“All good,” I croaked.
“Hey, don’t damage the girls. If Mayra sees one hair out of place or the slightest hint of a tear on either of them, she is going to wring my ass.” Boink pointed his finger at the guy sitting next to me. “Do not manhandle the merchandise, Freak.”
“Merchandise?” he chuckled.
I was slightly offended by the fact they were talking about us like we weren’t here, but Boink was right about Mayra going ham on him.
“We’re good, Boink.” Wendy held up her hands. “No scratches, dings, or dents.”
I rolled my eyes. “Talking like we’re a washer and dryer set.”
Freak scoffed, and a rather attractive smile spread across his lips.
Well, that just knocked Freak up a couple of notches. He got my jokes, and he had a killer smile.
“You guys are staying here ‘til we get a handle on exactly what is going on.”
I ripped my eyes off Freak and looked at Wrecker. Focus, Carnie.
“You know Leo is going to be pissed that this shit is happening.” The guy next to Wrecker had a cigarette hanging from his lips and was leaning back in his chair. “He wasn’t exactly happy to have to deal with us with the whole Mayra thing.”
“I’ll take care of Leo.” Wrecker sat forward. “While you’re here, Freak, Slayer, and Brinks will take turns keeping an eye on you two. If you want to leave or do anything, you’re going to need at least one of them with you.”
Wendy leaned forward and looked over at Freak. “So, you’re Freak, but who are the other two?”
The guy next to Wendy cleared his throat. “I’m Brinks.” He nodded to the guy directly across from him. “That’s Slayer.”
“Try not to give the guys too much trouble, ladies. I know from past experiences that it’s not fun for you ladies to have a guy constantly watching you but remember that they are only with you to make sure nothing bad happens.”
“Bobby isn’t after me. This really has nothing to do with me.” Wendy pointed her finger at me. “She’s the one who wrecked his life.”
My jaw dropped. “How exactly did I ruin his life?” I had been stupid and dated the guy, but he was the one foolish enough to mess with the Fallen Lords and whoever Leo was.
“Stop,” Wrecker thundered. “You both need protection right now. You may not have been the one to date the guy, but he knows you are close to Carnie. He’ll use that and whatever else he needs to.”
Wendy huffed, but she didn’t protest anymore.
“That it?” Boink asked.
Wrecker turned his gaze on Boink. “Are you really that terrified of your woman? She’s half a foot shorter than you, and you could lift her over your head with one arm.”
“Are you terrified of Alice?” Boink countered.
Wrecker waved his hand at Wendy and me. “Take them back to the girls.”
Boink looked relieved and stood. “Let’s go.”
“You mean we don’t need a babysitter when we’re at the clubhouse?” Wendy asked.
Wrecker shook his head. “Tell the girls they have to come inside until one of us can be outside with them.”
Dammit, Wendy. She had to open her mouth.
Boink ushered us out of the room and shut the door behind him. “Is that it?” I asked him.
“The Lords will take it from here. You don’t have anything to worry about.” Boink nodded to the couch in front of a large TV. “Hangout here and I’ll send the girls in.”
Wendy and I plopped down on the couch, and I looked over at her. “We totally came in here and messed up everything, huh?”
A sad smile spread across Wendy’s lips. “Yeah, but I don’t think we really had any other choice. We don’t know anyone that can help with Bobby.”
I sighed and laid my head back on the couch. She was right, but it still sucked I had to lay my problems on a bunch of guys I didn’t even know.
If only Bobby had stayed in the hole he had crawled in, but he hadn’t.
He was back, and he seemed determined to make my life hell.
*
Chapter Three
Freak
“How much is it going to take for you two to take care of these chicks without me?”
Wrecker glared at Brinks. “You trying to get out of the shit I told you to do?”
Brinks held up his hands. “Look, brother. You and I both know that I am not cut out to sit around and watch two chicks. I need to be doing something else other than basically watching paint dry.”
