Fighting for a Chance

by Erin Trejo

The idea that Laura is behind my feelings of unease hasn’t slipped my mind. I sure as fuck won’t tell the guys that, but it has come to mind a few times. She makes me feel… different.

  I know I need to get my shit together though, before I explode.

  Chapter 26

  Laura

  “We’re going out! I haven’t been out in so long!” I squeal as I dance around the hotel room. Aubrie smiles as she puts her makeup on.

  We had an all expense paid trip, ready and waiting for this conference. As happy as I am about that, the fact that we can actually go out at night was even better.

  “You are overly excited. You think they are going to let us get into any good trouble?” Aubrie says, cocking an eyebrow at me.

  “I’m not married! I can do whatever I want!” Sticking my tongue out at her, she laughs.

  The downside to our little trip is that Micah, Dax, and Stryker are tag-alongs. They aren’t exactly here to babysit us though. They have their own shit to do for the club from what Aubrie said, but that is all during the day, too. Meaning... we are stuck with them at night.

  “You really think Dax isn’t going to claim your ass while we’re out?” Aubrie says as she adjusts her dress.

  “I don’t care what he says. I’m not his,” I roll my eyes. I’m not though. I do like him, I’m just not going to give up my free time for him.

  Knocks on the door pull me from my thoughts. I walk over and pull it open to see Micah standing there with a grin on his face.

  “You two ready yet?” he asks with a wink. He leans down, pressing a kiss to my cheek before walking around me. Dax follows him in, but doesn’t say a word.

  “Where’s Stryker?” I ask, not seeing him.

  “Oh, he’s hangin’ back,” Micah says. I turn to catch the smile playing at Dax’s lips as he looks at me.

  “What are you looking at like that?” I ask, putting my hands on my hips.

  “What the hell is that?” he asks, pointing to my dress.

  “A dress.”

  “No. Hefty called. They want their garbage bag back. No way in fuck are you wearin’ that trash bag.” My mouth falls open. I look down at the shiny black dress. I think it’s cute.

  “I love that dress!” Aubrie chimes in.

  “She looks like a walkin’ garbage bag! Micah, come on. Help a brother out here.” Dax tries to recruit help but that doesn’t go over well.

  “She looks hot, Dax.”

  “I didn’t say she didn’t look hot. My dick is like a goddamn flagpole every time I look at her. It’s that bag though...” He gestures to my dress. I try not to let it bother me, but the truth of the matter is, it does.

  Why I feel like I need to look good for Dax is beyond me.

  “I’ll change,” I grumble as I go into the bathroom.

  Chapter 27

  Dax

  There wasn’t anything wrong with that dress, aside from the fact it was making my dick hard. I just wanted to use my power of persuasion on her pretty ass. And it worked. She changed. Not that this dress is much better. It hugs every curve of her body. I don’t need every man in the fucking place eyeing her. It’s bad enough my dick is a raging bastard any time she’s around.

  I watch her from the bar as she works the room. She doesn’t notice all the stares, or maybe she does. She bats her eyelashes at any man that comes within a ten-foot radius of her, making him bend to her will. I’ll let her have her moment, I know later she’ll be bending to my dick hitting her from behind.

  “You keep watchin’ her like she might disappear,” Micah says over the music.

  “The only thing disappearin’ is my dick in that pussy,” I remind him. Micah chuckles before ordering another beer.

  I scan the crowd. I’m not sure how much I like this whole dance club shit. There are far too many people to keep track of and get a read on.

  Bitches are in no shortage, though. They have been hanging off my dick since we stepped in here. They aren’t what I want, though.

  “Micah. Look.” Nudging him with my elbow, he follows my gaze to a few men wearing cuts across the room. I don’t like the look in their eyes either.

  “Fuck. Can you see a name?” Shaking my head, not from here I can’t. We both stand here watching them when their eyes come to meet ours.

  “Oh, fuck. That doesn’t look good,” I grumble under my breath. Micah sees it, too. I can hear him mumble something also.

