by KE Osborn
“Shush, stop it. I got his number, but I’m not going to call.”
She slumps with a frown. “Too old?”
“Too far away, and he’s not…” I exhale looking away from her as we approach the motel while ashamed to say the final words, but they come out anyway. “He’s not him.”
Sparx doesn’t say anything, she doesn’t do anything, she simply walks with me to our rooms. I sniff as I step up to my door as she finally turns to me. “Do you want to come in here with us, so you’re not alone dwelling?”
I look up at her, my face softening. “Thank you. You’re so good to me, but I just want to have a shower and go to bed.”
She leans out taking me into a tight embrace. I love her so much, I’m so glad she came back into my brother’s life. He’d be lost without her, but I think I would be too. I pull back as Trax and the others catch up mumbling and moaning about having sore butts. It makes me smile.
“Night, little sis. If you need us, just come over, or pick up your cell if you can’t get to us ‘cause Tremor’s not here, okay? I’ll put Vibe at your door till Tremor comes back, but in any case, lock your door,” Trax demands.
I chuckle. “Yes, sir.”
He looks at Sparx with his cocky lopsided smirk. “Good girl. Now c’mon, Sparx. I need some lovin’,” he teases as Sparx scrunches up her face in a cute way.
“Eww, I didn’t need to know that. Good night, enjoy your… eww,” I moan as I turn unlocking my door and walking through to the sounds of Trax and Sparx laughing at my expense.
God, I hope the walls are thick.
I close the door behind me and flick on the light to an empty room. Suddenly, I feel very alone. In a world where I’m surrounded by brothers and people all the time, I’ve never felt more alone than I do right now. Tremor’s off making a huge mistake. His relationships are on the line.
Where do we stand after tonight? I have no fucking idea.
The thought is unbearable as I slide down the door to the floor taking a deep breath not knowing what the hell to do now.
NEALA
I wake with a sudden fright. My entire body sitting bolt upright as the banging sound shocks me. I glance at Tremor’s bed to see he isn’t in it. I wonder if the noise is him coming in, then it bangs again. I stare at the window of the motel room to see it’s the shutter swaying in the breeze, hitting the side of the building.
Taking a deep breath, I sink back down under the covers, pulling them up to my chin as I check the clock over by the television. It’s eleven past four in the morning. My stomach sinks as I look at Tremor’s made bed. He’s not here. He hasn’t been at all. I’m completely alone, and he’s still out with the blonde Fisher girl.
Sniffing, I roll over closing my eyes, trying to will myself to sleep as the shutter bangs again making me jump once more.
I need to get Trax to fix that tomorrow.
Yawning, my eyes flicker slowly as I wake to the sun beaming into the room in small shards through the tatty curtains. The rays reflect on the wall as I take a deep breath preparing to roll over to see if Tremor made it in, in the early morning hours or not.
I roll over in the most uncomfortable bed known to man, but as my eyes land on Tremor’s bed, the mattress isn’t what’s making me uncomfortable anymore. The sight of Tremor’s empty, unslept in bed is. My chest aches, my stomach sinks, and I can’t really gauge what I’m feeling right now.
Hurt?
Betrayed?
Rejected?
Maybe a mix of all three. He wouldn’t go there with me, but he will with a stranger. But I guess he doesn’t have to risk his fucking patch for a blonde slut, does he? Yanking the covers back, I stand up to get dressed. I have to go to Sass’s registration today with a pep in my step. I have to be there for her and not think about how much I want to get into it with Tremor. It’s not about him today.
Today, hell this whole weekend, is about supporting Sass.
So that’s what I’m going to do.
I get dressed trying not to let the feelings of worthlessness drown me. It’s so freaking hard, though, as I get ready. I walk to the door, then hold my head high as I open it walking out. I notice the shutter on the window is fixed. I wonder who fixed it and when, but it quickly leaves my mind when I turn to see bikers and old ladies already mingling outside once I stroll through the door.
“Nice of you to make an appearance, princess,” Trax calls out.
I shake my head. “Shut up! Some of us need our beauty sleep.”
