So what if Repo kissed me? And so what if it rocked my world a little bit? It was a kiss. A kiss was nothing. We were both adults. We also both understood how things were. He had even said it was best that we ignored what was between us.
I needed to stop being such a girl about it.
It was nothing.
The only reason it happened was because he was on some mission to prove I wanted him. It was an ego thing. Which, the more I thought about it, the more angry I got. What a shitty thing to do. The jackass.
I had worked myself up into what I thought was a righteous anger by the time I heard a throat clearing beneath me, surprising me enough to make me jump and almost pitch forward before my hands slammed down to steady myself.
It was him.
Of course it was.
Who the hell else would it be?
"You done sulking, Maze?"
Oh, the bastard.
"I'm not sulking. I'm sitting up here so I don't rip your fucking head off."
Repo's brow raised but he didn't call me on the threat. "You're kinda cute when you're offended."
"You're kind of an asshole all the time." That was another lie. In general, he was actually a pretty nice guy. I mean he'd nursed me when I was sick. How many women could claim to have a guy do that for them?
Repo exhaled a loud sigh, shaking his head. "Well this asshole brought you some food," he said, waving a plate I hadn't noticed him holding outward. "So you can go ahead and sit up there and starve to prove some asinine point or you can hop down and get something in your stomach so you don't fucking pass out again."
"Did you cook for Duke, Renny, and the assholes too?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
Repo shook his head, looking back over his shoulder for a minute before tilting his head to look up at me again. "Maze, can we just... fucking not do this? You're pissed at me. I get it. Hell, I probably deserve it. But do you really have to throw it in my face anytime I do something halfway decent?"
"Tell you what," I said, my words way harsher than they needed to be given that he was, yet again, being a good guy, "you keep your fucking hands off me and we won't have a problem."
"Fair enough," he said after a long pause as he bent to put the plate down on the ground before turning and walking away from me.
I gave it about two minutes after he disappeared inside the compound before I climbed down and dug into the freaking perfect, fluffy omelet stuffed with tomatoes, spinach, onions, mushrooms, bacon, and cheddar cheese.
So he was a gold-medal kisser, a caretaker, a verifiable badass biker, an all-around good guy... and he could cook?
Great.
That was just fantastic.
Seven
Maze
Exactly one week later, The Henchmen were having some kind of giant BBQ. As such, the night before, the members got a real kick out of running all of us probates freaking ragged. We cleaned. We cooked. We set up tables. We ran to the food store. We stocked the back bar. We washed the sheets to all the beds because all the patched brothers knew they would be way too wasted to drive themselves home afterward.
By the time the darkness came down, we were bone tired. Moose and Fox had gone down to bed before anyone else could demand anything of them. I was still in the great room with a bottle of Pledge and the orders to make every single wood surface shiny enough to see a reflection in. This order came from some jackass named Murry who was old enough to be my grandfather and a real mean son of a bitch. But it was an order from a patched member and I had to do what I was told.
Cash, Wolf, Repo, and Reign were all gathered at the bar, sharing a round of beers and bullshitting when the back door flew open and Renny came in, his usually open and smiling face set in hard lines, his hands curled into fists at his sides.
Duke was on his heels, his hair free, his entire body practically sparking with anger. "We're not done, mother fucker," he shouted, the sound so unexpected and loud that I actually dropped the bottle of Pledge as I turned and pressed back against the wall just in time to see Renny whip around and land a right hook to Duke's jaw.
The patched members started hollering, clapping, smiling, cheering it on as Duke plowed into Renny bodily, sending them both flying, landing hard on the coffee table that gave way under their weight and crashed to the floor.
I just stood there completely dumbfounded.
From what I had seen over the past few weeks, Duke and Renny got along. Well, as well as anyone got along with Duke. He wasn't exactly the kind to sit around and crack jokes and bullshit. But he was friendly enough to me and Renny. I'd certainly never seen even a hint of animosity between the two of them.
