by Xyla Turner
A presence loomed near me, causing my head to turn. It was Uno, looking at me with squinted eyes.
“You alright?” I asked.
“Not really, brother.” He answered. “I’ve been thinking, and I want to talk to you about what I was thinking. I don’t like unresolved things.”
This had my full attention because the only thing that was unresolved was my tax returns that he and I had to discuss.
“What things?” I asked as I turned on my stool to face him.
“Things like Avery,” the man answered and folded his arms over his chest.
I almost laughed but realized he was very serious. Uno was a Guardian, but his full-time job was that of an accountant. He came to the compound occasionally, partied with us sometimes, but for the most part, stayed to himself.
“Okay, Uno.” I flipped my wrist over at him. “Say your peace.”
“I like Avery. Like, a lot, and I was helping her out and then you just came in and took over. I did not like that and I wanted you to know, that I did not think it was fair. Our President asked me to take care of her and I did and before you start to insult me or my intelligence, I want to say, I know she only saw me as a friend. I don’t need to be reminded about that and especially by you. My point is, brother to brother. I didn’t like what you did and I’m telling you about it. I love the Guardians and I don’t want anything to jeopardize the comradery that I’ve found here.” He tipped his glasses up. “I, I know she’s out of my league, but I liked her. She was weird, funny and didn’t judge me. That was nice for a change.”
Damn.
This was the second time in a fucking month, where I was called to task about some shit that I fucked up. It did not feel nice and it was one thing when it was coming from your President and that shit hurt even worse when it was coming from a fellow brother who did nothing but have his brother’s back.
Again, I fucked up.
My chest hurt with the thought of what having Avery around did for him. It did the same for me and I was a selfish prick because I only wanted that for me.
“Man, Uno. You’re right,” I said and watched his eyes grow right before my eyes. “You’re fucking right. I didn’t ask, didn’t even touch base with you. I fucked up man and I apologize for that. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. I wouldn’t do that shit on purpose. Hope you know that. I guess, I was being selfish and trying to make up for what I had fucked up with her. Pres asked me to do what he asked you and I said no, at first. Then after thinking about it, I changed my mind. Pres told me he handed it off and I guess I wanted to make it up to her,” I shared with him. “I know how you feel. It’s how I feel around her. She’s carefree and funny. A goofball.”
“Yeah,” he smiled. “She is, but she’s happy, so I’m happy. She likes you a lot.”
“She tell you that?” I asked a little too rapidly.
“No, no.” His head was shaking. “You can just tell. Even with our introductions at her new place. When she introduced you, there was a completely different tone. One of adoration.”
“That’s because of the house.” I waved that off. “She was excited…”
“No, that had nothing to do with the house. She’s done that before,” Uno explained. “I picked it up even before she rented your place.”
Then he eyed me and turned his head to the side. “You like her too. That’s also very clear, so I’m not trying to disrupt that. Just wanted to share my thoughts.
“What makes you think I like her?” I was the one now folding my arms over my chest.
“You do know I’m an accountant.” Uno glared at me. “More importantly, your accountant.”
Oh shit.
“You rented that house to her for four-hundred dollars,” he whispered. “That’s the amount of what the utilities and maintenance cost for a place like that. You could have quadrupled the rent and you have before.”
“She wouldn’t have taken it for free,” I shared in a quiet hush.
“That’s my point,” he said. “You practically gave her a house. You like her. Even Bear’s sister paid one grand for rent.”
The man had a point.
“Plus,” he decided to go on. “You get that look too when you talk about her. Like she’s a mythical creature.”
He smiled because he knew, like I knew.
She was.
I chuckled and said, “Uno, thanks for coming to talk to me about this. Takes a real man to do that and I appreciate it. Again, I’d never meant for everything to go down like it did. I will be more conscious the next time.”
“Well, Shiz. I appreciate that. Thank you for being a real man and hearing me.” He nodded and looked like he was about to leave.
“Can you come by the shop tomorrow, Uno? There’s somebody I want you to meet,” I tell him.
“Huh?” he asked. “Who?”
“Another mythical creature. She’s not on my planet but she just might be on yours,” I shared.
There was a glint in his eye as he studied me. I could tell people probably had teased him before, so he was testing the genuineness in my words. Then he said, “Okay, brother. Tomorrow. I will come at eleven o’clock.”
“That’s perfect,” I smiled at him. He turned again, but I kept talking. “Oh, and by the way. Avery is not just out of your league, brother. She’s out of mine, too.”
He chuckled, nodded his head and left.
Chapter Seven
Avery West
Once again, I found myself in a biker’s compound, right outside of Lancaster County, doing something foolhardy like buying parts for an old bike that didn’t work.
How did I get here?
Well, let’s see.
I sold my car online to a guy named Andrew Jacobs, who didn’t even have the time to come and do it himself. He sent his brother who paid me the money, we exchanged information, so the car could be in his name, registration and everything. He paid me top dollar for my car, and said, it was the custom work that made it great for his niece. At least my baby would be going to someone who wanted the vehicle and thought it was cute like me.
I hope she did.
