“Luke!”
“What?” I dig into my food.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.”
“You were staring at my crotch.”
An involuntary smirk tugs at the corner of my lips. “Well, then you can probably guess what I was thinking about.”
Can’t believe I just fucking said that. Shifting my attention to this food just might make her go away. But instead she pulls up a metal stool, sits, and hooks one boot around it to stay balanced.
With my fingers I pick up the strip steak, start gnawing. “Where’s my brother?”
“You tell me.”
I chew for a few seconds and shrug with my mouth full. “You’re more interested than I am.”
“Really, Luke? Because I’m not the one asking about him. You are.”
“You gonna just watch me eat?”
Grey eyes narrow. “Never bothered you before.”
To change the subject, since she has a point, I grab a forkful of cold mashed potatoes, “I saw your mom being nice to you,” before I ram it in my throat so I can stop saying stupid shit.
Sofia swings her leg. “We had a good talk while you guys were gone.”
As I eat my expression says, oh yeah?
She takes a deep breath, “Yeah. It wasn’t easy. Can’t remember the last time she and I had a heart-to-heart. She’s always trying to wrangle me in.” I nod, and keep chowing as she continues, “But she told me this story about when we were kids, and it explained why Celia and I sleep with me facing this way, and her that way.” She throws her thumbs in opposite directions.
Wiping my lips with my forearm I ask, “Always wondered about that. Why do you do it?”
A sexy-as-hell smile plays on her lips. Against my will, my cock twitches. It starts pushing against my zipper as she and I stare at each other. She leans down a little, giving me a deeper appreciation of her cleavage. “I’m not tellin’ you. That’s a secret for me and my mom to keep to ourselves.”
When a man wants someone, the blood leaves his brain and all reason is lost. I want Sofia so badly I can taste her more strongly than this damn food.
“Understood,” I mutter.
“Oh and one other thing…I see the tent you’re popping, Luke.” She rolled my name off her tongue like she was sucking on it.
I put the platter down, adjusting myself. “With tits like those, you can’t blame a man for losing touch with what he really wants.”
“And what’s that?”
“To be left alone.”
Sofia sits up, grey eyes darkening. Dismounting the stool like it’s a horse, her boots hit the ground. Holding my eyes, she sticks her ass out and rests her elbows on the seat, bent over. “You want to be left alone huh?” she smirks, swaying her ass back and forth.
I keep my voice gruff, no emotion, matter-of-fact, as I set the platter down and scrape my boot’s heel on the ground, bringing my knee closer so I can rest my arm on it. “What I want isn’t possible. I’m thinking of fucking you, Sofia Sol, right there in that position.” Her lips part in surprise, and since I’ve gone this far I continue, “Taking your jeans halfway down your thighs and sliding all of me into you as I listen to sounds I’ve never heard you make, no matter how well I think I know you.” We stare at each other. Neither of us can believe I just said that to her after all these years. I stand up, bending to pick the platter up off the ground. “I want to hear you moan. I want to be the one who causes it, and it’s all I can think about.”
She’s speechless.
I’m not.
I hand her the plate, her fingers wrapping around it as she stares at me with eyes wide. “Only problem is, I’ve wanted to do that to you, with you, for years, but I never thought it was possible with the rules being what they are, until you fucked my brother. Because you did that, not only am I thinking these things still, but it’s fucking torture because I can never do anything about it.”
“Luke…”
“Celia’s your best friend, right? Atlas is mine. And you’re coming between us. We’ll never talk about this again, understand?”
Dazed, she nods, turns, and walks out of the garage, giving me the solitude I asked for.
As soon as she’s gone…
I want her back.
CHAPTER 14
SOFIA SOL
M y chest is pounding like my heart wants out.
I was teasing him for the fuck of it, that’s all.
Was there more underneath that, if I’m honest with myself? I brought him food, but nobody asked me to. Why did I do that? I don’t bring men food unless I’m eating, too. This was more like—I shudder to believe it—taking care of him.
