by Jamie Begley
“Why? Kentucky isn’t that bad.”
The men shook their heads at her. “When’s the last time you tried to buy beer on a Sunday? They have more churches than schools.”
Killyama leaned her head back on the seat. “So? Do what I do—buy it on a Saturday.”
“All I’m saying is, don’t blame me when they find out about our connection to you.”
“Like I said, they couldn’t find their ass with their own two hands. Let’s change the subject; your bitching is ruining my good mood.”
“You’re in a good mood?”
“Yeah, I am. Crawford is gonna be sitting in court tomorrow, and I’m gonna get my money back. So hell ya, I’m in a fucking great mood.”
“I’m glad you’re in a good mood. My ass is killing me.” Jonas leaned his seat back.
“I told you I’m not moving. You both can move back to Tennessee. I told you I wouldn’t leave Jamestown when we went into business together. When you moved to Knoxville, I did fine without you. It made no sense why you two moved back. I don’t need you both watching out for me anymore.”
“That’s not going to happen until you stop chasing after runners. We promised your dad we’d take care of you, so you’re stuck with us until you find someone else for the job, or you get married.” Hammer started laughing, and Jonas joined in.
Killyama bristled, straightening up in her seat. “I don’t know what’s so fucking funny.”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you haven’t had a date in over a year. Or maybe because I can’t think of one man who’s willing to put up with your mouth. Or that you’ve sworn to slam any man’s head with a meat mallet if he tried to put a ring on your finger.”
Jonas unsuccessfully tried to dodge the punch she landed on his shoulder.
“What are you hitting me for? Hammer’s the one who said it, not me.”
“He’s driving, and you were laughing, too,” she snarled. “It’s not like you two are dating anyone, either.”
“That’s because we can’t find anyone to date in Jamestown.” Jonas shifted his seat back to a sitting position to make it harder for her to punch him again. “Most of the women are either married or trying to get a ring on their finger. I have to go to Lexington to get laid.”
“I can hook you up with … T.A. and Crazy Bitch.”
Both men shuddered.
“No thanks. I’d rather drive for three hours before I hook up with one of those scatterbrained bitches.”
“Me, too,” Jonas agreed.
“You’d be lucky if they would have you,” she protested. “T.A. is just like the women you like, Hammer. She has big boobs and—”
“Yes, she does. But she has a bad habit of being friends with you and Sex Piston. I don’t need her talking about my junk when she gets mad at me.”
“T.A. only talked about Pike’s little pecker when she broke up with him.”
“Once is enough. I can’t even drink a beer with him now because I keep hearing her call him dicklet in my mind. Then she compared him to Rabbit. Once a man hears a woman make fun of a man’s equipment, it fucks with his head. Doesn’t it?” Hammer looked at Jonas for confirmation.
“Don’t bring me into this conversation.”
“Pussy.” Killyama sat forward, placing her elbows on each of their seats. “Come on, Jonas; you’re perfect for Crazy Bitch.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she scares him.” Hammer reached for the pack of gum he kept on the dashboard without taking his eyes off the road.
“Crazy Bitch is the sweetest woman I know.”
“That’s not saying much. Besides, I asked her out last year. She turned me down.”
“Really? She never told me. Did she say why?”
“She said I acted too nice. I even tried to give her flowers. She said she’d never trust a man who gave her flowers again.”
“I’ll talk to her.”
“Don’t bother. She said she wouldn’t date another man who couldn’t pass a lie detector when asked if they would ever hit her. By that point, I wanted to strangle her, so I knew I wouldn’t pass.”
“She didn’t mean it.”
“Yes, she did. I was only asking her on a date, not asking her to shack up with me.”
She shrugged. “It’s your loss.”
“Yes, it is … Thank God.”
“I’ll keep my eye out. You both are going to end up old and lonely if you don’t stop being so damn picky.”
“I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll go out with someone you want me to if I can pick someone to go out with you.”
“Who? I’m open to suggestions.” Then she thought better of her acceptance, needing to clarify her terms. “As long as he doesn’t have a little dick.”
She saw Hammer roll his eyes in the rearview mirror. “I’m not going to ask them how big their dick is!”
“Why not? I’ll ask the women what bra size they’re wearing before I decide who to fix you up with.”
“A woman’s tits aren’t the only things I’m interested in. They have to have a brain, too.”
“Shasta didn’t have a PHD after her name.” Killyama rolled her eyes back at him. “She could barely add two and two when you were married to her.”
“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”
“No. But I have to admit, I miss her. I liked her better than some of your other girlfriends.”
“I divorced her, because you told me she was letting you party with the Destructors.”
“I didn’t party with the Destructors. At least, not back then. I was just hanging out with them.”
“Biggest mistake I ever made was trusting Shasta with you … and not convincing your mom not to let you hang out with Sex Piston. I listened to Shasta when she lied and said you were just hanging out at my apartment. I didn’t know you had made it party central for you and your friends. She left me with two months’ back rent when she left me for T.A.’s cousin. The fucking whore even took my car.”
