SHADES: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Outlaw Series Book 3)

by James, Nicole

  ****

  Shades made his way down the stairs and across the shop, for once in a long fucking time not pleased to see his brothers. Excuses already forming in his head to try to get rid of them.

  He reached the door, flipped the lock and strode outside.

  Whoever had been banging on the door, had walked off. The guys were now gathered around Ghost, who sat sideways on his parked bike, one boot on the ground, one propped on his foot peg, one wrist slung over his hand grip, a cigarette in his other hand. Griz stood next to him lighting up his own smoke.

  Gator, Heavy and Spider were all there, too.

  Ghost blew out a stream of smoke into the air, and then grinned at him as he approached, taking in Shades’ shirtless chest and bare feet. “We get you out of bed, Brother?”

  Shades glared. “Sorta.”

  Ghost squinted at him, taking another drag off his smoke and eyeing him closely. Shades knew he needed to change the subject before his too-perceptive brother was on to him.

  “So, what’s up?” he asked.

  “What the fuck do you mean what’s up?” Ghost asked back.

  “Got that benefit for Bulldog’s widow today. You forget?” Griz reminded him.

  “Shit. That’s today?” Shades ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.

  “It’s Saturday, ain’t it?” Gator growled.

  “Fuck. I forgot.”

  “How the hell did you forget?” Heavy snapped.

  “Got other shit on my mind, Brother.”

  Ghost blew another stream of smoke in the air, his eyes squinting and replied with a suspicious look, “Apparently.”

  Shades’ eyes narrowed at him for a moment, and then he asked Griz, “What time’s it start again?”

  “In like an hour. Stopped by the clubhouse earlier. Your prospect’s already over there helpin’ the girls set-up.”

  “Let me bum a cigarette,” Shades said to Ghost, who dug his pack out of his shirt pocket and held it out to him. He took it and shook one out, thinking how he’d neglected to call his prospect that morning to make sure he was on it. Thankfully, 12 Gauge was a fuckin’ awesome prospect and knew what he was supposed to be doin’ without bein’ told all the fuckin’ time. Thank fuck for that small saving grace today.

  Shit. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten the benefit for Bulldog. Fuck. That really put a kink in his plans with Skylar today. Dipping his head, he lit up, and then blew a stream of smoke into the air.

  “Where’s Hammer?” he asked.

  “He was supposed to meet up with us this morning, but he didn’t show,” Griz replied, flicking his ashes off his cigarette. “Hope nothin’ happened to him.”

  Ghost grinned, “Oh, I think little Ashley was lookin’ to happen to him in a big way last night.”

  Griz chuckled. “No doubt.” Then he looked over at Shades. “Heard you took a taste of that a couple a nights ago.”

  “I think everybody’s had a taste of that by now,” Shades replied.

  “She’s only been comin’ round a couple weeks.”

  “Well, it doesn’t take long for some.”

  “I disagree,” Ghost cut in with a teasing look at Shades. “I think she’s been real particular with who she’s lettin’ in her pants.”

  “Your point?” Shades asked.

  “Brother, she’s had her sights on you since she walked on the property.”

  Shades let out a huff. “That’s the case, she needs to get over it, ‘cause I ain’t goin’ back for seconds.” Those days were fuckin’ done now that Skylar was back in his life. He took another drag of his cigarette, with a quick glance over his shoulder back at his shop. Thank Christ this conversation was taking place out in the lot and not inside where she would have overheard every word of this crap.

  “Why, bro? She a piss-poor lay?” Spider asked.

  No, she was actually quite good, but he’d be damned if those words would ever come out of his mouth. Instead he replied, “You climb on that, you’re boarding a fucking crazy train to Loopsville. But, hey, you wanna take that ride, have at it. But I’m not interested, and I sure as hell don’t need her following me around thinkin’ that’s gonna fuckin’ change.”

  Ghost’s eyes narrowed on him again. And goddamn, he wished Ghost wasn’t so fucking quick to pick shit up.

  “Well, maybe I’ll get the down-low from Hammer when he shows up,” Spider added.

  “Maybe you will.”

  “Where you goin’?” Heavy shouted after Gator as he wandered off.

