His expression darkens, but I don’t regret my words. They’re the truth—whether he wants to hear them or not.
“You don’t think I’m good enough for her?” he grits out, jaw tense.
“Tracker—”
He laughs mirthlessly. “Look, I know no one is probably good enough for Lana; I see what she’s worth. But it’s nice to know that someone I consider a good friend doesn’t see my worth.”
“Tracker—”
He opens the door to his room and walks out, leaving me sitting here alone, feeling like complete shit. I sit there for a few minutes, thinking. I see a pad of paper and a pen by the bed. It’s pink, so I’m assuming it’s Allie’s. I rip off a sheet and write Tracker a note.
You’re wrong; I know what you’re worth.
But do you?
I’m sorry I’m a jerk.
Love, Anna Bell.
Why does he keep Allie around? As a safety net? Is it a comfort thing? I have no idea, but I realize I’m being judgmental and poking my nose into shit that’s not really my business. I’m very protective of Lana, but I should be asking her if she wants this. It’s not my decision to make. I leave the note on his bed, then go to find Rake.
We have some catching up to do.
* * *
Wetness on my face.
I force my eyes open and stare up at Rake, who is dripping water on my face from a water bottle.
“What the hell are you doing?” I ask, sitting up and looking for something to throw at him.
“You fell asleep,” he says, shaking his head. “Some party animal you are.”
“What time is it?” I ask, rubbing my eyes with the bottom of my palm.
“One a.m., Anna, let’s go out!” he says cheerfully, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
I blink. “Are you on drugs?”
It’s a legitimate question with the way he’s acting.
“You want to go where?” I ask. We’d hung out all day, went to see a movie, spent some time playing pool, and had dinner. Then, everyone started drinking and I may have joined in for one or two drinks.
Or five.
“Let’s go to the club,” he says. “Rift, remember?”
“The one you guys dragged me out of last time?” I ask in a dry tone.
Good times.
“Yep,” he says, starting to tip more water on me.
“Do it and die!” I yell, standing up and pushing my hair out of my face. “Let me get dressed.”
“You have ten minutes,” he says. “I’m going to round everyone up.”
I look at him and only just notice he’s dressed and ready to go, in jeans and the black T-shirt I bought him when I first came back.
“Fine,” I say, following him to the door and locking it as he leaves. I’m wearing jeans and a plain white top, which won’t do. Knowing I don’t have time for a shower, I wash my face, brush my teeth, and put on some light makeup. My hair looks like I just got fucked, but there’s no fixing it. I get changed into tight jeans and a black top that shows off my stomach. I slide my feet into some stiletto heels, spritz a little perfume, and grab my handbag on the way out.
Rake, Tracker, Trace, Sin, and Vinnie are standing in the game room, laughing and drinking. They all look at me as I walk in.
“What?” I ask, feeling a little self-conscious.
“You actually got dressed in like fifteen minutes,” Tracker says, any earlier anger vanished. “Impressive. Arrow is a lucky fucker.”
That earns him a slap on the back of the head from Rake.
I roll my eyes and look at Sin. “Is Faye coming out?”
He shakes his head but gives no explanation for her absence.
Okaaaay then.
“Where’s Arrow?” I ask Tracker. He still hasn’t contacted me since last night, and I’m really put out over it.
“He’ll be at Rift,” Tracker replies, then snaps his head back to me. “And you need to be on your best behavior because men from other Wind Dragon chapters are going to be there tonight.”
“Define best behavior.”
“Have fun but keep your mouth shut,” he replies. “And stick to us at all times.”
I can do that.
Maybe.
He hands me my drink, and I take a sip.
Then I cough. “Holy shit, Tracker!”
He chuckles. “What? Can’t handle a little vodka?”
“Not straight! I’m not an alcoholic, you bastard!” I snap, putting my drink back down.
“Why are you grumpy?” he asks. “You had a nap and everything.”
Rake laughs.
I pick up a pool cue and threaten them with it.
They laugh harder.
“Why am I the only woman going out tonight?” I ask the group of them.
They all look at one another.
“The other women know their place,” Tracker inserts, laughing at his own joke.
I slap his shoulder. “How you get women at all, I have no idea.”
“Probably my huge pierced cock,” he replies. “Or my charm.”
My eyes widen as I look down at his crotch area. “Your dick is pierced?”
He undoes his button. “Yep. Want to see?”
Another slap from Rake.
The truth was, I did want to see. But I didn’t want to get Tracker killed.
Vinnie walks over and takes a gulp of my vodka, then pours in some juice and hands me back the glass. “Thanks, Vinnie,” I tell him.
I pound the whole glass.
“That’s the spirit,” Rake says, wrapping an arm around me. “Let’s do a shot, then get out of here.”
I slam the glass down and nod.
Why not?
* * *
One of the prospects, Blade, drops us off at Rift. A few of them tried to argue with me and wanted to take their bikes, but I made a big scene over it. No drunk riding. When we walk in, the vibe in the club is different from last time. There are a lot of bikers around, and a lot more practically naked women. Tracker stands to my left, Rake to my right. I feel like I’m walking in with a group of bodyguards. I see Arrow standing at the bar, his back to me. He’s talking with a man I’ve never seen before, also wearing a cut. The conversation doesn’t look too friendly, and I don’t want to interrupt.
