by Eve R. Hart
“Coffee?” Abigail asked me in a cheerful tone, pulling my attention away from the blonde.
I cringed internally because I hadn’t talked to her since I’d made a crazy show and bolted earlier. I felt awkward because it was clear that she had stars in her eyes for Lake. And yes, I felt like shit that I’d maybe pushed my way between something that was there without even meaning to do so. I didn’t know what to think of the niceness that she was giving me right now. Only, I was good at reading people and the vibe I was getting off of her wasn’t catty or vindictive. She was a genuine person with a good heart. I’d been able to see it in such a short amount of time.
“God, yes,” I said in an overly dramatic and playful tone. “But sit, I can get it.”
I fixed my cup then took a seat with the rest of them. It was a little strained for a few minutes. I could feel their eyes on me with an antsy sort of energy rolling off of them. I figured they were waiting for me to start asking questions.
“Hi, I’m Bridget,” I said looking at the blonde.
“I’m Gwen. Knight’s old lady.” She gave me a warm smile.
“Old lady? That’s like his woman, right?” I asked just to make sure I understood.
Cami, Laurel, and Gwen all laughed while Abigail just smiled.
“I forget what it’s like to not know the ins and outs of the club,” Gwen said. “I grew up in this life so I sometimes assume everyone is on the same page. Sorry. Yes, I am Knight’s woman.”
I didn’t think I had met him yet but I kept that to myself.
“I hear you’re shacking up with Lake,” Gwen said bluntly.
My eyes went wide and not because I was one that got nervous about sex talk. It was because I didn’t want to stir up anything and Abigail was sitting right next to me.
“Sorry, we talk. Well, gossip, I guess,” Laurel said with a small laugh.
“I imagine Lake would be good in bed,” Abigail said but I didn’t detect any cattiness in her tone. “But I also imagine that Mason and Tripp know how to rock a woman’s world too. Oh, and Fitz, he might be kinda quiet but I think he just needs someone to unleash his inner beast.”
Laurel’s jaw dropped open as she turned her head to look at Abigail, whose cheeks had gone bright red.
“What,” she said sheepishly, “a girl can’t have fantasies about multiple men?”
“Oh, you’re such a dirty girl,” Laurel teased.
“Come on, this place is crawling with fine looking men. You couldn’t possibly ask a single girl to pick just one. Right?”
“Oh, you are just as bad as I am,” I said and we all broke out in a roar of laughter.
And just like that, I knew things would be alright. Not that I knew what that meant. I mean, I’d be leaving here soon and if Abigail wanted to make naked dance time with Lake, then I had no room to talk. Or maybe she was just like that with everyone and Lake wasn’t the only one she wanted to get dirty with. I had no clue because I didn’t know a damn thing about her.
I would have put her on the young side, maybe even just barely legal. I also had no clue why she was here. It seemed that all the other women that I’d seen so far had been attached to one of the club members. But the way Abigail floated around, she seemed like she was just kind of there.
“So how was it?” Gwen asked me. “I wasn’t here to hear all the craziness but these girls filled me in.”
I felt my face go red though I wasn’t sure why.
Yeah, maybe we’d gotten a little carried away and I may have forgotten that the outside world existed. I wasn’t ever one to keep quiet in the throws of passion but with Lake, things seemed to reach new levels.
“What are we talking about?” a guy I didn’t recognize asked as he made his way over to us from out of nowhere.
“Chris, this is Bridget. Bridget, Chris. He’s Ky’s… old lady-man?” Cami said with her head cocked to the side in confusion. “Guess I never really thought of how that title should go. He’s just Chris.” She gave a shrug as if that should have explained everything.
Chris took the seat between Laurel and Cami, and right away, I could tell there was a deep friendship between those three. He gave me a warm smile and a nod.
“Yeah, that sounds weird. I’ll just stick to Ky’s boyfriend, for now.” He let out a relaxed laugh and shook his head.