Renegade walks past me, his upturned gleam not quite hitting his bloodshot eyes. “You don’t need beauty sleep, Neala, you have that shit down pat.” He winks at me as Trax puffs out his chest looking proud, but the comment only makes me shudder.
“See, Lala, you’re pretty as a picture. Now c’mon, we gotta get Sass properly entered into this thing!” Trax grabs my arm dragging me with him.
I glance back at Renegade who’s clearly watching my ass as I walk away. Shaking my head, I curl up my top lip—guy gives me the fucking creeps—especially after our last encounter. I need to keep away from him.
Trax leads me to the pickup where Sparx and the babies are already loaded in. I jump into the passenger side. “Morning,” I murmur as Trax slams the door shut. I didn’t realize how late I was until right now. Any later, I would have missed this altogether.
“Morning, buttercup. How was your night?”
I groan slumping into my seat. “Don’t ask.”
Sparx screws up her nose as she starts the pickup. “Did you have another fight?”
I let out a half laugh, half scoff. “No. We had nothing… he didn’t come back.”
Her eyes open wide as she reaches out placing her hand on my knee supportively but says nothing more as she reverses out taking off after the roaring Harleys to Sass’s registration.
It doesn’t take us long to arrive at the Louisville Auto Arena. It has a car museum, a dealership, a Corvette plant, and a drag strip all in one. Not to mention an award-winning restaurant. It’s the perfect place for an Auto Mechanical Skills Contest. This place is a huge tourist hub in Louisville. The contest is an annual event for mechanics and it’s by invitation only, so Smokin’ Joe’s Garage must be pretty damn good to receive an invite. But more importantly, Sass must be pretty damn good to be the one competing out of all those men who work in his garage.
Our procession of bikes, pickups, and the truck pull into the parking lot. All eyes turn to look at us. Those Harleys demand attention every damn time, even I have to admit I like being a part of it. Sparx and I jump out of the pickup and fuss about getting the babies out while the guys deal with the engine, getting it out of the truck. They load it onto a motor trolley for them to wheel into the arrival area, while Sass paces around nervously. She’s got this, no matter how nervous she is. I know as soon as she walks in there, all her nerves will go. It’s just who she is.
Sparx and I place the kids into their stroller as we move out to meet the guys, while we all walk as one toward the entry. Everyone’s watching us. Most people around us are all wearing mechanic uniforms from the places they work. Sass and Smokin’ Joe have their uniforms on, but the rest of us are in our club colors. Sparx and Foxy have their property patches on. Mom’s wearing her long-time property patch even though Dad’s been gone for years. Me, I’m wearing a T-shirt with the club emblem on it. I might not be an Old Lady, but I’m in this club. I belong to it, and I want people to know that.
Sensei wraps his arm around Sass as they walk ahead of us. Sass has a little more pep in her step now. Out the corner of my eyes, I notice Tremor hidden amongst everyone else as I take my eyes from him. I don’t want to deal with him right now. We walk up to the entry gate as the security guards step forward. They both put their hands out as the registration person, a lanky guy wearing a lanyard, holds a clipboard looking so nervous he’s almost visibly shaking at the sight before him.
“Hey, I’m Ayla Anders from Smokin’ Joe’s Garage,” Sass te
lls the lanky guy.
He looks at her then to the rest of us. “And ahhh… who are these people?” he asks.
“My support crew.”
He’s completely frazzled as he glances to his clipboard, ruffling through the pages trying to find something. “You can’t… I mean, it’s not in the rules. You’re only supposed to have a maximum of five support crew—”
“You’re really going to say no to us going inside with her?” Sensei picks up his lanyard eyeing him really close, even I’m intimidated. He looks at his lanyard, stifling a laugh. “Stu?” Sensei shifts forward making Stu look like he might have just pissed in his pants a little.
He looks at the two security guards who are about ready to step in. “No, you’re fine, let them th-through,” Stu stutters.
I smirk as Sensei backs off, then pats Stu on the shoulder. “Thanks, Stu. You’re a legend.”
