by Sam Crescent
She saw the bear he was holding but averted her gaze. This man had the power to unravel her in ways she didn’t even understand or like. The feelings he inspired inside her were part of the reason she had stopped going to the playrooms of the clubhouse. She still played with the club men as she did love having strong arms wrapped round her when she was sleeping. None of them was the right man. She wasn’t a fool. There was no way Richard would go with a woman like her. Outside of the playroom, he never gave her the time of day.
“I wanted to see how you were.”
“I’m good. Cute teddy bear,” she said, trying to change the subject.
He held it out. “I won it for you.”
“Oh.” She took the bear, smiling down at it. “Thank you.”
“I don’t want this to be hard for us.” He went to touch her, and Chloe pulled away.
“There’s no need for this to be a problem between us, Richard. We’re completely different people.”
“Chloe?”
“What?” Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
She forced herself to stare at the man who had worked his way into her heart. The same man she had watched take another woman out to dinner. She had been with him so many times, and yet not once had he wanted anything to do with her after a scene they’d shared together. She meant nothing to him, and that was what she needed to remember.
“I don’t want you to stop coming to the playrooms.”
Chloe’s heart broke. That was all she was good for. The playrooms. All of her life she’d been told she was only ever good for one thing. Men wouldn’t want anything to do with her unless she spread her legs.
Glancing down at the bear, Chloe came to a decision. It was time for her to take a step back from the club. If she didn’t, she would lose herself. She’d go and see Teri about giving her more hours at the diner.
“I can’t take this,” she said, handing him back the bear.
He didn’t take it. “I won it for you.”
“Give it to that woman you took to the Italian restaurant.” She had been at the local grocery store across the street. Chloe hadn’t gone hunting him. She wasn’t that kind of woman. “I won’t be coming to the playrooms anymore. Goodbye, Richard.” Turning on her heel, she made a way toward James. It was time for her to cut loose from the club.
Chapter Five
“You don’t have to leave,” James said. Drake stood just inside the room, watching as Chloe packed up her stuff. Suzy was waiting outside with Grace. The two women had offered Chloe a bed to sleep in. They’d been near Cora and James when Chloe dropped the bombshell. Of course, she’d been crying while she said something.
Drake had seen Richard staring after her even though he’d not done anything to stop the woman.
“It’s time I moved on, James. I told you I wasn’t going to be at the club much longer.”
“How are you going to support yourself?” Cora asked.
“I’ve spoken to Teri, and she can give me extra hours at the diner. Daniel has other jobs to do, so I’ll be taking over from him.”
She filled a large duffel bag with clothes. He noticed she only owned two pairs of shoes and a pair of pumps she already had on. Staring at her now, he had to wonder how she ever survived at the club. She looked out of place. Even the club women that went to the high school to have some fun had dressed in far more revealing clothing, short, tight skirts. Chloe looked like she had stepped out of a real estate advertisement.
Once she had everything, she came toward them. “It’s time for me to move on.”
“Is it Richard? I can stop him coming to the club,” James said.
“It’s not him. It’s me. It’s time I moved on, and I’m going to do that.” Chloe turned to Cora. “May I hug him?”
“Sure. I know you don’t mean anything by it other than being friendly,” Cora said.
Chloe wrapped her arms around James. It had to be the friendliest hug he’d ever seen from the young woman.
“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me. You gave me a home, and you didn’t leave me rotting in that club. For that, I’ll always be in your debt. It’s time for me to find myself now.” She turned around to look at them, and several of the brothers looked truly heartbroken. Several of the club pussy looked more than happy to see her go. Drake wasn’t going to be fucking her ever again. He wanted Grace, and he saw both women were becoming friends. “I’m not going to be a stranger to you guys. I’ll be working at the diner, and if it’s okay with James, I’ll come to a few parties every now and then. It’s not goodbye at all. I’m not leaving town.”
On the way out of the club, Chloe hugged everyone. Not one guy let her go without throwing his arms around her.
On the way out, Grace was waiting beside the car with the trunk popped open. Chloe placed her bag in the trunk, and he stood close to them.
“Are you sure about this?” Grace asked.
“It’s time I moved on. I’m only going to get my heart broken here. That is all my fault, just so you know. No one else is to blame for this.”
Drake frowned at that. No one here was going to break Chloe’s heart. She never let anyone close enough.
Richard, she did.
He was going to kill that bastard. Richard was the one to make her cry as well. He’d bet every single cent he owned that he was the cause of this reaction. The club was going to want to have a word with Richard. There was no way he was getting away with this kind of shit. He knew that Chloe had tried to take a step back because of her feelings for Richard, but this was different. Richard had gone looking for her. He knew this because Richard had asked about Chloe. Yes, Chloe was a club girl, but she was one of the good ones.
Chloe climbed into the passenger seat, and Grace hesitated. “We’ll take care of her.”
“I thought it was just a two bedroom apartment.”
“We can share. The beds are pretty big. We’ll figure something out. We’re all women here.” She ran fingers through her hair. “Do you still want to go and see a movie?”
“Yes.” He gripped her waist, and leaned in close, kissing her cheek. “Take care. Call me when you get back to your apartment.”
