by Jessie Cooke
“Ava? What are you doing here?”
“Noah said you’re getting your patch tonight. Sean and Daniel are at the house working.” Since he’d been shot and nearly died…and had to spend months recovering at his parents’ house…he and his brothers had started repairing their relationship. Sean pissed and moaned about the new guy that had taken Collin’s shift at the house, but Daniel told him that the poor guy’s only real crime in Sean’s eyes was that he wasn’t Collin. The funny thing was that Collin liked the relationship he had with his brothers more now that they weren’t working together three days a week. “Mom and Dad send their love, but you know…this place isn’t really their…”
Collin grinned. “Cup of tea?”
Ava smiled. “Yeah, something like that. Anyway, I thought someone from your family should be here, to celebrate with you.”
His family—he loved them, but they should all be committed. “I appreciate the sentiment, Ava, really, I do. But, there’s going to be a big party here tonight and I’m not sure you understand what that means. I’m surprised Noah let you come.”
Ava snorted and said, “Let me?” Collin laughed.
“Right. I keep forgetting who wears the pants.”
Ava looked around the club and her eyes fell on the patch one of the women wore…it bore her old man’s name and it meant she belonged to him. Collin could tell his sister knew that, and of course, did not approve. He was thinking he should introduce her to Beck, so at least she knew that wasn’t always the way it worked. Beck and Jace had a better relationship than most anyone Collin had ever known…but Jace certainly did not own her. “Could be you’re hanging around here a little too much.”
“Nah,” Collin said. “Every relationship is different. I don’t want to own a woman…I want a partner.” Collin didn’t even realize what he’d said until Ava cocked a red eyebrow, took the seat next to him, and said:
“In the three decades or so that we’ve been siblings, that’s the first thing I’ve ever heard you say that even whispers of you wanting a relationship. Do you have someone in mind…or is it just an abstract idea?”
Collin was a terrible liar, especially to his sister. But he and Ciara hadn’t talked about the future and he sure wasn’t going to discuss it with his sister before they did. “Abstract,” he said.
She didn’t look like she believed him and, proving it, she said, “So, have you spoken to Ciara?”
By the time Collin got out of the hospital, Ciara was gone. Noah had found a rehab center for her in Flagstaff, and although she was past the physical withdrawals, Ciara knew that she’d have to learn a whole new lifestyle if she was going to stay clean. It had been hard for Collin to say goodbye; by that time, through her everyday visits while he was in the hospital, they’d gotten close. Since she’d been in rehab, they’d talked in one way or the other every day. The first few weeks she couldn’t have her phone, but she had access to a computer in the library there, so they emailed. Now they texted every day and on the weekends when she was allowed a few hours to catch up with her family, they sometimes spoke on the phone for an hour or two. Collin was aching to see her, but Ciara wouldn’t agree to let him come and visit, or even send him any pictures. She told him she wanted to be fully healthy by the next time he laid eyes on her…he hoped that would be soon.
“Yeah, we talked on Sunday,” he said. That was their phone day. He didn’t tell Ava they texted every day in between.
“You like her.” Ava didn’t pose it as a question and Collin knew he wouldn’t be able to deny it if he wanted to.
“Of course I like her. Don’t you?”
Ava rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. You’re interested in her.”
“I’m getting to know her,” he said. “And yeah, I like what I know so far.” The whole experience of getting to know a woman was new to Collin. Sharing text messages and emails had given him a glimpse of a side of Ciara he was sure he might have never seen otherwise. They talked about everything—him, his newfound love for the club and riding and his brothers; Ciara, her past and the hopes that she had for her future. It made him wonder how much he’d missed out on in the past by simply treating women like they were objects for his pleasure. And then again…maybe Ciara was the one he was supposed to wake up for. Maybe she was the one he’d been waiting for all along.
“I think that’s great,” Ava said. “I don’t know her well myself yet, but what I’ve seen so far, I like. We took Aiden to meet her this past weekend.”