He beams so wide like Sensei has just said the best thing he could have right now as Stu straightens out his shirt, reaching into his pocket. “Well, thank you. And here’s some free passes into the museum. You all have a good time. And Ayla… good luck!”
I chuckle along with everyone else. “Why thank you, Stu,” Sass chimes as we walk on through, the two security guards shaking their heads.
We make our way inside. There’s car shit everywhere. I don’t really know what any of it is, but Sass and Joe’s eyes light up like it’s Christmas morning.
“Fuckin’ hell, I’ve always wanted to come to one of these things, but I never thought the day would actually come.” Joe begins to cough as we all look at him with concerned stares, he’s definitely going to have trouble walking around this giant hall. He rights himself as Sass rubs his back. “At least I got this in before the inevitable.”
Sass scowls. “No talk of that this weekend, Dad. We’re here to have fun, not talk about you dying on me.”
“Righto, kid. I hear ya. We’ll live it up. One last hurrah, just you and me.”
“And a mob of bikers tagging along, too,” Sensei offers.
Joe chuckles. “Yeah, and you blokes.”
“Hey!” Foxy giggles.
“Dammit, I can’t get anything fuckin’ right. The lot of ya. I’m just glad I can be here with ya all, you fuckers happy now? You made me all sappy and shit, you flamin’ mongrels.”
We all laugh at how Aussie this guy sounds. Even after all these years here, he still sounds so Australian. I race forward, pulling Joe into a hug. He looks down at me as Sass giggles jumping in. Foxy wastes no time joining the group hug, making Joe laugh. Then Mom runs in, then Sparx, then all the women of the fucking club are hugging Joe. Everyone laughs as he hugs us back.
“Fuckin’ hell, I’ve never been so damn lucky in all my bloody life!”
“Lucky bastard,” someone murmurs as they walk by. We all let out a chuckle, slowly detaching from him.
“Right, let’s get this party started, shall we?” Sensei asks us.
Sass jumps up on her toes. “Fuck, yeah!” she calls out as Vibe and Lift wheel the engine toward the registration area.
I glance over my shoulder to see Tremor watching my every move. I’ve felt his eyes on me for a while now, but I’ve been choosing to ignore the feeling. Though, as I look at him now, he looks sad and tired as we all move about to help Sass with her registration. He moves closer to me like he’s coming over to talk, but I walk straight past him, giving him the cold shoulder. My skin riddles in goosebumps as I slide by him. My breathing hitches. I want more than anything to turn around and talk to him, but I can’t. He stayed out last night possibly with another woman. That doesn’t sit easy with me.
Sparx strides up to my side. “You should go easy on him,” she murmurs.
“He’s a grown man, he can do whatever he wants, but right now I don’t want to talk about it. So, let’s just go support Sass, okay?”
She sighs as we walk over to the registration area with everyone else. “Okay.”
TREMOR
My stomach is churning, I feel seedy. Half from the amount of alcohol I drank last night, half from the way Lala is looking at me today. I get it. She must think I’m less than shit on her shoe, but the thing is, I didn’t do anything with the blonde—Sierra. All I could think about was Lala talking to that damn bartender. It was doing my fucking head in. So I had fun with Sierra. Yeah, I’m a fucking bastard. But once Lala left, the fun was gone, so I spent the night drinking.
When we left, I didn’t want to risk waking Lala, so I spent the night out the front of our room in the cold propped up against our door. I sent Vibe back to his room, so I could keep watch on Lala during the night.
I’m so damn tired because sleeping in the cold against a door is fucking ridiculously uncomfortable. My neck is killing me today. I know I should explain this to Neala, but right now isn’t the time. We need to be here to support Sass in her entry.
Vibe and Lift wheel the engine up to the administrator’s desk as Sass walks with them. We’re all close by, close enough to hear what’s going on, but not too close to be intimidating.
We all watch as the administrators stand up looking down at Sass. I tense up instantly. I know that look, they’re looking down on her because she’s a woman in a man’s world.
Fuckers.
Sass picks up on it instantly too as she goes about explaining what she did on the engine to submit it into the competition. One of the administrators walks to the engine looking it over. He pulls a wrench out of his pocket and starts to tinker with it while Sass folds her arms over her chest.