“I don’t have your number.”
“Chloe does. Get it from her, and I’ll be waiting.”
Grace nodded. “Bye.”
Stepping away from the car, Drake sighed.
“Is anyone going to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Jerry asked.
Several of the brothers nodded their head in agreement.
“She was perfectly fine this morning,” Pixie said.
“Something clearly upset her,” Caleb said. He had his arm wrapped around Kitty Cat, who was close to them like Chloe was.
“Richard,” Drake said. “The last time I spoke to her she was talking to him. It makes perfect sense. She’s been pining after him for some time.”
“I saw him give her a bear,” Cora said. “He wouldn’t hurt her.”
“This is not the kind of hurt that comes from being called names,” James said. “I think it’s time we pay our lawyer a visit. I’m not happy about this, and I want to know what the hell has been going on.”
Several of the brothers volunteered. In the end, James took him, Caleb, Pixie, and Damon along for the ride, leaving the others to assist Teri in cleaning up. Cora went home to deal with whatever she had to deal with.
They each straddled their bikes, and took off toward the office where Richard had set up shop. He was a well respected lawyer who helped the Dirty Fuckers out of a few pickles along the way. Regardless of how many problems Richard had helped, it didn’t mean they would allow him to walk over one of their own, club whore or not. They didn’t like the fact Chloe had left the club. She wanted an entire separation from the club.
They entered Richard’s office and ignored the young secretary on the front desk. They didn’t even knock, simply walked into the office. Drake was ready to beat the shit out of the fucker.
Richard was on
the phone, and the moment he saw them, he hung up. “What can I do for you?”
“You can tell us what you did to Chloe?” James asked, resting his knuckles on the desk, and glaring at the other man.
The calm, relaxed lawyer disappeared. “Not that I think it’s any of your business. What’s wrong with her?”
“She decided to leave the club. She’s moved in with Grace and Suzy. Are you going to tell me why? You’re the only problem I see. Did you treat her wrong when you took her to the private rooms?”
Richard cursed, standing up. “I’d never do anything to hurt her. I tried talking to her. I even tried to give her the fucking bear—”
“Chloe’s not the kind of woman you try to bribe,” Pixie said, growling each word out.
“It wasn’t a bribe. I won the fucking bear, and I gave it to Chloe. She didn’t take it anyway, and she walked the fuck away from me. I figured she was going back to the club.” Richard ran fingers through his hair.
“She was crying when she came to us, but she wouldn’t tell us why.”
“Fuck. This is, I don’t know. I miss her, okay? She’s not in the playrooms, and I fucking miss her.” Richard stopped, dropping his hands. “She told me to give the bear to someone else.”
“She saw you with someone else. Chloe is not like every other woman you’ve ever met,” Damon said. “She hurts easily, and she loves with her whole heart. Most of her life she hasn’t known what protection really is. There are nights she would do whatever any guy wanted just so long as at the end of it, you wrapped your arms around her, and didn’t let go until the sun came up.”
That was even news to Drake, but he’d never had a problem with holding Chloe close. Considering she made him happy on the nights he’d taken her, he figured holding her was the right thing to do.
“I asked if she was going to go back to the playroom, and she just changed. She handed me back the bear, and told me it wouldn’t be a good thing. I’d never hurt Chloe.”
“She’s in love with you,” James said. “It’s why she’s trying to create some distance.”
“Fuck, I had no idea.”
“If I hear you hurt her we’ll be doing a hell of a lot more than talking. Chloe may not be part of the club anymore, but she asked for our protection, and we’ve given it to her. Don’t go near her again, unless she wants you to.”
****
“Are you sure about this?” Grace asked, looking into the back of the car.
“Yeah, I’m more than sure. What about you two? I know it’s only a two bedroom apartment.”
“I have a king size bed, so you can sleep on that, if you want? Or there’s the couch,” Suzy said. “There’s not going to be any space for you to have sex if that’s what you’re after.”
“If I need sex I can always revisit the club. It’s easy that way.”
“My bed is also available. It’s not a sex thing either, more a friends thing.”
“We can go and buy a sofa bed. You know, one of those sofas that when you pull it out, it turns into a bed,” Suzy said.
“So, we’re buying a puppy and a sofa bed,” Grace asked.
“Oh, we’re getting a puppy?” Chloe asked, leaning forward. “I love dogs and cats as well.”
“The apartment’s not that big, but it will do for a Pomeranian. Tonight while Grace is cooking, we’ll go online and see if there’s any for sale from a breeder.”
Chloe squealed, clapping her hands.
“So, are you going to tell us why you’re leaving a bunch of hot men?” Suzy asked. “It’s really weird. You’re part of the club, right?”
Chloe sighed.
“If you think they’re so hot, why don’t you date Pixie?” Grace asked.
“Yeah, honey, why not?” Chloe asked.
“Tell her what he said to you on the football field today. There’s no way I’m dating him, not ever. He’s a pig.”
Grace told Chloe what Pixie had said about Suzy. Even Chloe wrinkled her nose. “Pixie’s not the sweetest guy in the bunch. If you ask me I think it’s because he’s always trying to do better than James.”