“I’m going to the bathroom,” I tell Rake, raising my voice over the music. After having broken the seal before we left, I know I am going to have to pee a hundred times tonight. I do my business in the bathroom, then wash my hands in the sink. A woman walks in, and I realize she looks familiar. Where have I seen her before? I try to rack my brain but come up with nothing.
“I know you,” she says suddenly, smirking as she looks at her own reflection in the mirror. “You were waiting outside my house when Arrow came by.”
So that’s who she is. I remember now, Arrow said he had to make a stop while I waited by his bike outside.
I shrug. “That doesn’t mean you know me.”
Her lip twitches. “You’re nothing like Mary. I guess he went for her opposite this time.”
I pretend that doesn’t hurt, unwilling to let this woman see any weakness in me.
I stare her right in the eye. “If you have something to say, then say it.”
She smiles then. “Arrow won’t ever love anyone the way he loved my sister.”
She’s Mary’s sister? I didn’t see that one coming.
I force a smirk. “Why are you here, then? Trying to pick up your sister’s seconds?”
She raises her hand to hit me, but I catch her arm and twist it back.
“I’m not someone to fuck with,” I grit out. “I’ve never said one bad word about your sister, and I never will. But if you want to be on my bad side, you’re going to need a whole fuckin’ army to take me down, because I’m not like any other woman you know.”
“Let me go!” she gasps.
“Do you understand me?” I ask, steel in my tone.
She nods.
I let her go
.
I check myself in the mirror, then glance at her one last time.
“Have a good night,” I tell her in a saccharine sweet tone.
Then I walk out, leaving her wide-eyed and cradling her arm.
Bitch.
The worst part is that I think she may be right.
TWENTY
WHEN I walk back to Tracker and Rake, Arrow finally notices me. He instantly storms over and pulls me into his big arms. I’m about to scold the shit out of him when his mouth lands on mine, kissing me quickly before pulling back and whispering into my ear, “I’ve missed you so fuckin’ much. I’m sorry I didn’t call, I’ve been dealing with these fucks and didn’t know when they would leave.”
He cups my face and kisses me again, cutting off anything I was about to say. “Do you want a drink?”
I shake my head. “No, I had enough of those.”
“Water?”
“Okay.”
He holds my hand and walks me back to the bar.
“Water,” he tells the bartender, then focuses his attention back to me. “You look fuckin’ edible tonight, Anna.”
“I try,” I reply, grinning.
“You don’t need to try, you have a natural beauty most women could only dream of.”
“Well, aren’t you the charmer,” I reply, taking the bottle of water from his hand and opening the lid. I take a sip and let the cool, delicious water slide down my throat.
“So this is why you turned down our hospitality,” the man Arrow was talking to before says as he stares me up and down. “Beautiful woman.”
I don’t miss the way Arrow creeps closer to me. “Yes, she is, isn’t she?”
“She is right here,” I mutter.
The man smirks. He looks to be in his fifties but carries himself well for his age. “A firecracker.”
He can tell that from one sentence? The man must be a genius.
I see Mary’s sister out of the corner of my eye, but she turns away the second I look back at her.
Good.
Arrow runs his hand down my body, resting it on my lower back, almost on my ass. “We done here?” he asks the man, his eyes on me.
“I’ll meet up with Sin tomorrow to go over the details,” the man replies.
Arrow nods once sharply, then leads me to the dance floor. One hand cupping my jaw, the other on my hip, he kisses me, then moves to the music.
“I was mad at you.”
“I knew you would be.” He smirks. “And I thought I handled you pretty well.”
My mouth falls open. “You did not handle me.”
“I did,” he replies, a smug look on his face. “If that didn’t work I was going to take you out for sushi.”
Dammit! He knows my weakness.
“Now let’s go home, I want to be buried inside you. Unless you want me to take you right here?”
I look around. “My brother is here, so no, thank you.”
Not that that was the only reason. I’d never had public sex, but I don’t think it was something I was going to be into.
He grunts. “Let’s go, then. I’m tired of being around all these people.”
We say our good-byes to everyone.
Rake kisses me on top of my head, letting me know that we’re good, and I leave the club with a smile plastered on my face.
I’m about to slide onto Arrow’s bike when Mary’s sister runs out, looking panicked.
She starts to cry, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
An uneasy feeling spreads through my body.
“What’s wrong, Janet?” Arrow asks, walking over to her. “Why are you crying?”
She lifts her finger and points at me. “How can you be with her?”
Arrow frowns and glances at me briefly. “That’s none of your business.”
“It is when she says shit about my sister! About how you never loved her and how she was a whore!”
My eyes flare, my fists clenching.
She can’t be serious right now.
“You conniving bitch!” I sneer, losing my composure. “I never said anything like that!”
Janet cries more, laying it on really thick. She looks pathetic ,really.
The bitch should get an Oscar.
After I punch her in the face.