  “I got a board of director’s meeting over here. Ya mind?” Gator yelled back over his shoulder, then he ambled to the side of the dumpster and took a piss.

  “Fuck, Gator. We don’t want to see that shit,” Ghost complained.

  “Then don’t fuckin’ look, asshole,” Gator yelled back. A minute later he was zipping up and heading back across the lot when Hammer roared in off the street. Hammer turned his handlebars and hit the throttle, aiming right for Gator, who had to jump out of the way to avoid being run over.

  “You son-of-a-bitch!” Gator yelled after him as Hammer rode to the back of the lot and made a circle turn, coming back and parking next to the guys.

  He dropped his kickstand and climbed off.

  “I can’t believe you tried to run him over,” Ghost laughed.

  “Oh, like you’ve never thought about it,” Hammer replied, pulling his helmet off and running his fingers over his short hair.

  Ghost chuckled.

  “Gotta talk to you ‘bout something,” Spider mumbled, grabbing a fistful of Hammer’s tee shirt and pulling him off to the side.

  Probably to ask him if he nailed Ashley last night, Shades thought, shaking his head.

  Gator walked up. “Did you fuckin’ see that? The motherfucker tried to run me over. Why the hell would Hammer want to kill me?”

  Griz turned to him with a straight face and said, “Why would I want to kill you? Why does your ex want to kill you?”

  The guys tried to hide their grins.

  Gator’s eyes narrowed in Hammer’s direction.

  “Heard you had a minor mishap on the job last week?” Shades asked Gator, hoping to distract him before he decided to retaliate against Hammer for that stunt.

  “Yeah,” he grunted out.

  “Minor mishap? Is that what they call it when you dig through an underground power-line and cut power to half the fuckin’ grid?” Griz taunted.

  The guys all snickered openly this time.

  “Weren’t you up for Supervisor, Gator?” Heavy asked, pulling a beer out of his saddlebag and popping the top.

  “My career path may have taken a minor detour,” Gator admitted.

  “Yeah, off a cliff,” Griz added with a snort.

  Gator shoved his arm. “Shut the fuck up.”

  Hammer and Spider walked back over, Hammer leaned an elbow on Ghost’s handlebar. “My bike’s makin’ that damn noise again. You got a socket wrench I can borrow?” he asked Shades.

  Before he could answer, they all heard the roar of another bike approaching and turned to look as JJ pulled into the lot and parked next to them. He sat astride his bike and pulled his helmet off, revealing a newly shaved head.

  Ghost blew out a stream of smoke, trying not to grin and asked, “You listenin’ to that little voice in your head again, JJ?”

  They chuckled.

  JJ ran a hand over his smooth head. “You don’t like it? Tink told me I looked sexy.” His eyes moved from Ghost to Hammer and he grinned, knowing the dig would eat at Hammer.

  “You little shit,” Hammer growled and made a move toward him, but Heavy pushed him back.

  “Take it easy, bro. Tink wouldn’t waste her time.”

  Hammer relaxed back, but pointed a finger at JJ. “Steer clear of her. She’s mine.”

  “Oh, really?” Shades asked, turning to Hammer with brows raised.

  “Yeah….she…ah…just doesn’t know it yet.”

  “Right.” Shades dr
ew out the word sarcastically and smiled at him. “Come on, I’ll get that socket wrench. Pull your scooter in.”

  Shades moved toward the door, walked in and hit a button on the wall. An overhead garage door began to slowly roll up. Hammer rolled his bike in, and Shades walked over to a big red tool chest and opened a drawer, retrieving the tool.

  The rest of the guys wandered into the shop to get out of the sun.

  Shades turned to hand the tool to Hammer. “So, you and Ashley?”

  Hammer took the socket wrench and ran his other hand down his face. “Yeah. Me and Ashley.”

  “What made you want to fuck that crazy bitch?”

  “Well, somebody had to do it. And you know me, work, work, work.”

  Heavy almost spit his beer out laughing at Hammer’s response.

  Shades stifled a grin. “Come on, seriously, Hammer.”

  “Hell, I don’t know. She was looking to hook up with a brother, and I was the only fool in sight.”

  “You got that right,” Heavy snickered. “The fool part I mean.”