“You can go back to River Valley.”
“What?” Brinks scoffed. “There isn’t anything going on there. Jenkins disappeared into thin air, and the club is no more.”
“And we thought Bobby disappeared, too, but here we are trying to figure out where the asshole is before he causes an even bigger shitstorm.” Wrecker sat back in his chair. “You got two options. Stay here and keep an eye on the two girls or head back to River Valley.”
“Both of those options suck ass because they’re both boring as hell.”
Wrecker shrugged. “You think I care that you think they are boring?”
Clash clucked his tongue. “You think whatever chick you got hidden away in your room is going to like you heading to River Valley?”
Brinks leveled his glare on Clash. “You think that’s any of your fucking business?”
“Damn,” Pipe chuckled. “There is an awful lot of thinking going on, and why the hell did I not know that Brinks had a chick hiding in his room?”
“Because there fucking isn’t a chick hiding in my room,” he spat.
Maniac sat next to me, and we both silently listened to the bickering.
“Wendy and Carnie are in the common room with the other girls.” Boink walked back into the room and closed the door behind him.
“Meeting’s over until I talk to Leo. Not much to fucking go on when we didn’t even know this shit was going to be an issue.” Wrecker stood up and stared at Brinks. “Decide where the hell you are going to be.”
Brinks always had a zero-fucks-given attitude, but he had never blatantly told Wrecker he didn’t want to do the shit assigned to him.
Brinks sighed. “I’ll head to River Valley in the morning. You want me to actually find Jenkins or just sit at the bar and keep a stool warm?”
“Try to stop shit from happening before it becomes an issue.”
“Kind of hard to do when I don’t even know what is going to become an issue.”
Wrecker pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and stuck it in the corner of his mouth. “Welcome to my fucking life. Trying to figure out who is going to be the next fucking idiot to fuck with the Fallen Lords.” Wrecker looked at me and Slayer. “You two are on Carnie and Wendy duty. I don’t care how the fuck you do it, but I want both of those girls safe while we figure out the Bobby situation.” Wrecker stalked out of the room and left the door wide open.
“I am so over this shit.” Slayer laid his head back and sighed. “I’ll take the one with the curly hair. She doesn’t seem like she’ll be too much trouble.”
I didn’t know where Slayer was getting that idea from. We had spent a fast five minutes with them, and all I knew about Carnie was, she was cute and a bit spunky. That description fit all of the guys’ ol’ ladies, and they were all a handful and then some. I had no clue if Carnie and Wendy were going to fit right in with them or not. “I’ll take Carnie, then.”
“That the one with curly hair?” Slayer asked.
I closed my eyes and shook my head.
“The fact you don’t even know their names is worrisome.” Pipe stood and pointed at the empty chair next to me. “The one that was sitting next to Freak was Carnie. You say you want the one with curly hair so you better start remembering the name Wendy.”
“Why do those names seem familiar?” Brinks asked.
“Familiar?” Nickel asked.
Brinks shrugged. “Just seems like I should know why those names go together.”
“
Maybe going to River Valley will be good for your head,” Slayer laughed.
Brinks flipped him off and stood. “You two have fun babysitting. I’m gonna go to River Valley, drink some beers, and just relax.” He strolled out of the room, and I couldn’t help but feel Slayer and I had somehow gotten the short end of the stick.
“So,” Slayer drawled. “You think these chicks are going to be a problem for us?”
I leaned back in my chair and slowly cracked my knuckles. “Not really sure, but I do know there are about a million different things that could happen.”
“Well, falling in love with these chicks is not going to be one of them.”
That wasn’t something I was too sure of. I didn’t know much about Carnie, but I had already decided I wouldn’t mind waking up next to her every morning. Her angelic face, long auburn hair, and lips that begged to be kissed.
“Hell no!” Slayer shot up, and his chair skidded backward. “I see that fucking look on your face. You are not falling in love with that chick.”
