by Fox, Nicole
The redhead looked around before leaning in a little closer. “All right. But you can’t say anything.” He pointed to the motel sign. “The manager. Last night.”
We gaped at him for a moment. “Really? That woman behind the desk last night?” Rubble ran a hand through his stubble. “I wish I had thought of that.”
“It wouldn’t have done you any good. She might run a dumpy motel, but she wouldn’t have paid any attention to the likes of you.” Rusty’s back was a little straighter now, his chest puffed out. “She’s an older woman, but she has standards.”
“Got yourself a cougar,” Moose remarked. “Not a good path to getting her pregnant.”
He smiled, a twitch of his beard. “I said she’s older, not that she’s dead. She’s still got plenty going for her, and they say older women are at their sexual peak. Based on the night I had with her in the supply room, I tend to agree.”
“Maybe we should make the same bet in the next town,” Rubble mused. “It could be a standing bet every time we land someplace new. It would certainly keep things interesting.”
“And it would give you time to recover from your major flop here,” I reminded him. “I think you’re just trying to redeem yourself, but we aren’t stopping in Uglytown for a few months.”
He glared at me, and for a moment I thought he might come after me. But Rubble wasn’t much of a fighter unless he knew he could just throw his weight around and win. He might have weighed more than me, but I could hold my own much better than he could. “It’s not like you got any, either. Maybe you can go find a girl in a tiara in the next place and not fuck her, either.”
“At least Bambi was willing to get on my bike with me and come to the motel room. Your little waitress would have just as soon shot you as screwed you.” I stepped forward, suddenly enraged. Rubble had always been such a pain in the ass, and it was time someone put him in his place.
“Bambi? You got a girl with a stripper name like Bambi into your hotel room and she still didn’t let you inside her? Dude, you’re worse at this than I thought.” Rubble stepped up to me as well. His head only came to my shoulders, but he had a fire in his eyes. Angry men often fought well.
“Boys, boys! Just stop! We don’t have time for this nonsense. We’re almost ready to go. Saddle up.” Rusty swung one long leg over his chopper and looked at us expectantly.
He was right, and none of us could argue with that. We turned for our bikes and did as we were told.
Just then, a taxi swung to a stop in the parking lot. We all turned to look, and my gut dropped down into my boots when I recognized the passenger who got out. She looked completely different than the last time I’d seen her, having exchanged her beautiful dress for a ratty T-shirt and a pair of black yoga pants with a splash of paint on one thigh. Traces of her eyeliner still clung to her skin even though she had washed the majority of her makeup off, and her hair hung limply around her shoulders. Still, she was gorgeous.
Bambi kept her eyes on the men around us as she slowly crossed the parking lot toward me. I could feel the gang holding its collective breath, most of them wondering what was going on. Rusty, Rubble, Moose, and Axle already knew who she was at least, but even they were watching with curiosity.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” she said meekly. “And I’ve changed my mind.”
There was no telling what had happened to her over the last day, but it was clear that she’d gotten the change in her life she had been looking for. I mounted my bike, scooting forward on the seat to make room for her. I didn’t say anything—the wrong words would ruin the moment—but I looked up at her expectantly.
I was ready for her to change her mind once again, or at least to hesitate, but she strode forward confidently and swung her leg up. She was behind me once again, her arms wrapped around me. Despite the fact that she had been so stubborn and difficult the previous day, I had to admit that it felt good to have her body pressed up against mine once again. Whatever had made her realize she wanted to be with me, I was grateful for it.
Rusty and the others were ready to go, and we rumbled out of the parking lot and into the road. Bambi didn’t ask where we were going, and I didn’t volunteer the information. I wasn’t even completely sure. All I knew was that we were leaving town, and I had a hot woman on the back of my bike.
Chapter 8 Bambi
I closed my eyes and leaned my cheek against Snake’s shoulder, feeling the wind through my hair. I didn’t know if I was any safer with him than I had been at Misty’s house, but the unknown danger seemed a better bet than the one I had already been through. For a moment, when I had left Steven lying in pain on his living room floor, I had considered going home. But I knew that just wasn’t an option anymore. Mother had made it clear. It was just as well. I would find a different way to be free.
Eventually, the bikes began to slow down as we approached another town. It was a much bigger one than Myrtle Creek or Johnson City, and I recognized Millville when we passed the huge shopping mall. The other bikers pulled off to the left, but Snake nodded at them and headed to the right.
“Where are we going?” I finally asked. I had been content to just roll with the punches, but separating from the rest of the group seemed odd.
Snake didn’t answer, but he threaded his way off the exit ramp and down a frontage road until we were at the mall. He pulled to a stop in the parking lot and signaled for me to get off. He stood there studying me for a moment before he spoke. “You don’t have anything with you.”