  “Get the girls out,” I tell him. He starts to protest, but when I shake my head, he rethinks it. He moves away from me as my eyes track the guys across the room. One has strayed away from the group. That’s never a good thing in my eyes.

  I keep an eye on Micah as he heads toward the girls out on the dance floor. My feet start to move on their own.

  I walk across the floor, my hand wrapped around my gun. I would never leave home without it. There are ways around security in these damn places which is part of why I hate them.

  The main man catches my eyes... and that’s when all hell breaks loose.

  Shots ring through the air. Screams pierce my ears. There’s something about this that gives me a high, though. I duck low, missing a few bullets before I spot the other guy.

  “Fuck!” I roar when I see where he’s headed. Straight toward Micah and the girls. I move quickly through the crowd of screaming and running people, firing a shot. He goes down, but not before more shots ring out.

  “Motherfucker ripped up my new shirt!” I grind between my teeth when I glance down and see where the bullet grazed me.

  Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I turn and shoot. That’s when my heart stops beating. I flatline.

  The air in the room is still as I watch the blue eyes of this girl flutter closed.

  My heart doesn’t even begin to beat. It sits still in my chest. It’s dead.

  Chapter 28

  Laura

  Micah has dragged us down every side street there is. He left his truck at the club, saying Dax would bring it later. I didn’t see him when the shots were ringing out, though.

  My chest heaves and my body aches from running.

  “Get in the room. I need to make some phone calls. Don’t fuckin’ open it for anyone but me or Dax.” Micah looks at Aubrie when he speaks. He looks lethal. Deadly.

  Aubrie nods before dragging me toward the door. Micah doesn’t move far away either as he pulls his phone out.

  “Do you think Dax is ok?” I ask as we close the door, locking it behind us.

  “He’ll be fine. He’s tough.” Her words don’t reassure me though. I feel like shit. I’m scared out of my mind.

  “What if it was Hector? What if he came back after me, Aubrie?” My whole body begins to shake. He could find me. In fact, he probably knows exactly where I am. How could I have been so stupid? I should have never gone out. What the fuck was I thinking?

  “Calm down. I doubt it was Hector. He wouldn’t come all the way up here, Laura. Just calm down and let’s wait for Micah.” Vomit rises in my throat before I make a mad dash to the bathroom.

  I hang my head over the porcelain and lose all the contents of my stomach.

  Aubrie’s right behind me with a rag.

  “Are you ok?” she asks kneeling down next to me.

  “He’s going to kill me, Aubrie. I know he is. It’s just a matter of time,” I cry. I know what’s coming. I always have... Hector won’t let me go. He’s always made that very clear to me.

  “He’s not, Laura. I promise you. The guys won’t let him near you.” The guys? The guys? I mean nothing to those guys.

  “Don’t you get it Aubrie! I’m not one of you! I’m nobody to this club!” The tears fall as everything consumes me. I know I’m right. I know how the club works—and no matter what Aubrie tries to tell me—I know Hector will find me one day.

  I wipe my mouth with the rag that Aubrie handed me before falling into her arms. We both jump when we hear the door close, only to see Micah walking in with the phone to his ear.

  “
You both ok?” he asks, looking us over as we sit in the bathroom floor.

  “We’re ok.”

  “Yeah, they’re good, Bomber. No, I don’t fuckin’ know…. They had on cuts that’s all I seen. No, Dax ain’t back yet. I got the girls out, he went after them,” I hear Micah say into his phone. Aside from a few grunts and growls, he goes quiet as Aubrie tries to calm me.

  “See. It wasn’t Hector. It was another club.” A slight relief washes over me.

  Chapter 29

  Dax

  I ran once I heard the sirens. I caught a glimpse of the cut the asshole was wearing that I shot.

  Red Devils, MC. I don’t know what the fuck they have against us or how they even knew who we were for that matter.

  It doesn’t matter to me right now. All I can picture were those blue, lifeless eyes, as they fell to the ground at my feet. She wasn’t very old. Probably just turned twenty-one. I fucking killed her. I pulled the goddamn trigger.

  I was startled. Shit, she caught me off guard.

