by Sophia Gray
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I glanced down at the screen. The battery was almost dead but I had a dozen texts from Rudy. A fresh bolt of pain flashed through my mind and I closed my eyes.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “Of course he couldn’t fucking wait to hear from me.” I knew that I should read them immediately but I couldn’t deal with him right now. It’d have to wait until I could show up at the clubhouse, freshly showered and changed.
Arianna was nowhere in sight. I didn’t leave her a note—I knew she wouldn’t mind. I’d crashed at The Last Haul so many times before that it was practically a routine of mine.
My knees were stiff and I groaned as I walked outside and spotted my bike in the corner of the parking lot. The day was turning hot and sweat started beating on my brow as I pulled my helmet on and drove off towards the Prophets clubhouse.
I wasn’t exactly shocked to see Rudy, Boulder, and Tyler hanging out inside. They were all drinking. When Rudy saw me, a look of anger passed over his face. He started walking towards me and I balled my hands into fists, shoving them into my pockets.
“Man, we need to talk,” Rudy said. “Come with me.” He jerked his head to the side and I followed him into a back room. He slammed the door shut behind us and for the first time, I felt a little trace of fear. I’d proven myself as a trustworthy Prophet, but Rudy’s word was the law around these parts. Until we got a new president, Rudy was going to keep running one hell of a tight ship.
“What’s going on, man?”
“You know what the fuck is going on,” Rudy shot back. “What the fuck is up with you, Mitchell?” He shook his head and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it and taking a fierce drag. “You’ve never acted like this. Pussing out of selling drugs and then fucking disappearing all night? This little teenage rebellion phase needs to stop.”
I stared at him. “I can’t lie,” I said. “I’m feeling fucked up over that girl, Vanessa. The girl from the party. The one who left after the Catchers crashed our party.”
Rudy frowned. “You fuckin’ with me?”
“No. I’m being honest.” I shrugged. “I hate admitting this, but you were gonna figure it out at some point.”
Rudy shook his head. “This shit ain’t gonna fly with me,” he said. “You gotta either hit it or quit it, you know? It’s compromising your behavior as a Prophet, and I can’t have one of my guys acting like a fuckin’ pansy just because of some puss.”
I didn’t like the way he was talking about Vanessa, but I didn’t say shit.
“I got it,” I said. “I gotta find her, and fuck her, and then she’ll be out of my system.”
Rudy nodded. “Yeah, you do that,” he said. He stared at me. “I had no idea you were such a softie, Mitchell. You have some secret poetry shit hidden or somethin’ like that?”
I rolled my eyes. “Fuck no,” I spat. “She’s just a hot little piece, that’s all.”
“Hang on,” Rudy said. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number before holding it up to his ear. “Hey, Kimmy? Where’s that uptight roommate of yours? One of my guys is askin’ about her.”
I glared at him. “You didn’t have to fucking do that,” I muttered, kicking at the ground with the toe of my boot. I winced as I listened to Kimmy’s shrill voice in the background. It didn’t sound like she was pleased I was asking around about Vanessa. Fuck her, I thought suddenly. She only brought Vanessa here because she knew she wouldn’t fit in. That’s fuckin’ bullshit.
Kimmy had always had a crush on me. We’d known each for a few years. She’d come around as soon as I pledged with the Prophets and she still seemed to want me, even when I was just a prospect. As soon as I was fully patched in, she threw herself at me non-stop. But she wasn’t the kind of woman I was interested in. She’d be good for a quick lay, and that would be it. She wasn’t anything like Vanessa. They may as well have come from separate planets of women.
“Hey,” Rudy said. He snapped his fingers and I looked up. “Kimmy’s taking her to the club tonight.”
“The Poisoned Apple? You want me to go hustle?”
Rudy shook his head. “Nah, some club in Catchers territory.” He smirked at me. “You think you can handle yourself?”
I glared at him. “I’m just gonna go in, get Vanessa, and then take her out for a bit. Nothin’ to worry about.”
“If I hear anything about you fightin’ with Catchers on account of this girl…” Rudy trailed off and he stared at me, his brown eyes deadly serious. “Cade, you’re a good Prophet. You don’t fuck up and you take orders well. But this shit has to end, tonight. You get that? You fuck her once and then leave, you got it?”
“Sure,” I said half-heartedly. “I got it.”
Chapter Nine
Vanessa
I stood in front of my closet, staring at everything I’d brought to the apartment with me. There wasn’t much that I thought would be acceptable to wear to a club. I didn’t even have any skirts shorter than my knee. After tearing everything out and laying the clothes down on my bed, I picked through the outfits. Everything was the same—I could have picked three pieces at random and they all would have matched. This was the way Mom dressed. She said it made more sense than buying clothes that didn’t match. I’d always agreed with her, but suddenly I found myself cursing her in my head. Why the hell did she have to be so goddamn boring? Even my prom dress hadn’t been very sexy, and that was the only thing I’d bought from a store geared towards people my age. Everything else I had came from the kinds of places where Mom shopped.