The money I was paid for my truck, I was going to purchase the old bike, which was the same brand that Snoop told Apollo we could use for parts. This contact was made by one of my brother’s friends, who worked as a mechanic. He didn’t have the bike or the parts but knew of a guy that did. He made the initial introductions over the phone and came with me to get the bike from the owner. This happened to be a member of the Skullz MC.
When we arrived, the compound was a dreary, run-down warehouse with rusted steel covering the building. There was nothing clean or read safe about the place. I looked at Carl, my brother’s friend, and he shrugged his shoulders and knocked on the door.
“Here goes,” he murmured.
The door creaked open and we slowly made our way inside. Carl told them who we were here to see and then we were led to the left side with a row of cheap, wooden doors that were cracked, damaged or some had fist-sized holes in various places. The biker that led us, opened the third door on the row and grunted towards an older, unkempt man in the office.
“Fuck me,” the man greeted when Carl and I walked into the office. “You’re the sweet piece that’s buying the bike?”
He was the definition of a biker who lost himself with a beer gut that hung over his pants, a scruffy beard that was scruffy and yellow eyes like he spent way too much time drinking every night.
The entire compound smelled like alcohol, sex and weed. It was the complete opposite of the Guardians, which was clean, much brighter and usually smelled of food. They might not be the tidiest or men, but the place wasn’t nasty.
“I am the person that’s buying the bike, yes,” I answered and moved a little closer to Carl.
“Sweet,” he said and took a swig of the amber liquid in the cloudy glass sitting in the middle of the old, cluttered desk.
Carl cleared his throat because when we looked over, a
naked woman was lying on her side with her ass facing us on the couch.
“Oh yeah,” the biker chuckled. “Fucking rough night. That one.”
Then he picked up the receiver on the phone and barked, “They’re here. Get in here.”
I grew a bit unsteady by someone else joining us but Carl just kept looking at the naked woman. I dared not look at the man’s pants to see if he had a boner. I could mentally feel that he did by the change in his breathing pattern.
A minute later, the door opened, and a young man walked in with khakis, a polo shirt with a biker vest over it that read Skullz MC, Slay. He was taller than me, but maybe by a few inches, dirty blond hair, clean cut with no facial hair. He resembled a prep kid but the vest threw off the look. It seemed out of place.
“Hey,” he greeted me with a smile. “The name is Slay and you must be Avery. Interested in my bike?”
“Yes, that’s me.” I answered.
Carl told me ahead of time to not give out too much information, so I had to shut my chatty self up.
This time, I was willing to listen.
“Good, let me show you what I have. We’ll see if that’s it and go from there.”
A voice cleared in the room, causing us all to turn towards the man sitting at the desk, drinking away.
“Pop?” Slay addressed him.
“I think whatever arrangement y’all make should also include dinner. Wouldn’t you say, son?” His yellow stained eyes glanced from me to the biker in khakis.
The younger one brightened up and said, “Yes, I’d like that.”
The father grunted and then we proceeded to make the deal. Bringing me to my current situation that included me waiting in the Skullz compound, two days later, while one woman sucked a guy’s dick on the sofa in the main area and a few others were smoking weed on the other side watching the ordeal.
This time I was alone, since Carl’s one and only trip to the compound, resulted in him hauling the old bike on his truck. He made it clear that he did not want any parts of that place and I was in full agreement, except I had a date.
When I arrived, I asked for Slay and proceeded to stay as close to the door as necessary.
“Hey, you came.” Slay smiled when he saw me, probably looking like a cat shrinking in a corner. This look must have registered on his face because he said, “Yeah, the club is still in the old-world order. A new dawn is coming and shit like this won’t be tolerated. Believe me.”
He scoffed and waved for me to exit so we could start our dinner deal. It was not a date, it was a deal that came with a bike. I’d sworn Snoop to secrecy when Carl and I drove up with the old bike for parts. The man was in shock that I had even found the old model. He’d said, he couldn’t even find one. I think I scored a point with him that day. He could not believe it and kept shaking his head at me.
Slay took me to a local bistro that was down in Norristown. He made the decision to have lunch, instead of dinner, which was great. They had paninis, frappes, freshly squeezed lemonade and sushi. It was not the typical place the locals went to, but this wasn’t my town. I got a sandwich and a glass of lemonade. Slay ordered the sushi and an espresso. I didn’t date much or at all for that matter, but this was by far not how I saw one happening. Though, it wasn’t a date, but a deal.
He talked about the club, how he would transform it when he was president. He even mentioned going legit and not being outlaws, but I wasn’t sure what that meant either. I, on the other hand, rarely said anything about me, family or why because he monopolized the conversation about him, his undergraduate degree and the master’s he was currently pursuing. He seemed ambitious enough, but clearly full of himself, which was a complete turnoff.
Towards what I considered the end of our deal that included a meal, a presence hit the small bistro, like a rushing wind. My head whipped over to see what changed and that’s when I saw a raging bull by the look of Shiz and Swag, right behind him.
He did not look happy and for some reason, his anger seemed to be directed towards me.
“Avery!” he barked at me. “Let’s go.”
