nightstand drawer open, shuffling my hand around until I come back with my coke stash. I tuck the dish under my arm on the floor and rake together a decent sized bump, performing my usual morning routine. It’s gonna take a little more than usual today though.

  I inhale deeply through my right nostril as I use my pointer finger to close the left side and the cool feeling hits me almost immediately as the coke shoots up my nose, the taste and sensation overcoming my other senses. Ahhh, if only I could lie here and just soak up this feeling for awhile, but unfortunately I can’t, obviously something is going on.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Her extra shrill voice causes my eyes to fly open, momentarily blinded by the light until my gaze hits hers… And boy does she look fuckin’ pissed about something.

  “Waking up?” I ask.

  She storms over angrily, kicking my cocaine dish under the bed, and I put my arms in front of my face in case her foot comes my direction next. I’m guessing I’m the one who pissed her off, maybe from getting trashed last night after we were together. Who knows?

  “The fuck’s goin’ on?”

  “You’re doing drugs! Right in front of me!” she shrieks.

  “And? This is my room, and your brother knows I like a little pick-me-up. What’s your damn deal? You need to reel that shit in, right the fuck now, Sadie.”

  “Get up! Go talk to your brothers, but this conversation isn’t over! You’re not doing that shit in here with me and my baby!” she nags and plops down on the bed, angrily glaring at me. I almost laugh when I see her fold her arms across her big belly. It wouldn’t be good if I let loose with a chuckle, so I hold it back for fear of further pissing her off.

  Standing, I groggily pull on my clothes from the night before and gripe, “You ain’t my fuckin’ woman; so mind your business.”

  Wrong move. She picks up whatever she can find on the nightstand and starts chunking it all at me, one by one. I’m too tired for this shit, so I hightail it out of my room; shit still hitting the door when I close it.

  Crazy bitch.

  “Twist, hurry the fuck up! Some fuckin’ clown on a bike just outside the gate. Pretty fuckin’ sure it’s the guy who was terrorizing London and Avery back at the grocery store,” Cain boasts.

  “You sure ‘bout that shit?”

  “Fuckin’ A brother.”

  Wasting no time, I go flying out of the club, straight for my bike. I hear my brothers behind me. Ares and 2 Piece rev their bikes as well and I spin my back tire, waiting for the stupid prospect to get the gate open. Once there’s about a four-foot gap, I race through it, ready to catch the dumb motherfucker brave enough to threaten my club.

  In no time at all, we catch up, only there’s not just one lone rider, but a group, and wouldn’t you know it’s the fucking Iron Fists—a few from the south Texas Chapter. Well, welcome to Central Texas motherfucker. Around here, we run this shit.

  Seeing it’s the Iron Fists makes this shit even more personal for me. I guess those leads before were right about them finding us, but this heifer here fucked up getting that close to the club. I’ll get these fucks and slice the location out of them to get to Sadie’s baby dad. That asshole wants to play, I’m down.

  One of the guys pulls a gun out and I speed up. Ares is acting VP right now since Prez is dealin’ with some shit at home, so ain’t no way in hell I’m gonna let him get hit. I start to gain on them and the dude in the middle raises his fist up. I’mma break that shit.

  That’s my last thought besides Oh shit, because next thing I know, they’re dropping handfuls of metal shrapnel onto the pavement and my bike is going wild. I overcorrect and end up propelled through the air. My body hits the ground and everything goes black on impact.

  Twist leaves and I’m so upset after our argument this morning. I can’t believe I lost it with+ him like that. I’m never a violent person. I’m normally a fairly rational, calm person, but seeing him doing drugs right in front of me, just sparked so much anger inside. He has no idea what he’s doing with his life. I know he has issues, but they can’t be bad enough for him to want to use that stuff.

  Drugs took my parents away from me. They stole any chance from me at having a normal life. I’m forever grateful for the type of man Silas quickly grew into, willing to take such good care of me, but when it boils down to it, drugs ruined my childhood. They weaseled their way in, and I’ve never gotten over my issues when it comes to them.

  I put on a brave face for Silas years ago, but deep inside it hurts to know my father hated me enough to leave, and then later on, my mother eventually went away as well. I’ve always thought that if I had been a boy, maybe my father would have stayed.

  Would my life be different right now? I could be fin
ishing up college right now, and who knows, Silas could be a doctor or something. Anyhow, I have issues, and Twist has really lost his marbles if he thinks I won’t be bringing it up. I won’t tolerate drugs around me like that, and I won’t let them ruin him as well.