  Shades shook his head and looked at Hammer. “You’ve been tryin’ to get in Tink’s pants forever. You really think rubbin’ Ashley in her face is gonna help your chance there, Brother?”

  “After three long muth-fuckin’ months of tryin’, yeah. Thought maybe it’d make her jealous. At least I’d get some kind of reaction out of her.”

  Shades shook his head. “One of these days I’m gonna have to sit you down and explain women to you.”

  Hammer bent down and started working on his bike. “Shit, last I heard, you weren’t doin’ much better.”

  He couldn’t be more wrong, Shades thought. Which reminded him, Skylar was still upstairs waiting for him. In his bed. Naked.

  Shit. He needed to get rid of these yahoos. Quick.

  “Just fix your damn bike, already,” he snapped at Hammer.

  The next bay over, JJ was goofing off with the air ratchet, hitting the trigger and sticking it in Griz’s face. Whir, whir, whir.

  “Get that thing out of my face,” Griz growled, grabbing JJ’s arm and shoving him.

  “Yeah, I hear that’s what your ol’ lady says,” JJ teased back.

  “I’m gonna shove that up your ass, you little shit.”

  “You couldn’t catch me, Griz. You’re too slow.”

  Just then a sneeze could be heard coming from upstairs.

  Ghost, who was kicked back in an old metal chair, balanced up on the two rear legs, let the chair fall to all fours with a bang. He looked over at Shades. “Well, well, well. What have you got stashed upstairs, Brother? You been keepin’ secrets?”

  Shades gave him a look that said, shut your damn mouth.

  Ghost only grinned, then yelled up, “Come on down, darlin’. We know you’re up there.”

  Shades glared at Ghost. “I don’t think I’ve ever been as pissed at you as I am right now, Brother.”

  Ghost chuckled. “Oh, sure you have.”

  “You need to keep your mouth shut.”

  Ghost looked at Shades and grinned. “And you need to perfect your poker face. I knew you were up to something.”

  A couple of minutes later, a dressed Skylar appeared at the top of the stairs. The guys all turned their eyes to her as she started down.

  “Hot damn.”

  “Holy shit.”

  “Um, um, um.”

  “Shut up boys. Show some respect,” Shades snapped as he walked over to meet Skylar as she got to the bottom of the steps. He took her hand and helped her down the last couple of steps then pulled her close and leaned down and kissed her. Might as well lay it out for the boys right now. She was his and off limits to them all.

  “We gonna be here all night?” one of his brothers grumbled, rolling his eyes. Shades glared at him over Skylar’s shoulder, not breaking the kiss.

  There was a round of laughter.

  Shades finally broke the kiss, letting Skylar up for air. He winked at her, and she turned to face his brothers, and they got a good look at her face. There was silence for about a split second before the shit hit the fan.

  “You lucky son-of-a-bitch.” This from Gator.

  “You stupid son-of-a-bitch,” Ghost corrected, realizing his brother had just broken a major fucking rule.

  “Wait a minute. Ain’t she Crash’s ol’ lady?” Gator asked with a frown.

  “Brother, what the fuck are you doin’?” Hammer whispered.

  “You messin’ around with a brother’s ol’ lady?” Heavy asked.

  “She’s not his ol’ lady,” Shades protested.

  “You sure about that, bro?” Spider asked.

  “Tell ‘em,” Shades told Skylar.

  “It’s true.”

  “Need more than her word on it, Shades. You talk to Crash about this?” Griz asked.

  “No.”

  “Then a call needs to be made.”

  “He went back to California.”

  “Don’t care if he went to fuckin’ California. Don’t matter if he’s eatin’ chop suey in China. You need to get this straight from him. Not her. You know that, Brother,” Griz insisted emphatically.

  “Wait. What? You two are together now?” JJ asked, putting the air ratchet down and finally catching up with the conversation.

  “Now we know the speed of stupid.” Hammer shook his head.

  Ghost’s phone chirped, and he pulled it out and looked at it. Then he looked up at the guys. “Butcher wants to know where the fuck we all are. Let’s head out, boys.”

  Griz pointed at Shades. “Clear this shit up.”

  With that they all headed out to their bikes.