He pushed an officer, Celia told me over our meal, to sacrifice himself for her. If he came out as the bad guy who was also protective of the sweet girl in our club, they’d be distracted by keeping a closer eye on him—the wild card—it would make her look good, and take the magnifying glass off her. Then all the stories matched, and the cops wanted to let the Ciphers off the hook anyway. Everyone who sees as much darkness as cops and bikers do, are perfectly fine with an evil fuck like that shopkeeper biting the dust.
As she told me how it all went down at the station, all I could think about was what Luke had done for her. Could have put him behind bars for a night or more, and that didn’t matter to him. It shouldn’t, and it didn’t.
There we all were, satiated by Melodi’s delicious cooking, and Luke was outside, taking it upon himself to fix Tonk Jr.’s broken ride just in case it was needed. We all know Junior is smart as hell, and the chances of him coming up with the scheme to ride and impress Tonk Sr., were high. Only trouble was, his Harley has been busted for over three years. The guy is book smart, not mechanics smart. He looks at an engine and none of it makes sense. Luke is the opposite—he sits next to one and it purrs for him in no time. It was generous to offer his expertise. I didn’t like to think how hungry he must be after the interrogations and then hours of repair.
Selfless and starving isn’t cool.
That’s why I brought him dinner.
No other reason.
Taking a seat in one of the antique rocking chairs center stage of the old back porch, I stare at the spot where Atlas and I changed everything, while the laughter of Ciphers rides on the breeze again. Melodi smacking greedy hands that won’t let her leftovers go in the fridge just yet. Scythe’s deep baritone above it all. “We are Saints fans in this house, Jett, not Falcons fans!”
“How many times do I have to tell you? My nephew, Eric, plays for the Falcons so I am rooting for the Falcons until he retires!”
“You’re rooting for ‘em because your ass is from Atlanta and no matter how many years you been livin’ here, we still can’t beat it outta you! Go Saints better come out of your mouth from now on, I mean it, or this flat-screen will crash to the ground, and you won’t be watching anything! You got me?”
Honey Badger and Fuse’s unmistakeable laughter drifts to me, before Tyler announces, “I’d pay cold hard cash to watch you try to smash that thing!”
“Oh, I’d do it!” Scythe demands. “How much you want to bet?”
Dad laughs, “Keep your money, Ty, you need it for all those kids you keep popping out.”
Melodi won’t have any of that. “Who’s popping out what? Excuse me? Because if it was Tyler he’d have gotten a vasectomy by now!”
“Hey!” Ty laughs, “I’ll have you know I’m very supportive of Inez.”
“When it’s not you in pain, you’re a peach!” To the rest of the Ciphers she loudly explains, “My Tyler needs more pain killers than any of us. It’s a blessing he’s not an addict or we’d never get any for ourselves when we need ‘em.”
Scythe maintains his stance. “Jett needs to pick a side, this side, and stick with it. Loyalty is number one for us, always has been. Is it us or them?”
I stop rocking.
Stop listening.
Everything goes numb inside
me.
What have I done?
The back door’s clatter surprises me into looking over. A part of me jumps, hoping it’s Luke. But that’s crazy because he’s not in the house. I’m losing my mind.
Atlas and Celia walk up, porch creaking under their boots.
She swats at the air. “Holes are so big in the mesh out here, you can hear mosquitos laughing as they fly in.”
Atlas teases her, “Ceels, you have to kill the thing or it’ll just come back, stick his sucker in you with that poison so you don’t know it’s happening until he’s long gone.”
“I remembered too late. I saw it and thought, get it off me!” She reenacts the swatting, mood light. They take the tattered chairs opposite me, kicking their feet on this shitty coffee table, and leaning back.
Atlas throws his hands behind his head, long hair draped over his shoulders. He lets out a satisfied groan. “Melodi’s cooking, man, I never get tired of it.”
Celia rests her hand over her stomach. “So full but I didn’t want to stop.”
“Never do, never will.” He jogs his chin at me. “Where’d you disappear to?”