Collin almost said, “I know.” Ciara had told him, and she’d been really cute and excited about it. She and Aiden had spent part of the visit playing video games together. He’d had to teach her how, but it seemed to Collin like they’d really bonded over it.
“Really?” he said, instead. “How did that go?”
“Great,” Ava said. “I thought it would be kind of weird, him meeting his aunt for the first time in a place like that…but they got along really well.”
Collin laughed and said, “He was probably just relieved it wasn’t another uncle.”
Ava laughed too. “I can feel his pain there. Looks like something’s about to start.” Collin looked over and saw Jace and Beck coming out of the office. Finn and Bubba were taking up their positions as sergeants at arms and the chatter in the club was settling down. Collin was excited about getting his patch, so much so that he’d barely slept the night before. When he first got out of the hospital and had to spend so much time in rehab, he was afraid Jace would let him go. Instead, Jace assigned one of the guys to go with him to his therapy appointments to “encourage” him. While they were there, each one of them had a lesson for him about motorcycles, engines, or club life in general. He was sure Jace had prepared every one of them, and he was so fucking grateful that he was also sure he’d never be able to express that to his president in words. As soon as he got out of the hospital, he was back to prospecting…but Jace had given him a job in the shop, chasing parts and handling client phone calls.
“Okay,” Jace said. “You all ready to welcome our new brothers to the Phoenix chapter of the Skulls?” There were whoops and hollers. Jace gave a little speech, and Beck gave one as well. They talked about respect and loyalty again and gave kudos to Collin, Bruiser, and Ashkii, all of whom were being patched in. After that, the party was in full swing. Collin and his brothers had one celebratory shot after the other. Ava left sometime during the evening’s revelations, and Collin walked her out and told her how much he appreciated her coming. Then, feeling relieved she was gone, he really began to party.
A few hours into the party and several sheets to the wind by then, Collin was shooting pool…badly…with Boots and Finn when Daphne, one of the newest club girls, was suddenly at his side. When he first started hanging around, he didn’t know much about club girls. Finn was the one that told him they were “accepted” into the club on a case by case basis, and sworn in by Jace or Beck to ensure that they understood they had the same expectations of loyalty, privacy, and respect as everyone else. Collin thought it was a little sad that they didn’t seem to receive much of that respect in return. Jace didn’t allow any mistreatment of them, but the girls put themselves out there to be used by the bikers…and Collin knew from his own past that that was mistreatment and disrespect in itself.
Daphne pressed into him harder and the feel of her soft flesh against the muscles in his arm made Collin’s body immediately take notice. He hadn’t been with a woman since the day he fucked Ann against the door of his apartment. He had been shot, and he had regrets about how things had gone with Ann, especially because he’d had to get a restraining order against her when he was still in the hospital. He had a feeling they weren’t finished with her yet, and he blamed himself for a lot of that. Mostly, however, the reason he hadn’t been with anyone, at least since he’d been given the green light by his doctor, was because he couldn’t get Ciara off his mind. It was the longest stretch he’d managed in his adult life without sex, and parts s
outh were beginning to protest.
“Congratulations on your patch,” Daphne said, smiling up at him. Her lips were painted bright red and Collin had a vision of them on his cock.
“Thanks.”
“We should have a drink together, to celebrate you.”
Collin chuckled. “I’ve had quite a few already.”
“Then one more won’t hurt. You’re staying here tonight, right?” Jace had opened up all the rooms upstairs and even the one downstairs that he usually kept vacant for his sister. He didn’t want to bail anyone out of jail for DUI, and he absolutely didn’t want anyone getting scraped off the pavement…in his own words.
“Yeah,” Collin said, “I’m staying tonight.”
“Real question is, are you shooting?” Boots was leaning on his pool stick.
“Oh, my turn?”
