Karmen shoveled in a mouthful, and she also closed her eyes. “Good God.”
It had been damn good. Way better than any lasagna I could make.
“You check on Cole lately?” Nickel called.
“I did,” Karmen called around a mouthful of lasagna. “But I will remember the next time you’re in one of your meetings for the Fallen Lords to interrupt and ask you the last time you checked on Cole.”
Nickel looked up from his cards. “You shitting me right now?” he chuckled.
Karmen shrugged and licked her finger. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and find out.”
Pipe chuckled. “Looks like you’ll be the one checking on Cole next.”
Nickel flipped him off but didn’t disagree.
These chicks were a lot tougher than I had thought they were.
“We should all go out one night,” Alice mumbled. “Get dinner or go bowling.”
“Bowling?” Nickel chuckled.
Alice grabbed my beer and took a drink. “Sure. Why the hell not? You guys too cool to bowl or something?”
Nickel shook his head. “I’m not. But I’m pretty sure I would pay good money to see Wrecker put some ugly fucking shoes and throw a ball down the alley.”
Wrecker shook his head. “Find a bowling alley with a bar and that is where you will find me. My ass is not bowling.”
“That’s what he thinks,” Alice whispered.
“What was that, woman?” Wrecker called.
“Nothing, snookum,” she replied sweetly.
Nikki raised her hand. “I would like to request a blue ball.”
“You’re cut off,” Pipe called.
“What?” Nikki shouted. “I am not cut off.”
“You just want a blue ball so you can tell everyone you have blue balls or something crazy like that.”
Nikki lifted her glass to her lips. “He knows me so well.” She took a long drink and winked at me.
Something was happening.
I was being accepted into this weird Girl Gang. “I’m heading to bed.”
I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to be a part of this.
I was supposed to hate all of this and all of them.
Not planned bowling nights and being a part of their meetings.
“No, you’re not.” This came from Clash.
“Yeah, I am,” I insisted.
“Keep your ass behind the bar,” he growled.
“No.”
Clash took a pull off the bottle of whiskey. “Yes. I can see you and know you’re not trying to start the clubhouse on fire.”
“I’m not going to set the clubhouse on fire.”
One time I go outside with a gas can and matches to light a fire and I’m forever known as setting the clubhouse on fire.
“You stay behind that bar and I’ll know that for a fact.”
I rolled my eyes. That was the last thing I was going to do. “Deal me in.”
“Uh, what?” Alice croaked.
I walked around the bar and pulled out the chair next to Clash. “Deal me in. If you want me to stay out here, then I’m going to do what I want. Deal. Me. In.” I enunciated each word slowly.
“Boom,” Alice whispered loudly.
“Can she do that?” Karmen hissed.
“I don’t know, but I’m totally popping some popcorn.” Nikki dashed into the kitchen with her drink sloshing onto the floor.
“You’re not playing, Raven.” Wrecker picked up his cards. “We already dealt.”
I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest. “I can wait until the next hand. Clash is going to win this one anyway because he has full house, kings high.”
Pipe threw his cards up in the air, and Wrecker and Nickel threw them on the table.
“What the fuck?” Clash yelled. “You could have at least waited until they made their bets.”
I rolled my eyes and reached to grab the discarded cards. “What would have been the fun in that?”
“It would have put twenty bucks in my pocket. That sounds fucking fun to me.” Clash tossed his cards in front of me. He grabbed the bottle of whiskey and took a long swig.
“So now instead of taking it from you, I’ll take it from these guys.” I shuffled the cards and dealt out five to each of us. “Let’s see how lucky you biker boys are.”
“Don’t start without me,” Nikki called from the kitchen.
“It’s not like you’re playing,” Pipe called.
“I know.” The microwave slammed, and Nikki came jogging out of the kitchen tossing the hot bag back and forth between her hands. “I want to watch Raven kick your ass.”
Pipe looked up from his cards. “Who the hell’s side are you on, woman?”
Nikki sat at the bar with Karmen. “Raven’s. You’re the one who is intruding on a Girl Gang meeting, so it’s only fitting you would get your ass beat by her.”
“You guys started without us?” Wren walked through the front door with Maniac in tow.
“Hey, I thought I was the fifth guy.” Maniac stopped in his tracks and stared at me sitting in his chair.
“I thought we were having a meeting?” Wren pulled a notepad out of her pocket. “I even brought this to take notes.”
“Notes?” Wrecker asked.
Alice jumped up and pointed her finger at Wrecker. “See! Our meetings are way more official than yours because we take notes.”
“Is that cow print?” My mind registered what Alice was wearing.
Cow print overalls.
She looked like a farmer who had decided to skin one of his cows and wear it as pants.
They were absolutely hideous.
Alice hooked her thumbs through the suspenders. “Sure are. You like them? I got them off eBay.”
“Ask her how much they cost,” Wrecker grumbled.
“They were a birthday present from you,” she whined at Wrecker.
“That I didn’t know I bought you until I saw my credit card bill.” Wrecker leaned back in his chair. “Had to figure out what ‘men’s jogger cow overalls’ were when I looked at the bill.”