“Shasta wasn’t the reason I made friends with them. She couldn’t handle me any better than you could.”
“Your mama blamed me for you running wild.”
“I wasn’t running wild. Sex Piston just liked hanging out there. She needed—”
“Every time one of those bitches needed you, you took off running. Still do.”
“Don’t blame them. They’ve never asked me to do anything I didn’t want to do.”
“No?”
“No!”
“I’m not even going there with you. You’ve broken me. I’d rather do another tour of duty than argue with you. I stand a better chance of winning a whole fucking war than winning an argument with you.”
“I’m not that bad.”
“Yes. You. Are.”
Killyama sat back huffily. “I’m going to pick the meanest bitch I can find for you to go out with.”
“Then I have nothing to worry about.”
“Why?”
“Think about it.”
If Hammer weren’t driving, she would backhand him on the back of his laughing head.
4
“Want another beer?”
Rosie’s bar was crowded to overflowing with Last Riders and Destructors, but Train had sat at the end of the bar facing the door so he could see anyone entering.
It was only when Rider shoved him to get his attention that Train took his eyes off the doorway.
“No thanks. I’m still working on the one I have.”
“Taking it slow tonight, aren’t you?”
Train shrugged. He had to keep his wits for when Killyama showed up … if she did. He was growing increasingly more frustrated. He had expected her to be there with bells on for the party the two clubs had planned. Leave it to her not to show. The woman never did what he expected of her.
“I’m still recovering from last night,” Train lied. It was bad enough that he was sitting on his stool like a lovesick puppy
. He didn’t need to give Rider even more ammunition to make fun of him. From the sideway glance Rider shot him, his lie hadn’t worked.
Rider took a drink of his beer before slamming it down. “I’m going to go dance with Ember. She misses Raci. Want to help me so she won’t feel so lonely?”
“Go ahead. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Sure you will.” Rider gave him a mocking look before heading toward the dance floor.
Train tightened his grip on his beer. He could handle the brothers knowing he wanted Killyama, having never cared what other people thought of his actions. He had learned at a young age that expectations came with chains that you couldn’t break from. Train would be damned if he would let anyone keep him from accomplishing anything he wanted to.
With a father who was too lazy to work, the entire neighborhood had shown their judgmental attitudes every time he had walked out his door. The fights that had taken place between his parents had just added more gossip to feed the gossipmongers. The whispers about his parents had grown to include him as he grew older, following him down the school’s halls or when he tried to date one of their daughters.
When he was younger, he had received sympathetic looks. As he grew older, though, they had grown warier, assuming he had inherited his father’s violent temperament. Train had quickly learned to meet his date somewhere rather than have a judgmental father slam a door in his face.
Train eyed the rowdy crowd. Viper and Stud were sitting at a table to his left. The presidents of the two clubs were talking as they watched their men become increasingly boisterous, each club member claiming bragging rights as to who had settled the score with Raul.
When their attention went to the door, Train stiffened as Sex Piston, Fat Louise, T.A., Crazy Bitch, and Killyama filed inside.
His gut twisted in need, fighting the urge to get off his stool and carry her outside to her ugly green car she refused to get rid of. If she hadn’t driven, he wasn’t picky; he could fuck her against the side of the building or spring for a room at the local hotel.
His eyes stalked her as she followed her friends to the table Fat Louise’s husband was sitting at.
Biding his time now that she was here, Train motioned to Mick to hand him another beer.
“Thanks.” Train started to reach for his wallet, but Mick stopped him.
“It’s on the house for fixing my car. It hasn’t run so well since I bought it.”
“I enjoyed working on it. I usually only have the men’s bikes to work on.”
As Mick talked, Train made sure that Killyama didn’t slip out of sight. He knew none of the brothers would ask her to dance, but he was interested to see if any of the Destructors would. From the file Crash had given him, he knew no men were sleeping over at her apartment, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t sleeping over at someone else’s.
She was wearing blue jeans and a black top that rose up the front, showing her flat waistline, then rode to her hip, accenting her ass. The plunging neckline showed the gleaming V of skin between her breasts. Her pert breasts were so firm Train thought he could bounce a quarter off them. The thin straps crossed at her shoulders, lacing down the long length of her arms.
Killyama had the best body he had ever seen on a woman. She moved like a lioness, confident in her ability to handle anything or anyone who dared to think they could tame her.
Train took a drink of his beer. He should have asked for something stronger. Usually, beer was all he had, but he was sure he was going to need something stronger tonight.
The women were joking and laughing among themselves, all except Killyama, who every now and then would respond to one of them. She seemed a part of their group, yet curiously detached, always keeping her eyes on what was going on around them.
“She’s a nice-looking woman. She yours?”
Train’s lips twisted. “No. I don’t have a woman.”
Mick raised a brow. “Then why are you staring at the redhead like a rare steak?”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want her.”