Confused at first, I finally looked down at myself. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He had seen me all dolled up in a beautiful gown, and now I looked like I had crawled out of a dumpster. I hadn’t even had the chance to get my cell phone or my wallet, since my purse had been left safely at home when Mother and I had left for the parade. “No, I don’t.”
“That’s not going to work for very long. Let’s go.” He headed toward the entrance.
I trotted to catch up with him. “I’d love to get a few things, but like I told you before, I don’t have any money.”
“Don’t worry about that. If you’re with me, then I’ll take care of you.” His eyes were distant, watching the building and the parking lot but not looking at me.
I wondered if I had made him angry or had burdened him by showing up again. But he could have easily rejected me back at the motel. We walked into the mall, and I instantly felt self-conscious. I never went out in public without being completely dressed and made up. I felt as though everyone was watching me.
Snake led the way through the mall toward a clothing store. Instead of the high-end clothes Mother had always insisted on, this place was full of ripped denim, band T-shirts, and leather. “Get what you want,” he said, gesturing toward the women’s side of the store. “I’ll be over here.” He parked himself on a chair near the dressing rooms.
I felt so strange as I flipped through the racks of clothing, but I knew I couldn’t argue. I needed clothes. Snagging anything that seemed like it would fit, I dashed to the dressing room with full arms. I pulled on a pair of jeans. The waist was cut low, exposing my lower back and several inches of my abdomen below my belly button. Paired with the tight red tank top I had grabbed, I thought I looked like I belonged on the back of Snake’s bike. Unfortunately, there was no mirror in the dressing room. I could see the screw holes that had been left behind when the mirror was taken out.
I stepped out to find one, and I saw that Snake was no longer in the chair. He was up at the checkout, leaning on the counter and talking quietly to the cashier. She was a young girl with a nose ring and blue streak in her hair. Great, I run off with this guy and he turns out to be a horrendous flirt. It pissed me off to know that I was already so unimportant to him. I’d been an idiot to think he might have considered me special.
I could hear his voice as I walked closer. “She’s not used to dressing like this. Could you help her out? And just charge everything to this card.” He turned when I approach
ed, looking startled. His eyes raked up and down my body, and the corner of his mouth curled up. “Looks like you’re off to a good start. I’ll be back. She’ll take care of you.” Without telling me where he was going or why he was leaving me, he walked briskly out of the store.
I watched him go with my mouth hanging open. Snake was my only ride, my last friend in the world (if I could even consider him that.) What was I going to do now?
“These black boots would go great with that outfit,” the cashier said as she came out from behind the counter and took a pair of chunky boots off a display. Her nametag designated her as Juniper. “And you’re going to need some accessories.”
As much as I hated that Snake had left, I suddenly felt far less uncomfortable now that I was in the hands of an expert. Juniper treated me like her own little dress-up doll, shoving clothes at me through the door of the dressing room and insisting that I come out to show her how they looked. In some ways, it was just like shopping with Mother except that Juniper never demanded I get anything I didn’t like. She laughed along with me when something didn’t fit right, and she really knew how to put together an outfit.
“Just pull the tags off and I’ll ring it up at the register,” she said when I had tried on the last ensemble and declared it a keeper. “You can’t leave here the way you came in.”
I frowned at the small pile the T-shirt and yoga pants made on the bench in the dressing room. “You’re right.” I was now completely outfitted with a huge bag of clothes, none of them anything like what I had worn in my previous life. Juniper had even taken the time to give me a mini makeover, and when I looked in the mirror I knew I was a completely different person. My makeup was bold and colorful, and Juniper had braided my hair alongside my scalp and pulled the remainder into a messy ponytail. With black hoop earrings, I completely looked the part.
“Your boyfriend is going to shit his pants,” she said as she totaled the purchase. “He’s hot, but now you’re way hotter.”
I opened my mouth to object. Snake wasn’t my boyfriend. But I couldn’t tell her he was just some random guy I happened to be with. It was better to leave it as it was. “Thanks.”
Snake walked in the door just as I turned to walk out. He looked around the store, his eyes roving everywhere but on me. When he finally realized who I was, he stopped in his tracks. He smiled, and it lit up his eyes. “That’s much better.”
* * *
Snake had made arrangements to meet the rest of the guys at a bar. “Our motel is right over there,” he said, pointing to a long, low building across the street. “For now, it’s time to go have a little fun.” He opened the front door and I walked in.
The place was full of the bikers, lounging at the bar and crowding around the tables. I hadn’t realized there were quite so many of them, but it was easier to see when they were all gathered in one place instead of strung out along the road. Most of them turned to stare.
“Why are they looking at me?” I whispered as Snake came in the door behind me and put his arm around my waist.
“Because you’re sexy,” he replied with a cocky grin. “Why else? Let’s go get a drink.” He guided us toward the bar and summoned the bartender. “What do you want?” he asked me.
“Um, just a soda is fine.”
Snake gave me a long glance. “No, what do you want to drink? We’re here to have fun and relax, Bambi.”