But Duke was, quite plainly, pissed. It was in the tightness of his movements, the way he was holding nothing back despite outweighing Renny by a good fifty pounds of solid muscle. To his credit, Renny was fast and scrappy. He took his blows with grunts then slipped away before another could be landed. He looked a little bit like a punching bag, but he had gotten some good shots in himself which impressed the hell out of me.
They both crashed to the floor again, both fighting for dominance as they kept throwing furious fists.
I looked across the room to Repo who caught my eye and raised a brow. I held my arms up at my sides, a silent 'are you going to do anything about this?' To that, he only shook his head and turned back to watch the show.
Alright. So I knew it technically wasn't my place. First, because it was a source of entertainment for the patched members. Second, because it was really none of my business. And third because it was probably stupid to wade into a fight between two worthy opponents. But the fact of the matter was, I liked the both of them. They were good buffers between me and the douchebag brothers. I didn't want one of them heading to the hospital or getting kicked out over what I was sure was some nonsense.
I wiped my Pledge-greasy hands on my pant legs then moved over toward where they were still rolling around on the ground. Duke was on top, giving me a slight advantage as I moved behind him.
"Maze..." Repo's voice called out a warning to me.
Which I promptly ignored as I reached out, grabbed a handful of Duke's abundant hair and yanked viciously back. He came up ready to keep fighting. Before he even registered it was me, his hand was at my throat. He reminded me of a dog that way; he always went for the throat instinctively. I brought up both hands, grabbing his wrist and twisting until his hand loosened, taking the advantage and swinging it behind his back. It all happened in a matter of seconds and his body went slack as he saw through the red of his anger and realized it was me. At about the same time, Renny gained his feet and tried to charge again. Tried, because I slammed a hand into his solar plexis as he tried, cutting off his advance and knocking out his air. "Enough!" I growled, looking between them. "Enough," I said more quietly. "Now I can't stop you from fighting it out like boys, but I strongly suggest you talk it out like the fucking men you are instead," I snapped and Renny had the decency to look sheepish as he wiped blood from his lip.
Duke was still sparking with anger, but he just gave Renny a hard look and stormed out the back door. Renny gave me a shrug and went toward the bathroom to clean up. Me, well, I grabbed the Pledge and a rag lest I get lectured for leaving a mess, then did another thing that was totally not my place. I walked past the bar on my way to the hall, and mumbled just loud enough for Repo to hear, "Was that so fucking hard?"
"You just cost me fifty bucks, bitch," one of the older patched members called as I passed.
"That must suck for you," I said, sending him a sweet smile despite the bile rolling around in my belly. "Maybe next time you should put your money on a winner. In case the inflection there is lost on you, I meant me," I added with a chin lift before walking away.
I was sick, sick, sick of the shit in the compound.
It wasn't just the hard work. I could live with that. It wasn't even the sleep deprivation. My body was adjusting. It wasn't even
Moose and Fox. They were jerks, but they were, for the most part, pretty predictable and easy to avoid.
No, mostly, my issue was with Repo.
See, since him dropping off the food beneath the tree, something had changed. I wasn't sure if it was because of my surly demand for him to keep his hands off me or what, but he went from being a good guy I could count on to at least be fair... to an outright asshole. He ran me ragged. He put me on patrol with Moose and Fox. He picked on everything I did, no matter how careful I was to make sure I did everything perfectly. He would invite all the guys to have a round with him while demanding I go cook them all food.
And on top of that, the bastard seemed to use any excuse to get close to me. When he was giving me an order, he would get in my face. When he was chastising something I did, he got up behind me and spoke over my shoulder.
He never out and out touched me again, but he got close enough that he might as well have.
It was a problem because, one, he was doing it because of my request to keep his hands off me. And, two, because while my brain was beyond annoyed with him, my body didn't get the message and any time I felt his body near mine, my skin flushed, my breasts felt heavy, my sex clenched, a sense memory of his kiss pressed into my lips.