  Ghost hung back. His fingers moved over the keys of his cell, as he sent back a reply to Butcher. Then he shoved it in his pocket. His eyes moved from Shades to Skylar and back again, and he shook his head.

  “You got something to say?” Shades bit out.

  “You know that moment when you give someone advice, they don’t fuckin’ take it, and then you sit back and watch everything you predicted happen? I’m havin’ one of those.”

  “Just shut the fuck up.”

  “I fuckin’ warned you, didn’t I?”

  “She’s nobody’s ol’ lady, Ghost. I’m not repeating it again.”

  “Yeah? Well the verdict’s still out on that one.”

  Shades blew out a frustrated breath. “Drop it.”

  Ghost nodded his head toward the bikes in the parking lot. “You comin’?”

  “Yeah. You go on.”

  “You bringin’ her?”

  “Yeah, we’re both coming.”

  “Better make that call first,” Ghost warned.

  Shades huffed out a breath. “Okay, Ghost. I got it.”

  “Later.” Ghost turned to leave.

  “Tell Butcher I’m on my way,” Shades called after him.

  “Yup.”

  When the last bike rolled off the lot, Shades walked over and slammed his palm over the button to lower the garage door. Then he dug his phone out of his hip pocket and scrolled through the contacts until he found Crash. Then he made the call, putting the phone to his ear, his eyes meeting and holding Skylar’s.

  “Crash, this is Shades. Just got one question. All I need is a one word answer, yes or no, Brother, then I’m hanging up ‘cause I’m not in the best mood right now, and I don’t want to say shit I’ll regret. So, I’m asking, is Skylar yours?”

  His eyes stayed on her as he listened to the response. Then he disconnected the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket. His eyes still on Skylar, he said, “Guess we’ll have to save that naked ‘anything you want’ fun we had planned for later. Go get ready. We got a party to get to.”

  She smiled at him then and ran back upstairs.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Shades was standing in the yard of the clubhouse, next to the keg, one arm slung around Skylar’s neck and barely half a beer down before Griz approached.

  “You make that call yet?” he aske
d, his eyes taking in the arm hanging loosely around Skylar as he picked up the nozzle of the tap and began filling his red cup with beer.

  “Yeah. It’s all good, Brother,” Shades replied.

  A big grin formed on Griz’s face. “So, you claimin’ her?”

  “Yup.”

  Then Griz met Skylar’s eyes. “Welcome to the family, darlin’.”

  She smiled. “Thank you, Griz. That’s sweet of you.”

  He turned pink with embarrassment at her words. “Hell, I ain’t sweet.” Then he turned to Shades. “She better learn how to bitch and moan like the rest of ‘em or she ain’t gonna make it in this group.”

  Gator and Hammer walked up.

  Gator’s bald head gleamed in the bright sunlight, his eyes were covered by black wraparound shades, and he aimed them toward the gate. “Place sure is packed. Bulldog got one hell of a turnout, huh?”

  “Yeah,” Hammer agreed, his eyes searching the crowd.

  Gator looked over at him. “Let me guess who you’re lookin’ for.”

  “Nobody. And mind your own damn business, fuckface.”

  “Touchy. Touchy. What’s eatin’ your ass?”

  Just then Tink walked up to the keg.

  “Nothing now.” Hammer pulled a cup off the stack and began filling it. “Here, darlin’, I’ll pour you one.”

  Her eyes flicked up to him. “Thanks.”

  “My pleasure, Tink.” He gave her a smile. “And might I add your hair looks particularly lovely today.”

  “Shouldn’t you be sweet talking Ashley? She’s the one you fucked last night.”

  Hammer looked ashamed. “Who’d you hear that from?”

  “Her. Are you denying it?”

  He looked away. “No. Just saying it was a mistake, Tink.”

  “You tryin’ to get back on her good side?” Gator asked.

  “He’d have to suck up at the speed of light,” Griz put in with a snicker.

  Tink attempted to ignore them all as JJ and Heavy walked up.

  “Hey, Tink, tell Hammer how much you like my new look,” JJ teased, rubbing his shaved head.

  Tink rolled her eyes.

  “What’s the matter, you on the rag, Tink? You ever heard the saying, ‘don’t trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn’t die’?” Gator smirked.