  I know this is his room and he’s a grown man, but he’s too important to me to let him go down that path without me at least attempting to get through to him. The part about me not being his woman, after the soft side he showed me yesterday, stung pretty badly. I know I’m not his, but the way he treats me sometimes would make you think that I am.

  My phone beeps and I eagerly push the button, thinking it’s Twist. I doubt he’d apologize, but maybe he’s come to his senses or maybe he’s kicking me out—it could go either way.

  Unknown: Miss me? Time to come on home now, Sadie.

  Me: I am home, I moved.

  Unknown: Well, I’m telling you now to get back to Cali.

  Me: Who is this?

  Unknown: It’s G

  Me: We aren’t together anymore Ghost; you don’t get to tell me what to do any longer.

  Unknown: Now, Sadie. Don’t make me come get you.

  I close out of my messages and turn the volume on silent. He has some nerve demanding me to do something. Fuck that! He lost his chance at keeping up with my whereabouts.

  What is it with men and having to be dicks? ‘Please’ does come in handy when speaking to a woman; you’d think they would’ve learned that when they were kids. Ghost is the last man who needs to be giving me orders.

  I flip on a rerun of a show about building a cabin on HGTV and it puts me right to sleep for a nice little nap.

  Five hours and fifteen minutes later…

  I’m sitting on the bed eating a peanut butter sandwich when I’m interrupted by a knock. Twist and my brother haven’t returned my calls, so I’m starting to get a little worried. If they took off on a long run and didn’t let me know, I’m going to be so mad.

  The door opens a little and Avery pokes her head in. “Sadie? Can I come in?”

  “Oh, hi, Avery. Yes, of course,” I say, feeling a little shy. Avery’s so pretty; I can see why Silas is always attached to her hip. He never really brought any girls around me growing up. He was such a good big brother, doing his thing with them away from me.

  “More peanut butter, huh?” She gestures to my sandwich.

  “Yeah,” I smile. “I can’t seem to get enough of the stuff. Thank God it’s cheap and somewhat healthy.”

  “Have you decided if you’re going to find out what you’re having? It’s got to be getting pretty close to your due date by now, right?”

  “No, but I’ve thought about it. I need to get things, you know—just baby stuff—and I have no idea if it should be pink or blue. I should be popping soon, hopefully,” I answer with a smile.

  “Yeah, you didn’t have a baby shower in California?”

  “No, I didn’t have a lot of friends and I was usually at work. I wasn’t expecting one though, so no big deal.”

  “That makes sense. Well, I came in to talk to you, because your brother called me. He wanted me to wait, but it’s been long enough, and if it were me, I would want to know.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Yes, he’s fine. I’ve watched you with Twist. I know a lot of the guys around here don’t pay much attention, but I have. You seem pretty crazy about him.”

  “I am. My brother isn’t so happy about it though, and Twist can’t seem to make up his mind. One minute he’s hot and the next he’s cold. But oh well… Anyhow, what did you want to tell me?”

  “It’s actually about Twist. According to 2, they were out riding with Ares and there was a bunch of metal debris in the road.”

  “Oh no!” I interrupt and she nods.

  “Well, Twist flipped off his bike and hit the ground pretty hard. He’s at the hospital so they can run tests.”

  “Oh my God! I have to go to him!”

  “You can’t right now. He hasn’t exactly woken up yet, but 2 Piece said when he wakes up, you can come to the hospital with one of the guys.”

  He hasn’t woken up yet? How is this even possible right now? He was just here hours ago, being an asshole. I wonder if the drugs had anything to do with it. I swear if he wrecked because of the drugs, I’m going to strangle him myself.

  “I’m not sitting around here waiting; I’m going now. My brother’s an idiot if he thinks I’ll sit around here and wait patiently. I can’t believe he even said that to you; he knows I would never give in so easily.”

  “Please, Sadie! It’s for your safety,” she pleads, attempting to get me to reconsider.

  “You all may be afraid of threats made to the club, but I’m not in any of that. I’m going in my own car, by myself if I have to. I’m tired of men thinking they can order me around.”

  I toss the remainder of my sandwich on the paper plate and throw on a pair of Tom’s. They’re the only pair of comfortable shoes I own besides sandals.

  “Wait, okay? I’ll come with you and I’ll tell one of the guys. I don’t want you going alone. If you don’t do it for them, well then, please, for me?”