Bringing one boot up on my chair, the other flat on the hardwood floor, I shrug, “Took some food out to Luke.”
Atlas’s eyes flicker. “Why’d you do that?”
Celia parrots him, knowing me well. “Yeah, why? You ate with us. You mean you just brought Luke food?”
“It’s not that crazy.”
“It’s definitely a first.”
Annoyed, I stare off and mutter, “Atlas, you look like you could shit a diamond. Loosen up.”
Celia glances over, smacks his arm. “What’s up with your face?”
His voice is on edge. “Did Luke ask you to serve him?”
“Serve him? I didn’t serve anybody!”
“You brought him food when he’s got two working legs.”
“Okay, first thing you need to do is,” I lean forward, dropping both boots down with a thump. “Get off my back. And the second thing is get off my back!!”
Atlas just glares.
Leaning over to see him better, Celia asks, “What is going on that I don’t know about?”
“Nothing,” we both say at the exact same time, which sounds about as convincing as a naked, lipstick-smeared prostitute claiming she’s never been with a man before.
I jump up and head for the house, grabbing the handle of our back door and opening it just as I overhear Celia ask Atlas a quiet but excited, “Did something happen between Luke and Sofia Sol?”
“No!” I shout. “I just brought him a meal, it doesn’t mean anything more than that! Why are you guys looking at me like I’ve stripped naked and run screaming through a church? Luke never asks for anything. He sacrificed himself today. He’s out there breaking his back fixing Junior’s ride and nobody asked him to be that nice. So I brought him dinner because I thought he might be, wait for it, wait for it, HUNGRY! Big whoop! It’s just food, it’s not a marriage proposal. Give me a fucking break!” I storm inside, look around and find everyone staring. Even the one cat we have, Tickles, is looking at me.
Can’t remember exactly what I just said, too upset to know, but by the looks on everyone’s faces it didn’t come out how I meant it to. Too much interest shifting into worried glances passed around by the elders.
Ducking my head I take quick strides to get the fuck out of here, find some privacy. The rest of the house is quiet, and I know how to lock a door.
Mom’s voice drifts into the hall like it’s chasing me. “I think we’ve got a problem.”
CHAPTER 15
L UKE
A s soon as I enter the house I know something’s up. It’s way too quiet. “Something I missed?” I ask Scythe, the only Cipher on the couch, and the game is oddly on silent.
He eyes me from under his brows. “Your sister come get you?”
“No.”
“She was supposed to.”
Stepping around to face him, I ask, “What’s the deal?”
“Talk to your parents.”
My pulse quickens as I head away. If he’s making me get information only from my immediate family, we have an issue for sure. What I want to know is if anyone’s hurt. My first thought goes to Celia because of the trouble we’ve had, and suddenly I’m positive the cops have come for her.
The sitting rooms bring me more of the same—talk to your parents.
Now I’m freaked.
My footsteps are showing it.
Hurried.
Impatient.
Mom and Dad aren’t in their room. Sage and Atlas aren’t either.
As I search it dawns on me that if this was about Celia I wouldn’t need to hear it from my folks, since she’s not my sister. And I know Sage is okay…Scythe said she was sent to get me.
Oh shit, it’s Atlas.
Something’s happened to my brother.
I bang on their door, clawing at it. “Soph! Open up!”
Celia cracks it, “Luke…”
“What’s goin’ on? Nobody will talk to me. Soph, you in there?! Soph!”
Celia opens the door to show me, “She’s not here, Luke.” I can tell she’s not supposed to tell me, but our years of friendship demand it. “They’re sending you away.”
“What the fuck?! Why?”
She peeks down the hall and meets my eyes to whisper, “They know something happened with you and Sofia.”
Now I’m even more confused. Soph would never tell them what I said to her out there tonight. No way in hell. So what the hell is their problem? Are they mixing me up with Atlas? Someone see something, his long hair with hers, mistake it as mine? The thought sickens me on every level.
Celia gently touches my arm, “And you shouting her name at her bedroom door at night doesn’t look good.”