“It’s been your turn,” Boots said, glancing at Daphne and rolling his eyes. Boots was a closed book where his private life was concerned. In all the months that Collin had been hanging around the club, he had yet to see Boots with a woman, or hear him talk about one.
Collin leaned over the table and through blurry eyes, did his best to line up his shot. Being drunk didn’t make it as hard to concentrate as did the bare leg that Daphne was rubbing up against his. She had on a skirt that was so short that every Catholic woman in his family would have a stroke just looking at it. With sweat rolling off his brow, and his hard cock raging in his jeans, he took the shot…and missed everything. Boots rolled his eyes at him again and while he sank his last two balls and the eight ball, Collin did his best to sidestep Daphne’s advances. He was horny…but Daphne wasn’t the woman he ached for. Finally when the game was over and Boots and Finn were up at the bar getting a fresh drink she said:
“Why don’t we take a bottle and go upstairs?”
Collin had no experience with saying no, and his impulse control was stretched to the breaking point. Voices in his head were suddenly rambling on about the fact that he and Ciara didn’t have a relationship, and he hadn’t made any promises…
He smiled at Daphne and said, “Make sure it’s a bottle of Jack.”
Daphne’s pretty smile lit up her blue eyes. She squeezed his arm, brushing her long, blonde hair and almost bare breasts against him again as she did. “I’ll be right back.”
Collin stood against the pool table, waiting for her and looking around at the party still raging around him. People were dancing and drinking and they all seemed to be talking at once. There was a lot of laughter and it made him smile just to be a part of it. But when his eyes landed on Jace and Beck in the far corner the smile fell from his face. For months he’d been watching his president and his old lady together. Slowly, as the baby got older, Beck began to take more of a part in the club again. She sometimes rode with them when they went on short trips and she was at all of their meetings. She’d even taken on the job of teaching the prospects how to shoot. Collin had witnessed that fabled temper of hers once. She seemed to go from zero to 60 in ten seconds flat, and those cool blue eyes turned into an icy fire. Collin had watched her burn whoever she was angry at with those eyes, including Jace. He had heard the two of them argue, and he’d witnessed, more than once, one of them walking away pissed off. But more importantly, and more often than not, he saw them quickly reunite. He didn’t know what went on behind closed doors to settle whatever disagreements they had, but what stayed with him the most, after it all, was that Jace’s dark eyes and Beck’s blue ones always got back to that place where they held nothing but love and respect for one another. He wanted that…and he wanted it with Ciara.
“You ready, baby?” Daphne was back, armed with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.
Collin felt bad for leading her on, but even in his drunken state, he knew that he owed her the truth. “I’m sorry, Daphne. I can’t do this.”
She frowned. “Why? Did I do something wrong?”
“No. Not at all. It’s me. There’s this girl…”
She looked angry and Collin was worried she was going to make a scene. He’d seen that too, more than once. Finn had told him most of the club girls aspired to old lady status, and some of them fell apart when they realized their efforts had been for naught. “You have a girlfriend?”
“No…not yet.” Collin sighed and thanks to the alcohol in his system, he heard himself giving her more information than he intended. “See, I met this girl a few months back. I really like her, and I think she really likes me. She had to go away for a while, I’m not even sure when she’ll be back. But when she gets back, I just don’t want anything to stand in the way of us being together. Does that make sense?”
“Have you had sex with her?” Daphne asked.
“Um…no, not yet.”
Daphne surprised him suddenly by smiling. “So you’re saving yourself for her?”
“Yeah…I guess.”
“I think that’s really sweet. Don’t get me wrong, I would have loved to show you a great time tonight. But in this day and age, and especially in the midst of all these bozos,” she said, lifting her arms up, “it’s kind of refreshing to meet a man that’s not interested in whoring around.”
Collin laughed. His brothers had called him a man-whore since he was eighteen, but Daphne was the first woman that had ever put it that way. “I think my whoring days are over,” he said with a chuckle.