“Bridget and Lake got it on last night and half the club heard.” Laurel was quick to fill Chris in.
I wasn’t all that sure I like the spotlight on me.
“Well… nice.”
I felt like there was a high five coming with his tone.
“I’ve known Lake a long time. He’s a good guy,” Chris said giving me another smile.
“Oh, um, I’m not…” I let the words die there because I was tired of saying and thinking about how I wasn’t going to be sticking around much longer.
“She’s not from here,” Laurel said, filling in the thing I was trying to avoid. “She’s the one that gave Lake the black eye.”
She giggled and I heard a few snickers and chuckles too.
“Has everyone heard about that?” I asked feeling a little sorry for Lake.
“Nothing is kept a secret around here,” Chris said. “Well, mostly.”
“Just don’t ask about club business,” Laurel said and I could hear the bite in her tone.
“Wasn’t planning on it,” I quickly said because I wanted to make it known that I wasn’t part of this world and I had no interest in knowing anything.
“So what are you doing back here?” Cami asked him and thank God the conversation moved off of me.
“The bar is dead and I figured I wasn’t needed right now. I am not really feeling it. One of those days, I guess.”
We sat around drinking coffee and bullshitting for a long while. I learned that Gwen had been raised in a chapter of the club that was in Tennessee, just like her man, Knight. They grew up together and their story was rather sweet.
Laurel’s man, B-ry, was also a club kid growing up in another chapter further west in Tennessee.
Chris had lived in Moon Hill, and while he wasn’t a born and raised club kid, he’d grown up in a very small town where the mother chapter was held. He was close to most of the club members there and here as well, which included Cami’s man, Brand. Even before he got together with his boyfriend. And that boyfriend came from a chapter in South Carolina.
I was getting the feeling that this was a fairly new branch or chapter or whatever of the club. And it seemed to be a huge mix of people from all over. Roots seemed to be deep with these people.
I tried to follow along as best as I could and remember the names and phrases they used. It wasn’t really that hard to figure things out, but a few times I did have to stop them and ask. I liked that they didn’t laugh at me for being clueless.
“Hey, Dade,” Laurel called out making my head turn and look over my shoulder.
“Hey,” the guy, I assumed Dade, grunted out as he made his way across the kitchen to the refrigerator on crutches.
I glanced down and noticed that his pant leg swung back and forth below his knee. I wondered how he rode with one leg but decided with the anger that was rolling off of him, it was best not to ask.
“What do you need? I can get it.” Abigail said as she jumped to her feet and rushed to him.
“Don’t need you to get it. I got two hands that still work.”
“Dade,” Abigail said doing her best to push in and take over grabbing whatever he was reaching for.
“Goddammit, Abigail. Why the fuck haven’t you gone home yet?!” he roared.
Everything went still.
Even the air around me seemed to freeze.
“Because I’m your fucking sister and I care about your stupid ass!” she screamed back at him before any one of us could jump in.
And, well, it was really hard to hold back my laugh but I managed to. She wasn’t going to let him push her around and it was a shock. The Abigail that I’d come to know w
as sweet and maybe a bit timid. But it was clear when it came to her brother, which I assumed was why she was here now, she wasn’t going to take shit.
They were in a standoff, eyes locked on the others and it was like we were all waiting to see which one pulled their gun to shoot. In my mind, I saw a tumbleweed roll by.
“Sit down. I’ll bring you something.” Abigail turned her back to him, bumping him out of the way and causing him to stumble a little.
With a deep sigh, he turned and headed in our direction. He dropped down in the empty seat next to Chris and propped his crutches up against the table beside him.
“Why aren’t you wearing your temporary leg?” Abigail asked him making his eyes look up to her and shoot daggers in that direction.
I was pretty good at reading people and surroundings. Though it didn’t really take a genius to figure out what was going on here. Dade was not used to his situation, making me think that his loss was a fairly new one. He was still learning how to deal with his new life while trying to figure out his feelings on all of that. However it happened, I imagined that it couldn’t have been an easy thing. I didn’t blame him for the anger.