So I had been, for a week straight, in a state of absolute anger and constant sexual frustration.
It was an issue.
It was especially an issue because it was making me forget my mission and causing me to lash out in small ways when I knew that the littlest thing could get me thrown out. I needed to get a grip. I needed to remember why I was there and what it would mean if I got kicked out.
So still fully clothed and in a sour mood to end all sour moods, I went to sleep.
--
It was hard to hold onto my anger the next day. Granted, we were all still called on to do all the menial tasks. But all the members were around. Most even brought their old ladies and children. Reign's wife, Summer, was hanging around. Their daughter, Ferryn, toddled around us while we talked about the food and who was going to be at the BBQ.
I had to admit, it was nice to talk to a woman for a change. Being around so many men had, in a way, been almost refreshing. There was a lot less of the cattiness, the back stabbing, the bullshit. But that being said, sometimes it was just nice to hear someone complain about the humidity making their hair get crazy.
Duke and Renny mulled around, both of them giving the other a wide birth. Renny was uncharacteristically quiet, barely even saying good morning to me. I wondered if I would ever figure out what had made two reasonably friendly men go HAM on each other.
Considering this was supposed to be a job of sorts, I found myself getting a bit too invested. K wouldn't approve.
"Probie," Repo's voice called, making me stiffen and turn. He didn't call me by my name anymore. That was apparently part of his newfound asshole-ness.
"What's up?" I asked, giving him a wholly fake smile that actually hurt the muscles in my face.
"Reign needs you out front," he said, turning and expecting me to heel like an obedient little dog.
I stared daggers at his back as we went out to the front where Wolf had pulled his mammoth truck up, Moose and Fox already up in the bed working on untying the kegs. "Hey what do you need?" I asked Reign before Repo could announce that he'd brought me to heel.
"Kegs," Reign said, jerking his chin toward the bed of the truck.
Fuck. Of course.
See, after all my training with K, I knew that there wasn't much a man could do to best me unless he had even better training. It wasn't about strength per say, it was about technique and instincts. But, that being said, it wasn't sexist to admit I was weaker. Physically, I was simply not as strong as my male counterparts. I didn't like it. It chafed every time I needed help lifting something that one of the guys could lift by themselves. But it was just how it was. I wasn't as strong. Kegs, well, they were about one-hundred and sixty pounds. There was absolutely no way I could lower one to the ground by myself.
But fuck if I let anyone know that.
"On it," I said on a shrug, walking past Janie and Wolf and hopping up into the bed.
"You guys are assholes," Janie hissed and I bit into my lip to keep from smiling. I liked Janie. I think it was impossible to not like her. She was a certified badass and completely unconcerned about speaking her mind and even pushing around the members of the club. You had to respect her balls. I envied her ability to speak her mind.
After yelling at the guys, she hopped up in the bed to help me, evening up my odds.
"Ass looks great in those jeans," Fox said, giving me one of his trademark creepy smiles as I walked past.
Honestly, his comments were so frequent and, for all intents and purposes, innocent seeing as he never tried to act on any of it, that I had long since learned to ignore him. Janie, of course, was not of the same mind. That just wasn't her style.
"Funny, I don't hear you telling Cash or Reign or Wolf what nice asses they have," she snapped, reaching for the handles on the keg I was untying.
"Don't want to fuck theirs," Fox shrugged. And, well, it was the wrong thing to say around Janie.
"Are you fucking serious?" she asked, straightening and advancing him across the bed. "You do realize this is a brotherhood right? You're not supposed to..."
"Have to deal with a sister? And her fucking mood swings when she's on the rag like you obviously a..."
I felt my stomach muscles tense, knowing there was no way she was going to let him get away with that. See, Janie worked for Lo at Hailstorm and aside from being a good hacker and pro bomb-maker, she was really really good at Krav Maga. So when I saw her plant her legs wide and bend at the waist, well, I knew that Fox was going to be in a world of pain.