“Good for you,” Daphne said, sweetly. “I wish you luck. Now, wish me luck…I’m going to give Gaston a shot.”
“Good luck,” Collin said, as she made her way away from him and through the crowd. When she disappeared, he looked down at the front of his pants and said, “Oh, settle down. You’ll live.” Collin headed back toward the bar. He and his cock would live, but they were going to need a few more drinks, and maybe some attention from his right hand, to get through the night.
31
It had been one week to the day since Collin was patched into the club when something happened that he knew would either make or break him as a Skull. Jace had asked him to ride to Tucson with Finn, Bubba, Gaston, and Bruiser. All Collin knew was that they were going to collect “dues” from another club whom the Skulls did “business” with. Collin didn’t know what kind of business they did and he didn’t care. He was excited to be included, not to mention that any opportunity to ride more than a few miles on his Harley sent a thrill through him like when he was a little boy and he got a new bike.
They left the club early in the afternoon and arrived at a bar on the edge of the city around three p.m. The parking lot was full of shiny bikes and the monikers painted on them said, “Tucson Scorpions.” As Collin climbed off his bike, Finn looked at him and said, “These guys are unpredictable, so stay alert.”
Collin nodded, but truthfully he wasn’t sure what Finn meant by “unpredictable.” Collin had a gun that Jace had given him. When Beck took him and the other prospects out to the range, she handled her weapon so effortlessly that Collin was practically in awe of her. Bruiser had some kind of military background that he didn’t talk much about, but when he picked up a gun, it was obvious that he was no stranger to holding a weapon. Ashkii and Collin, however, were amateurs, and Collin only hoped he could hit a moving target now if he ever had to. Collin didn’t tell Beck or Jace or even Finn that he’d killed a man. Everyone on earth besides Ava and Noah believed that Noah had killed Brian. Sometimes when the nightmares got to be too much, Collin tried to convince himself that was true as well. He hoped that he never had to kill another man, or even shoot one, but he at least knew if it came down to protecting his brothers, or himself, he at least had the moxie to pull the trigger.
The little bar was loud, and full, mostly with the bikers in the Scorpions’ red and orange colors. The Skulls got a few looks when they walked in, but as soon as the president of the Scorpions approached Finn and shook his hand, things settled down and went back to normal.
Finn introduced the other men to the man they called “Pops” and they followed him to a bac
k room where the loud music and chatter in the bar wouldn’t interfere with their conversation. Four other Scorpions accompanied Pops and three of them sat across the wooden table from the Skulls. The fourth, a man who wore the sergeant at arms patch, stayed on his feet behind his prez.
Pops looked at each of the Skulls individually and then, addressing Finn, he said, “I thought Jace was coming.”
“He wanted to,” Finn said, “but something came up at the club he had to handle personally. He sends his regards and hopes you understand.” Scorpion squinted one eye while he was listening to Finn. It looked to Collin like the older biker was having to concentrate hard to understand what the Irishman was saying. Pop’s years on the road and under the hot Arizona sun showed in deep lines that surrounded his eyes and mouth. They became more pronounced when he frowned, and when Finn finished talking, he sat back in his chair, pushed a lock of thick, black hair off his forehead, and ran a hand over the dark stubble on his chin. He was either thinking, or stalling, or both. It was after a long pause that he did something that caused Collin and the rest of the Skulls to sit up straighter. He looked at his sergeant at arms and nodded. Bubba was the first one on his feet when he saw the gun the other man had slid out of his pocket and the other three men quickly followed. Collin didn’t take his gun out, but Bubba had his in his hand.
“What the hell is this?” Finn asked.
“Security,” Pops said. “Let’s all stay calm.”
“We’ll calm down when your SA puts that gun back in his pocket. This is a friendly meeting.”
“It was supposed to be,” Pops said. “But this meeting is over now. You tell your president that when he can find the time to meet with me face to face, I’ll be waiting.”
“This is about Jace not being here?” Finn asked.