That said, I didn’t like him yelling at Abigail no matter the fact that she was his sister.
And it was clear that Abigail was here for him. I wasn’t sure how far away home was, but I got the sense that it wasn’t here.
“I didn’t feel like dealing with it right now,” he grumbled.
After the microwave dinged, Abigail brought over a plate of leftovers for him.
“I’m sorry,” he said looking down at the plate and I imagined it wasn’t something easy for him to say especially with a table full of people. “I love you.”
“I know,” she said cheerfully as if she’d already shaken off his mood. “Love you, too.”
It was comical how his hand holding a forkful of food paused in front of his hung open jaw as his eyes finally noticed me.
“Don’t know you,” he stated, eyes trying to figure me out for a split second before that food finally made it into his mouth.
“Lake’s girl,” Abigail supplied with a wink.
“Since when?” he asked with confusion ringing high in his tone.
“I’m not Lake’s girl,” I cut in before this all got out of hand.
“Did you fu-sleep with him?”
“Yeah,” I answered with an eye roll. It wasn’t like everyone else didn’t know.
“And you’re here drinking coffee and gabbin’ with the girls? And Chris. Sorry, man.”
“Yeah, so? I’m kind of stuck until Lake fixes my car.”
“That’s a level of respect that isn’t just given out. There’s a line drawn, it’s a clear one, too. One nighters get the boot right after, or if they are lucky, they get to stick around and make breakfast in the morning. But then their ass is out. Don’t have time for that shit. You sittin’ here, relaxed and genuinely seeming like you like everyone here at this table, that tells me that they’ve already accepted it. Now you just need to.”
I really wanted to ask him what the fuck he was talking about because most of that shit went over my head.
My eyes slid over to Laurel’s and she just beamed at me and nodded like she agreed with him.
“I’m leaving soon. I don’t live here.” I had to say something, and that was the one thing that made sense to me. This wasn’t my home and I was never meant to stay here.
“Women,” he said and though he didn’t roll his eyes, I could feel it in his tone. “Always got to make shit complicated.” His eyes slid over to Abigail and I got a sense of that brother-sister playfulness there as she narrowed her eyes at him.
“So what happened to your leg?” I asked in an attempt to change the subject. Hey, I never said I was smooth at that shit.
“Got dealt a bum hand.”
What the hell kind of response was that? Since I figured it was something recent and he was still dealing with it, I tried to brush off his grumpy demeanor. I was sure it didn’t help to have his sister fussing over him making feel like he couldn’t do things he used to do, even if she meant well.
Pity. That was what he was expecting from me as he forced his eyes to stay locked onto mine. And I could tell he dreaded it.
“That sucks, dude,” I said with a shrug. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel bad for the guy, I just didn’t want him to see it. “But don’t you mean you got dealt a bum leg? You still have both your hands.”
Yeah, I know. Corny and not really funny in this situation. And by the way the room went stiffly still, I could tell that everyone was holding their breath either from shock or because they were waiting to see how bad this guy was going to blow up at me.
But what I got was so unexpected it made me smile. Because after a few blinks, like he couldn’t believe that he’d heard me right, his eyes got this mischievous twinkle in them and his lips spread wide across his face, lighting the whole thing up.
“I like you,” he said with a deep chuckle, then resumed shoveling food into his mouth.
“Thanks,” I said. “But apparently I’m already taken.” And for shits and giggles, I winked at him.
“Oh, shoot,” Laurel said jumping out of her seat. “I have to go walk Biscuit and get Blade to PT.”
“Biscuit?” I asked.
“Ugliest fuckin’ mutt you’ve ever seen,” Dade said with a shake of his head.
“Don’t let him hear you talking about his baby like that.” Laurel shook her head at him then looked at me. “Come on, you can meet her.”