“It’s pretty self-explanatory to me,” Nikki laughed. She pointed at Alice. “They’re that.”
“Alice was kind enough to point that out to me when I asked her what the seventy-nine dollar charge was.” Wrecker stroked his beard and laid down one card.
“You paid seventy-nine dollars for that thing?” I asked. I handed Wrecker another card and tried to focus on my own hand and not Alice’s pants.
“It was actually a steal. I was bidding on another pair that went over one hundred.” Alice spun in a circle and raised her hand over her head. “Wrecker doesn’t recognize I got one hell of a deal.”
Each of the guys asked for cards, and I set down two.
“She acts like I got off easy or something.” Wrecker placed his bet. “She’s failing to mention the three Mary fucking Moo Moo statues and the tail.”
“Tail?” Karmen yelled. “What in the hell do you need a tail for?”
Alice rolled her eyes and trounced behind the bar. “You really need to tell the whole tail story, and not that I just ordered a tail. You make me sound crazier than I really am.” She grabbed a glass and slammed it on the bar. “You are the reason I needed a new tail in the first place.”
Nikki leaned closer to Karmen. “You think they’re into mascots?”
Karmen wrinkled her nose. “I really don’t know what you are talking about, but I am completely intrigued.”
“Don’t, Nikki,” Pipe warned. “Do not open this can of worms.”
Nikki rolled her eyes and flipped off Pipe. “I’m totally opening it, Pipe. This needs to be known. People dressed up as animals and fucking is not something that needs to be known.”
Nikki slammed her hand down on the bar. “And now you ruined the shock value.”
Pipe rolled his eyes and turned around to look at Nikki. “You told the damn cashier at Burger King the other day about mascot fucking. Can we find someth
ing else to focus on?”
“I’m not into that,” Alice called. “I just like, well, cows.”
“I can vouch for the fact that we do not fuck dressed up as mascots.” Wrecker looked at Alice. “At least, not yet.”
I wrinkled my nose and laid down my cards. “Can we please not talk about this.”
Wrecker was my brother, after all, and I did not need to know any of this about him. My hand was shit, and if we kept talking about Wrecker and Alice, I was going to lose my dinner all over the table.
The guys laid down their cards, and Clash grinned wide. “Remind me again how you were going to take all of our money.”
I took a drink and glanced at Clash. “That was luck.” I grabbed all of the cards and reshuffled them. “Now you really better hold onto your wallets.”
I dealt out another hand and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw I had a full house with jacks high. Not the absolute best hand, but I was pretty sure I could win with it.
Wren raised her hand. “Can we get back to why Alice bought a tail?”
Wren was normally the quiet one of the group, but when she talked, she always had a good point.
I, too, wanted to know why the hell Alice bought a tail. “I’m going to need the answer to that, too.” I passed on picking up cards and bet five dollars. Clash tried to look at my hand but I lifted my shoulder and glared at him. “Keep your eyes to yourself, warden.”
He smirked and leaned back in his chair. “I’ll pass.”
He bet five dollars, and I wondered just what cards he had to make him think he could beat me.
“Wrecker pulled mine off.”
Everyone stopped talking and looked at the kitchen.
Alice had the gallon of milk in her hand and the cap to it in the other.
Nikki elbowed Karmen in the ribs. “They’re into mascots but they don’t know that’s what it’s called.”
“We are not into fucking like cows,” Wrecker thundered.
Karmen leaned closed to Nikki. “The fact he is so defensive about it makes me think you’re right.”
Nikki nodded and tapped her finger to her nose. “Right on, girlfriend.” Nikki turned to Wren. “Are you taking notes?”
Wren had her nose buried in the notepad. “Uh, yeah. You can’t even make this shit up. We need to have this all documented.”
“Lord, girls.” Alice poured a glass of milk then spun the top back on. “I was wearing my pajamas with the tail, and Wrecker was laying on it.”
“It just gets kinkier,” Nikki hissed.
Alice laughed and shook her head. “Hardly kinky.”
She set the milk in the fridge and walked back over to the bar. She popped open a Coke and poured it into the milk.
Nickel curled his lip. “What in the hell are you drinking?”
Alice smiled. “It tastes like a melted Coke float.”
“The tail!” Wren shouted. Her pen was poised over the notebook, and she was glaring at Alice. “What happened to the tail?!”
“I rolled over, and the damn tail stayed under Wrecker.”
Nikki’s jaw dropped.
Karmen closed her eyes.
Wren dropped her pen. “Are you shitting me? That is the ending you’re going to give me? You couldn’t even spice it up a bit?”
Alice shrugged. “So, I ordered a new one off eBay when I snagged these fancy overalls.” Wren glared at Alice. “It was on sale? That has to make the ending good, right?”
Wren ripped out the page she had been scribbling on and tossed it on the floor. “I am not the secretary if I can’t get good material.”
Maniac draped his arm over her shoulders. “Did you really think it was going to be what you thought it was?”
“Well, a girl can dream, can’t she?” Wren reached over the bar and grabbed a glass. “Fill me up with Coke.”
She slammed it down in front of Alice then plopped back down on the stool.
“No booze?” Alice asked,
Wren shook her head and glanced at Maniac. “Not for the next seven months.”