I definitely didn’t have anything proper for a nightclub.
Kimmy knocked on my open door. “Hey, roomie,” she chirped. “You about ready? It’s almost eight, we should get going.”
“I don’t know,” I said miserably. “I mean, what the heck am I supposed to wear? Look at all of this stuff. It sucks!”
Kimmy laughed. “You look fine,” she said.
“I look like I’m going to the library,” I pointed out. I was wearing my tightest jeans, a black blouse, and a blue sweater. “I don’t look sexy at all. Unless guys are into girls who look like grandmothers.”
“Quit being so hard on yourself,” Kimmy said. “It’s not about the clothes. It’s about your attitude.” She walked over and pulled my sweater off. The black blouse was short-sleeved and had a high collar. She unfastened the collar and left it hanging open. If I’d had bigger boobs, I would have maybe had a little cleavage. But since I didn’t, I just looked girlish and flat.
“I still don’t like the way I look,” I said as I stared at myself in the mirror.
“How about this?” Kimmy held up my skirt. “This isn’t bad.”
I stared at it. It was denim, and from about six years ago. I’d worn it in high school, self-consciously happy every time I’d put it on because it was the only vaguely trendy thing I’d owned. But now it looked dated, like the kind of thing you’d find marked down to three dollars in a thrift store.
“I don’t know,” I said. “That doesn’t look very good on me.”
“Hold on,” Kimmy said. She darted into the kitchen and I listened to the sounds of her fumbling around in the drawers. When she appeared in the doorway again, she was clutching a pair of scissors. She grinned at me and held them up in the air, miming a cut.
Twenty minutes later, we were out the door and walking to the bus stop. I was wearing my black blouse and my newly fixed denim miniskirt. The hem was ragged and a little uneven, but Kimmy assured me that it looked cooler that way.
“Is this someplace in Bleeding Prophet territory?”
Kimmy shook her head. “Nah,” she said. “This is someplace new. They have a killer all-night happy hour.” She raised her eyebrows. “So you can have a drink and let loose a little bit. Sound good?”
I swallowed hard. My last brush with trying to be hip hadn’t gone so well. “I don’t know,” I said. I wrinkled my nose. “I feel like no matter what I do, I’m always going to look like a loser.�
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“Vanessa, I’m gonna tell you a secret,” Kimmy said. She stood with her hip jutting out to one side. “No one is really cool. Everyone just pretends. And the longer you do it, the cooler you look.” She tossed her hair, somehow looking cooler than I knew I’d ever be. “And when you get old enough, everyone figures it out anyway.”
I nodded. “Okay,” I said. “I’ll start trying, then.”
Kimmy laughed. The bus was pulling up and we started digging through our purses for our bus passes. “Vanessa, relax,” Kimmy said as we boarded the bus. As usual, all the men turned to stare at her. “Everything’s gonna be fine,” she assured me as we slid into a pair of empty seats at the back of the bus.
I was silent as we moved across Madison. Madison wasn’t a huge city, and I thought I was pretty familiar with it from years of driving to and from school. But I was shocked to see that we wound up in a pretty rundown area. It didn’t look anything like the Madison I was used to seeing.
“Are we gonna be safe?” The bus rumbled past an old, empty strip mall and I shuddered. Homeless people had set up tents all over the place and I began to wonder how much cash I’d brought with me. Not much, I hoped.
“Vanessa, this place is fine,” Kimmy said. She puffed her chest out and gazed down at her cleavage. For a skinny girl, she had a really curvy body. I felt insecure just looking at her. Why would Cade want me when he could have someone like Kimmy?
“How do you know?”
Kimmy sighed in exasperation. “I just do, okay?” She rolled her eyes. “I know because it’s another MC’s territory.”
A bad feeling came over me but I tried not to show it. “The Demon Catchers?”
“How did you know that?”
“They were the guys who came to the party where I met Cade,” I said softly. “If this is their territory, he’s not gonna be there.”
“Hold on,” Kimmy said. She fumbled through her purse and came out with her phone. It was buzzing and lighting up with a call. “Hello?” I watched as she talked for a few minutes. Her eyes shot over to me and stared at me as she kept speaking. When she hung up, she smiled triumphantly.
“What was that all about?”
“Cade’s coming,” Kimmy said. “What? Isn’t that a good thing?” she asked when I didn’t say anything.
The bus stopped and we had to get off among a crowd of people before I could answer her.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I mean, I want to see him, but I’m not sure he would want to see me again.”
“Vanessa, he called me specifically looking for you! Or rather Rudy, did.” She smirked at me. “He must have been missing you.”
My heart started to pound as the burly man at the door checked our IDs. Kimmy smirked at me as we walked into the dark, dank club. It wasn’t anything like the Prophets clubhouse. This club was a mess. The floor was sticky and the walls were painted a matte black. The air was smoky and I coughed as Kimmy led me towards the bar. Even with her bright blonde hair, I could barely see her over the crowd.
“It’s packed tonight!” Kimmy yelled in my ear when we’d reached the bar. “I never expected to see it like this!”