Mick chuckled as he stepped out from behind the bar, going to Killyama’s table to take their drink orders. He came back a few minutes later to fill several beer mugs, placing them on a tray on the bar. Taking a bottle of tequila off a shelf, he then poured out just as many shot glasses before loading the round tray then carrying them to the table.
Train wished he could hear what he was saying to them, because the whole table turned to stare at Train. He felt like a six-year-old under their scrutiny. What the hell was Mick saying?
Before Train could ask, Mick held out his hand when he returned. “That’ll be thirty bucks.”
Train gaped at him. “I thought my beer was free?”
“It is. The round of beer I gave them …” Mick nodded his head toward Killyama’s table. “That costs you the thirty.”
Train closed his mouth as he reached for his wallet. Flicking the bills, he pulled out three tens.
“You’re not going to tip me? Don’t you want to know what she said?”
Train tightened his lips, taking out three ones before hastily putting his wallet out of sight before Mick could ask for more.
“Jeez, thanks.” Mick’s sarcastic comment didn’t keep him from shoving the cash into the cash register.
“I didn’t offer to buy their drinks,” Train reminded the bar owner. “Besides, Viper is footing the bill for the Destructors.”
“Viper’s not the one trying to get into that redhead’s panties. If you weren’t such a skinflint, you would have thought of that yourself. Didn’t your daddy teach you how to court a woman?”
“No, he must have missed that lesson.” The only lesson his father had taught him was to show him how to open a beer bottle with his teeth. Despite himself, Train couldn’t help asking, “So, what did Killyama say?”
Mick almost dropped the beer he was opening. Expertly managing to catch it before it could spill, he set it down on the bar.
“I didn’t know that was her nickname. She’s been in the bar a couple of times with Beth, but I never heard it before. You’re jonesing after a woman called that?”
“Why not? I love to live dangerously.”
“You sure you’re not related to Greer Porter? That’s something he would say when he’s chasing after a woman out of his league.”
“A gerbil is out of Greer’s league. You going to tell me what she said or not?”
Mick reached into the cash register and took out three dollars, setting it down in front of him.
“Why are you giving the tip back?”
“I might own a bar, but I still have a conscience. I won’t try my hand at matchmaking anyone called Killyama. Love is hard enough without trying to fuck a woman prone to violence.”
Train slid the tip across the bar toward him. “I’m not looking for a relationship. I want her to join The Last Riders.”
“You’re trying to get her to join? You stand a better chance of getting shot in the dick than getting that woman to become a member. Here she comes. Slip out the back exit while I distract her.”
Train remained sitting as she approached, feeling his dick getting hard. He felt like he was drinking tequila with the way he felt when she sauntered toward him, imagining touching that satiny flesh she was exposing with his lips.
“I’m tired of waiting. I’m thirsty.” Killyama’s curt voice yanked him out of his fantasy.
Confused, he stared back at her stupidly. “Then drink your beer.” Train stared over her shoulder to see her beer and tequila shot were still full.
“I asked him whose cash you were using when he said you were buying us a round.”
“Really?” Train gave Mick a penetrating stare. “What did he say?”
“He said to ask you. You were supposed to come over and answer my fucking question.”
Train looked at the table again. “I see who was paying didn’t bother anyone else at the table.”
“I have standards. Unfortunately, the
y don’t. So…?”
“Viper paid.”
“That’s what I thought.”
He snaked his hand out to catch her arm as she was about to turn away. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Mick abruptly left, moving to the other side of the bar as he rolled his eyes toward the exit.
Train tightened his grip on her arm when she tried to pull away.
“I figured, if you couldn’t even take a woman out to dinner after you fucked her, you’re certainly too cheap to buy her and her friends a drink.”
Train clenched his jaw in frustration, his boots hitting the floor. Maneuvering through the crowd, he dragged her to a small table at the back of the bar.
“Sit down.”
“Make me.”
Train dropped her arm, staring at her coldly. “Let’s get this straight between us right now. I don’t like playing games. I would like to talk to you and get some shit settled between us, so we can at least be civil when others are around. But if you’re too immature to listen, then I guess we don’t have anything to talk about anyway.”
He expected her to storm off; therefore, it took him a moment to realize that she had taken the chair he had pulled out for her.
Sitting down across from her gave him a view of the bar as he gathered his thoughts to begin the conversation that would either end in another argument or a cease-fire.
“I’m not a man who enjoys conflict. I’m also not one who will run from it, either. I have tried to talk to you about the day we spent together, and every time, we just get in a fight. I’m tired of you making me feel like shit, or that I took advantage of you. We both know that isn’t true.”
“I never said you took advantage—”
“You implied it to everyone who would listen.” Train carefully monitored the range of emotions flickering in her hazel eyes. “I have never been dishonest with a woman. Ever. I like to keep everything on the up and up. That way, no one gets hurt. Unfortunately, I hurt you, which was not my intention. I really like spending time with you when you drop that attitude you carry around.”
“What’s wrong WITH my fucking attitude?” she snarled.