Bared: Dirty Cruisers MC

by Brook Wilder

  “Changed how?” Hot Wheels asked reluctantly, that feeling of dread that had been sitting like a weight in her stomach since the attack the farm growing even heavier.

  “Look, right before I got kicked out, before you had to stomp your sweet ass in there like you owned the place and got me kicked out, I was working on digging up some info from the top brass.”

  “What kind of info?” Hot Wheels asked, interrupting.

  “That’s what I’m trying to tell you if you would stop interrupting!” Sparkplug let the words slide out on an irritated huff and she just shrugged, gesturing for him to continue with an arch of her brow that had him lowering his in frustration. Hot Wheels threw both of her hands up in a gesture of mock innocence, nodding for him to go on.

  “Damaris made a deal with Viper. I’d just found out about it before…anyways, that’s not important. What is important is that Damaris promised that the Nomads would back Viper so he could take over the Dirty Cruisers and the farm in return for Viper giving them a massive cut of the weed basically for free.”

  “What? Why would Viper agree to something like that?” Hot Wheels gasped, the implications of the deal rattling her even more than she already was. But then she realized something. She knew Viper. He could only think about what was right in front of him, which was Joel and the ridiculous notion that he deserved to be the DC’s leader. His tiny brain probably couldn’t even think that far into the future to see the catastrophe that the deal would create.

  If it went through, the Nomads would basically own the Dirty Cruisers. Rage, pure and unadulterated, flashed through her veins. It was her family that the prick was messing with, her home, her life. And she could feel it all slipping through her fingers like fine grained sand. Nothing she could do to stop it. There was nothing in the world that she hated more than feeling helpless.

  And on the tails of hopelessness, came panic, riding in at full throttle. She glanced over at Sparkplug, worry heavy in her light green eyes.

  “This is not good.”

  “No fucking shit it’s not good.” Sparkplug snorted, rubbing his hand at the back of his neck in a familiar gesture of frustration.

  “I have to…I have to call Joel. I have to let him know…We have to do something! We have to get that son of a bitch!”

  Sparkplug laid a heavy hand on her shoulder and she felt the bittersweet warmth of his touch travel all the way through her and back, echoing over and over across her skin until she had to close her eyes against it. They were still closed as his soft words washed over her.

  “Just call Joel first. We have to make a plan, we have to figure this out first before we go after anyone. And we will. I promise we will. It will be okay, Hot Wheels. You have to believe me. It will be alright in the end.”

  Finally, she blinked open her eyes and she knew that there was a sheen of unfallen tears making her eyes glimmer in the sunlight.

  “But what if it’s not?” She asked, her voice small, not even sounding like it belonged to her. Sparkplug just shook his head and sighed.

  “Call Joel, Hot Wheels. Just, call Joel and let him know everything that’s going on. He needs to know.”

  ***

  Elle’s hands shook as she took the whistling kettle off of the burner and carefully poured the steaming water into the small porcelain tea cup that sat on the counter. She picked it up and breathed deep. Normally, the smell of the mint and lemon tea she drank calmed her but her hands still shook, rattling the cup on its matching saucer and she hastily set it back down before she spilled it everywhere.

  She took another deep breath, but that didn’t do anything to steady them either. They’d been shaking since the night before, what had happened. Oddly enough, not what had happened with that bully Scorpion at the farm, but what had occurred after, at home, wrapped safe and secure in Honey’s arms.

  Even now she could hear his words echo in her head, a record playing on repeat that she couldn’t get to stop no matter how hard she tried. If she was honest with herself, what he’d told her had terrified her, frozen her lungs until she couldn’t draw a breath and had paralyzed her. What had terrified her even more the jolt of emotion that had went off inside her like fireworks on the fourth of July. Emotions that she couldn’t even begin to understand.

  Fear, panic, anxiety, tenderness, caring, affection, joy, and something else, something deeper and underlying all the rest that she was too afraid to look to closely at. A million reasons why she was being such a giant fool flew through her head and she couldn’t shake them even though she tried.

  Elle hadn’t talked to Honey since it had happened. She had fled to her bedroom, shutting the door and threw herself into bed but no matter what she did, sleep had eluded her for the long, lonely night. Knowing that Honey was sleeping somewhere else in the house, so close that if she wanted she could just walk out of her room and touch him, certainly hadn’t helped.

  They’d both been avoiding each other since she’d stumbled bleary eyed down to the kitchen a little earlier and she has to admit, at least to herself that she’s relieved. Because she doesn’t know what to say to him. She wouldn’t even know where to begin. But the worst part was the hurt that had shone at her from the depths of his dark eyes. She hated knowing that she’d hurt him. And hated even more that she didn’t know what to do about it.