  “I guess so,” I agree and shrug, heading for the door. I snatch one of Twist’s black hoodies on my way, in case it’s cold at the hospital.

  Avery has to pretty much jog to catch up to me. She’s got me beat by a few inches, but my short legs can move when they’re on a mission. I can’t believe that no one told me about this sooner, I wonder when this happened exactly.

  Stopping abruptly, I face her. She almost slams into me but catches herself. “How long has he been there?”

  “Twist? At the hospital?”

  “Yes.” I nod and her eyes widen.

  “Ummm, about four hours or so,” she mutters in nearly a squeak.

  I normally think she’s sweet as can be, but in this moment, I could go for strangling her, and every member in this place, for leaving me out of the loop. I generally enjoy being left to myself away from the guys. I find them a little intimidating after Ghost and I’m trying to warm up, but this crap right here, someone should have come and told me sooner—at least my brother, if anyone. I’m probably going to kick him in the nuts when I see him, but then if I do that, everyone will know how I feel about Twist.

  Meh. Can’t say I really care who knows how I feel about him anymore. Maybe it would make it easier for him with my brother if I make my feelings public, I think as we load up.

  “I’m so sorry, Sadie; I knew you guys talked and stuff, but I didn’t realize just how close you’ve become already,” Avery winces while she drives my car. I haven’t been driving, I don’t know where anything is here and honestly my stomach feels better when I sit back and relax.

  “Look, I know it’s not your fault. I was just surprised. My brother should have called me back; he knows I worry.”

  She nods and we stay quiet as she drives down the nearly deserted old highway, the only sound interrupting the quiet is one of the guys following us on his motorcycle. Eventually, we arrive at the local hospital. Kind of weird being here—next to the city. You’d think everyone would use the big hospitals, like the ones we passed the other day when I was out getting food with Silas.

  “This is random,” I mutter, and Avery smiles.

  “Yeah, the club donates a lot of money here very year to help keep it open. This area’s growing so quickly, and it seems like the community forgets that many seniors feel more comfortable in a smaller, personalized hospital care center.”

  “Wow, that’s really nice. This must be where Silas had me schedule the rest of my appointments then…but I thought they said it was a women’s center.”

  “Yeah, there’s a small women’s clinic inside; they’ll take good care of you. I come here for my checkups too.”

  “Twist wasn’t happy with me going to the other doctor’s office in town and sort of took over for me.”

  “I’m not surprised; the guys like to keep everything here if they
can.”

  I nod and hightail it to the elevators; the information board next to the help desk says patient rooms are on the second floor, so I’m guessing he’s up there somewhere. Avery and the prospect get into the elevator with me, and I can’t help but ask, “So, umm, are you and my brother, expecting…?”

  She giggles and shakes her head. “Oh no, not for awhile. Our puppy is plenty for us at the moment. Plus, I don’t think your brother is really wanting to have any of our own kids for awhile.”

  “Your puppy is really cute, by the way. I saw Ares playing with her outside the other day when I was in the kitchen. I was doing dishes and he was laughing because she kept running after him. I’d never expect the scary guy to smile so big.”

  The elevator dings and we all unload.

  “People don’t really understand Ares; he’s not as mean as everyone makes him out to be. Come on, Twist is down this hall.”

  I just raise an eyebrow, because clearly she’s delusional. The man grunts, and the guys under him practically piss themselves. I waddle as quickly as possible, eager to check over the blond god—who currently has my stomach doing somersaults full of anxiety—wondering if he’s really okay.

  Silas steps into the hallway, his eyes falling to us and growing wide. You better be nervous brother.

  “Really?” I shout, unable to keep my feelings in check. This baby has me moody lately and my brother deserves to get yelled at over the crap he pulled today. He should’ve talked to me. I’m his sister—not his child.

  He raises his hands up to calm me with his fatherly/big brother bullshit he’s always done that I’ve gotten used to over the years of growing up with him. “Now Sade’s, just calm down,” he soothes.

  “You’re not pulling that monotone shit with me this time! You know how I feel about you not calling me back! You ride a motorcycle for God’s sake—nothing wrong with that, but people are assholes, and when my brother doesn’t call me back for hours, I think some jerk ran him over! I’ve already lost Mom and Dad, Si. You know how I get about not being in contact.” My eyes tear up at the mention of losing my parents, and his hands drop, pulling me into a hug.