“They’re brothers, right?” Suzy asked.
“Yep, and something went down with Cora, and Pixie has been trying to prove himself ever since. I don’t know, maybe he’s trying to prove that he has a bigger dick or something.” Chloe shrugged. “He’s still a good fuck though.”
Suzy swerved the car. “You’ve slept with him?”
“I’ve fucked him. There’s a difference. He’s good in bed, great, and if you’re looking for a good long night, Pixie is your man.”
Grace glanced over at Suzy and saw her face heating. “What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
“You do know what sex feels like, right?” Chloe asked.
Suzy shook her head. “No.”
“You’ve not had sex?” Grace asked. Even though she had a limited experience with her evil ex, Dwayne, she still wasn’t a virgin.
“No, I’m a virgin.” Suzy got the car under control, and kept on driving.
“Wow, I don’t think Pixie knows that,” Chloe said.
“It’s not something I go out and advertise.”
“How have you never had sex?” Grace asked. She really didn’t understand why.
“It’s easy. I wasn’t asked out a whole lot, and when I was, if I didn’t like the guy, I didn’t go. If I did go, I didn’t put out on the first opportunity.” Suzy shrugged, pulling into the parking lot of the apartment building, Grace climbed out, grabbing Chloe’s bag from the trunk. She handed the other one to Chloe, and they followed Suzy into the building. Of course they lived on the top floor, and that weekend the elevator had work being done to fix the squeaking.
They climbed the stairs, and by the time they made it to their apartment, they were all out of breath.
“Okay, I thought I was fit,” Chloe said. “I spend a great deal of time on my feet, but that took the puff right out of me.”
Both women agreed with her.
Entering, Grace kicked the door closed, and collapsed on the nearest sofa. “Home sweet home.”
“Or apartment sweet apartment,” Suzy said. “It’s not a lot, but it’s home, and it beats living in a trailer with your parents.”
“Do you still see your parents?” Grace asked.
“No.” Suzy shuddered. “They spent most of my life telling me how I’d ruined theirs. I’m waiting to see if they will change their lives now that I’m gone. It has been five years, and guess what? They’re still drinking and partying at the trailer. I see them at the grocery store with a trolley filled with booze. I ignore them, and they ignore me, which I’m more than happy about.”
“I don’t have a family,” Chloe said.
“You don’t?”
“When I was born, I was left on the doorstep of a church. The priest who was there took me to an orphanage, and then I was passed around for foster homes. I suffer with asthma you see, and none of the parents wanted the cost of keeping a sick kid. Back then, I was really sick.”
“I didn’t know you had asthma,” Grace said.
“It’s one of the reasons I don’t stay in the main part of the club all the time. The smoke turns me into a coughing, red, puffy mess. It’s easier to go to the playrooms where smoke isn’t a problem. Richard, he never smoked. He always said that the smell was disgusting.”
Grace saw the pain that flashed in Chloe’s eyes. “You love him?”
“Yeah, and that’s the problem. He’d never pick me if given the choice.”
“You don’t know that,” Suzy said. They all sat on the large sofa, each resting their head on each other’s shoulder.
“I do. I saw him one day. He took someone else out on a date at a fancy restaurant. He doesn’t even talk to me after he gets what he wants.” Chloe’s lip protruded. “Life sucks sometimes.”
“It really does.”
“We’re quite a team,” Grace said.
“The virgin, the whore, and the s
aint.”
“I’m not a saint,” Grace said.
“Okay, the slave?”
Grace laughed. “I’m no one’s slave.”
“Go cook, wench,” Suzy said, pointing at the kitchen.
They all burst into a fit of giggles.
“Drake asked me to go to the movies with him.”
“Really?” Chloe asked. “What did you say?”
“We’re going as friends so I didn’t see a problem.”
“You don’t want to date him?” Suzy asked.
“I’m not ready to date.”
“Drake’s a nice guy.” Chloe tapped her leg. “He’d be good to you, and he’s nice.”
“Nice is always good, much better than being vulgar. What does Pixie expect me to do? Fall for him because he says he wants to fuck me?”
“Men are weird.”
“Completely weird, and boring,” Suzy said.
“Don’t forget they can be assholes as well.”
They all sighed and snuggled up against each other.
“This is nice,” Chloe said.
“What should I wear to the movies?” Grace asked. “It’s not a date. It’s an event between friends. Am I allowed to dress like a slob?”
“Slob? He’s still a guy.”
“But he has put himself in the ‘friends’ category. Doesn’t that mean the rules don’t apply?” Grace turned to look at her two friends.
“I’d go with jeans and a shirt, or maybe a sweet looking dress, like this one. Something cute that says you’re a woman, but friendly enough so he knows you’re not going to put out,” Chloe said.
“We’ll be here to dress you,” Suzy said. “You’re going to be in good hands.”
Chapter Six
Drake sat in the middle of Grace’s apartment. Chloe and Suzy were standing in front of him. It had already been a week since Chloe had left the clubhouse, and she had yet to make an appearance. The brothers were missing her, and he missed her company.