It took me an entire minute to process what was taking place. It was then that I asked, “Excuse me?”
He was now in our space glaring at me, while ignoring Slay.
“I said, let’s go.”
“Who are you?” Slay asked in a calm and unthreatened voice.
“Someone who doesn’t have to tell you who I am,” Shiz bit back.
“That so?” Slay turned his head towards Swag. “Swag, nice to make your acquaintance again.”
“Didn’t think the first encounter was nice,” Swag countered.
“This one surely doesn’t look nice,” Slay nodded towards Shiz.
There was a sinister look in his eye that made me leery. He wasn’t into me or anything like that but the fact that another man just came up in here and tried to take over, was enough to make even a beta man, bulk. Slay didn’t strike me as the type to clap back physically. Shiz would crush him and he knew that. He looked like the type who’d bide his time, like he was doing with the club and then when the iron was hot, he’d strike. Scary, almost.
This was my clue that despite what I felt, I needed to diffuse a bomb that could potentially blow up with me in the middle.
“Slay,” I rose and held out my hand. “Thank you for a lovely evening. I appreciate your help with everything and I hope you get finished with that degree fast like you said.”
I went for my wallet, but he held up his hand and said, “No need. Avery, I’ll be seeing you soon.”
“The fuck you won’t,” Shiz snapped back.
Holy shit.
Swag intervened at this point and said, “Brother, let’s go. Not why I called you.”
However, Shiz had other thoughts. He had fully turned toward Slay and if looks could maim, the man would be missing some arms and legs. This was not serious Shiz, this was a seriously pissed off Shiz. I didn’t know what to do in this case.
“Shiz,” I called. “Come on.”
He just stared off at the calm Slay who didn’t seem perturbed or moved by Shiz’s stance.
Feeling my own self about to get in a snit as they wanted to have a pissing contest.
“Fine, I’m leaving.” I picked up my purse. “Swag can you take me home please?”
He looked like he was confused but when I started marching to the door, I heard Shiz curse, “Fuck me.”
Then two sets of footsteps followed me outside of the restaurant. There was one hand that halted my progress as he pulled it around the bend of my arm and Shiz growled, “The fuck are you doing here?”
“Excuse me,” I snapped and tried to jerk from him but was unsuccessful.
“The fuck are you doing here with him?” Shiz was hissing at the point.
“First of all,” I planted one hand on my hip.
Shiz shook his head one time and murmured, “Nope. You’re going home, and I swear to God, I’ll spank your ass if you keep throwing me that attitude.”
That was when he catapulted me using both hands and lifted me by my arms, propelling me to his truck.
“Swag,” Shiz called behind him as he put me in the passenger side like I wasn’t a little on the chunky side and yelled back, “Thanks for the call man. I owe you a marker.”
“My next tat on you,” Swag said with a laugh.
“Yup,” Shiz slammed the door and I watched as the two of them exchanged some words, did their manly half-hug thing and departed. My whole back was facing Shiz because I had no words. The embarrassment, not only in front of Sway but Swag too. Let’s not even discuss the restaurant.
He didn’t say anything, but I could feel his temper rolling off in waves. Hopefully, he could feel mine too. I guess he couldn’t because as soon as that truck came to a low rumble in front of the house, I flew out and headed towards my new place. He did the same and followed me up as if he was coming in too.
“Nope,” I shook my head. “Buck stops here. I’m g
oing to bed.”
Man, Shiz was showing all sides of his ass today. Some of them I could have done without. Including the alpha one, he seemed to be stuck on.
“You got five seconds before I put you over my knee and spank your ass.”
I gasped out loud and that’s when I heard, “five…four…three…two…one. You got five coming to you.”
That was all I got before he had me up, off the floor and moved me into the house.
“Shiz,” I was snapping at him. “I’m not someone you can just manhandle.”
His eyes pierced into mine then he said, “What was that shit? What were you doing out with him? Why were you in Norristown? Answer me, Avery. My patience is gone.”
“First of all,” I was screaming. “I don’t have to answer shit to you. Who are you?” I pushed him with both palms of my hands against his chest. “You’re my landlord, not my father. You don’t question me. What I do is none of your business. You don’t have any right to come and embarrass me in front of Sway and the other customers. What the hell….”
His face turned into a sneer before he spits, “What? So you go from biker to biker?”
A thump hit my chest because it felt like he struck me.
“W-what?” I croaked.
Shiz was bending down in my face and he sneered with nothing but venom in his voice, “You get into it with one club, seeking refuge in another, now you’re moving on to some other club?”
I wasn’t violent. Well, I might vandalize, tap a person’s leg with my truck, but I rarely laid my hands on other people. However, the dropping of my hand and the clear strike I made across his beautiful face with my open palm even shocked me.
I could not believe I actually laid slapped his face.
“Get out,” I hissed.
It was low and deadly which Shiz must have recognized because he turned and left. The look on his face was from pure regret but I couldn’t have given one fuck. Nobody talked to me like that. I didn’t put out or even do the cock tease thing. If that’s what he thought about me, then he could just never talk to me again.