  “Fuck!” I roar, slamming my fist into the wall of the hotel room.

  I couldn’t go to the girls’ room. I couldn’t look at her after what I’d done. I killed a woman… I shot her…. Mine wasn’t the only bullet hole in her, but it was the one that took her life.

  I close my eyes before grabbing my guitar. I thank fuck that I brought this thing with me.

  I slide down into the chair and strum a few chords, trying to drown out the vision of those eyes. They were so close to the color of Laura’s. God help me.

  I close my eyes, and it’s not until I hear the door close, that I open them to see her standing there.

  “Metallica?” she says as she walks toward me.

  “You know your music,” I say as I let my eyes travel over her. I look her up and down a few times before I’m satisfied that she isn’t hurt.

  “I’m ok. Micah got us out,” she says softly. I nod my head, but my fingers never stop moving.

  Laura looks so torn. She doesn’t know what to say... and I don’t know how to help her. I’ve made a situation worse more than once. This isn’t my first go at it. I knew messing with her would put her in the line of fire whether she knows it or not.

  “I can’t keep seein’ you,” I tell her. Laura sighs before nodding her pretty little head.

  “I know. I was going to tell you the same thing.” It all slams into me like a fucking Mack truck. I don’t want to not see her. I want her... I want her more than I should, but dragging her into my hell as she’s fighting her way out of her own isn’t an option.

  “At least we agree.” My stomach clenches as the words leave my mouth. This isn’t what I had in mind for this trip.

  “It’s for the best. I’m pregnant…” The two words leave her mouth and the air suddenly becomes thicker in the room.

  I set my guitar down, the world spinning around me. Something unknown lodges in my throat.

  “It’s his?” I ask her. I know we’ve fucked more than once and I know there were a few times that wasn’t with a goddamn condom either. My fault there!

  “Honestly, I don’t know…” Her words floor me. What does that even mean she doesn’t know?

  “How don’t you know? How many guys you been fuckin’, Laura?” Her eyes fill with tears and I immediately regret those words. Goddamn it!

  “One. I voluntarily fucked one!”

  “Fuckin’ shit!” I roar. I’m on my feet, heat rising inside of me.

  “He raped you?” I ask, knowing that the “one” has to be me. I never forced her into anything.

  “He fuckin’ raped you, Laura?” I scream louder. This isn’t happening.

  “Answer me!” I snap when she doesn’t say anything.

  “Yes! More than once, Dax! You happy now!”

  Chapter 30

  Laura

  You know how people say that they are vibrating with rage? I’d never seen it happen until now.

  Dax is vibrating. I can see it from across the room. I’m scared to death to even walk near him. I want to, though. God, I want him to hold me and tell me everything’s ok. It’s not, though, and I know it.

  “I don’t know what to say here,” I tell him as I stand here as shocked as he is.

  I broke down and told Aubrie that I was late having my period. She had a test on her that one of the girls at the club asked her to pick up. I was as shocked as she was when those two little lines showed up.

  A part of me wanted to be happy, but the other part was scared. I don’t want Hector to be the father, and Dax doesn’t want a kid.

  “I don’t either, Laura. I’m sorry. I fucked up. There’s a chance it could be mine?” Dax asks, his eyes coming to meet mine now.

  “Yeah. I’m sorry, Dax.” Tears stream down my cheeks before he walks toward me.

  “I don’t know what to do. I didn’t plan on havin’ kids. I don’t even know you like that. Fuck!” he roars before his arms wrap around me. He pulls me into his chest when I notice the blood.

  “You’re bleeding! Let me see it.” I pull out of his grasp before he chuckles.

  “It’s nothin’. It barely grazed me,” he says like it’s no big deal. I lift his sleeve and look at the wound.

  “Come on.” I grab his hand and lead him to the bathroom. Shoving him down on the toilet, I turn on the water.

  “At least let me wash it off.”

  “Little nurse, always takin’ care of people.” I smile down at him when he says that.

  His face turns serious, though, and I don’t like it. It makes me nervous when he’s like this.