Karmen jumped off her stool and pointed at Wren. “I freaking knew it!”
Karmen threw her arms around Wren and jumped up and down. Nikki hopped off her stool and joined in the jumping and celebrating.
I watched as Alice filled Wren’s glass then set it down in front of the three of them that were going crazy. “Join the club.”
Wren, Nikki, and Karmen froze mid-yell and looked at Alice. “Club?” they said in unison.
Alice looked at Wrecker who was now pale as shit and looked like he was ready to pass the hell out.
Holy fuck monkeys.
“What club?” he asked quietly.
Alice’s eyes glassed over, and she sniffled. “Why do you think I bought these pants?”
“Uh, ‘cause they’re cow?” Pipe guessed.
Alice wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “Well, yeah, but also because they’re fucking huge which means they’ll have plenty of room for my stomach that is going to get as big as a basketball.”
Wrecker sprang up from the table and catapulted himself over the bar. He wrapped his arms around Alice and pulled her into him. “You bought these pants two weeks ago,” he growled.
“Yeah, well. I knew but didn’t know how to tell you.” Alice buried her face in Wrecker’s neck. “I was also afraid it would come out with a beard like yours. It was a terrifying thought.”
Wrecker roared with laughter and twirled Alice around in his arms. “You’re having my baby,” he yelled.
The card game was completely forgotten as everyone hugged and talked at once.
“You all right?”
I glanced over at Clash. “Never better.” I drained my beer and set it down. “Why aren’t you over there celebrating with them?”
He shrugged. “I’ll tell them congratulations later. Probably when they’re not going crazy.”
I raised my eyebrow. “You do know you are talking about Alice, right?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “I know.”
Crazy was the regular when she was around. “I think I’m gonna head to my room.”
He looked at me then glanced at everyone else. “You don’t want to hang around and congratulate your brother?”
I shook my head. “I’m like you. I’ll wait ‘til the crazy settles.”
I watched Wrecker shake Pipe’s hand with Alice still in his arms. He was happy. I didn’t want to take that away from him. I wasn’t something that made Wrecker happy.
Clash nodded. “I’ll see you in the morning, beautiful.”
My eyes dropped to the table. “Night, warden.”
I slipped away from the table—no one noticed I left—and walked to my room.
I was foolish and looked behind my shoulder to see if anyone followed me.
No one was there.
I put my key into the lock and hesitated a second to listen for the mention of my name.
No one said it.
I closed my eyes and twisted the key.
No one knew I left because at the end of the day, no one cared.
*
Chapter Six
Clash
Ten minutes.
I stood outside her door for ten minutes trying to get the courage to knock.
I saw it in her eyes.
I saw the hurt.
I saw the pain.
Raven was hurt, and I saw it clear as day.
She had her radio on too loud, and some chick crooned through the door.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I looked down the hall and saw Brinks standing there in his underwear.
“What the hell are you doing?” I parroted.
Brinks reached down and itched his junk. “I was gonna grab a beer from the kitchen but instead, I’ve been standing here for five minutes watching you raise your hand only to lower it. You’ve done it seven times.”
I moved away from Raven’s door. “I don’t know what the hell I’m
doing.”
“Looks like you want to talk to Raven but either your arm is broken, or you don’t know what to say to her.” Brinks looked around me. “I’m going to assume you don’t know what to say to her since your arm seems to be okay right now.”
“Alice and Wren are both pregnant.” I didn’t want to keep talking about me. Blurting out something completely off topic was exactly what needed to be done.
“That’s what all the fucking shouting is about?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Alice surprised the hell out of everyone, even Wrecker.”
Brinks chuckled. “Not surprising seeing the way Alice is.”
I nodded and shoved my hands in my pockets. “Uh, I guess I’ll get to bed.”
It was only half past ten, but with Raven already in her room, there really wasn’t anything for me to do.
Before I hadn’t noticed it, but my life really did revolve around Raven.
Brinks looked at me knowingly. “Surprised you’re not celebrating with everyone.”
I shrugged. Everyone really was down there except me and Brinks. Well, Boink and Mayra were still gone ‘til tomorrow, but even Freak and Slayer were drinking and acting like everything was amazing.
“I did for a bit.”
Brinks looked at Raven’s door. “But the person you really want to hang out with isn’t down there.”
My eyes connected with Brinks’. “No,” I said loudly.
He shook his head. “Right, no.” He smirked and turned back to his door. “Definitely not.”
“Not, Brinks. Fucking not.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be with Raven, it was just weird to not have her down there.
That’s what it was. It wasn’t anything else.
“You’ve still got an hour or two to stare at her bedroom door. I’ll let you get back to it.”
“What about you?” I asked. “Why aren’t you down there?”
He was acting like it was off that I wasn’t down there, but his ass wasn’t down there either. Though, he wasn’t staring at someone's door instead of being with everyone else.
“The person I want to be with isn’t down there either.” He walked back into his room and shut the door. The lock clicked into place loudly, and the small crack of light from under his door went out. “Though I’m not staring at her door like a psychopath,” he shouted through the door.
Fallen Lords MC: Books 4-6 Page 36