“It’s Friday!” I yelled back. “I guess everyone had the same idea we did!”
Kimmy smiled and nodded at me in a way that made me think she didn’t hear me. She passed me a plastic cup of something cold that sloshed over my fingers when I took the cup from her.
“Drink this!” Kimmy yelled. “And stay here! I’m going to find Cade!”
I nodded and tried to smile, but I felt too nervous. Sipping whatever Kimmy handed me, I coughed and almost spat it out. It tasted like candy with a sharp alcoholic bite and it was bright pink. Closing my eyes, I held my nose with one hand and downed the whole drink.
Amazingly, that actually made me feel better. I opened my eyes and stared at the empty plastic cup in my hand. The alcohol was buzzing through my system, making me feel powerful and brave—two things that I’d never really felt before. With a grin, I stepped closer to the bar and flagged down another bartender.
“What’ll it be?” She had to practically yell over the din inside.
I pointed to the empty cup. “Surprise me!” I yelled back as I passed the cup over towards her. “I don’t care!”
The bartender gave me a strange look. When she handed me back another cup, the drink looked different: a clear amber. When I sipped it, I realized it was ginger ale spiked with something sharp. I was already starting to feel woozy and it seemed like Kimmy had been gone forever. As I strained to get to my tiptoes, I realized that I couldn’t see her blonde head anywhere.
Shit. Someone knocked into me, spilling a drink onto my black blouse. They apologized but ran away before I could offer to buy them a replacement drink. Every time I took a step, the club felt too crowded, so eventually I resigned myself to sitting on a barstool and waiting for Kimmy. The crowd at the bar was fascinating to watch. Everyone was eager to get drunk, and I wondered why. Mom and Dad had always cautioned me against alcohol. Mom said that it would turn me into a different person, someone who I shouldn’t ever want to be. But I didn’t understand. After having two drinks, I felt great. I couldn’t believe that I’d never drank anything before. Hell, it made me wonder why everyone didn’t drink!
A guy who looked almost like Cade stepped up to the bar and I stared at him. He had thick blond hair but his eyes were brown instead of blue. When our gazes met, there was no electric shock in my belly like I’d felt at the club. Still, he stepped closer with a grin on his face.
“Hey,” the guy said. “What’s your name? I’m Bruno.”
“Vanessa,” I said. When I realized he hadn’t heard me, I shouted it louder. “Vanessa!”
“Nice to meet you!” Bruno yelled back. We shook hands and I noted that his skin felt sticky and unpleasant. “You wanna get out of here?”
“I’m waiting for a friend!” I yelled. I frowned and pulled my hand away from Bruno. Something about him was giving me the creeps and I couldn’t figure out what it was. When he turned around, I felt sick to my stomach. The back of his vest bore a Demon Catchers banner.
Shit. Did I just flirt with the enemy? What the hell was I doing here? And where the hell was Kimmy? I couldn’t believe she just ran off and left me like this! I should just leave before something really bad happens.
A gnawing ache started in my belly. I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to see Cade. But maybe I had been right, maybe this was a horrible idea that I shouldn’t have let Kimmy bring me along.
After what felt like an age, Kimmy tapped me on the shoulder. “Hey,” she said close to my ear. “I couldn’t find Cade. Do you wanna bounce?”
I shrugged. “I guess, yeah,” I told her. As I leaned forward, I slipped off my barstool and almost fell to the ground. Somehow, inexplicably, it was funny and I found myself laughing as I sat on the sticky floor of the club.
“Oh my god,” Kimmy crowed, leaning down to help me up. “You’re drunk! You’re really fucking wasted!”
Kimmy jumped. “Vanessa, look!”
I craned my neck and finally saw Cade. He was standing in the corner. Kimmy ran over to him before I could, and I watched as they talked for a few seconds. I didn’t like the way she was standing so close to him, pressing her body against his. It’s just because of how loud the club is, I tried to tell myself. It doesn’t mean anything. She’s just being friendly. She knows how much you like him.
Cade in person was even sexier than my memories had been. His blond hair was tousled and his dark blue eyes were gleaming in a naughty, cocky way. He was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. As he walked over to me, I felt my heart thud against my ribs. He’s here. Oh my god, he’s here. He’s here and we’re going to hook up. I can just tell. I just have a feeling!
“Hey,” Cade said. The word seemed imbued with tons of meaning. “Haven’t seen you around in a while, kid.” He winked at me and I shuddered. The same odd, melty feeling came over me and I knew tha
t I was blushing.
“Hi,” I said back loudly.
Cade stepped closer and put an arm around me. “You wanna go to the side and talk?” He nodded his head to the back of the club, where it was marginally less crowded.
I nodded in response. Cade handed the bartender a crumped wad of bills and then passed me a plastic cup full of the same pink liquid that Kimmy had given me at first.
I waited and watched him carefully as he slipped bills back into his pocket. He moved with purpose, like there was a reason behind each and every movement. He was so sexy. Just the way he looked at me made me want to throw myself into his arms and press my lips against his.