“These bolts are done up super tight. You know you had to complete this engine on your own with no outside help. I don’t think someone of your… stature, could tighten these this tight.”
We all scoff at his comment. No way did he just say that to her. Sensei goes to move, but she puts her hand on his cut as she steps forward instead, puffing out her chest like men do when they’re comparing cock sizes.
I like her balls.
“You think I’m not capable because I’m a woman?” she grunts.
“No, I didn’t say that. And I couldn’t even if I thought it.”
She chuckles. “Right, because of equal rights and all that. But you don’t believe in equal rights, do you, Bob?”
He looks her up and down. “Like I said, I didn’t say it. I just think it’s ironic you’re the only woman entered in this competition this weekend. Seems like a male-dominated field. Make of it what you will. So, if I don’t think you have the strength to tighten the bolts, then I can’t in good faith allow this engine to enter the competition. Therefore, you can’t enter the rest of this weekend’s events.”
“Bullshit!” Sensei grunts going to move forward again.
Sass holds her ground tilting her head. “Then if I challenge you to an arm wrestle, and I win, will it prove to you that I’m strong enough?”
Bob’s eyes light up in humor as he flexes his biceps. I glance at Zane as he grimaces. Bob might look a little gray, but his biceps aren’t lying. They’re huge. “Sure thing, darlin’. You win, you’re in. You lose, you turn around, and you and your bikers can hightail it out of here without making a scene.”
She puts her hand out to shake. “Deal.”
Bob shakes as we all chuckle while she moves over to the administration desk. Sensei is behind her, her pillar of strength, as Bob and his minions rally on the other side of the desk. Other mechanics are starting to gather around to watch the showdown as Sass and Bob lock hands.
“First to hit the table, wins,” Bob calls out.
Sass bops her head as both their arms flex. Tension is high on both camps as we all huddle in around her.
It’s silent until one of Bob’s minions blows a whistle out of nowhere, then the strain in their arms intensifies, and Bob begins to lower Sass’s arm slightly. We all start cheering, trying to help Sass as her face remains stoic. Bob, however, is looking like he’s putting all his effort in, the vein in his neck looking like it might burst at
any second. Sass is calm as we all cheer like fucking maniacs. She’s losing, but we’re trying to get her through this.
Suddenly just as Bob starts to chuckle thinking he has this in the bag, Sass’s eyes gleam, her arm tensing even more pushing with all her force. It happens so quickly, Bob’s eyes open wide, his pupils follow the line of his arm as it drifts from one side of the table straight to the other while Sass wastes no time in slamming his hand hard on the surface.
The room erupts in a frenzy as not only us, but the other mechanics around us cheer and applaud Sass’s efforts in coming back from the brink. Sensei hugs her from behind as she stares into Bob’s eyes.
He looks at her bewildered. “Well, I guess I was… wrong.”
Sass’s beaming face lights up. “I accept your apology. Now, am I entered into the competition?” she asks.
He looks around the room, then to his other administrators like he’s pissed off. “Welcome to the Auto Mechanical Skills Contest, Ayla. We’re… happy to have you.” He reluctantly hands her lanyard and her registration papers.
She takes them with a pep in her step. “Thanks, Bob. I’m happy to be here.”
“Now you’ve submitted your engine, you can either have a look around or come back tomorrow ready to compete. We start at eight in the morning, sharp. If you’re not here for your contest, you will forfeit. No exceptions.”
“We’ll be here,” she informs him.
“I look forward to seeing you in action,” Bob murmurs.
Sensei grunts as Sass chuckles. “I bet you do, slick. C’mon boys, let’s ride,” she announces. We all snicker at her tone as if she’s the leader. Torque shakes his head as he gives us the signal to walk off while Sass leads the way. Neala, Foxy, and Sparx all rush up to Sass. The women are always so supportive within the club.
I turn to Zane bumping his shoulder. “That was pretty fucking epic.”
“Sass had it in the bag. Have you ever arm wrestled her?”
“No, have you?”
He chuckles. “Yeah, and I lose. Every. Damn. Time.”