  The shrill ring of a cell phone cut through the air and Elle jumped in surprise, cursing as she sloshed hot tea over the side of the cup. Quickly, she glanced around the small kitchen, finally locating the source of the noise and grabbed her purse, digging through it until she pulled out the small, outdated phone. With a flick of her wrist she had it flipped open and was putting it to her ear, trying to calm her suddenly racing heart.

  “H– Hello?” She said quietly.

  “Elle?” Carla’s voice exploded from the other end of the line, “It’s Carla.”

  “I know.”

  “No, listen, something’s happened–.”

  “Oh my god! The farm– Is it okay? Are you okay? Did those jerks come back?”

  “No! No, it’s not that. It’s just…we got word from Sparkplug. That son of a bitch Viper has been– Listen, I don’t want to talk about this over the phone. I hate to ask this of you after yesterday but do you think you can come here? To the farm? And Honey too. We need to figure out what to do next, what we can do…” Carla’s words trailed off and Elle just shook her head in confusion.

  “What we can do? What do you mean? I thought we already had a plan.” Elle said, fighting to keep the trembling out of her voice. It had started up again as soon as Carla had mentioned going back to the farm.

  “We did, but now with this new information…Listen, Elle, are you okay? You sound shaky.” Elle cursed silently, her friend knew her too well.

  “I’m fine, Carla.”

  “Well, it’s okay, you know, if you want to sit this one out. You’ve already done a lot to help and with everything that has happened I can’t…I can’t ask any more of you.”

  “Carla, I gave you my word.” Elle said softly.

  “I know, but with everything that’s happened. Believe me, if I had known how messed up this would get I never would have asked you–.”

  “I gave you my word.” Elle interrupted, repeating the words and she was proud that her voice was a little stronger this time, “I promised.”

  She could hear Carla give a little breathy laugh from over the line before she finally gave her the rest of the info about when to meet.

  “And you’ll tell Honey, too? He needs to know. He needs to be there.”

  “Yes, I’ll tell Honey.” Carla would never know how hard it was for her to say his name just then, but in the next instant her friend was bidding her goodbye and hanging up the phone. Elle slowly released the pent up breath she felt like she’d been holding for the entire conversation.

  “You’ll tell Honey what?”

  Elle whirled around, the cell phone clutched to her chest as she turned around to face him
, startled and surprised. But as soon as her gaze fell on him she knew she’d made a mistake. She should have stayed facing away. It would have made talking to him so much easier.

  They stared at each other for a long moment, just looking, each taking inventory of the other and for the first time Elle noticed his haggard appearance, the dark shadows smudged underneath his usually gleaming eyes. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been able to find sleep the night before. For some reason, that thought didn’t bring her the satisfaction she had thought it would.

  “What is it, Elle?” He asked, finally breaking the tension wrought silence that had settle between them. She had to swallow hard a few times before she could force any words out, and when she did, they were breathier than she would have liked.

  “That was Carla, on the phone. She said…she said something’s happened–.”

  “At the farm?” Honey interrupted, his mind immediately following the same paths hers had, “Are they okay? Is Carla okay?”

  “Yes, yeah, she said that they are fine. It’s nothing like that. Not like…Not like yesterday.” Elle took a deep breath, the memory of Scorpion threatening her affecting her more than she realized. “Carla wants us to meet them at the farm in an hour. She said we need to talk through everything and figure out what we can do next.”

  Honey just nodded slowly, his eyes not quite meeting hers.

  “I’ll go get ready then.” He said softly. Elle opened her mouth to reply, although even she wasn’t sure what she’d been going to say, but she didn’t the chance. He was already moving away.

  Chapter 24

  Honey took what felt like his first full breath as he leapt out of Elle’s way too fucking tiny car. It was practically claustrophobic in there, nothing at all like the freedom and endless exhilaration of being on the back of a bike, roaring down a stretch of empty highway. What he wouldn’t give to be able to just hop on his motorcycle and ride away. To feel the wind on his face and the smell of a whole world ahead of him.

  But he hadn’t want her to drive alone, knowing how terrified she must be to come back to the farm after what had went down just the day before. He gave her a sideways look, taking her paler than normal face and the way her breath came in rushed, shallow pants. Her fingers were still white knuckled on the steering wheel when he leaned down.

  “You comin’ Elle? Or are you just planning on sitting this meeting out? Maybe cowering in your car for the next hour or so while we decide what needs to be done.” He said, knowing his words would rile her up enough to forget her fear for a moment. It was worth her look of eye rolling irritation that she glared at him if it took away one ounce of the panic that kept her immobile.

  He still didn’t know what to feel or how to react after what had happened between the night before, but he felt that look move all the way through him, even if it was dark with frustrated anger. He didn’t care. As long as she looked at him, that was all that mattered. He couldn’t stand to go another minute, another second without seeing her mysterious, sultry gaze. He wanted to be able to look inside her, to see what was going on in that convoluted brain of hers, but that look was enough. For now.