  “When are you gonna let someone take care of you, Laura?” he asks. His words throw me off balance. What the hell does that even mean?

  “I’m doing fine,” I tell him as I squeeze the soap onto the wet rag. I pull his sleeve up before wiping gently. His eyes burn into me, though. I can feel them.

  “I mean it. When are you gonna let someone take care of you? Love you like you should be loved?” His questions seem so serious. He seems so serious right now.

  I can’t take him that way, though. We don’t mesh. We don’t come from the same world.

  “When I find one that wants to do it, I might think about it.” His face falls with my words. His eyes drop to my stomach as I stand in front of him.

  Chapter 31

  Dax

  Her words still ring in my head. When she finds someone that wants to do it. It was like a stake to the heart. It threw me off just as much as it did her.

  I saw the look in her eyes when I asked her...

  I watch her as she’s curled into Aubrie on the small loveseat at the Flake’s bar.

  I didn’t want to drag her here, but leaving them alone wasn’t an option either.

  “So, you know what the Red Devils were after?” I ask Stone, the President of the Dirty Dust.

  “No. Didn’t know the motherfuckers were still hangin’ around, to be honest. Last I heard, they rode the fuck out when their VP was murdered.” He leans back in his chair smoking a joint.

  “Fuckin’ bullshit,” I mumble as he nods.

  “We aren’t out here for that anyway. As much as I want their blood, we need to know what’s goin’ on with you,” Micah chimes in. We are here for business after all. Although, I will kill the motherfuckers that shot at the girls.

  “We’re good, Micah. Bomber and I talked shit out.” Micah nods before he leans forward.

  “I know that. We ain’t heard shit since then, Stone. We work shit out together, we stay in contact.” His voice has turned deadly. That’s the way it is, though.

  “Agreed. Just had our own shit goin’ down. A couple of fuckers blew up one of our warehouses. Took out a lot of our guns. We haven’t been runnin’ much until the next shipment comes in.” I thought I heard something about that a while back.

  “That’s fucked up, brother. Make sure after this, though, you keep us in the goddamn loop or Bomber will pull out. Basket is a crazy son of a bitch and I’d hate to
let his ass loose,” Micah warns him. Stone sits up, looking around before speaking.

  “You threatenin’ me?” I can’t stop the grin that crosses my face.

  “My VP ain’t sayin’ shit the rest of us wouldn’t. You know our connection with Basket runs deep. You fuck that over, we fuck back,” I warn him. His eyes move from Micah’s to mine, and back again.

  “Fine. We’ll be in contact soon.” With a nod, I shove off the chair, motioning to the girls to come on.

  Aubrie falls into step next to Micah but Laura won’t even look at me. I can’t say that I blame her either.

  I have dragged her into a world of shit, and now she has only God knows whose baby growing inside of her.

  A part of me wishes it was mine. I don’t know why I want it so much, but I do. It scares the fuck out of me too, that I’d actually want the kid if it was mine.

  “Let’s get the fuck back home,” I grumble as we climb into the truck.

  My eyes never leave her though. The not knowing is going to eat my ass alive.

  Chapter 32

  Laura

  I hug the toilet in the nurse’s lounge tightly, as all my lunch comes back up. I have never felt so shitty in my life. Not even the flu makes me this sick.

  “You ok in there?” Cheryl yells from outside the door. That’s the last thing I need is to hear her shit, too.

  I flush the toilet once more before I yell, “Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute.” Nosy bitch.

  I shove off the floor and stand in front of the sink, looking at my reflection. I don’t know who I am anymore. I don’t know me.

  I miss my mom. I wish she were here to tell me what to do. Abortion has crossed my mind more than once. It’s always an option. If I knew for sure this baby was Hector’s I would probably convince myself to do it… but not knowing if it’s Dax’s, I can’t.

  I wash up and head back out when Ashley, another nurse, walks in.

  “Hey, Laura. There’s a guy out there looking for you,” she says. My heart starts to beat overtime. What if it’s Hector? No, it couldn’t be. The prospect comes to work with me. What a joy that must be for him.