I laughed and shook my head. “I don’t think it would be that bad if I did happen to hook up with Carnie.”
Slayer ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, you can do that, but you can bet your ass that is not going to happen with me and Willow.”
“Wendy,” I corrected him.
“Whatever,” he mumbled. “Let’s go see what the chicks are up to. I’m assuming we’re gonna watch them get drunk tonight and become part of the Girl Gang.”
“Lead the way.” That was a pretty good guess of what was going to happen. Even Cora and Raven had become part of the Girl Gang, and they were some of the bitchiest chicks I had encountered.
Slayer looked over his shoulder toward me and smirked. “Think we can lock them in their room until this whole Bobby business gets squared away?”
While that seemed like a pretty good solution, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. All we could do is make sure they stayed safe and pray no crazy shit went down.
Yeah, right.
*
Carnie
The Girl Gang rocked.
I could understand why Mayra loved each of these women so much. They had welcomed Wendy and me like we were old friends, then proceeded to get Wendy rip-roaring drunk and made sure I had a good time, sans drinking.
“Not up for drinking?”
I glanced over at Freak. “Uh, not really.” Wendy had drank enough for the two of us, and after all, there wasn’t a chance any of the Girl Gang were going to give me a drink since I was illegal.
“There’s always tomorrow.” He moved two steps in front of me and turned down the hallway to the right. “There are only two rooms open in the clubhouse, and they’re on opposite ends.”
I glanced over my shoulder in the opposite direction. “Uh, so Wendy will be down there?” I didn’t really think about sleeping arrangements, but I had thought that Wendy and I would be in the same room.
“Yeah.” Freak stopped in front of the third door down. “You good with that?”
My eyes took in Freak’s tattooed fingers that were wrapped around the door knob. The words Live Free were written on each knuckle and there was a skull on each thumb.
He was covered in tattoos. He even had one on his neck, covering his Adams apple. I watched him swallow and the tattoo moved up and down.
“Carnie.”
My head snapped up, and my eyes connected with his. “Yeah?”
A smirk spread across his lips. “You okay with Wendy and you not being in the same room?”
I shook my head and tried to snap myself back into reality. “Uh, yeah. I guess that will be fine.”
Did I really have any options when it came to where I would sleep or really anything that was about to happen? I had come to the Fallen Lords for help and, until the Bobby thing was figured out, I was at the Fallen Lords’ mercy.
“If you wanna be with Wendy, I can try to figure something out.”
“I’m good,” I snapped. My words were harsher than I wanted them to be. I didn’t want to be any more of an inconvenience than I already was. If this was where they wanted me to sleep, then this was where I would sleep. “I mean, I’m sure this will be good.”
Having a little break from Wendy would actually be welcomed. She hadn’t said it to my face, but I knew she was more than pissed off at me for everything happening.
Freak’s gaze traveled over me. I shifted uncomfortably and averted my gaze.
He pushed open the door and motioned for me to enter.
The room was pitch dark, and I only took one step inside before I froze. My breath caught, and my chest tightened.
“You’re fine, Carnie.”
I felt the heat of Freak against my back, and then, the lights turned on. “Sorry.” I moved into the room and stepped off to the side.
“Afraid of the dark?” he chuckled.
More like I was afraid of Bobby showing up out of thin air. “You could say so.”
Freak closed the door. “Well, you’re safe here. Even in the dark.”
My eyes traveled around the room. “Uh, this is…sparse.” A bed, leather couch, and a TV on the wall. It was like a bachelor’s dream come true.
“Two hours ago, there was only a TV hanging on the wall. Be thankful we had an extra bed and couch.” Freak moved to the couch and plopped down on it. He kicked off his boots and snagged the remote that was resting on one of the cushions. He pointed it at the TV, flipped a couple of channels, then pulled his feet up and swung his body to lay on the couch.