  Because he hated seeing her afraid. Pissed off, angry at him, frustrated. Any of that was better than the gut wrenching terror that had shadowed her beautiful face since they’d first gotten in the car to leave her house.

  Something had shifted between them last night, even though he couldn’t put it in words he could feel it. Like Elle was trying to put a distance between them, to separate her from the words that he’d said to her. Well, Honey had no intention of letting that happen, no matter how hard she tried to pretend that it hadn’t happened. He’d been there, right there, and he’d felt the pain after he’d declared his love and she’d just stared at him, shocked, lost. It had been like a knife stabbing straight into his chest and the feeling hadn’t left. It was still there, a reminder that there was still a whole hell of a lot of unfinished business between the two of them.

  Honey almost cursed to himself as he glanced around. But here wasn’t the place to hash it out. Over the long, endless, sleepless night he’d decided to give her some room to think about what he’d said, to let it sink in. But by the tension that had settled around them like a shroud he wondered if maybe he should have chased after her the night before. Make her listen to him. To believe him.

  He mentally shook his head. It was in the past now, and he didn’t know what the fuck to do about it except keep moving forward, keep putting one foot in front of the other. Because there was one thing that he did know, with a certainty that rocked him to the core. He had meant every word he’d told her the night before. He’d told her nothing but the simple truth. He loved her. He’d loved her since the first moment he’d laid eyes on her. Now, he just had to figure out how to make her believe them, too.

  “Come on, Elle. You can’t hide in there forever,” Honey finally said, prodding her again, knowing just what buttons to push. Even though Elle was one of the most foolishly, recklessly courageous people he’d ever met, and that was saying something considering he was a member of a motorcycle gang, she was terrified that she was a coward at heart. It couldn’t be further from the truth.

  “I am not hiding!” She said, in that prim and proper teacher’s voice that always put him in mind of the first time he’d overheard one of her piano lessons. The first time he’d seen her play. Her fingers had flown across the keys like they had a mind of their own, weightless, magic. It had also been the first time he’d ever seen her completely relaxed, totally comfortable with herself.

  He understood now that there was a lot more to her anxiety around other people, and stressful situations, than he first realized. She was complex. Like a puzzle he was trying to put together without having all the pieces. Lucky for her, he was willing to spend as much time as it took to figure her out. He didn’t plan on going anywhere.

  Honey waited breathlessly to see if his bait would work and sure enough a moment later he heard her door creak open and then slam shut with more force than strictly necessary before her shuffling footsteps brought her around the car and back into view.

  He took a moment, looking around the parking lot to give Elle a chance to get her bearings back and his gaze flitted over the familiar truck, and the three bikes that were already parked there. Carla and Joel where there already. He recognized Tucker’s and Hot Wheels’ motorcycles, and that left the third which looked slightly familiar but not enough for him to place.

  Honey prayed silently that Joel had found some still loyal members of the Dirty Cruisers to bring in but he wasn’t holding his breath. He knew how bad things had been getting. The club was already on edge with everything that had happened with Maurice, and then this thing with the farm, going straight. It hadn’t set well with a lot of people and Viper had known just how to manipulate that.

  He turned to walk towards the office, where he assumed the rest of the their pathetically small group was already waiting but they barely made it four or five steps before he realizes that Elle had drawn to a stop a few feet behind him. Honey watched her for a long moment, his eyes tracing the spot her own were glued to as her face went somehow even paler.

  For a moment, he was worried she might pass out then and there, it looked like she wasn’t even breathing. Just staring straight at the spot where that asshole Scorpion had shoved her against the wall and threatened her.

  Rage clouded his vision for a moment as he remembered, just as he was sure she was, and he doubted whether it was the best decision for her to come back so soon after the attack. He also knew that it wasn’t his decision to make, and knowing Elle, she would be up in arms if he even mentioned a word of his thoughts, yelling at him about how she made a promise or some such.

  Without a second thought he walked the few short steps separating them, and reached out. As her hand slid into his, something clicked inside of him. As if there’d been something missing all the past years and he’d never noticed, never even kn
own until he’d held Elle’s hand. Such a simple thing but it shot through him like a tremor and had his chest tightening with the unfamiliar emotion.

  He felt resistance for a moment but he held tight. As much as she tried to pretend like this didn’t affect her he could feel the trembling in her fingers, in the way her breath hitched at the contact and she leaned a little closer to him. Honey doubted she was even aware of the unconscious move but it had warmth blooming inside him.

  “It’s okay.” He said softly, startling Elle and she turned her big dark eyes on him. For a moment it felt like drowning before he pulled himself back, focusing on the words he had to say, the words she had to hear.

  “It’s okay,” he said again, “It’s okay to let me help you. Just this once.” He paused, staring at her, struck as always by how beautiful she was, how untarnished by the cruelty of the world despite everything she’d gone through. “It’s okay, Elle. You don’t have to be the strong one all the time.”