One second he was standing there on the truck bed. The next, he was flat on his back on the ground.
"Hey, bitch..." Moose growled, slamming his big palm down on her tiny shoulder.
And, well, he just signed his metaphorical discharge papers with that one move. Because down on the ground, Wolf was actually fucking growling and Cash and Reign had both stiffened. You did not, ever, touch another brother's old lady. No matter what.
In K's words, it was time to distinguish myself.
I turned, grabbing his wrist and twisting it, planting the palm of my other hand on his shoulder so he couldn't whip back at me and turning him fast, shoving his chest down on the top of one of the kegs. "Apologize," I demanded as he tried to throw his weight back at me and I brought my knee up to press into his back, holding him in place.
"Fuck you," he spat.
"With what? While we're talking about our brothers' body parts, I've seen you changing, Moose. You don't have anything a woman wants in those pants."
"Maze," Repo's voice called. It wasn't just my name; it was a warning.
And, well, I had hit my limit of shit I was willing to take.
"What?" I almost screamed back, every last drop of frustration spilling into my voice. "Last night Duke and Renny got into a knock down drag out and all you did was stand there and place bets! But because it's me you're going to pull the fucking 'boss' card a-fucking-gain?" I asked, still yelling, slamming Moose against the keg hard then pushing away from him. I moved across the bed, focusing all my anger on Repo. "He put his hand on someone else's old lady. He's lucky it's still attached to his body!" His hands dropped down by his sides, his hands curling up into fists as a muscle ticked in his jaw. But he stayed silent.
"She ain't wrong," Wolf declared, reaching for his woman and pulling her down on the ground with him so he could wrap a protective arm around her.
"Maze, you need to calm down," Repo said, his voice sounding tired.
Calm down? Calm down? The bastard...
"You need to stop..." I started, but was cut off by Reign's bark.
"Alright, enough," Reign said, obviously done with the situation. "Moose," he said inclining his he
ad toward him in the truck bed, rubbing his wrist where I had twisted it, "Maze is right; you don't put your hand on a woman. Ever. And you certainly don't put your hand on your fuckin' road captain's woman. What the fuck were you even thinking?"
"She could have broken my brother's bac..."
"Then your brother should show a little more respect. You're out," Reign said in a lethal way that brooked no argument. "Your brother can stay if he shapes the fuck up. Now you've ruined enough of this party so get the fuck gone so we can all enjoy the rest."
Moose turned an almost comical shade of red as he fought to keep his mouth shut, knowing damn well that the last thing he wanted to do was start some kind of argument with Reign. He moved past me, slamming so hard into my shoulder that white sparks of pain made me grit my teeth to keep from hissing. He wasn't going to get a reaction out of me. He was out. He wasn't my problem anymore.
I hopped down off the bed, storming back toward the compound. I needed a minute to get myself together, take some deep breaths, repeat my mantras. Hell, even call K if I couldn't get myself under control. All I knew was I needed to get the hell away from Repo.
"Maze..." he said, his voice almost soft like I remembered it being when I was sick, as he tried to reach for my arm as I passed.
"Don't you fucking touch me," I hissed under my breath as I passed, trying to keep my eyes off him because if he looked at me, he would see the nonsensical cocktail of anger, sadness, betrayal, frustration, and defeat. And, well, I'd be damned if I let him see any more weakness from me.
I stayed clear of the basement, knowing Moose or Fox would be down there collecting Moose's stuff eventually and hung out instead in the bathroom, pacing the small space, murmuring the plan to myself under my breath.
Regardless of how Repo got down on me, I knew I had done the right thing with Moose. I also scored a point because he was out. He was out and that meant one less person riding me. It also meant I was one step closer to getting a patch.
Repo (The Henchmen MC Book 4) Page 7