My eyes darted from the couch to the bed and back again. “Uh.”
Freak glanced at me. “You putting one and one together and coming up with two, or am I going to have to break this down for you?”
The way the addition was working out in my head, it appeared I was sleeping on the bed and Freak was camping out on the couch. Not exactly what I had expected, but again, at least I was in a safe place where Bobby couldn’t get to me. If that meant I had to deal with Freak sleeping on the couch, then I guess that I was okay with it. “I’ve got the math down.”
“And you good?”
I nodded. “Good.” I hitched my thumb toward a door next to the bed. “Bathroom?”
He laid his head back. “Yeah. I put your bag in there.”
Wrecker had asked Wendy and me to grab our bags earlier, but once Freak had taken it from me, I hadn’t thought about it. “Thanks.”
“Been a long day, doll. Get changed and try to get some sleep.”
I moved to the bathroom but spun back around to face Freak. “You’re sleeping on the couch.”
He nodded.
“And I’m on the bed.”
He again nodded.
“Do you need a blanket or pillow?” Freak was lying there with no blanket or pillow, and I had a queen bed with two pillows and blankets.
“Not what I was expecting you to say.”
I shrugged. “Maybe I’m not as predictable as you thought.”
He fully expected me to argue and demand he leave the room. That wasn’t going to happen. As strange as it was, I felt safer when he was around. I may have messed up before with Bobby, thinking he was someone worthy to date, but looking back, even then, I knew he wasn’t someone who was going to be around for a while. Bobby never made me feel safe. He was a kind of danger that intrigued me, but I knew he wasn’t the good kind of bad boy.
Still dating him was dumb on my part, but live and learn.
“Planned on stealing a blanket and pillow while you changed.”
I nodded. “Then I’ll just get my butt in the bathroom so you can continue with your plan.” I scurried into the bathroom and closed the door behind me.
The bathroom was as sparse as the bedroom, but when it came down to it, did you need more than a toilet, sink, and shower? There was a stack of worn towels sitting on the tank of the toilet, and my bag was resting on the floor next to the base of the sink.
Wendy and I had left in a hurry, but at least w
e had enough sense to pack a bag for each of us.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I saw it was my mom.
Did you make it?
Shit. I had forgotten to message her when we got here. Yup. Got here a few hours ago. Caught up with Mayra and Boink. Sorry I didn’t text you right away. Our parents knew we were here, but they didn’t know we were here because Bobby was trying to hurt me.
I figured you were busy visiting. Give my love to Mayra and try not to fall in love with a biker.
I rolled my eyes and tapped out a quick reply. Highly unlikely, mom. I’m off the market for a while. She wasn’t going to like that response.
You can’t let one bad guy ruin the whole lot, Carnie. Get back on the saddle and all that. Heading to bed. Just wanted to make sure you were okay.
All good in the hood.
She sent an emoji of a smiley face rolling its eyes. Hood????
Everything is good, mom. Lordy. Easy slang was lost on her sometimes.
Love you, sweetie. I’ll call tomorrow.
I texted her back goodnight and dropped my phone on the counter next to the sink.
I didn’t want to lie to my parents, but I was afraid the more they knew, the more trouble they could possibly be in.
“You good in there?”
I shoved my phone in my back pocket and grabbed my bag off the floor. “All good,” I called back.
Freak didn’t need to know I was texting my mom. Not really something a motorcycle badass would be doing.
After I brushed my teeth and pulled my hair up into a messy bun on the top of my head, I changed into my pajamas and walked back into the bedroom. “Bathroom is all yours.”
Freak shook his head and rested it back against his arms. “I’m all good.”
“You’re not going to change?”
“Into pajamas?” he scoffed.
I looked down at my teal shorts that had fluffy sheep all over them and white tank top. “I’m sure you can’t pull off cute pajamas like these, but I figured you would want to get out of your jeans.”
Freak (Fallen Lords MC Book 7) Page 2