BoyScout (The Rebels MC)
Page 14
I knocked five times before the door finally swung open. She was wearing my missing Rebels T-shirt, her hair soaking wet. “What are you doing here?”
“Nice shirt. Garrett Benton,” I pushed past her.
“What about him?”
I turned to face her and found her right behind me. I peered down as those pretty greens stared up at me. “Shaw, stop yanking my chain. What’s his real name?”
“That is, Scout. I swear.”
I walked around to the couch and sat. “He gave you a bullshit name then, why?”
“I don’t know. Why would he do that?”
“Maybe for reasons like right now. Where’s your savior, Tommy?” I taunted, knowing I sounded like a jealous boyfriend.
She sighed. “Not here yet.” I decided not to address her staying alone and being in possible danger.
“Do you have knowledge of anyone else that was close to him?”
“His sister, Bonnie. I have her number. We were kind of tight. We shopped and hung out quite a bit.”
I yanked my phone out and handed it to her. “Dial it.”
She waited, biting on her nail. “I don’t think…”
I picked up a glass sitting on the table full of water and threw it at the wall, shattering it. “Fucking dial it,” I roared.
She jumped back, frightened. I held my cell out. She grabbed it and it killed me to see her hand shaking, knowing I caused it with my temper.
“Bonnie, it’s me…”
I ripped my cell from her hand. “Bonnie, this is a guy named Scout. I’m with The Rebels MC and we need some information on your brother. He tried to hurt Shaw for a second time.”
“Pfft. I haven’t seen him. He up and split, took all the money we saved. And what do you mean, second time? When was the first time?”
“A few months, back he hurt her bad. What’s your brother’s real name or I swear to God, we’ll find you next?”
“Oh, my God, is she okay?”
“Yeah, she is. Name?”
She sighed. “He’s not my brother. We were in foster care together. I liked Shaw a lot, so I let him keep the charade going.”
“Name, Bonnie?” I growled.
“Eddie Chadwick. Tell her I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.”
I stood, shut my phone off and pulled a very nervous Shaw to me. “I’ll take care of him. Don’t be worried.”
“What if he’s still here in San Diego?” Her lips quivered.
“I’m counting on it, Sunshine.” I leaned down and pressed my forehead to hers. “Lock up behind me.” And then I selfishly kissed her quickly, wanting to calm her fears before I walked out. “Shaw? Lock the fuck up.”
She hurried over and I waited in the hall until the telltale sound of a lock turned. Then I left. I was a glutton for punishment when it came to her, but I figured she was Smokey’s kid, and if anything, she needed my protection.
Bottom line, I needed to find him before he found her and prayed Slider could get his info.
Chapter 17
SHAW
Tommy postponed and couldn’t come until the following day, since his brother was on duty and couldn’t care for their mother. So, Fiona was over and helped me move in the rest of my stuff. I had slept on the couch the last two nights not having all the necessities I had needed, but even so, I hadn’t been unable to wipe the smile off my face since leaving that nasty motel.
I didn’t have much, but luckily the place came semi-furnished, so all I had needed were some kitchen appliances, plates, and things like bedding, which, Fiona and I bought this morning at one of those super stores where she had a membership card.
Carefully, I placed my mother’s urn on the mantle above the gas fireplace along with some framed pictures I had kept of the two of us, plus one of me and Tommy.
“She was beautiful, Shaw. “
“Yeah,” I mumbled, sadly wiping the glass clean. “She was.”
“Sheets and blankets are all washed. I have one hour before I have to be at work. Let’s go make up your room.”
Once the sheets were on and we were fluffing the comforter on top my cell rang. I had picked up a new one a few weeks back. I dug it from my back pocket, answering. “Hello.”
“It’s Charles, Harley.”
Shocked. “How did you get this number, Charlie?” Fiona’s eyes grew wide, so I left and walked out to the living room.
“One of the girls at the club. Listen, I need a favor.”
“I already said no, Charles. I can’t go with you.”
“I know what you’re thinking, but it was never about that, Harley. My mom has stage four liver cancer and has been given less than a month to live, so I need to bump up our little weekend getaway. Her only dream was to see me married. I can’t give her that, but I could give her a fake fiancé. I have no one else. I’m begging you to change your mind. I’ll still pay.”
My eyes landed on my mother’s urn, swallowing thickly, thinking of her and what she would do for a person in need. “I don’t know, Charles. This is a big deal. I already made a promise to someone I care about.”
“I have no one else to ask who I trust to pull this off, and since you told me about your own mother, I thought for sure you’d understand.”
“I do.”
“Please, Harley. I’m begging you.”
Shoot! I was such a pansy ass. “You don’t have to pay me, but I’ll make my own reservation. Just send me a hotel link.”
“How about twenty-five thousand? I have to give you something to make up for all this.”
“You don’t have to. Just cover my expenses while I’m there.”
“I can do that, but I’m still paying you. I insist. And, Harley, thank you. You’re a lifesaver.” He hung up. I stared at my cell, questioning what I just had agreed to. Scout was going to be furious with me, but I figured if I told him the truth, he’d be cool with it, maybe even hang back and watch over us.