I wasn’t old enough to drink, and even if I had been Mother would have outlawed it for me anyway. “I—I don’t really know.”
“Okay. Two whiskey and Cokes,” he said to the bartender. A minute later, Snake handed me a cold glass and wound his way through the bar until we found an empty table. “Drink up,” he said. “We’re celebrating tonight.”
I took a small sip. It was strong, and I could taste the alcohol more than the soda. At least it wasn’t pure whiskey, or it probably would have knocked me to the floor. “What are we celebrating?”
Snake shrugged and grinned. “Anything we want to. Moving on to a new town, a new beginning for you, or just the fact that we’re alive. It doesn’t matter.” He took a long drink, seemingly not bothered by the strength of it.
I wished I could feel that cavalier about things. “Thank you for the clothes.” I took another sip. It was a little less intense this time, and I took another as an experiment. Maybe I could tolerate it after all.
“My pleasure. I liked you in that dress, but I think I like you even more dressed like this.” He studied me openly, not trying to hide the way his dark eyes lingered on my breasts under the tight shirt. “It suits you.”
“My mother would completely freak out if she saw me.” I took a longer swing at the thought. I’d managed to forget about her for brief periods of time, but memories of the look on her face as she yelled at me continued to haunt me.
“Is that such a bad thing?”
I smiled. “Maybe not. She’s pretty pissed at me, anyway. I guess I might as well go all out, right?”
“Right.”
A biker came by our table. He was big and blond, and I recognized him. He had been standing next to Snake when I had come back to the motel. He punched Snake in the arm and grinned. “Looks like things are working out for you.”
“Fuck off, Moose,” Snake replied with a shake of his head.
The big man moved off to talk to someone else.
“Are you guys always so friendly with each other?” I asked. It was getting a little easier to talk now. My muscles had been tensed for the last two days—or perhaps for my entire life—and they were finally beginning to relax.
“It’s just the way we are,” he explained. “But we’re close. The Warriors always watch out for each other.” Snake looked around the room proudly.
“The Warriors,” I repeated. I hadn’t paid attention to their club name before, but I realized now that it was stitched on the backs of their vests. “What’s it like? Being in a motorcycle gang, I mean.”
“We don’t call it a gang, first of all. It’s a club. But it’s more than that. We’re like family.” Snake polished off his drink and signaled a waitress for another round.
I sucked down the last of mine to catch up with him. “It must be nice to have so many people who have your back. I can’t imagine what that must be like.” The lights in the bar were suddenly a little brighter. The place seemed cozier and more welcoming as I picked up the new glass the waitress had brought. It felt so good to be away from my mother’s house and on my own, even if I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do with myself or how things would turn out.
“I know you said your mom is difficult, but don’t you have any other family? Your dad? Or some siblings or cousins?” He scrutinized me carefully, those dark eyes burrowing deep into my soul.
“Mother was an only child. Her parents passed away when she was about my age. I never knew my dad. There were rumors that my mom purposely got pregnant to try to get him to stay with her, but he didn’t fall for it. He took off and never looked back.” I didn’t talk about this sort of thing normally, and I didn’t know why I was now. I sank more of the fizzy drink down.
Snake raised his eyebrows, his mouth a firm line. “That’s harsh.”
“Maybe,” I agreed. “But who knows what he might have been like. What if he was worse than my mom? But I always dreamed he would come swooping into town one day and want me to live with him. In those fantasies, of course, he was always kind and wonderful. He had the money to get a lawyer to get me away from her. I’m sorry, that’s so silly. So infantile. Things like that don’t happen.”
His brows were lowered into a scowl now. “It’s not silly. I get it. My dad was a complete asshole, and I used to wish he would get run over by a semi or something. And don’t think that stopped when I got older. It was just me and him for a long time, and then he finally got remarried. My stepmother was a cruel woman, but I didn’t realize it until I was ready to move out. That’s when I joined the Warriors.”
I smiled gently at hi
m. Snake was a badass, a biker who had scared the crap out of my mother. But he was also something else. He had been kind enough to get me some clothes, and he was a real enough person that he had told me a little bit about his past. Was it possible that he was the type of guy that only existed in romance novels and movies? Was he the bad boy with a heart of gold? It was a nice idea, but I knew it couldn’t be true. Just like all the rest of my fantasies, it would never be a reality. Still that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy myself.
“I love this song.” Someone had just dropped a couple quarters in the jukebox, and a slow tune was playing. I closed my eyes and listened to the music, losing myself in it for a moment. I felt a hand on mine and opened my eyes.
“Let’s dance.” Snake pulled me up out of my chair and out onto the floor. His grip was firm, but he was careful not to hurt me.
I went willingly, draping my arms around his shoulders as we swayed to the music and enjoying the feel of his arms around me. He was a good dancer, his steps confident as his body moved in perfect time. “You’re good at this. I didn’t know bikers knew how to dance.”