I step forward, but Arrow grips my upper arm, holding me back.
“She threatened me too, in the bathroom. She hurt me, Arrow. What would Mary say?” Janet adds.
Arrow peers down at me; I can see that he’s thinking about Mary right now.
This woman is Mary’s sister. Mary obviously cared about her, and that means Arrow must either care or feel responsible for her in some way.
Arrow looks down at Janet. “Come on, Janet, I’m calling you a cab.”
“No!” she cries. “Not until you say you believe me.”
I stare up at Arrow with an arched brow, daring him to say that he believes her.
He rubs the back of his neck.
“Did you say that shit?” he asks me quietly.
“No,” I reply, staring him straight in the eye.
“Did you threaten her?” he asks then.
I bite my bottom lip. “I did. After she spoke shit to me and raised her hand to me.”
He stares down at Janet, and even I can see the pity on his face.
“I’ll take her home, Anna,” he says. “You wait with Rake. I’ll be back for you. I just don’t want to have to be worrying about her ass all night.”
Wow.
Even after how he looked at her, like he knew what her game was, he’s still choosing her over me.
I pretend that I don’t see her smug look, and walk back into the club without another glance.
“Anna!” he calls once, but I don’t turn around.
I’m too pissed.
I hear him rev his engine as I walk back into the club, looking around for my brother.
I just want to go home.
* * *
I don’t end up going straight home.
Instead, I have a few more drinks, then head to another biker bar.
“What’s this bar called again?” I ask Tracker, who’s texting someone.
“Your words are slurring, Anna Bell, that means no more tequila,” he replies.
I stick out my lower lip. “What about vodka?”
He laughs. “Only water.”
I lean my head on his shoulder. “You’re a great man, Tracker; why don’t you dump that whore once and for all so you can ask out Lana?”
“I thought you didn’t want me with Lana?”
“I want you to do right by her, and that means no Allie baggage. And I’m sorry for being a bitch; Lana is just really important to me, you know?”
He messes my hair. “I know.”
“Good.”
“Allie is the daughter of a club member who passed away, that’s why she lives in the clubhouse,” he explains to me. “It’s a little complicated.”
“It always is,” I say sagely.
“Arrow?”
“Last person I want to talk about right now.”
“That’s a shame, since he just messaged me asking where the fuck you are.”
“Yeah, well,” I sigh. “He chose that Janet bitch over me.”
Tracker studies me. “Let him explain himself, Anna Bell. I know that man is crazy about you.”
“You’re, like, ten times better-looking when I’m drunk,” I blurt out.
“Thanks, I think,” Tracker replies, his eyes narrowing on me.
Rake hears my comment and starts to laugh, the woman that was perched on his lap falling on the floor.
“Ooops,” he says, retrieving her with a lopsided grin.
“Why do I hang around with you guys?” I muse out loud as the woman runs her hand over his crotch.
“Because your man ditched you,” Tracker unhelpfully supplies.
“Oh. Right.”
He grins. “Come here, I’m just playing with you.”
&nb
sp; “Ew, save that for Lana please.”
“Ew? What are you, fourteen?”
I sigh heavily. “Sex with you isn’t appealing. You’re like family and you belong to Lana.”
“And I’ve already told you, you look too much like Rake for my dick to even pay attention to you.”
I smile. “Good to know. That’s why we’re friends. Like, best friends. And ha! You didn’t deny belonging to Lana.”
He laughs and shakes his head, looking amused.
“Thanks for the pierced cock picture by the way, it looks like it would have hurt,” I tell him. “Oh, and you also have a pretty huge cock.”
And that’s when Arrow walks up to us.
“The fuck?” he growls, his eyes darting between Tracker and me. If only he were here one minute earlier, he wouldn’t be looking at us like he is.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, sitting up straighter.
“Claiming what’s mine,” he snaps. “Come on, now.”
I lift my chin stubbornly. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’ll get a ride home with the guys.”
“Anna, don’t fucking test me,” he says through clenched teeth.
I scoff. “You were already tested tonight, Arrow, and you failed. So leave me the hell alone, because you’re the last person I want to see right now.”
He lifts me in the air, carrying me out over his shoulder.
I have déjà vu.
Is it always going to be like this with us?
“Arrow, trust me, you don’t want—”
“Don’t tell me what I want, Anna,” he says, rudely cutting me off. We exit the bar, and I ignore the catcalls and whistles from the peanut gallery.
Arrow puts me down, then pulls out his phone and barks into it. “Blade, I need a lift.”
He hangs up and looks down at me, an unhappy expression pasted on his too-damn-handsome face.
“Where’s your bike?” I ask, looking around.
“You’re too drunk to get on the bike,” he says, looking away. “Blade’s going to give us a lift and bring back my bike later.”
“Can you just take me home?” I ask in a small voice, looking down at the ground. “I just want to sleep.”
“You can sleep as soon as we get back to the clubhouse.”
“Alone.”
“Not happening, Anna. I don’t care how mad you get at me, you’re sleeping right next to me, where you fuckin’ belong,” he says. “Don’t push me.”
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