“Tell me you did not just cave?” Fiona asked, standing by the bedroom door. She didn’t mind me stripping at the club, but she made it clear to me once or twice not to sell myself to the devil for some cash.
Like a cheap tent, I folded.
I shrugged. “I had to, Fiona. His mom is dying. It’s just one dinner in Santa Barbara and then I’ll come back the next morning and he’s still paying me twenty-five thousand. That’s enough that I can go looking for a small spot to open a yoga studio. There’s none on Mission Beach. I’d be the first.”
“Santa Barbara is only a little over four hours; you should go and come back right after.”
I grimaced. “Maybe. Don’t tell Scout, okay? I want to do that.”
“He’s going to lose his mind,” she retorted.
I bit on my nail and paced trying to think of what I was going to say to him. “I know, but if I explain.”
She cut me off. “Not even then. Are you two officially together now?” She smiled and I knew she loved the idea of us as much as I did.
“I don’t know. It’s complicated. He’s pissed about Tommy coming.”
She nodded and checked her watch. “I bet he is. I got to go to work. See you later?”
“Of course.”
It was just after nine in the evening when I passed Glen, the clerk at the front desk, and waved. I had gone out and gotten some of Tommy’s favorite snacks to munch on, knowing he was coming the next day, but had felt anxious and I didn’t know why, other than I felt like someone had been watching me.
I pressed the elevator button and stepped in when it opened to find two of The Rebels coming off. “What are you two doing here?”
“Um…errand for Fiona.” Slider looked guilty, scratching his head, but I let it go knowing she sometimes had relations with the men in the club.
“Well, that’s nice. You two have a good night.”
“You, too, Shaw.” They skirted around me with a toolbox in one of their hands. Thinking nothing of it, I went in and locked myself behind the door.
I placed the bags down and unloaded them and then turned on the television for background noise. Instead of watching the show, I looked down at the bare beach, lit up by lights on the boardwalk. I hadn’t seen Scout in a few days and he hadn’t called to check up on me. When I finally left a message of what I was calling about, I panicked, unable to tell him the truth about Charlie, so I hung up.
I hated myself for hiding it from him, and I wanted to see him badly, so I could fill him in on my new decision where it came to Charlie, positive once I’d explained it, he’d understand. Besides, I had missed him something fierce.
Over the weeks he had picked up my broken pieces. I hadn’t wanted to love him, but when he was gone, I felt broken down and weak without him. I couldn’t explain it to myself, let alone him, about how much he’d come to mean to me. Whenever I looked in his eyes, I saw a future with him, but being with Johnny, meant that future would lead to Mitchell Stone. I was honesty surprised he kept it for so long, but it made me love him more.
I yanked my phone from my back pocket and texted him.
Can you come over? I need to see you. Please! xo
I waited and waited, drinking a glass of wine, then another, and another. Fiona’s housewarming gift had been to supply me with enough wine and rum to last me a month. At one AM, hours after I texted, I gave up and went to bed. I couldn’t sleep, though. I spent the night tossing and turning, wondering if someone else was keeping him warm.
Chapter 18
BOYSCOUT
“You staring at your phone isn’t going to change anything.”
“I’m debating what to say.”
“Scout, my advice to you is to tell her you two are done. Smokey doesn’t need to know about you two, I won’t tell him, if you back off now. Besides, there’s at least five chicks in the clubhouse right now ready to fuck and fuck hard, or we could go to L&L and tap Cheyenne for one of our old threesome’s. It’s been a long time since we did that, brother.” I had broken down and told Slider because he was busting his ass trying to dig up information for me and he got very curious, so I shared her secret, again. Two brothers I had put in a shitty ass position for me.
It was after midnight. She had texted hours ago. During those three hours, I went through almost a fifth of whiskey staring at her message and wanting to go to her, but knew I needed a lifeline to save myself from her, so I drank and drank, hoping to pass the fuck out, so I wouldn’t end up at her place. Fiona had called me and informed me she had changed her tune about Charles, so I avoided her, pissed the hell off.
And then after Shaw called me for the umpteenth time, I gave in and listened to one of her voicemails, but there was nothing but a soft sigh. Her lame excuse that Fiona told me why she had changed her mind meant nothing to me. If she went, I was done, and locking up that space I had made for her in my heart, tight like a vault and swallowing the key.
Thinking maybe Slider was right, I spun around on the stool looking for Lana. She had been begging me to take her into my room. She was the only one I hadn’t had yet that often came around to get laid, but she usually turned me off. Tonight, I didn’t care if she had something that disinterested me; tonight, I was just going to go through the motions, get in and then get out, try to forget, and move on from Shaw. Then my eyes fell on Hound, propped up against the pool table with her mouth around his cock, and I realized exactly what it was that had me continuously turning her ass down.
I felt relieved. “Think I’m going to just crash upstairs.”