And so I waved bye and went to meet the not-so-cute dog that was actually really sweet and loving. Oh, and her… daddy? That sounded so strange. But yes, I met Blade. Who was every bit as intimidating and frightening as his name. His face was stern and showed not even a flicker of emotion. He was grunty and grumpy and I didn’t miss how he referred to Laurel as ‘Cami’s sister’ instead of by name.
Once they were gone, I headed back up to Lake’s room for a bit.
I had to admit hanging out and getting to know them made me see things that might have been missing in my life. I could tell they were close though they were clearly all different.
I saw it then, what I didn’t have. Especially now that my dad was no longer here. And for the first time, I sat down and really felt how lonely I truly was.
My dad had always been my best friend and maybe that sounded kinda sad, but it wasn’t. He was the best kind of friend anyone could have. But now I could see how not having that outside connection may have hindered me a little. It wasn’t like I was going to talk and joke about sex things with my dad. That was just fucking weird.
And now that he was gone what did I have? No one. I sure had done a good job at isolating myself.
I batted away the sad cloud that was looming over me. I didn’t have time for that now.
So with that, I decided to jump into work.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Bridget
I was going to sit on that address for one more night, then write the building off as a dead end. I couldn’t believe that I was even giving it that. In my heart, I knew there was nothing there but I was at a loss.
I had hoped that maybe Cable would have been able to give me something else to go on, but since I hadn’t seen him or heard anything from Lake, I figured there were other pressing club matters that needed to be dealt with. And had a feeling I didn’t want to try and step in the middle of all of that shit. I wasn’t going to argue or get upset. I understood how it all went.
I headed out a little earlier in hopes of catching some signs of life on the street. But it was clear that even though the sun was still out, there was nothing going on.
I got out of the SUV, thinking a walk might turn up something. I knew to keep my eyes open and my guard up, I wasn’t that stupid.
A trip around the block and through some alleyways came up empty. I was convinced that there was nothing here. This place was seriously a damn Ghost Town. I even peeked in a few
of the office entrances, only to find them looking clean but obviously unoccupied.
“What the fuck?” I asked out loud and shook my head.
Two hours. That was it. I was going to sit there for two hours and then I was done. I was already feeling a little tired and just wanted to get some sleep.
The sun was setting and there was a cold chill rolling in too quickly for my liking.
As soon as I climbed into the SUV and got settled down, my thoughts went to Lake. I was surprised that he actually kept up with me. And damn, did he rock my world. It was kinda crazy and strange. I hadn’t pictured him fucking like he had. Sure there were those awkward moments, but that was just as much my fault as his.
Which, okay, it actually made me feel more comfortable.
I was me and I had accepted that I wasn’t like everyone else. I didn’t have a problem with it and if someone did, I didn’t give a fuck. But I had to say, it was nice to have someone that kind of got it and was maybe just as odd as me.
I had been so lost in thought that I didn’t see the shadows until they completely surrounded the SUV.
“Shit!” I sat up with a start and reached for the glove box where I had stowed my gun. “Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“Not a wise move,” the deep voice said from the other side of the driver’s side door. “Hands up, step out. Slowly.”
I froze, unsure of what the fuck I should do. Yeah, I was panicking a little. Okay, fuck, a lot!
I hated that they could see through the tint. Which, how the hell? Because that shit was dark.
Lake.
Yes. I needed…
And the light went off in my head.
“Okay,” I called out as my eyes bounced around at the six men that surrounded the front half of the SUV. “Let me get the keys. This isn’t my car and I don’t want it to get stolen.”
Spotting my cell right there in the cup holder, I moved slowly. I unlocked it blindly because I was afraid to look away from the huge men dressed in suits that had guns trained on me.
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention that part. These weren’t standard police issued ones either, which led me to think there was something more going on here. These men weren’t cops or detectives and I had clearly stepped into the middle of something— yet again. I knew I had to keep the tiger tucked away this time, there would be no jumping out of the car and punching someone. All of these men were scary big. Like the kind that could crush me between their fingers, big.