“Fuck, thanks,” I mutter and run to the stairs, heading to the one place I haven’t looked.
Exploding onto the front porch, I freeze, and slowly close the door, scanning the faces of Dad, Mom, Sage, Jett, and Luna. I come to stand before them. Atlas and Sofia aren’t here, that’s the first thing I notice and dammit if jealousy doesn’t spike all over again. It fuels my anger as I growl, “What’s this I hear about being sent away?”
Jett’s frown gets deeper, “Who told you that? Sofia?”
“Nah, and I’m not snitching on who did. But I can tell you one thing, if I had seen Sofia Sol I know for a fact that she would have told me, unlike the rest of these turncoats.”
Dad rumbles, “Nobody’s betrayed you, they’re just doing as we asked.”
“Why the big secret? You want me on a job, send me! Or is there something else I should know about?”
Sage is staring at the porch like I’ve already been hung.
Our father stands up. “Luke, you and Sofia Sol crossed a boundary. Broke a house rule. Gave in to your baser instincts—”
Luna interrupts, “Just to satisfy the need for rebellion you both have.”
Jett grates, “And of course you didn’t tell us about it.”
Mom is upset as she finally speaks up, “We had to hear it from your brother!”
I lean forward like I didn’t hear her. “What did you just say?”
Dad squares off with me. “Atlas told us you and Sofia had sex.”
Confused beyond any feeling I’ve ever known, I croak, “What?!”
He rubs the bridge of his nose like his head is killing him. “He told us about the sex, Luke.”
“There’s no way Atlas said that to you!”
Mom nods like she understands. “Because you expected him to keep your secret? I’m sure this must be very hard for you to understand, but he did the right thing. We saw through Sofia’s tirade tonight and it was obvious something had happened between you two. We questioned Atlas after Sofia Sol vanished, and he was reluctant, but he felt it was best for the Ciphers as a club, that he tell the truth.”
I want to shout, the truth about him not me!
B
ut that’s not how I’m made.
I stand here, beaten up more than I’ve ever been in my whole life, realizing that Atlas not only made me the scapegoat, but he also got rid of me so he could win Sofia while I was gone.
He removed the competition.
Biting back cuss words, I shake my head and control myself. “So, you need me to go, just like that? You think that’ll solve it?”
Jett stands up. “The two of you need space, Luke, that’s all we’re asking.”
I turn to him. “You worried there’s something you can’t control?”
Luna flies from her chair and slaps me across the face. “Watch yourself!”
Jett eases her back, patience steadying his voice as he locks onto me. “Luke, you wanna fuck girls on the road, do things casual-style, I’m all for it. I was young once. We’ve all done some shit out there. But in this house, it won’t fly. We’re family. The people who…shack up…are married, teammates for life. Not like what you guys have done, sneaking off, keeping secrets. There are no secrets in club life. We can’t afford them.”
Mom’s voice is gentle, filled with compassion, “You’re both very attractive, young, sexual people. Of course it’s natural that you gave into that—”
Dad interrupts, “We’ve been out here for a half hour, talking about this. We know how it happened. Why it happened. We threw a couple punches. Let’s stop rehashing it.” I realize suddenly that there’s a fresh bruise forming on his face, and a matching one shining fresh on Jett’s jaw. “Sage was right when she said it was bound to happen at some point. She saw how you look at Sofia.”
My sister glances up, eyes dulled by sadness. “Dad, if you’re sending Luke away, don’t bring me into it.”
“You know what?” I snap, losing my temper. “Fine. It’s a stupid fuckin’ rule but fine, I want to go. I need to get the fuck out of here.”
Jett grabs my arm as I head off, growls, “Rules keep this club together. We’ve lasted a long time, happily, because of our ‘stupid’ rules. And forgive me for not wanting you inside of my daughter!”
Dad lunges at him, grabbing his shirt and spitting in his face, “My son isn’t good enough for your daughter?”
Sofia Sol Cocker (Cocker Brothers Book 13) Page 7