“Fuck that! You’re coming with me and getting laid. We’ll take the truck.”
He hauled me outside and into his F150. We didn’t talk much, a few words here and there about Cheyenne and how he was looking forward to reuniting the three of us, but he steered clear of talking about why I had been walking around in a haze lately.
She was up on stage when she caught us coming into the club. She grinned, sliding her finger inside her mouth and pulling it in and out seductively. She knew what we were there for. Once her song ended, she nodded for us to meet her in one of the rooms. I went reluctantly after grabbing a bottle of beer from behind the bar.
“Hey, Tiger, I’ve missed you.”
I scoffed. “You missed my cock in your pussy while Slider fucks your ass, Cheyenne. Not me.”
“We doing this?” She looked around at Slider, annoyed, who was already slipping out of his boxers. She grabbed his hardened cock in her hand and used the other to unbuckle my belt. I took a swig of beer, my head fuzzy from all the alcohol. She sprung my flaccid dick free not a second later, frowning down at my manhood. I wasn’t sure if it was the copious amount of alcohol that gave me whiskey dick, or not wanting anyone other than Shaw.
“You two go. I’ll watch.” I took a seat, slammed back the rest of my beer, spit in my hand and moved it up and down, trying my best to get hard watching him fuck her pussy with his mouth. He turned, grinning his beard wet with her juices. “You sure?”
I nodded. He pulled back, took a condom from his wallet, slipped it on and then flipped her over, driving inside her tight ass. She liked it that way. Hard and rough was better for her, not to mention she was a squirter when she was fucked like that.
His hand came around, toying with her pussy as he rammed into her, pounding her, using the stage to hold her up. “Come on, Scout, join us,” she purred, her hand reaching for me. I was tempted, since somehow I was rock hard now.
“Nah, I’m good.”
I was too upset knowing some guy was ready to shack up with Shaw. Too upset with all the fucking head games she’d been playing. Too upset I wasn’t enough. Too upset that I loved her.
Too upset, period.
Chapter 19
SHAW
It was barely ten in the morning when the doorbell rang. I sprang from bed, exhausted, but happily looking forward to seeing Tommy. I opened the door, he breathed a huge sigh of relief, then he pulled me to him and placed me in one of his famous teddy bear hugs. In another life, I could’ve loved him like he had wanted me to, but I couldn’t. He had always been my constant. He knew everything about my life and I, his. We almost crossed the line twice, but in the end, we decided on our friendship, instead of the possibility of love, and risking it taking a nosedive.
“I missed you,” he muttered, burying his face in my hair.
“I missed you, too.” I had no idea how much I had until now. I pulled back, tears springing to my eyes. “You look great.”
He had a bouquet of flowers in his hand. “For your new digs.”
He followed me inside, and since I didn’t have a vase to put them in I opted for a tall glass, filling it with water and placing the pretty flowers inside. He was taking a tour without me, ending with the view from my living room. “I guess stripping does pay well.”
“You have no idea.”
“You want some coffee? I can make a pot.”
He nodded, his arms crossed over his chest, still staring outside.
Once we sat on the couch facing each other he grilled me. I kind of knew it was coming because he always played big brother.
“So, what happened with Garrett?” He was fishing for information right off the bat.
I shrugged. “Nothing. He scared me and got away.”
“You call the cops?” he pressed on, his jaw ticking.
I squirmed. “No.”
“What the fuck, Shaw? He seethed.
“What?” I reared back, not afraid. I just hated when he got upset with me.
He wagged his finger in my face. “I know you’re hiding something from me, what is it?”
I swallowed thickly, then took a small sip of the over-sugared coffee. “It’s not his real name. I just found out recently.”
�
�Why the hell didn’t you tell me? I’ve been looking everywhere for him. Even went to Bonnie, who was no help, by the way.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t want him to hurt you.”
“Pretty sure I could take on that prick, Shaw, but thanks for your lack of confidence.”
“Be nice.”
“Be nice? Say it, Shaw, just once. Call him what he is…a fucking bastard, prick, asshole, whatever. Just stop acting like what he did to you was okay.”
“I know it wasn’t okay,” I screamed, standing. I started to pace, nervously.
He stood and pulled me to him. “Shit, I’m sorry. I just worry about you.” He smoothed my hair down. “Have you found the sperm donor yet?”
“Yes and no.” I swiped a lone tear.
“What?” His eyes searched mine.
“I kind of fell for one of the bikers in his club and then with that damned letter you had found, the one I refused to read, well, I did. And it sucked. It ruined everything.”
“What did it say?”
“Her friend was killed. It was the club’s fault. She was afraid it would happen to her or me, or both of us if she stayed.”
“Shit,” he mumbled, pulling me back down to the couch.
“Yeah, shit.”
“So, who’s the biker?”
“Just a friend. He’s kind of taking over your role down here. You’d like him. He’s nice when he’s not being a jealous dick.”
His mouth opened. “Did my little perfect Shaw just curse?”
I smacked him. “I curse.”
“Hell, doesn’t count.”